An artist has previewed some commissioned work, including this piece for GW:
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| "It's not the men we fear, sir. It's the evil spirits." |
Very characterful piece, and nice to see Empire troops getting a pasting (I prefer Wood Elves as spiteful neutrals, rather than forest-dwelling hippies). Aside from the usual suspects, could there be some clues about the new units:
- A decent Treeman model? (desperately needed, in my view)
- Another Orion model? (probably not, although he's never been useful in the rules. A properly sylvan-looking Ariel model would be more welcome)
- Most importantly - Stag Cavalry? (huzzah!) Is this a new look for the Wild Riders? Given the fashion for dual kit plastics, is there going to be a Wild Rider/Stag Rider combo? (although surely you can't just include head swaps for stags and horses and expect them to look right).
- My preference would be for a Monstrous Cavalry option, not least because 1) I hate the current 'moose' great stag model, 2) I still plan to paint up my 3rd edition Elf Knights as Wild Riders.
All very exciting. With Dwarves and Wood Elves getting a refresh in 2014, I may have to put the greenskins on hiatus for a while...
Couple of rather nice resin minis on deer from Mierce this month - one evil, on a big shaggy moose creature, one rather more heroic on a dashing stag.
ReplyDeleteDamn, but Mierce do some good sculpts. They might even be eclipsing Forge World and Avatars of War for showcase miniatures.
DeleteInteresting that their Giant Stag could be a decent proxy for Thranduil in Hobbit 1 - something which the GW range hasn't provided yet.
DeleteMaybe they're quicker on their feet than the mighty Match Toolshed (because they don't need to churn out Space Marines)
I get their newsletter, which at the moment is desperately trying to convince me to get on board with their kickstarter for the next wave of models. The current deal is starter packs, which at around £140 for usually about ten-fifteen models is obviously ludicrous, and yet I'm still tempted by the ferocious quality of the goods! Lucky I'm skint, really.
Deletehttp://diceandbrush.blogspot.se/ has some leaked pictures from the new range...
ReplyDeleteYes, I saw them. The new treeman looks good (aside from the Eldar Craftworld paintjob - what the hell happened to brown and green?).
DeleteThe deciding factor on whether I get it might be drawer space: they really are pushing the limit on 'miniature' here...
I wasn't very enamoured. Well, to be fair, I think it's a good model. They've got the 'man' part down pat. But it doesn't look much like a tree, to me, which feels like a missed opportunity.
DeleteThe second wave of Wood Elf releases have been leaked: no monstrous cavalry for the stags (boo!) but a dual kit for Wild Riders and a new unit Sisters of the Thorn.
ReplyDeleteAs Fast Cavalry with innate spells (and poisoned javelins), the Sisters appear to be the Asrai answer to the Doomfire Warlocks. So I'd better get myself a couple of boxes...
I'm sure General East (as proud possessor of a pre-ordered periodical) will be able to tell us more, but my initial thoughts for the new rules:
ReplyDelete- Reduced strength and ward save for dryads. Ranked units but no swift reform (no musician). Doesn't seem great for them.
- Putting them in the middle of High and Dark Elves (with prowess and magic) seem very in-keeping with the 'vicious neutrals' theme.
- Nice to have another infantry unit with the Deepwood Rangers - but why are they armed with Klingon Bat'leth?
- But most importantly... Hail of Doom Arrow is STILL THERE!
All Hail the Doom Arrow.
ReplyDeleteI like these new kits very much, more than the treemen. Particularly the Deepwood Rangers, who (with tweaking) might make a decent second two ranks for my non-canon Chosen unit - similar cloaks and axes, and I like the masked faces!
Yeah, I like the look of the Rangers too, although I'll be swapping out the weapons, since no Elf should carry an axe the size of a patio umbrella.
DeleteAnd it was my original mistake with the name: they're *Wildwood* Rangers, not to be confused with Deepwood Scouts (the new name for scouts) or Woodywood Peckers (ha-ha-ha-HA-ha).
Yeah, doesn't seem terribly tree-friendly of them, does it?
DeleteAlso, ha-ha-ha-HA-ha.
I ordered a box to use a DE executioners as I thought they looked more dark than wood.. and I kind of liked the Klingon weapon
DeleteYup, weapons def more dark than wood. And also the pose is too uniform and regimented for wood. Love the stag-rider kit though, and I don't even mind they're not monstrous. #ordered!
DeleteSisters/Wild Riders do look good. And at£22.50 they're not that dear...
DeleteI'll get me coat.
You could always stick them on monstrous bases, couldn't you? And then field them as though they were two units each, keeping a Damien Hurst-style deer in two halves to keep track of odd wounds.
DeleteAlthough they are a bit skinny, in retrospect. Perhaps having packs of hounds running alongside them might pad it out.
DeleteRight, I need to get a job so I can do something about this. Off to the 'wanted' sections for me.
It's a good balance between High and Dark, when you consider the alternative kit of Eternal Guard would fit into a High Elf army (like an Everqueen theme?)
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that, even with their alliance, there are some forest spirits so nasty that the elves have to tool up and hunt them down (also ironic, considering the new stat drop in forest spirits means they'd struggle to damage a teddy bear's picnic).
Not sure how they'd play: I don't think big regiments of anything suits the Wood Elves (MSU and magic still their best bet?) - maybe a couple of 10-model monster-hunters?