Mike's Elf Army Thread - now with new and improved monsters/titans & tournament pictures :-)

May 2023 Update:

Not many additions this time around, but big ones! :wink: As I really do paint very slowly, I was originally quite daunted by really huge models like , for example, the Mantic Tree Herder and opted for Otherworld and Reaper minis for my Monsters and Titans instead.

But after 2300 points were finally reached I went back and took another look at those “huge” models and did get started on a new Tree Herder and Dragon after all and am very happy that I did! While it did take ages to get them both done, i feel it really changes the overall look of the whole army, having these gigantic minis as new centerpieces. Anyways, you can compare yourself:



July 2022 Update:

Army is shaping up to what I originally envisioned , when I started long ago (see below), except now I want a bigger Tree Herder and Dragon to replace the current ones … :joy:

Still, having painted all the models I had originally lined up feels great and this is what the army looks like right now:




Original Post:

If anyone remembers, there was a “Humble Beginnings” post on the old Mantic forum back in the day, which I made to showcase my just then finished Palace Guard unit, the very first full Kings of War unit I painted.

Now … about 2-3 years later I finally got to the 1000 point mark … yup I am a very very slow painter :grin:

But slow or not, I got the first 1000 points finished after all … soooo pictures :slight_smile: :grin: :partying_face:


P.S.: I’ll do some close up pictures of the different units next …



Playable Army Update:

Well it’s been quite a bit longer than the 2-3 years mentioned above, since I started this project, more like 4 years now and the army has come a long way. So I figured it was time to update this post as well with am up to date picture of the full army:

And yup, I’m a very slow painter! But I’m more than happy with how that army is turning out, especially seeing the progress over the years on those pictures side by side now.

It’s getting pretty close to what I originally planned it to be as I started over 4 years ago and I’m still quite amazed by that. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Heroes, Shamblers and Palace Guard:

Spearmen and Archers:

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fantastic work, not just on the painting which is glorious, but also on getting them done. At 3ish years you’re still massively in front of me so Kudos.
I really love the work on the blending on both the cloaks and shields it’s terrific and really sets the minis off.
Thanks for the Lloyd shots as well, too often we never see the rears of the figures :slight_smile:

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It’s nice to see some Mantic elves here! I like their weird proportions a lot better than the regular ‘humans with pointy ears’ look from other manufacturers. And the paintjob and basing is really good too. Makes me want to continue painting mine :smiley:

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These are really good and just my taste! Full models and none of that 'orrible multi-basing to cut corners.

I love your basing and movement tray style too, if I ever “upgrade” mine from their simple green bases, this is super close to the kind of look I will go for too. Lovely!

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Thank you for the feedback and encouragement. :blush: Makes me even more motivated to keep going and start with the Stormwind Cavalry. :grin:

@Gerrcinn Thanks for the praise :blush:. 3 years ago a friend tried to get me back into the Hobby with a Sci Fi miniatures game … which only needed “about 10 Models” … but I hated painting those models and wasn’t happy with the results … but i kinda was back into “painting” so I just got “some” fantasy models first to "practice a bit " as I have painted fantasy models as a kid already, and well … that project quickly got a life of it’s own and I’m all into KoW now. :grin:

@KptKeno I really liked painting them too, so go ahead and give yours a try and lemme know how they turn out! :blush: About 25 years ago I painted some Warhammer Elves but never got a full Regiment finished. This time around I vowed to get it done “sooner or later” :joy: and it was really fun. The Elf sprues especially give you a lot of options to try different things. I didn t like the standard poses for the Archers for example, so I went ahead and put Swords in their hands and Bows/Quivers on their backs and like how they look much more … and hey they re going to get charged anyways so they’ll need those Swords :grin:

@Remy77077 Thanks Remy! On the bases I didn’t actually do that much. Just some grass and rubble on Superglue. Only on the Shambler bases I did some more, as they would look too empty/flat otherwise.

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Small update: Just finished this guy to go into the front row of my Archers:

Army composition is as follows now btw:

Palace Guard Regiment 160pts.

  • Elven Arch Mage (+ Lightning Bolt + Inspiring Talisman) 115pts.

Kindred Tallspears Regiment 140pts.

  • Elven King 100pts.
  • Forest Shambler Regiment 120pts.
  • Forest Shambler Regiment 120pts.

Kindred Archers Regiment 120pts.

  • Madriga 125pts.

Total: 1000pts.

Madriga is in there just because I really like the Dungeon Siege Model. I know there are probably better options.

The Stormwind Regiment will start the expansion towards 1500 and eventually 2000 pts.

As it is I can use the Archers and Tallspears as a Searguard Horde as well if need arises. Further down the road I have another Palace Guard Regiment planned (to open up the option of a Horde as well) and also would like to include Silverbreeze.

However I might just wing it to 2000pts quickly after the Stormwind Regiment - with double Dragons and a Tree Herder for example … to finally get a playable 2000pts army … to have the option to go play at events at all, if/when the opportunity presents itself. :slight_smile:

Any thoughts?

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What a beautiful army! I’ve grown to love the mantic elves, and yours might be the best I’ve seen.

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Thanks Joe! I’m trying! :smiley: Overall I’m very happy with them as well. Only a few models I have already planned to redo, but after I reached 2000 pts. (The latest models like Madriga and the Mage already have a lot better faces than the models that first started with have. Some of the Regiment Command models I may paint again for that reason.)

It’s been a while, but I finally did decide on how to proceed and what models to use for the Stormwind Cavalry and the first model is finished!! :slight_smile:

I had my doubts as I started as the cast wasn’t the best and needed lots of cleaning up and some parts weren’t that detailed or smooth, but I quite like how the model turned out in the end. Until the whole Regiment is finished, I might also use this guy as a General or Hero on Horse.

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Bravo, looking great so far…I had some reservations about the Mantic elves miniatures, but bought some elven archers for my Northern Alliance anyway, and was happy with the end results.

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Thank you @Nav! And I fully agree, I had some reservations about the models myself at first and looked at other options like the Gamezone Elves and even test painted some, but in the end went with Mantic and couldn’t be happier with the result :slight_smile:

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Looking good - digging the forest shamblers

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I just noticed I posted the last pictures in August 2020, when I finished the first Stormwind Riders … well now in June 2021 I finished the last. It’s been quite the journey!

(Critics may may argue that I would have finished sooner, if I didn’t have to paint the whole Dungeon Saga Box inbetween for some reason! … and they would be right, dang! :joy: )

But oh well they are done and I’m more than happy, so here goes:




Full army looks like this now:


Getting there, slowly but steadily :smiley:

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looking great

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Fabulous army, love your display setup!

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Aye, looking real good. Props on the black acrylic display, I’m a fan of that style, even if I suspect it’s cost me painting points at tournaments in the past :roll_eyes:

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Thanks @Nav , it’s been almost a year that I started work on the Cavalry, can’t believe I’m finally done :smiley:

@Morofang and @Boss_Salvage , yup I like that display as well. Although the main reason to use it was that it comes with a clear acrylic cover (took it off for the pictures) that keeps the dust off the army …

… it’s crazy how much dust models collect when they stand around unprotected over the weeks / months … mmh or is that just in our household? :wink: :laughing:

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Definitely, I love having glass doors on the cabinet I display minis (although its a bit of a mess as I put my wip twilight kin stuff there so I can grab it easier.)

I also collect old/slightly damaged Tupperware that family were going to toss anyway for keeping things in tidy, dust free groups. Really necessary in my case because it could take months between layers of paint on a mini and any dust would be a pita to deal with.

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A Tree Herder joins the ranks -the first big bad monster in the army - bringing me up to exactly 1500 points:


My first non Mantic miniature in the army. I picked the miniature from Otherworld, as I think it fits in really nice with the Mantic forest Shamblers and I wanted something a bit more compact and durable than the Mantic Tree Herder.

Don’t take me wrong, I really do like the Mantic Tree Herder as well and will likely paint it eventually (yep it’s sitting on my shelf already :wink:), but it’s so huge and at the same time fragile with all that little branches that I would dread having to take it to tournaments. (Anyone has any experience/advice with this by chance?)

So that’s 1500 points done and I’m off to paint me a dragon now :grinning:

P.S.: I hear ya @Morofang, dust was definitely noticable as I painted my Stormwind Regiment, as those Minis were sitting on the painting shelf, unprotected, for almost a year.

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