mattjgilbert

Well a lot mental really. What I mean though is that I’ve been thinking about my army, what it will look like and how I’m going to build it far more than I’ve actually been doing it. I’ve been spending my commuting time on the train this last week writing my first short story for the Sylvan Fey – actually from the perspective of an Orc. This follows on from the background piece I posted last weekend (here). I’ve finished it now and it’s off at the “editor”. On which note I should thank Stew for casting a critical eye over the background for me – a second pair of eyes is always a good idea. Thanks Stew.

So while someone different this time draws red lines through my story (no reflection on Stew’s abilities!) the ideas rattling around in my head have been vented sufficiently for me to concentrate a bit more on actually assembling some models.

This last week I’ve spent a couple of evenings after work sitting in front of the TV studying the Elf frames and cleaning off mould lines (which I consider a necessary evil).



If I’m honest I’d always looked at the Elf models with a bit of indifference but after actually spending time with them up close there is an awful lot of detail on them and they are very well made. Combined with my mental preparations for the army (John and I seem to be on the same page with this… see his essay on the subject here) I’m now pretty excited to see the army on the table – I’ll now admit publicly I like the Elves

Part of the planning has obviously been to figure out what the army is going to be and what I need to purchase when as part of the project. I’ve gone for theme over competitiveness with this list before anyone pokes holes in its tournament composition



As you can see, I might just have the cheapest of the Pathfinder armies! I’ve got some ideas for the scratch-built elements but I’ll cogitate on those a bit more before embarking on those and save it for later posts. What I really need to focus on to start with are the core parts of the army - the bowmen and spearmen. Once those are done, I’ll feel like I’ve made progress and will have gained decent momentum. Plus I’ll be able to put a good number of models on the table for some practice games.

I started with the bolt thrower from the Elf army starter set. I’ll eventually have three of these in the army (the rule of three…) and I wanted to base each one to create a single playing piece. I’ve used a GW 60mm round base I had going spare. I know I’ve got another one… hopefully I can find a third from somewhere!

I assembled the bolt thrower itself first and then glued it to the base. Then I assembled and added the crew.



I then placed some rocks using no-more-nails (no messing around!). Now, normally I’d sand the base at this point but after seeing Andy (Faschist Hippy) trying out GWs new texture paint, I’m going to try it myself and see what it’s like. So now the bolt thrower is ready for painting.



When I put my undead army together, I left all the models on individual bases which means I also need movement trays for every unit. This time however I thought I’d assemble the models on fixed unit-bases. My first attempt at this was sticking all the individual bases together.



I figured I’d do strips of 5 models which would be easier to paint. I’d then assembled the completed units at the end.



Now I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to order some ready-made unit bases from http://www.warbases.co.uk/ on John’s recommendation. I’ll paint the models individually and then glue them to the bases from the back row forwards, basing as I go. Some bases will get a little landscaping too

My first month’s purchase, another 20 spearmen to make the horde, turned up on the weekend making me realise I need to get a move on before I fall behind the other Pathfinders! This evening, I’ve clipped out all the Elf archers and have started putting them together.



Now I just need to place that order with warbases, chase up Maelstrom to find out what happened to all the paints I ordered (2 weeks ago!) and get some milliput.

Thanks for reading.