Have I Decided to Create an Elven Host?

Is it the start of a new army or is it just more troops to add to what I have so far?

I'm not sure. I do like the idea of an elf army but I also think they can be pretty dull. This is one of the reasons I decided on a faerie army. But it has to be said that a phalanx of bright eyed elves with glittering spears and shining mail, is an attractive thought. However, how many units would I need to build the Elven Host to a decent size?

These figures are from the plastic Oathmark range by North Star Miniatures. They look okay for generic elves but some aspects of them I find a bit questionable (their faces, hair and that armour/symbol thing on their chests) and they are pretty generic & limited. With one box I can make two units of 12, with 6 left overs. Or 5 units of 12 using two boxes. That's reasonably economic & amounts to a little under $2 per figure. These figures more take time to paint too.

As it is; I have two boxes and I think what I'm going to do initially is make up 3 units of 12 spears and two units of 12 bow. These will make up the core of my faerie army which I can enhance with other units as I wish (I'm thinking warbands of mixed figures of all sorts of fae creatures).

As it is, I really wanted to love these figures but I feel a little bit underwhelmed and uninspired by them. I have another box and I'll probably get more but I feel that they are lacking something. They just don't seem to have any spark.

Anyhow, here's my first batch sitting on some very basic movement trays. The trays are just blank mdf drink coasters that I picked up from a hardware shop. They are effective and inexpensive with a fast paint job using a sponge and some cheap acrylic paint.

What's with the eyes. Why have I done the eyes like this you may well ask? Well there is a reason.

      "He looked at her with the strange slant eyes of the elf-folk, all cloudy blue without pupil or
white. There were little moon-flecks drifting in Imric’s eyes, and shadows of ancient wisdom,
for Imric had dwelt long in the land when the first men came."

From The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson.

And to finish for today, I also did some giant rats and wolves for whatever game needs them. Nothing special about these. The paint work is very basic and they took very little effort. They are all Reaper Bones. The rats are the new Black Bones!