Another quick update folks.
Basically just plugging away still. Have now base-coated, washed and re-layered all the skin on these models and I'm now working through doing the armour trim. I've actually had a bit of a wobble over whether I should change the colour to something else, gold perhaps. I had actually planned to do my characters (and Dragon Princes) with gold trim rather than red but I'm thinking I might need to do a test model or two.
It's probably best to take a look at this now rather than after I've painted up this batch of models so I don't end up painting the trim on the current 60-ish I'm working on only to end up having to redo them, although it does mean I'll also have to redo the Archers I thought I was done with plus the Spearmen I was working on before Christmas if I do decide to change. Additionally, my metal White Lions, which I'm planning to sell once I've got my plastics built and painted, will stick out like a sore thumb if I do go the gold route as other than some basic retouching for tournaments I'm not planning on doing any more work on them. I'm planning to paint up a test model as well has having a quick look around on Cool Mini Or Not and Ulthuan.net to see if anything there grabs my eye.
I had hoped that the new order in which I'm painting my models would limit the amount of touching up that would need doing after the fact. Unfortunately, thanks to my cackhandedness when painting, it doesn't look like this will be the case and in fact I may come to regret having done shade and highlight on the Sword Masters' blue cloth before doing the armour trim judging by the number of times I've accidentally painted grey back over the top of the cloth.
Aside from painting, this Monday was the first roll out of the list I'm currently planning on taking to Summer Incursion this year. I thought I'd better start practicing with it now as I'm probably only going to get about 6 games in with it between now and the tournament, although with there being strong rumours of a new High Elf book in April or May I may find myself having to change the list to stay legal. Hopefully the worst that happens with the units I'm currently using is that they get a bit cheaper so I have the pleasure of finding myself with extra points to spend, although I doubt I'd have time to paint up any new units.
In any case, the list is mostly similar to what I've been running for my double Level 4 on the same lore experiments only I've dropped the Level 1 support Mage which gave me an extra 150 or so points free which I've used to boost the numbers in my White Lions. Annoyingly I now can't seem to find all my painted White Lion models to fill out the unit - I know I've definitely got enough painted as I've run a bigger unit at the Mansfield Maul in 2010. I've also changed the setup of my Archer units slightly. I had had three units of 17 with standard and musician (a relic of my intended list for No Holes Barred until I ended up not being able to go) but have now changed this to a unit of 21 with standard and musician and three units of 10 with musician. The overall number of Archers remains the same but the idea is that I can use the smaller units as chaff drops and sacrificial units if need be.
The other big worry, thinking about there being a new High Elf book, is if none of the model costs change (or for some reason get more expensive) as the 10 point command group costs in 8th edition would put this list over 2400 points.
Anyway, I got off to a good start with an emphatic win against Empire, although my opponent wasn't running the sort of list I'd expect to see in a competitive environment. He had no Demigryhs, no cannons, no Wizards (but three Warrior Priests plus a Waltar for plenty of Prayers and channelling attempts), did have a unit of Reiksguard Knights, unit of Inner Circle Knights and a big unit of regular Knights plus a Stank, BSB on horse, Captain on horse, unit of Handgunners, a unit of Outriders and a Hellblaster. Also he's been playing Malifaux for a few months, as a number of the formerly regular Warhammer players at the club have been, so he was a bit rusty on his rules.
Anyway, it was one of those games where the dice seem to favour one side over the other and for a change it was me the dice were favouring. I think my L4 on Metal miscast 3 turns out of 5, as well as my L4 Shadow doing so on turn 5 with the only spell he cast all game. I kept wishing I'd gone for the boosted Searing Doom when casting it as first turn I cast it on a 24 (and then I think it did around 1 or 2 wounds) then miscast when casting it the next two times. I Rusted the Reiksguard a couple of times and stuck an Eagle in front of them to slow them up and force a charge or keep them out of the game for a couple of turns - they charged the Eagle and tried for the overrun into the Sword Masters on that flank but failed and then couldn't stand up to the Sword Masters when they got charged with having to make armour saves on 5+.
On the other flank my other Eagle ate the Outriders who had vanguarded up and overran to where it was blocking the large unit of ordinary Knights who didn't charge it at the first opportunity but instead tried to go round, so the Eagle then flew back to where it was going to stop any forward movement at all unless they charged it to kill it (the Handgunners in the nearby tower weren't the pick of the sharpshooting crop and only took a wound off it when they had the chance while the Stank Commander pinged off another).
I think I got Searing Doom or Golden Hounds off on the Stank, doing several wounds to it an meaning my opponent couldn't risk putting more than a couple of steam points on it. The Sword Masters on the left ended up fleeing from his War Altar due to a failed terror test and the Waltar then went into my large White Lion block - unfortunately for the Arch Lector the Inner Circle knights who were supposed to accompany him failed their charge so the White Lions chopped the Lector off his wagon in that round and then finished off the Altar in the next.
The Sword Masters on the right charged the large block of Knights and aided first by an earlier casting on the Knights of Plague of Rust and then in the third (I think) round of Enchanted Blades on the Sword Masters, the Knights were chopped down, panicking the Handgunners.
My L4 with metal wiped out the Inner Circle Knights, who had already taken a couple of casualties from bowfire, leaving just a Warrior Priest and the BSB. The Warrior Priest got shot down by bowfire and the BSB decided to make a tactical withdrawal to behind the Stank, which currently had a unit of White Lions slowly poking holes in it, but his re-rolls couldn't save the Handgunners when they panicked after the large unit of Knights were killed.
My opponent conceded at the end of my turn 5 as at that point all he had left was the BSB, a unit of fleeing Handgunners and a Stank on 2 wounds. All I'd lost were the two Eagles, although my Metal L4 had taken a couple of wounds to miscast results, my L4 Shadow had also taken a wound from miscast results and lost The Withering when he miscast when casting it. The Sword Masters on the right had taken a bit of a pounding from the Knights (unfortunately I didn't manage to kill the Warrior Priest in that unit so the Priest, Knights and Horses all got re-rolls) but there were still about five or six left in the unit.
The only downside of the game was that I realised the Island of Blood Sword Masters I've been filling out my metal Sword Master units with need a lot more work on them than I'd realised - it basically looks like I've only basecoated them so they're in need of washes, shades and highlights.