A Kingdom of Isolation (Phoenix Temple Blog) - 25/09 - FHGT Display Board pics

[Kronos]

Great elves, and very very good bases.

[Chris Tomlin]

15 hours ago, Stevewren said:

Looks great. Having painted three myself I know that they can be frustrating, but end result is usually quite good. The models just look cool! However what are you going to do when you get to month 6, GHB 2018 gets released and Phoenix are 320 points each...???

Thanks Steve, glad you like him! Your army was really cool, I remember it well. Yeah they are strange models...I think it's the snowflakes that are a bit off for me. Would probably rather it without them. I did considered covering them in snow but thought it would make no sense for a bird in flight. But then, what are the snowflakes doing?

I fully expect the Phoenixes to rise (ha!) in points and suggested as much in some recent feedback to GW. I don't find I build my AoS armies to a fixed 2,000pts as I like to have different list options, so any changes to points values don't really bother me tbh. I especially plan on painting more than 400pts of allies for this this army so I can try out some different things (otherwise the painting is all a bit samey - Phoenixes or Phoenix Guard! )

13 hours ago, Kronos said:

Great elves, and very very good bases.

Thanks man, I am particularly happy with the bases and have some plans in mind for future Phoenixes.

[KnaveOfScribes]

I really like how the phoenix came out - its got a great monochromatic feel with the gold feeling even richer in comparison while still matching the coldness of the base and phoenix.  Great stuff.

[Chris Tomlin]

20 hours ago, KnaveOfScribes said:

I really like how the phoenix came out - its got a great monochromatic feel with the gold feeling even richer in comparison while still matching the coldness of the base and phoenix.  Great stuff.

Cheers man, I'm glad it comes across that way. You've very eloquently stated the kind of look I'm going for  

[Chris Tomlin]

Hey,

Well it's finally time to get around to my month three additions to this army. Seems like ages since I've done anything due to finishing month two so early because of my holiday. I'm also starting late this month as I was working on some additions for my Ironjawz over the first couple of weeks.

My preference for this month would certainly be to add 20 more Phoenix Guard, mostly to break the back of the infantry as early as possible. However, I don't want to be stressing out over painting to deadlines right now, so I figured I'd just add a second Phoenix. This is by no means a quick or easy option though, especially given my desire to convert and repose.

I did make a good start last night, but still plenty more work (including Greenstuffing) to do before I get to the painting. If I give myself a week for that it should be fine though.

I based this model off a prebuilt Phoenix, which gave me a bit of bother throughout. Still, I got the hairdryer out for some bending which mostly worked out. Unfortunately there was a snap on the tail feathers when it came to pinning (bent it a little too much). However I'm confident I can fix this.

Anyway, here are some cheeky #wipwednesday photos for you before they appear on Twitter this evening.

Enjoy,
Chris

[syph0n]

A big aelf fan and those Phoenix Guard are really lovely. The Phoenix has come out brilliantly - I guess the challenge is to make each of them look individual. I find in AoS with older factions, the one off or two off models you may have had in WHFB become a big part of an AoS Faction and it gets samey.

Finding the same with my Drakespawn Knights and I know I'll be looking to make a different looking Hydra etc.

Your snow is brill too. 

[Chris Tomlin]

On ‎21‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 3:55 PM, syph0n said:

A big aelf fan and those Phoenix Guard are really lovely. The Phoenix has come out brilliantly - I guess the challenge is to make each of them look individual. I find in AoS with older factions, the one off or two off models you may have had in WHFB become a big part of an AoS Faction and it gets samey.

Finding the same with my Drakespawn Knights and I know I'll be looking to make a different looking Hydra etc.

Your snow is brill too. 

Thanks man!

Yeh indeed, the main challenge is to vary up the posing on the Phoenixes, which are actually pretty plain models.

Will start the paint on this one tonight now the conversion is fully finished. Will have photos up this time next week!

Would love to see pics of your converted models.

[syph0n]

I've got some drakespawn coming and I'm gonna kitbash the old metal knights. I've already done a bit of converting and alterations for my 2nd drakespawn unit, so should have 3 noticeably different units when done. Link in my signature to my own thread. 

Looking forward to seeing the next batch you do! 

[Chris Tomlin]

On ‎27‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 1:38 PM, syph0n said:

I've got some drakespawn coming and I'm gonna kitbash the old metal knights. I've already done a bit of converting and alterations for my 2nd drakespawn unit, so should have 3 noticeably different units when done. Link in my signature to my own thread. 

Looking forward to seeing the next batch you do! 

Your stuff looks really cool mate. I'm super fond of all those Dark Elf models, having painting them all in my favourite 7th/8th ed army.

So this morning I am able to share my second Frostheart Phoenix with you. I guess this came together in a short amount of time, in terms of actual days, however the man hours put into this have been pretty crazy - Don't feel like I've done much else over the 4 day Bank Holiday weekend!

Anyway, I have to say I am really happy with him and think he came out better than the first one. Pretty much satisfied with all aspects; the conversion, the overall paintjob including the rider and the base. Technically speaking, this is not near my best work but I would have to say this is one of the coolest looking models I've done for sure.

 It went a fair bit smoother than the first Phoenix, as I'd written down the stages. That said  I did have a few trials and tribulations along the way;

• Had to brush some Biostrip onto one of the riders leg scalemail mid paint job. This is not something I'd ever advise and it's a miracle it didn't ruin everything!!
• I had to fit the rider to the Phoenix mid paint job due to the way the saddle would have to join (and be permanently fixed). This made everything a bit trickier and trying to greenstuff the joints were a nightmare. In the end I decided to cut out some plasticard (getting the right size was a pain) and stick these down as new "throne" sides. Conversion supremo @Rob Ellis recommended slicing off some gems from somewhere and attaching them to the saddle, which was a fantastic shout and really helped this look like part of the model.
• The snowflakes....oh how I hate these things and wish the model didn't have them. They are by far and a way the worst part of the first Phoenix (as due to trial and error I painted them about 3 times). Once I'd finished this model, they were still the worst bit here and didn't look quite right so I had to glaze them down and rehighlight them all individually again. Such a pain. The most depressing thing is that they are still the worst bit haha!

It wasn't all doom and gloom at all though. I'd picked up some new make-up brushes ahead of this paintjob, so the drybrushing under the edge highlights is much smoother (for the most part), but it really does all come down to the patience of sitting there for hours and hours to line highlight all those feathers to really make the bird pop.

That said, it is easy to purely focus on the plumage as it's the largest and most stand out area. I'm also particularly pleased with the bird's head and feet as well as the rider himself (face came out nicely I think) and also the base (managed to squeeze in a couple of icicles), though its worth noting the snow is still wet in these photos.

Anyway, you don't care about all that, you just want to see the pics right? Here is a whole bunch, including a bonus 5 that didn't appear on Twitter last night.

Hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Cheers for looking,
Chris

 

[KnaveOfScribes]

Great work as always man, I'm a huge fan of that cold gold and the almost glass-like dark blue plumage on the Phoenix. Everything just works wonderfully together.

[Stevewren]

Looking great as always. I particularly like the gold. Lots of variation between the dark and light areas. 

[LLV]

Looks great to me. Really striking army, kind of monochromatic in a way, which is ace. 

Will this be a self contained Phoenix temple or will there be some more order coming at some point?

Maybe some flying turtles and the like in a few weeks? Lol

 

[syph0n]

Can you take a side by side of both of the Phoenix? Looking amazing! 

[Chris Tomlin]

Morning all,

Thanks for the replies, likes etc  

20 hours ago, KnaveOfScribes said:

Great work as always man, I'm a huge fan of that cold gold and the almost glass-like dark blue plumage on the Phoenix. Everything just works wonderfully together.

Thanks man. I am happy with the scheme and think it all ties in nicely with the cold bluey-grey. I like the glass analogy.

19 hours ago, Stevewren said:

Looking great as always. I particularly like the gold. Lots of variation between the dark and light areas. 

Thanks Steve, glad you like him. The gold actually got a little extra attention here as after a first pass I wasn't happy so washed it down and re-layered. It's given it some nice depth, particularly on the Phoenix's hat thing!

18 hours ago, LLV said:

Looks great to me. Really striking army, kind of monochromatic in a way, which is ace. 

Will this be a self contained Phoenix temple or will there be some more order coming at some point?

Maybe some flying turtles and the like in a few weeks? Lol

Cheers bro! Yeh I definitely wanted to keep somewhat of a limited palette that also ties into the base for that very cold feel.

In terms of the army composition, it's kind of annoying me at the moment. I wanted to include a bunch of stuff but am finding the allies system restrictive in this instance and unfortunately even building it as an army of the Phoenicium doesn't help due to battleline. As we've seen recently, mixed Order is the popular way to go as you can jam in 3x10 Skinks for 180pts and then take whatever the hell you like! I'm not keen on this personally for my army (no issues with others doing it), so will remain as pure Phoenix Temple. That said I definitely will be painting up a small variety of allies; namely Eldritch Council for some magic and Phoenix buffs (and maybe a Dragon!) as well as some Stormcast Vanguard Chamber stuff for some shooting.

All that said, I do plan on buying into Idoneth Deepkin completely. Ideally they would be painted in a similar fashion to these models and based the same, but I worry it won't work, so that is something that needs consideration.

12 hours ago, syph0n said:

Can you take a side by side of both of the Phoenix? Looking amazing! 

A few people have asked this so I will certainly be doing so . Thanks!

Chris

[Chris Tomlin]

Hey,

For month 4 I'll be adding 20 more Phoenix Guard to the army. Technically I have the points for 30, but can't face that in a month so will just be underpointed for the month again (month 4 games are 1300pts). I have changed my previous plans and will not be painting two different versions of the list (one campaign, one for SCGT) as I don't want to rush and will just use something else at SCGT.

I will just continue to add monthly for the campaign instead, however this does give me the conundrum of which allies I'll be adding. I also don't think I want to do 4 Frosthearts now as I'm not sure it'll be viable if (when!) they go up in points in the next handbook.
So by the end of the month, the army will be;

Leaders
Anointed Of Asuryan On Frostheart Phoenix (240)
Anointed Of Asuryan On Frostheart Phoenix (240)
Anointed (80)

Battleline
20 x Phoenix Guard (320)
10 x Phoenix Guard (160)
10 x Phoenix Guard (160)

Total: 1200 / 1300

I'm now thinking the 2,000 point list I'm working towards might look like this;

Leaders
Anointed Of Asuryan On Frostheart Phoenix (240)
Anointed Of Asuryan On Frostheart Phoenix (240)
Anointed Of Asuryan On Frostheart Phoenix (240)
Anointed (80)
Archmage (120)
- Allies
Loremaster (100)
- Allies

Battleline
30 x Phoenix Guard (420)
10 x Phoenix Guard (160)
10 x Phoenix Guard (160)

Units
3 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (180)
- Allies

Total: 1940 / 2000
Allies: 400 / 400

I can't say it's overly efficient, especially with 60 wasted points. I'll admit I'm currently finding it frustrating to build a pure Phoenix Temple list, where theme is so restrictive. I could literally drop 10 Phoenix Guard, add 3x 10 Skinks and suddenly have all the flexibility I want. I'm definitely not doing that though, it seems a bit backwards to me haha!

But anyway, I digress...

[Spiny Norman]

Hi Chris,

I am here to tell you, that I thorouhly enjoy your painting work. You have a very clean and detailed style of painting and as far as I can tell, you are mostly using the brush and not the airbrush. It ist really nice to see that the good old brush can produce those amazing results. I enjoy your battle reports too, even if I am not playing IJ.

As I am here right now, I wanted to ask you which colour you used for the armor of your black sunz. Especially the dark metallic foundation is really intriguing since I am looking to paint some Black Knights and grave guard. The dark armor theme would be really nice looking on them.

 

Have a nice day.

[Chris Tomlin]

Hey @Spiney Norman,

Thanks for the comments. All my painting is brush work, I do not own an airbrush.

As for the Ironjawz, the armour is painting in a pretty inefficient way tbh. I have continued with this method as I started with it and like how it looks, but suspect similar results could be achieved with less stages!!

• Basecoat black
• Line the edges and ridges with a mix of black and Mechanicus Standard Grey
• Highlight with Mechanicus Standard Grey, adding progressive more Dawnstone for successive highlights (3 highlights total - top one pure Dawnstone)
• Paint some areas of larger chipping (so not all round the edges) in Leadbelcher
• Wash the entire area with Army Painter Dark Tone
• Spend forever going round the armour carefully applying chips over the black ridges and highlights to the Leadbelcher areas. I use Runefang Steel for this, but if I started again now I would 100% switch to Stormhost Silver (just didn't want to change halfway through the army or anything).

But honestly, if you went over a flat black undercoat with Stormhost Silver chips (which you could stipple much quick than painstakingly painting each one) I don't think over 50% of people (probably much higher) would even be able to tell the difference, especially in gaming areas with poor lighting. That is an incredibly depressing thought to me haha!! That said, it's all worth it when someone does notice the difference/effort  

Be sure to share pics of your Black Knights and Graveguard when finished!

Chris

[Spiny Norman]

Hi Chris,

thanks for your response! You can definetely tell that the chipping took a lot of time and effort. I was pretty sure you used a dark metal color and washed it down, instead of basecoating all black.

Of course you did an excellent job with the green skin, too. Skin is some of the hardest technique for me and your results are flawless. I hope it comes through patience and practice. Not painting skin was one of the factors for me to choose Death (and Necrons), though.

 

I just noticed that I accidentally posted in the wrong thread of yours. The Phoenix is very impressive, I already saw it on the picture gallery preview. The feathers most have taken aeons of time.  Even more so that you are an all-brush-painter, which I support, because I just don't like airbrushing, even if it makes things easier.

 

Have a good day.

Edited April 6, 2018 by Spiny Norman

[AthlorianStoners]

Man I love that your sticking to the Phoenix theme and building a solid thematic list. Very cool army and the effort shows.

[Chris Tomlin]

On ‎06‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 1:37 PM, Spiny Norman said:

Hi Chris,

thanks for your response! You can definetely tell that the chipping took a lot of time and effort. I was pretty sure you used a dark metal color and washed it down, instead of basecoating all black.

Of course you did an excellent job with the green skin, too. Skin is some of the hardest technique for me and your results are flawless. I hope it comes through patience and practice. Not painting skin was one of the factors for me to choose Death (and Necrons), though.

I just noticed that I accidentally posted in the wrong thread of yours. The Phoenix is very impressive, I already saw it on the picture gallery preview. The feathers most have taken aeons of time.  Even more so that you are an all-brush-painter, which I support, because I just don't like airbrushing, even if it makes things easier.

Have a good day.

Hey man, thanks once again for your kind comments - it is most appreciated. No worries for getting the wrong thread.

With the Phoenixes, patience is definitely the number one skill required for that many line/edge highlights. Not tricky, just takes ages haha.

In terms of airbrushing, I'm really not a fan of models that a purely painted with an airbrush. There's a certain style to quickly airbrushed models (often referred to as pro painted on eBay haha!!) that just looks rubbish to me. That said, airbrushing used as a tool for basecoats, layers etc and mixed in with brush work for final highlights is something I have come to appreciate, though personally my preference is still for brush painted miniatures. To each their own though.

On ‎06‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 1:55 PM, AthlorianStoners said:

Man I love that your sticking to the Phoenix theme and building a solid thematic list. Very cool army and the effort shows.

Cheers bro!  

Hopefully get some time in on the Phoenix Guard this week!

[EMMachine]

Hey, nicely painted. Such an army could also be good addition for my "Frostaelves".

The only thing I don't like is that there are too many "Anointed Of Asuryan On Frostheart Phoenix" in my opinion where some simply could be unmounted "Frostheart Phoenix". I know that both cost the same at the moment but for me there are too many Leaders (Lorewise not Rulewise).

[KnaveOfScribes]

Kudos for sticking with theme over gaming-prowess when deciding on your list, you're a man after my own heart. The next block of Guard is looking impressive, though you are a madman to be painting all 30 at once...

[Chris Tomlin]

3 hours ago, EMMachine said:

Hey, nicely painted. Such an army could also be good addition for my "Frostaelves".

The only thing I don't like is that there are too many "Anointed Of Asuryan On Frostheart Phoenix" in my opinion where some simply could be unmounted "Frostheart Phoenix". I know that both cost the same at the moment but for me there are too many Leaders (Lorewise not Rulewise).

Hey, thanks for sharing your blog. Those Frostaelves look fantastic! Especially like the Dragon. I've considering adding a Dragonmage / Archmage on Dragon to this army eventually and your colour scheme would work perfectly. Very nice.

Is there something in the lore that suggests Anointeds don't often ride Phoenixes then? I wasn't aware of this. To me it makes more sense that the army would be accompanied by its greatest heroes mounted upon them.

Also, I'd be lying if I said that rules don't play a massive factor. As cool as they look with the riders, getting a free 4+ ward save and additional attacks is certainly an incentive. A great example of a warscroll needing two different version (or two different costs if nothing else).

1 minute ago, KnaveOfScribes said:

Kudos for sticking with theme over gaming-prowess when deciding on your list, you're a man after my own heart. The next block of Guard is looking impressive, though you are a madman to be painting all 30 at once...

Well, as per above there definitely is an element of gaming included. I'm strongly restricting myself to theme, but I'm also trying to build an army for games as well - not that I expect this to do all that much other than be pretty tanky. Honestly, I'm not hugely excited to play with it at present, but it is a nice hobby project which I am enjoying painting.

Thankfully I'm just doing 20 at once!  

[EMMachine]

23 hours ago, Chris Tomlin said:

Is there something in the lore that suggests Anointeds don't often ride Phoenixes then? I wasn't aware of this. To me it makes more sense that the army would be accompanied by its greatest heroes mounted upon them.

The main problem is, that there isn't much lore. Mostly the Grand Alliance Book plus perhaps the the firestorm campaign. I only have the feeling (when looking at your highter listbuilds (1200 and 2000 Points) that 3-4 Anointed could be a little much for the Army size. It looks like the army is lead by 3-4 Generals.

I know, its not the best example but when we look at the Spyreheart Warhost in the Grand Alliance Book, we have 1 Anointed, 2 units of Phoenix Guard and 2-4 Phoenix Models (and since one of the Erratas the 2-4 Phoenix' can't get the Anointed Upgrade), so unmounted Phoenix'  should be more common than mounted ones.

The example lacks in the point that we can't get a Anointed riding a Phoenix in this Battalion anymore (after it's still the Warscrollname, not the Keyword ANOINTED used in the Warscoll).

(More after the next quote)

23 hours ago, Chris Tomlin said:

Also, I'd be lying if I said that rules don't play a massive factor. As cool as they look with the riders, getting a free 4+ ward save and additional attacks is certainly an incentive. A great example of a warscroll needing two different version (or two different costs if nothing else).

Yeah, that's a real problem in that case (and it's a quite rare one).  Either the Mounted Phoenix is too cheep or the unmounted one is too expensive. It's quite different than giving a character a horse, where in most cases the model simply has a higher move and maybe 2 Attacks hitting on 4+ and wounding on 5+ (or the other way around).

One thing is, we actually don't know if or how they will change it, but for the case that you're not only going for the most efficient listbuild it could be much saver taking some unmounted Phoenixmodels than perpaps crippling the nicely themed army after a update.

23 hours ago, Chris Tomlin said:

Hey, thanks for sharing your blog. Those Frostaelves look fantastic! Especially like the Dragon. I've considering adding a Dragonmage / Archmage on Dragon to this army eventually and your colour scheme would work perfectly. Very nice.

At the moment the army is containing Darkling Covens, Daughers of Khaine and Order Serpentis (most Order Serpentis Models aren't glued yet). If I plan correcty my army will include 3 Black ... ehm Frost dragons. 2 Sorceress (one as the Queen of the group) and a Dreadlord as the King and General.

I don't know yet if I want to make some Frostaelves with Phoenix Temple and/or Eldritch Counsil.

Edited April 11, 2018 by EMMachine

[jamierk]

Awesome work on the PT mate! I’ve got 70 PG almost fully painted now and 2 Phoenix plus an annointed on foot. I too would like to stick to PT only so I’m searching for the right balance of allies to make it happen. My main issue is the lack of rend and multidamage (those damn shields that add 1 to saves on damage 1 weapons like rats and skellies can really hold me up). I’m trying sisters of thorn plus loremaster for building a good rerollable save on frosty and using him as the hammer. I’m tempted to try some shooting support instead. Have you had many games?