hq – Twitchy Bristles

Eldrad Ulthran

*Although many Aeldari seers sensed the nascent presence of Ynnead in the infinity circuits, it was Eldrad who put into motion a daring ploy to awaken the slumbering God of the Dead.*

With playing Ulthwe since I got back into 40k and painting, having a psyker HQ in my line-up has been the bread-and-butter of my lists, and this is especially the case with Eldrad Ulthran later in 8th edition and early so far in 9th. With the new Crusade campaign I’m in I wanted to have a nice, shiny new Farseer for the tabletop and so I took a crack at painting the former High Farseer again.

Pictured, a Farseer painted a year ago, left, and the recently-finished Eldrad for comparison.

I’m thrilled with how the model came together – I used a combination of some of my own methods for the gems and cloth and some of the recommended colors and placement from one of the old Warhammer TV tutorials (praise be unto Duncan and his two thin coats). This is another model where I feel like the improvement I’ve made in the last couple years really shows, and makes me glad that I took another shot at this.

Eldrad Ulthran was once chief among the Farseers of Ulthwe. Eldrad has lived for over ten thousand years, and has successfully guided his people among the twisting paths of fate since the Fall, and throughout the rise of the Imperium.

Crusade Upgrades!

Pictured: My “Crusade” Howling Banshees with updated runes, bases and power swords.

Recently with my ninth edition handbook I picked up one of the Crusade journal; a narrative-style campaign in 40K has been on my to-do list for a long time, and since I’m lucky enough to have a few friends locally interested in the same thing I’m giving it a whirl. I hope to post and chat about different games that I’ve played and show a few battle reports on the site, but before getting too carried away I also decided that some of my existing models needed a little more love before hitting the tabletop.

Pictured, my old Farseer model vs. Eldrad Ulthran, playing the part of my Crusade Farseer.

Not that I always play favorites, but if I did they’d be Jain Zar, my Banshees, my Wave Serpent, and my psykers, so those are some of the models I either redid from scratch or refitted. Guy from Midwinter Minis has an awesome tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gNfrCS263s) for using nail flakes and I tried to apply this to all of my power swords, which gave them a really nice new glimmering effect under natural light.

Pictured, my Wave Serpent post-upgrades with a higher base. Vanes make a big difference!

All in all I think I’m ready for this campaign now and ready for my Eldar to make a splash on the tabletop. Eldrad’s going to be getting a gallery of his own in the next while, too, and I have some other galleries (and battle reports) planned over the next while too. Still going to be slow going till the thesis is done but I’m pretty excited with where painting and playing are going from here!

Before, After, and Next Steps

Pictured, Guardian from 2018 vs. Storm Guardian from 2020.

Felt like I needed a win today, so I’m posting something fun. When I started painting Warhammer again back in 2018 I started with a handful of Guardians, Howling Banshees, and psykers, and after a couple of years I thought it would be neat to compare some of the first models I did with the models I’ve been painting more recently.

Pictured, Howling Banshee from 2018 vs. Howling Banshee from 2020.

I’m happy to say that I think I’ve made strides as far as my painting goes – the more recent colors pop better and I think I’m getting better at picking contrasting colors that look good together. More than that, though, using occasional resin bases, kitbashing, and my basing have all moved a little out of my original comfort zone and I’m excited to see what kind of improvements I’ll have made in another two years’ time.

Lastly, I want to add that because I’m working on a thesis right now and moving into “crunch” time I’m likely not going to be uploading much over the next month or so. Hoping to focus on that for a while and hopefully come back to painting refreshed – I have a few Eldar and Death Guard projects primed and ready to paint and a new “mystery” army I’m excited to build too.

Thanks for the support and views, and see you on the other side!

Jain Zar

I picked up Jain Zar recently from my FLGS, Noble Miniatures (who are awesome, by the way, check them out!), intending for it to be the new star model of my Howling Banshees and this kit did not disappoint. The model has fantastic size and presence to it, and despite minor frustrations initially trying to put it together painting it was a smooth, fun experience.

Even compared to my Oldhammer Wraithlord, Jain Zar has quite a bit of height!

I’m excited to see her on the tabletop once 9th Edition rolls out. I’m thrilled with how the paint job turned out, and even if it’s a small detail I feel like Nihilakh Oxide really pulled through for me again on the mask, giving her an even more “ghostly” feel. I might have to spend more money if new Eldar sculpts in the future keep turning out so good!

Jain Zar’s astonishing swiftness and mercurial temperament are echoed by her Howling Banshee daughters, and it was she who first perfected the Scream that Steals – the psychosonic barrage that emanates from her mask can not only stun foes but liquefy their brains in the process. That death-dealing war cry has been heard across the galaxy, and it has proven that even the immortal servants of the Dark Gods are not above fear.

Spiritseer Caen’thala

A Spiritseer as a Warlord? Heresy! In all seriousness, I didn’t want to make Eldrad Ulthran my Warlord because he can’t take relics or other nifty warlord abilities in 8th, so I decided that I was going to give the job to a Spiritseer! Caen’thala is the new 8th Edition sculpt kitbashed together with some Age of Sigmar bits to give her a little more character and personality.

Pictured are all my recent Ulthwe characters together in one place. In matching outfits!

Caen’thala is equipped with Kurnous’ Bow instead of a Shuriken pistol, and also has the Seer of the Shifting Vector ability to make her a little more Perils-proof. Her preferred psychic powers are Protect/Jinx or Enhance/Drain, and to paraphrase/quote The Emperor TTS series, she longs for genestealer ass.

Spiritseers are those upon the Witch Path who are called to commune with the dead – a chilling concept, even amongst the Asuryani. Though Spiritseers help to ensure the survival of the entire Aeldari race, their actions are perceived by those around them as akin to necromancy; yet another depth the craftworlds must sink to in their struggle to stave off a lingering demise.

Autarch Matthias

Matthias is a kitbashed HQ unit who I put together with bits from a whole slew of different models, most of them Dire Avengers. Mounted him up on a custom 32mm resin base and I’m really happy with the end result. No wings on this Autarch, he’s equipped for sword-and-board with a Star Glaive.

Autarch Matthias, leading his host of Dire Avengers into battle.

The friend of mine who gifted me my Dire Avengers is a huge fan of the Fire Emblem: Awakening game, so you might notice a similarity to a certain one-sleeved sword boy – as if the symbol on my Dire Avenger banners wasn’t a dead giveaway! His Force Shield’s gems also definitely aren’t colored to look like the five different gems in the Fire Emblem.