Friday, September 22, 2017

Armies on Parade 2017 - The Sylvaneth Harvest

Hey everyone!  Happy Autumn Equinox!  Today I wanted to begin talking about my project and army plans for Armies on Parade 2017.  The date is already fast approaching, but I wanted to ensure I wrapped up my current Khorne army before diving into this one.  As of this post, there are Thirty-Two days before our parade week beings for Age of Sigmar.  On October 23rd Warhammer and Games Workshop stores across the globe will be full of amazing themed and painted Age of Sigmar Armies and I intend to be one of them while looking to earn a Gold place once again.  With the changes to Armies on Parade this year there are different paths for me to accomplish this as well.


Teaser Poster for my Project



Quite a long time ago, before the ending of The World that Was.  I had hoped to one day create an Autumn themed Wood Elf army.  Autumn is easily my favorite season due to all the festivals, and pumpkin flavored everything.  When I finally got to painting my Wood Elves I went a different route in order to allow mixing of the Elven races due to the End Times lists that could be created, but I put my Trees on hold as they were now Sylvaneth and for the past few years they have sat in my hobby room waiting to be painted, but other projects kept popping up I felt the need to do more.  Stormcast Eternals, Blades of Khorne, and finishing my newly named Aelven models.

I have wrapped up my Khorne and was looking for a new project.  I decided to rebase my old Alef models on to rounds, but that is a very simple project despite the time it will take.  Then I saw Armies on Parade announced for 2017 on the Warhammer Community Website.  I immediately looked to my Khorne as it is freshly painted and painted to a higher level than other armies I own due to my improving skill.  However, I couldn't come up with a unique theme to a board for the army.  The color scheme is unique but beyond that, I haven't put created a narrative for the army.  Then I looked at my unpainted Sylvaneth, resigned to their fate of always being on the back burner and I decided I would paint them and find a fun and unique twist on the olf Autumn theme I wanted to do for so long.

A glimpse into my Hobby Journal

It was over coffee (Pumpkin Spice Latte if you were wondering) with my wife that the theme struck me and stuck.  We were talking about how much we enjoyed the Fall Harvest Festivals in our area as well as reminiscing about our early days on World of Warcraft and the fun Autumn Holiday events that went on within the game that we spent many hours enjoying over the years.  I thought why not theme my Sylvaneth around this?  So I set to task and drew up a plan and wrote out a list of what I would need.  I don't plan on any extreme or silly conversions on the models themselves, but I plan for tilled fields and Autumn Harvest for basing.

Some Inspirational Art to help me plan

I wanted to theme the board as a farm in the process of harvesting its crops in preparation for the upcoming festivals I have imagined within my own little slice of the Realm of Life.  I will incorporate my current model's int he army as well as three Citadel Woods as well.  With my plan laid out, I headed off to a local hardware store to pick up some great precut 2'x2' Foam boards as well as some miniature rustic farm tools and equipment from a local craft store.  I am sure there will be more added as the weeks go on, but I had enough to get started with my concept.


Perhaps an Allarielle is needed to complete this project

I plan to build and prime my models this weekend which shouldn't be much of a challenge as it is only around 1000pts in matched play.  I will prime with a darker brown and go over it with a reddish and lighter brown to help blend the Autumn Foilage that will be prevalent in the force as well.  It will still take quite a bit of effort, but I am up for the challenge.

As I said earlier there have been some changes in Armies of Parade this year that add more award categories to the event.  The first large change is the separation between Age of Sigmar and 40k by having parade weeks separated by games.  My area is very 40k heavy and most of the armies last year were from that system.  That might have helped me stand out and achieve Gold last year, but I like that I will now be competing against other Age of Sigmar armies specifically this year.  They have also offered different categories to win.  Young Bloods, First Army, Monsters and Machines, Best Theme, Best Scenic Board, Best Painted are now all up for grabs and I believe it will add more diversity and participation.  I plan to contend for Best Theme and Best Scenic Board with my project this year and I am excited to really get stuck in with this project.


Fun Fact:  I carve these same two pumpkin designs every year

I will be posting continues progress here as well as on Twitter and plan to do a full post as the project comes to completion.  If you have a Games Workshop or Warhammer store nearby I highly suggest you participate this year.  Time is running short, but there is nothing like a deadline to complete a project.  If you are working on a display for Armies on Parade let me know as I would love to see what you are planning.  Until next week, Happy Hobbying!