I have certainly not given up though! As we speak, I have a rather large regiment of Phoenix Guard half painted on my desk that is getting at least two coats of paint every time I sit down for some brush-time. The reason I'm not stressed about falling behind is because this regiment is almost 500pts on its own! And before you prepare for a rage-fuelled rant about me conforming to the High Elf trends of Deathstarring, this unit is a bodyguard for Caradryan, the named character I have chosen to paint as part of the next stage that requires a named character. He will be joined on the painting desk by a large block of Lothern Sea Guard for two reasons. Firstly, it would be a sin to paint a Naval High Elf army without Sea Guard. Secondly, it has recently dawned on me that a single unit of archers probably won't suffice in my Core section! Not to mention, a fully painted, fully ranked unit of Sea Guard is a striking image!
So, how goes the other participants of Border Wars? The simple answer; better than me!
Liam, our resident Night Goblin overlord, has been a busy man, focusing on the whackier side of the Night Goblin faction, adding a Mangler Squig, two Spear Chukkas and an absolutely mammoth Squig Herd!
The Squig herd is a rarely seen unit (mostly because it's an incredibly expensive unit dollar-wise), but has so much character, and in a Horde formation, it kicks out a formidable number of Strength 5 attacks! And combining several shades of blue throughout the unit, it leaps out of the army, when deployed amongst the robed cave-dwellers that make up the majority of Liam's force! The two bolt throwers also add to his formidable, if comically unreliable, battery of war machines!
Josh has been busy, adding some stranger elements to his Legion of Chaos, choosing to paint a decent unit of monster-hunting Screamers, the Blue Scribes and the terribly overpriced Ghorgon!
I cannot get enough of this colour scheme! It has a fairly extreme contrast that just works for the already extreme Legion of Chaos! The Blue Scribes add to his arcane barrage, incorporating an element of lethal unpredictability to an already brutal magic phase! This is also the first time I have seen the Blue Scribe model in the flesh, and it is incredibly intricate!
The Screamers are a solid and reliable choice, but the Ghorgon is what caught me by surprise. If you have ever read my thoughts on the Beastmen Rare section, you would know how I feel about the points cost of the Ghorgon. However, the model is fantastic! He towers over his Chaotic allies and just looks like a walking slaughter machine! While the rules try to convey that, he is unfortunately an overpriced monster in an edition that does not smile upon big models!
Our Skaven player, Luke, decided to add three Storm Fiends, all sporting Rattling Guns!
Due to there being a single set of each weapon in the box, Luke has cleverly converted his Fiends with a variety of 40k bits that represent the rattling guns perfectly. And I'm just going to say it. These guys terrify me. The amount of damage they can dish out each and every turn is bordering on the obscene, and they definitely add some kick to his force!
The last member of our journey is, of course, Glen, who is miles ahead of everyone and has shown his work in a previous post! The archives show plenty of his spectacular work! If you haven't seen them already, do your eyes a favour and check them out!
Now, there are two things I'd like to cover very quickly before I continue with my day! The first is Age of Sigmar!
Games Workshop yesterday released a date for Age of Sigmar, which I'm led to believe is a skirmish-type game, similar to the Hobbit, designed to make Fantasy a much more accessible game, and making the entry level cost of an army much more affordable.
Now, as far as I know, this will not replace the game we know and love. It will simply be a new way to play. As it sounds, 9th Edition will arrive with three different game types; Age of Sigmar, the skirmish game that has generated all the "round base" nerd rage, Age of Steel, which will follow the same structure as the game currently takes, and End Times, which will be essentially the Fantasy version of Apocalypse. Now, if this is the case, I am stoked. These are of course not 100% confirmed, so take with a grain of salt, but the closer we get to release dates the more truth emerges.
Regarding Age of Sigmar, I think that if it is a round base skirmish game, as many believe, then Games Workshop has been incredibly clever! As the Hobbit game looks to wind down and eventually go out of production as the hype of the movies dies down, Age of Sigmar offers Hobbit players an alternative game that is more integral to the main product ranges, and has the support of the company, which means there will be very little loss of customer base at the end of the Hobbit.
And besides, I think Fantasy models look great on round bases, and a new way to play the game is never a bad thing! I feel like this is going in a really innovative and positive direction that a lot of people will enjoy after being made to wait so long after the End Times series.
To finish off, I wanted to touch on the Rune Axe Invitational, a Fantasy tournament that I will be hosting in August! I am in the awkward position of not being able to write a player's pack just yet, due to the overhaul of editions and what type of tournament it will be, (possibly Age of Sigmar, possibly Age of Steel, depending on how the coming months unfold) but it will be a really fun day, and I encourage you to come along! More details will be posted here as I receive them.
And to close out today's post, between painting High Elves, necrons and a super secret army for an upcoming Doubles Fantasy tournament at my local store, I found these Empire Knights in my bits box that may turn into fully fledged army (perhaps being changed to round bases) for future gaming endeavours! 
I painted them using the Talabecland colour scheme, which has always been popular. I really like the fluff behind this particular province too, being a land dependant on its thriving farmlands and winding rivers. This is enough of a reason to later add the Beast Wizard on Griffon model, to maximise that nature theme! That guy is awesome!
Oh, and the super secret army? Well, usually I would be advertising both the army book and the specific army list on this page, but I have been sworn to secrecy by my team mate. But who knows, I may sneak a photo or two up in the coming weeks of a model here and there...
Until next time!
Gabriel
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