From PeteF Greater Air Elemental - Nature (40 points)

My first Kings of War army was Forces of Nature and I still have a soft spot for the faction - intending to go back to it for a few games... if only I get some more models painted.  To that end here is a Greater Air Elemental, one of the stronger units in the game.

The model is cast in resin and available from Mantic Games.  Having prepared poorly for Challenge XIV, I didn't take enough time to deal with the joins in this model - hope they are not too obvious!

This is my first excursion with an airbrush!  ShawnD leant me his spray booth, brush and accessories and I tried it out.  Having being unable to get more than a spatter from it I fiddled with some settings and on the next try emptied the cup in about 20 seconds.  So I guess this airbrushing thing might take some study to get it right.

After hand brushing blue, airbrushing gray blue, then white with a hint of blue, then blue wash it got a heavy drybrushing.  The result looks OK for the gaming table and I'm looking forward to improving my technique.

Scoring:  this chonky monster stands 100mm high.  Maybe score as a 28mm vehicle for 20 points plus 20 for the library section for a total of 40 points?   

This proved a tough model to photograph - in the first attempts it still looked like a grey lump of resin - there's a decent amount of painting here - honest!

By Paul the Guest Minion

Welcome to the wonderful world of airbrushing! May your experience see you join the legions of fan bois who loves theirs so much they want to be buried with it, rather than be one of the frustrated, cussing masses who complain about unclogging it more than using it (I refuse to confirm which camp I am in :-)

May this big fellah fight well for you and enjoy the 40 points!

From PeteF Fauns land on Vulcan. (140 points)

 

The main part of this goat together is a Hunters of The Wild Unit for my Kings of War Forces of Nature Army. Kings of War is a fantasy mass battle ranks and flanks wargame with a friendly, thriving community. The Pacific Northwest is hosting the US Masters competition in July this year - with the top 8 players from each of 8 regions coming here to play. There'll also be an open "Best of the Rest" tournament so no-one will be left out of the celebration. I'm trying to get new people into the game so I'm building up demo armies for other players to try out. This unit is for anyone who enjoys playing the goat.

Stop me if you've herd this one - the fauns are from a Kickstarter a few years ago - it's a plastic set and I really like herd plastic for massed/multibased troops. I went for speed painting using contrasts to set things up before layering on some of the details. OK from 3 feet butt don't look too close!

As pointy eared forest dwellers they should do for Vulcan, my third planet on the outer ring. Unfortunately I'm behind the pace with life getting in the way of painting this year.  I'll hoof to speed up the output to hit my goal.

I needed 20 fursome Mr or Mrs Tumnuses for the Hunters of The Wild Unit (are they fauning over each other?) which left me with four bow-wielding goat women. I've put them on clear bases for now while I figure out a pruminant solution. 

24 x 28mm infantry = 120 plus 20 for a new planet = 140 points

Squirrel +1 (Total 3)

Skulz 0 (Total 0)

A final Forces of  Nature question from a Christmas cracker: Why did the nymph need so much lotion? She had dryad skin. Er, I'll get my goat.

I must say that I am awfully faund of the collection fauna Pete.  I am a proponent of the 3 feet rule for war-games figures and your work looks much better than that.  besides, properly used these folks aren't going be too visible are they?

You do need a lamp post in a wintery setting and to sculpt a green stuff scarf onto one of these figures.

From PeteF: Treeherder and Unicorn for Forces of Nature Army (25 points)

To celebrate the newly published 3rd edition, my local Kings of War friends are doing an escalation league, allowing each of us to slowly build a full sized army. I am using it as an opportunity to add to my bare bones Forces of Nature army and try out some new units.

The tree herder is from a box of fantasy stuff that I bought at a wargaming convention bring and buy last year. I don't know who the manufacturer is/was. He is 4" tall and made of metal. This made him quite hard to paint - I don't wear gloves for painting and the acrylic had a tendency to rub off with even a small amount of handling. There's also a lot of stuff on the base and on the model. I don't love the sculpt or my paint job and may end up doing some more work on him (maybe changing some of the colours - it's one of the hardest things with fantasy figures since I'm used to uniforms). Initially I tried to paint him with all contrasts but it did not look right so he ended up with various green/brown/grey layers. At least he is now table ready for our game this Sunday.

Hard to Photograph!

The unicorn is from Wizkids Deep Cuts/Pathfinder Battles range. These plastic models come primed - normally with some minor but unfortunate mold lines. It is quite a bit bigger than a 28mm horse - about the size of a 40mm equine. I quite like the Wizkids line for filling in gaps in the Kings of War army. They are nice sculpts and affordable at 5 bucks for a blister pack. She is painted with Contrast Apothecary White layered and highlighted with white and drybrushed with silver.

The last 4" high monster I submitted was scored as a 28mm for 20 points. The unicorn is probably worth 5-7 points. I'll leave it to the minion of the day to decide the final number.

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By Paul:

Great start to your escalation League project Pete!  Good luck with it

I particularly like the way you have done the Unicorn - she looks very clean and pure

I've scored the Treeherder as a vehicle so that is 25 points in total

Sarah's Balloon Flight: Druid (35 points)

With this entry I hereby summon Sarah's Balloon to transport me elsewhere on the island.

Around March last year I was looking for a wargame that people were playing regularly on a day I could make. One of my friends invited me to his monthly Kings of War game - it's a fantasy massed battle rank and flank game designed for two players lasting 6 turns (can go one more depending on a dice roll). It takes a couple of hours for a standard game.

You do need a substantial army and I found a beat up Forces of Nature army on EBay and a nice box of elves and stuff at a bring and buy. The rehab of the EBay army is complete and I'm now painting up the fantasy stuff from the bring and buy. This elf (or half elf?) magic user was in the box and will do nicely as a druid - druids are useful, low points cost magic users in the Forces of Nature list - flinging lightning bolts, healing and making your regiments of naiads, lizards and elementals more effective in combat.

Until last year my experience of painting fantasy figures was limited to a few Citadel D&D adventurers in the early 1980s. I'm enjoying the break from button counting and worrying about the right shade of field grey to experiment with different paints and colours - I'm hoping to make a start on my Nightstalkers army for Kings of War as part of Challenge X.

I have no idea of the manufacturer when this was made - GW? She has a ton of detail from skulls in her hair to a snake at her left ankle. There's jewelry and various bones and straps. I opted for a simple, Forces of Nature-y, colour palette. I'm looking forward to seeing how she does as part of my Kings of War Army.

I'm still working on a good formula for blond hair that isn't too yellow and isn't too brown. Any tips would be much appreciated.

Sarah's Balloon Ride will take me to Docherty's Dock where I hope to get to grips with a camel or four.

Upon landing I would sip glass of champagne to celebrate the completion of entry number six - but it's the middle of the day on the west coast and the champagne's still chilling in the fridge so I'll forgo the bonus drinking points until the next balloon trip. One 28mm figure (5 points) and first journey on Sarah's Balloon (30 points) for a total of 35 points.

This is a truely beautiful figure. She is an old Wargames Foundry figure and a woodland nymph, part of a large collection of naked and mainly naked women. You have done a fantastic job. Kings of War is a brilliant game, bonkers and great fun.