While I'm not the most skilled painter in the world, I think making the effort to get a painted army out on the tabletop is important. I subscribe to the (outlandish) theory that painted models perform better. Whether its true or not, who knows, but having two painted armies duke it out enhances enjoyment for both player.
I guess the question for my non-existent readers is should I paint the whole army to match the Saim Hann scheme, or have separate Iyanden and Harlequin themed portions? The downside is that when I mix and match, it'll be obvious - half the army is yellow and blue, the other half black and red. The upside is that I can have super fluffy armies that are painted accordingly.
Opinions?
Read more for army lists
Eldar Army:
Saim Hann Wing:
HQ
Farseer on Jetbike
Autarch on Jetbike
5 Warlocks on Jetbikes
Farseer on foot
ELITES
17 Fire Dragons (2 exarchs)
TROOPS
14 Jetbikes (4 cannons, 2 warlocks)
19 Dire Avengers (2 exarchs)
10 Storm Guardians + Warlock
20 Guardians + 2 Warlock + 2 Support Weapons
FAST ATTACK
4 Vypers
HEAVY SUPPORT
2 Fire Prism
2 Falcon
TRANSPORTS
3 Wave Serpents
Waiting to be built are 9 Jetbikes (convert 5 into Shining Spears, 1 Warlock, 1 cannon, 2 regular) and 3 Vypers.
Supplemental Forces:
Iyanden Castle:
Eldrad
Avatar
Yriel
20 Wraithguard
3 Wraithlords
3 War Walkers
Harlequins - The Laugh Factory:
Great Shadowseer (Counts as Eldrad)
Solitaire (Counts as Yriel)
40 Harlequins
18 Pathfinders / Rangers
15 Dark Reapers
My friend has a very nicely painted all Saim Hann army, and it looks fantastic. The Saim Hann have a great paint scheme. There certainly isn't an aesthetic reason not to paint your Eldar completely with their colours.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a few armies that have components painted in different colour patterns. Somewhere was a picture of an Fantasy Empire army that was composed of various units painted by Games Workshop's Eavy Metal painters. I think it was around a 2000 point army, and probably had around 3-5 paint schemes in it. The army looked really good. The various schemes fit well together. Various units stood out the right amount from each other, while still complementing the whole army.
I've also seen Empire armies painted by the Eavy Metal team that have a unified paint scheme. Personally, they look even better.
Even though you're dealing with an Eldar army, I think the same applies. While a multi-scheme force can look good, the colours used have to be chosen with care. I don't see the Saim Hann and Iyanden paint schemes coming together to create an army that is better looking than an all Saim Hann army.
This is simply my opinion, and not nearly as important as what matters most: what you think!
If you do go with the all Saim Hann army, best of luck painting all that red! I was so burnt out after painting an Imperial Fists army that after a month I still haven't brought myself to take any pictures for my blog.
Also, I just scrolled back up to read your army list. That's a lot of harlequins! Should provide some very entertaining shenanigans on the tabletop!
Thanks for the feedback, Sigismund. I have to agree that while I've seen armies with various paint schemes come together and look terrific (this was the norm for Eldar in 2nd edition), a uniformly painted force just looks a little better.
ReplyDeleteI'm still undecided because I really do like the look and feel of Iyanden and would like to have a fluffy Ghost Warriors army. But then again Wraiths painted in red and black would probably look pretty sweet as well.
At least I don't have to worry about it until I finish painting the core of my Saim Hann army. Hopefully between now and then I'll gain some additional clarity on the matter.
And yes, I usually have quite a good time running Harlequin-based lists. I'm hoping the rumors are true and I can field them in my Dark Eldar army as well (Harlequins + Open topped vehicles = wonderful).