The Five Hundred Points Challenge

 

Welcome to our Five Hundred Points Challenge!

After some great conversations with friends and among ourselves, we've decided to get a bit more serious about Warhammer Fantasy this year. (Just to be clear, I'm not talking about myself in the third person and using the plural. Most likely, other people will appear on this blog, but I'll leave their introductions up to them.)

We've never actually played it, and that feels a little wrong. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon an old article by Jervis Johnson in an old White Dwarf magazine, where he discussed the advantages of smaller Warhammer battles. He mentioned that while the standard battle size is usually 2,000–3,000 points (I think that was during 7th or 8th edition), he found 500-point engagements to be very feasible and that the system allows for some great games even at that size.

This got me thinking. What has kept us from playing Warhammer Fantasy the most so far? Probably the sheer number of models required, the seemingly very complicated rules, and games that would likely take an entire Saturday instead of being playable in an evening. The article gave me some courage, and after a bit of back-and-forth, we've now decided to paint up 500 points of our favorite armies and just try the system out. If it doesn't work out, at least a part of our collection will be painted, and we can play something like One Page Rules.

Last year, I already started a Warhammer army: the Elven Kingdom of Cothique. I had played it extensively (and very successfully, I might add) in Total War: Warhammer 3 through a mod, so my decision was pretty easy. I already have one unit of Lothern Sea Guard finished, but I thought I could just paint my Island of Blood box. If I leave out the Prince on the Griffon, I'll hit exactly 500 points.

Here’s a picture of my first unit from last year:

For the second unit, I based my work on the heraldry of Cothique and chose the shield design with the seagull. I also painted a first test model last year, but I never got around to painting more:

But that's changing now. Here are a few snapshots of the whole lot, a proud 500 points!

 

Any careful observer will probably notice that these aren't entirely the original figures from the Island of Blood box. The Swordmasters of Hoeth are partly from the new The Old World box, as I find the banner and the new pose of the captain really cool. The only problem was that the new minis are designed for larger bases, and the banner doesn't fit easily next to a Swordmaster when you use 20mm bases (as you should; I find the new aesthetic of The Old World terrible).

So, I had to bend the tips back a bit—not ideal, but the wind can blow in some very unusual ways, especially in the world of Warhammer.

The captain of the Lothern Sea Guard is basically the same model as in the Swordmaster unit, but I've given him a spear here. I hope that's not too bothersome, but I found the conversion too cool not to include. The shields and banner here have already been completely cleared of their original heraldry so I can implement my seagull theme.

The other models, however, are original—the Ellyrian Reavers and the mage.

 We'll see how quickly these figures get finished. Originally, we said five months for 500 points, but I hope it'll be faster. However, since we're currently in the middle of buying a house and preparing for a renovation and move, it might actually take until Christmas. Stay tuned!

 
It's also very possible that some other models might show up in between. After all, I still have to paint Haldir, plus I just 3D-printed a whole Amon Hen model. And I have tons of Legions Imperialis models to paint too!

The hobby is just always a bit wild.

 

All the best

Lucas