The Goodwin Project Vol.7 The List Revisit

Since the start of the Goodwin project Eldar had a new Codex. Damn you GW for producing cool stuff!! So what that simply means is I have to re write my army list from vol.2. This also means that as you may have noticed some units have changed along the way.
Basically I had a guy message me saying that I was painting stuff that wasn't in my list and what was in my list wasn't shown in the project.
Cheeky. It's my project and I'll do as I dam well please. But saying that I guess it would be kind to update the list.

So here is the new 1500pts Goodwin Project Biel-tan Eldar


The Avatar of Khaine: Fast Shot; Monster Hunter. 215

Karandras 230

5 Howling Banshees: Howling Banshee Exarch (shuriken pistol; executioner; Fear; Shield of Grace). 110

5 Striking Scorpions: Striking Scorpion Exarch (biting blade). 100

5 Fire Dragons: Fire Dragon Exarch (firepike; Fast Shot). 145


8 Dire Avengers: Dire Avenger Exarch (power weapon and shimmershield). 134

5 Rangers 60


Wraithlord: flamer; ghostglaive; bright lance.145

Falcon: Ghostwalk Matrix; Spirit Stones; Holo-fields; scatter laser. 170

5 Dark Reapers: Dark Reaper Exarch (Eldar missile launcher with plasma and starshot missiles; flakk missiles; Fast Shot); Reaper Launcher. 190

1,499 points

Loving everything about this new codex to be honest. The eldar are super fast and effective again. And the avatar is a Fookin tank again!! Plus with added upgrades he can slice a hive tyrant in two in a single combat phase as I did this week!
And I love dark reapers even more than I ever did now they can move and shoot!!


Remember kids this is not a competitive army but a display force but gaming legal. So please no one say you should do this and that and drop this and that...

Goodwin Project Vol.5 A long time waiting

I'M BAAAAAAAAACK!!!

it has been a long time in the waiting. approx 8 months away from the hobby but now im back.

at first i picked up some Tau to get them ready for a challenge, kinda half finished them before the game but ran out of time. that was my first dose of being back in the chair.

now im back in full swing with the Goodwin Project! many things have changed since ive been away. Eldar got a new codex for starters!!! and for me it meant a whole new project direction!
the aim of the goodwin project is to produce a fighting force as well as a display piece so it was back to the drawing board with the army selection.

almost everything in the army got better, so it was too much choice to handle. so i kept to the same concept as before and tried to select a unit from each of the aspects. kept the rangers and wraithlord. in fact all i think i did was add a falcon and avatar to the list dropping the farseer and a squad of dire avnegers but making one of them larger!!
alls cool with that as i have plenty sitting about, and it just meant fitting it in 1500pts.

after about a week of hobby (the joys of being unemployed at the moment) the army has dramatically shifted in presentation.

 the Falcon, with classic weaponry, plus imho the best. few bits on order at the mo for vehicle upgrades

 the dark reaper exarch  now complete with eldar missle launcher, had to sculpt a hand as i didnt have one available (do now so may change) few tassles to hide a bad sculpt ;)

even the wraithlord has had a change in image, the loin cloth has been added with banner attatched to his pointy things. a couple of further robes added to his back also. of and a lonely chaos marine head to the base.

 

i chose against the smaller avatar model in the end. after playing a couple of games with them using the little guy it was a tad unfair as something so small with so much power was a tad overkill. am i sporting or what??

he had his mane resculpted due to not liking the one he comes with, and obviously a few body reposes

 and finally i started to actually paint them. im looking to have the same scheme throughout the army, not fussed with aspect colours i want to keep biel tans iconic green and white colours.

hope you like...

until next time!!


 

The Goodwin Project vol.4 strippers!

So with the majority of the miniatures are here with the odd few still to come, Dark reapers and swooping hawks, I thought I would get a head start with stripping some of them down.

Now this isn't going to be tutorial on how to strip miniatures as from experience, other bloggers have got alot of stick from readers about the stuff used to strip thier minis of paint.
So this is simply just an update on how the army is going and some of the products you can use to strip miniatures.

Nitromors "green" the supermarket available version. Less toxic but I would still use a face mask and rubber gloves! dont use this on plastic minis or in a plastic tub. and obviously do your best not to get anything on your hands despite wearing gloves!!

Dettol, my school used to use this when you cut your leg in the playground to clean it up. Now I use it to strip paint. This stuff stinks but is a lot more safe than nitromors, plus it's cheaper and more readily available! also a great benefit of this is it doesnt melt plastic like nitromors.

i usually leave them in soak for a couple of hours, then give them a scrub with a tooth brush. Then pop back into soak. Remember to still use gloves and a mask though. It's safe but stinks in large quantities.

Sealing the top keeps the whiff in!

Karandras all cleaned up and converted into a challenging pose. The step down from the emblem to engage his victim! May their gods protect them!

the wraithlord in all his glory, cleaned and ready for spraying.

some of the aspect warriors. just need to order some more bases as i cant find anymore lying around.

 

 

 

 

i managed to aquire the older avatar miniature for the army. look at him all cute next to the current version. still think its an epic mini though and will take centre place when i choose not to use the farseer.

the mini i managed to get was missing his cloak but not to worry, a bit of plasticard later for create the basic shape before green stuffing the folds onto it.

 

more to come very soon

The Goodwin Project vol.3 the sketchbook reference

As I start to prep the army I do a little bit of research here and there to help create the character of the army.

I borrowed a white dwarf off a good friend some 8 years ago, number 127 from 1990. Sadly I had to give it back, but managed to acquire a copy off eBay so all is not lost.
This is a fab issue as it has a nice in depth article about the eldar as a race. And best of all it is filled with drawings from Jes Goodwins sketchbook!

Ill be using these sketches to visually improve the appearance of the army and add a bit more character by adding war banners and armour detailing.

The Goodwin Project vol.2. The Warhost

For those that wanted a detailed list, here it is.

Goodwin Project (1500pt Eldar army)

HQ - 380pts
Farseer (165)
Doom; Guide; Mind War; runes of warding; runes of witnessing; spirit stones.

Phoenix Lord Karandras (215)

Elites - 349pts
5 Striking Scorpions (122)
Exarch (shuriken pistol; biting blade; Stalker; Shadowstrike).

5 Fire Dragons (115)
Exarch (firepike; Tank Hunters).

5 Howling Banshees (112)
Exarch (shuriken pistol; executioner; War Shout; Acrobatic).

Troops - 354pts
5 Dire Avengers (117)
Exarch (power weapon; shimmershield; Defend; Bladestorm).

5 Dire Avengers (117)
Exarch (power weapon; shimmershield; Defend; Bladestorm).

5 Pathfinders (120)

Fast Attack - 147pts
5 Swooping Hawks (147)
Exarch (hawk's talon; Skyleap; Intercept).

Heavy Support - 270pts
Wraithlord (130)
bright lance.

4 Dark Reapers (140)

The Goodwin Project vol.1 the spirit warrior

Ok so heres the first instalment of the Goodwin project. As the models start rolling in from all my different sources I take hold of the old eldar dreadnought or now known as a wraithlord and get him ready before I strip him down of paint.

Remember this classic pose?

All these models to me are amazing and really reflect my early hobby years and my childhood so I really want them to be all they can be!
Hopefully as this army progresses we can see how they still stand the test of time against the more modern sculpts.

This wraithlord just needs a little bit of conversion work to bring it to life, make it more graceful, more eldar like!
I remembered an old picture by mark gibbons from the old second edition codex. This would be my starting point.

Now not to copy directly, but loosely base the wraithlord on this pose as it reflects enough character to not be a static bore. This guy will stand out as a centre piece to the army so needs to look better than the original sculpt.

The cutting starts...

got my tools and reference pic ready

 

i didnt have any metal bright lances at the time of this so a plastic one will suffice for now.

 

the bodys spine is cut in 2 to help the turn of his head and using 2mm brass rod pinned together.

 

the leg has its soft armour removed and a small cut behind the kneecap to allow the bend. i didnt fancy pinning this, i wanted it to be still connected so slowly bent the leg in stages, little bit at a time.

 

as you can see heavy pinning through and through.

 

here he lays in his complete pose as i wait for the base to dry.

kindly held up by me here he is in his final pose. not as dramatic as the picture but gives the wraitlord a nice sense of movement i think. just what it needed.

 

now ive got to pull him apart again ready to be stripped of paint. he will then be green stuffed around the joints to finish him off then have banners and a loin cloth added.

Some of the models I already had with some of the ones I managed to get on eBay luckily for a few quid.

Just waiting on the rest now before I start the mass stripping.
Some of these are going to need a little bit of extra time in the stripper it seems!

until next time...

Hobby pledge 2013 - The Goodwin Project!

Ok, well I made a hobby pledge back at the end of 2011 for the year 2012 to paint and make some miniatures. Expanding my tau, entering golden daemon etc etc. And well, I didn't achieve any of them! So this year I'm going to keep it simple, veeery simple!

My hobby pledge for 2013 is to reproduce my first 40k army from when I was 13. It was an eldar aspect warrior army of the biel-tan craft world! Now as i will be away for 8 months of the year this pledge is to start the army in 2013 and finish sometime 2014!

I will call it the Goodwin project! (All being Jes Goodwin sculpts of course)

Now this isn't simply just popping into my local hobby centre or retailer and buying the latest models available. Nope! I'm literally using the same models that I used when I was 13! All classic 1980-1990's full metal eldar miniatures! Stripped down to the bare metal and repainted, not just any paint job though. Each with a paint job worthy of display standard within the current style of 2012/13.
Though not all of models are there, it has been 14 years and I may have mislaid some or sold them on for one reason or another! So I've got to track down a few on eBay or asking about the gaming community.


I managed to locate some dire avengers, the classic pointing farseer, eldrad was available and i owned them both but theres a guilty pleasure in me that really loves the pointing farseer over eldrad. A squad of howling banshees, rangers and 2 wraithlords from my original army.
And I've managed to acquire on eBay a few fire dragons, some dark reapers and some striking scorpions, donations from an old friend in the form of some swooping hawks.
So in a matter of 3/4 days I've pretty much accumulated all I need. Not bad going I think!

Now this isn't going to be a tournament winning host but a display piece project, nothing saying that I wouldn't take it to a Throne or Skulls or 2. So you may notice the list may not actually work well, in some people's eyes anyway!

But the list will be as follows...

Farseer with all the works
Karandras

2 x 5 strong Dire Avanger squads
5 strong Pathfinder squad

5 strong Banshee squad
5 strong Scorpion squad
5 strong fire dragon squad
5 strong swooping hawk squad

1x wraithlord (I didn't fancy 2 as its a bit cheesy and I didn't  want a duplicate model running around. Dire avengers are ok as they aren't one large centre piece model that's the same as the other, plus I can do something special with just one wraithlord!)
4 strong dark reaper squad ( couldn't quite scrape together the points for 5)

This makes a tidied 1500 pts, ill do a detailed army list at another date for those that want.

A bit of everything to keep it looking fresh and unique, rather than a large monotone bore as you repeat the colours over and over. Plus it keeps me entertained painting a new unit each time!


Photos to follow as I make more progress...