#11: The devil in the details...

Slowly but surely, my host of high elves grows. The variety of units in my collection have steadily broadened, including rarely seen units like Skycutter Chariots and Sisters of Averlorn. And I must say... The quality and detail of these models is ridiculous. 

This is particularly true of Dragon Princes. As part of my first 500 points, these were among the first models to be assembled, and with every piece I glued, it dawned on me how dauntingly elaborate the models were. And while part of me dreads beginning work on this unit, the whole reason I chose high elves was to push my painting to new levels with these challenging units. This unit, I feel, will be a standout unit in the army if I can give a paint job worthy of the models. 

While I am on the topic, I wanted to discuss my choices in my High Elf colour palette. High elves are typically bright and colourful, having plenty of clean white robes and sashes, with flashes of colour. I wanted to steer away from this stereotypical theme, opting for a much darker tone. By using a muted palette and keeping to a dark grey and crimson theme, the eye is drawn more to the armour and weapons, which are much brighter. The reason for this is to accentuate the fact that my army is not a crowd of potters and painters who have taken up the spear and bow to defend themselves. This is a military force, trained and ready for conflict. 

Despite my waffling on about colour schemes and painfully detailed models, my brush has not been idle. I am planning on painting roughly a unit a week to stay on schedule, and this week I lavished attention upon five Swordmasters. These models are complete, only needing some basing details, but I am incredibly satisfied with the end result. With their extravagant plumes and their battle ready stance make these some of my favourite models so far. They wear full body armour which looks incredibly sturdy, but unfortunately only conveys a 5+ armour save, making this tiny unit incredibly vulnerable to anything stronger and a light drizzle of rain, but I do love their 'Deflect Shot' special rule, allowing these samurai-esque artists of war to use their longswords to parry arrows, throwing axes and ballista bolts as they charge headlong into the enemy. I plan on filling this unit out later in our journey, but for the moment, five with a musician is all I could afford.

I'm actually pretty happy with the pace that I'm painting, helped along by a low model count. And I am always interested to hear how your Border Wars force is going, and photos of your works in progress never go astray!

I must say, as well, dear readers, that this Border Wars has generated a pretty significant response from the community. Participants have been flooding in with their characters! And I am incredibly excited about this. For that reason, I'll be posting a midweek article with the remaining characters that have joined the party! 

Remember, for those of you who are participating in Border Wars, your 500 point forces will be showcased on March 21st, and I would love you to send your photos in to the page before this date with your painted force. If you have more or less than 500 points, that's totally cool as well. 

Thanks for reading, and I'm excited to see your projects as they grow. And with my 500 point force assembled, I'm always keen for a (very small) game if you have a spare half hour. 

Gabriel