Before I get into my progress so far a little reminder of our ongoing projects…

Back at the start of the year, myself along with fellow podcasters Matt and Jay set out on two Tale of Gamers for 2019. One for Age of Sigmar, the other for Warhammer 40k.

Each month we aimed to paint £50 worth of models for our particular forces, starting with our Warhammer 40k projects in January, before moving onto Age of Sigmar for Febuary, then back to 40k in March.

We have now moved the goal posts slightly, deciding to build towards points rather than money. So for the month of March we needed to take our 40k forces started in January and make them into battle ready, 1000pt armies.

You can keep a close tab on our progress by listening to our weekly podcast. You can listen to our latest episode right here.

I decided to go for the forces of the Eldar for Warhammer 40k, specifically from the Ulthwe Craftworld. I wanted a force with a straight forward paint scheme, plus I really like the lore and model for Eldrad and the specific Craftworld trait for Ulthwe.

Jay, who listeners of the podcast will know, is the biggest Eldar fan I know, and I’ve fought his various Eldar armies over the years. I really liked the specific Aspect Warriors, the sleek vehicles and their psychic might.

I’ve had two battles so far with my small force, but I’ve already started to get a feel for how the army plays. As the last few hours of March tick away I thought now would be a great chance to update you all on how my first 1000pts of Craftworld Ulthwe are progressing!

I did cover some of these in my only other progress post, however now that they are finished I’m going to cover January and March’s models.

HQ

Kinshar; Born of Twilight – Autarch [with Swooping Hawk Wings]

Kicking things off is my Autarch, the first Eldar model I purchased and painted not long after the start of the new year. On the tabletop so far he’s charged Matt’s Abominant (which I’m aware, is not the smartest idea in the world, however needs must) and survived, killing the beast with his Fusion Pistol (before being shot to pieces shortly after).

Illisar Eldrion – Farseer [with Singing Spear]

I was really looking forward to painting my first psyker for my Ulthwe force. Literally spoilt for choice when it comes to psyhic powers with the Eldar, this model also looks brilliant. My intention is to mainly use his buffing abilities with Guide and Doom, leaving just Smite for dealing damage. I keep trying to push my painting skill, and this model was great for that with all the markings on his chest. Overall I’m really pleased with how he turned out.

Troops

Guardians

So onto the backbone of the force, my first 10 Guardians with a Starcannon Weapon Platform. I perhaps feel I could have been more ambitious with how these were painted, however I’m still happy with how they turned out. I think eventually I’m going to need at least another 20 of these, so in a way I’m glad I kept the scheme simple.

Dire Avengers

I’ve always liked the Dire Avenger models, but in all the reports and such I’ve seen they never seem to get a look in. For the additional points you get an extra 6″ range on their rifles and a customizable Exarch. Whilst my brain said give the Exarch ranged weapons to help his keen, theirs no denying how cool he looks with the Glaive and Shimmershield which gives his unit a 5+ invulnerable save, so I went with that.

An awesome looking unit, I just had to make these guys my second troops choice. Will they still be used when the army grows? I hope so, but will have to wait and see how they do on the battlefield.

Elites

Wraithblades [with Axes and Shields]

Ah wraith units. How cool are these guys! For my first painted Wraith unit I went for the close combat kind. Whilst they are -1 to hit with the axes, I wanted a survivable unit, especially in these smaller games without a transport. These were really fun to paint.

Heavy Support

Wraithlord [with Starcannon, Flamer, Shruiken Catapult and Ghostglaive]

Another Wraith unit in 1000pts, the awesome Wraithlord. I may have gone a bit random with how I’ve equipped him. I had to give him the sword because it’s brilliant and I wanted something else I could throw into combat. Thinking back to when I was building him I should have perhaps given him two Shruiken Catapults instead of one and a flamer, but ah well. He is also home to my second Starcannon, which as well as being a great ranged attack also looks cool sat on his shoulder!

Dark Reapers

My apologies…at the time of writing I was waiting for the wash on the bases to dry, they shall be finished before midnight!

The last thing I painted before the end of the month and to round out my points. This unit should have actually been Wraithguard armed with Wraithcannons, however after starting them I really fancied something different for my first 1000pts. I can only get three into this force at this stage with what I’ve already painted.

Their guns are nothing short of awesome and are a great source of high strength and multiple damage shots for taking out elite infantry and knocking wounds off vehicles.

Flyer

Crimson Hunter [with 2x Bright Lances]

Finally we come to the biggest model I’ve painted for my Eldar so far, the Crimson Hunter. I was lucky enough to acquire this flyer from Jay. Whereas at this points level perhaps a tank would have been better, I had the model there crying out for a paint job.

The Crimson Hunter, and the Wraithfighter, are two of the prettiest flyers in the game (podcast listeners will know the Corvus Blackstar remains my favourite). Painting the Hunter gave me chance to see how I could paint my inevitable Wave Serpents.

So that rounds up what I’ve painted so far, coming in at 993pts. As you can see it’s a Patrol detachment so far, so just the 3 Command Points, however with Kinshar I have the chance to gain a command point at the start of each player turns and the Ulthwe warlord trait on Illisar could grant me a CP back when I use a stratagem.

At this stage I have to pause my Eldar painting and move back to Age of Sigmar, my Stormcast Eternals, but when I return I’m going to be aiming to add a Spiritseer, 10x Guardians, a Wave Serpent and Wraithguard to my army.

Towards the end of April I shall aim to have a progress update for my Stormcast up here on Sprues and Brews.

Onwards to the Mortal Realms!

Published by David Jennings

Born and raised in Crewe in Cheshire, Dave is a geek through and through. Enjoys designing and managing websites. View all posts by David Jennings