Clan Ever-Winter from the Chasm Glade of Beithur Seun

I finally finished my wood elves.  After being inspired by the videos of Tom Richards on youtube and with my insatiable desire to play/cheer with/for the underdog I decided that I wanted to start an army of wood elves.  When I found an amazing deal from Blue Table Painting where I could get the majority of the models (from their scrap yard) for under one hundred dollars, I put the money down.  While I almost did the army with an autumn color scheme, my wife convinced me to do winter.  In hindsight this was the smart thing to do so that I could use my Ogre Yhetees as Treekin and still maintain my theme.  I love the older (5th ed?) models, so it was fun to try and make them feel more current.  Sorry for the poor pictures.  If I can get better ones then I'll repost.

44 Glade Guard form the main battle line.  It's been really fun to learn how to maneuver units with some finesse rather than just push them forward to smash them into the enemy. 

20 Eternal Guard.  My favorite unit in the army, but rarely used since I've yet to find a way to make them effective.

8 Dryads.  Stripping these from the previous paint job was a fun learning experience.

22 Wardancers.  Enough to make 3 units of 7 with a hero option. 

6 Yhetees that fill in for Treekin.  I love having one heavy-hitting unit to protect my fragile shooty-elves.

11 Waywatchers.  I love (most of) these models.  Trying to get the camo effect on their cloaks was really fun.  Haven't tried them out yet. 

Eagles/Warhawks and Treeman.  I have a way of changing the bases for the Eagles, and I still have to get some removable riders painted up.  The Treeman was given an extra inch of leg and back branches to make him look more like a tree rather than a few stumps put together.

Heroes.  I like the sideways tree on the banner for some reason...even if it looks a little silly.

Although I have an unfinished Orion and about 18 horses and riders, I decided to stop building here, as I might want to use the horses and riders for other projects down the road.  Orion will eventually be done, most likely to be used as a Treeman Ancient.  I've also figured out a way to make the army double as a High Elf army by using the Wardancers as Swordmasters.  Almost like a High Elf army before the major split between the two groups of elves. 
This is my 6th Warhammer army.  All of them completely painted.  I only lack Dwarves in order to represent a showing of all the major fantasy races!  Next in line is some odds and ends and special projects for some of my existing armies.  Then I'll move on to my Nurgle inspired Beastmen.  Comments and criticism are welcome.



 

Modesty

I recently participated in the local “Undie Run” that had two main objectives. First to donate the clothes off your back (and any others that you were willing to give) to the local homeless shelter in preparation for the winter. Second, to 'lighten up' the state that I live in that is so well known for its fundamentalist conservative nature. There were plenty of people there protesting their individual beefs with the state, many of which I agreed with. But for me and my small family this was an event that allowed us to support our community, prove our love of our less-fortunate fellowmen, and to enjoy the company of some freethinking people who were not afraid to stand for what they believed in.

Our participation in the event led to some drama when family and friends (of a conservative-like persuasion) stated that they thought we were wrong and inappropriate for being so immodest. So I thought I'd write a post on modesty.

I feel that modesty is a fluid term. Mostly because it is contextual. What is considered modest is largely determined on the type of activity that you are engaged in. Bathing while naked is certainly modest while being naked while working for your law firm might not be considered modest. Wearing an evening gown (see pretty much any Disney princess) when shopping at a grocery store is not modest while wearing one to a ball or black-tie event would be considered fine.

Because modesty is so fluid I don't think that it is wise to connect it to any sense of universalized morality to it. It is not only silly for a westerner to look at a humble African tribe and declare that their naked bodies are immoral and immodest, but it is most likely short sighted. If the tribe doesn't care about seeing more skin then westerners do then who are we to say that our codes of modesty are any better than theirs? Perhaps tribesmen like that are a little more mature than westerners because they don't feel the need to sexualize the human body or parts of it unnecessarily. Maybe the lack of clothes serves as a statement of equality of members of the tribe. Maybe judgments within the tribe are more easily made concerning who and individual is rather than what he/she looks like.

I personally believe that by showing some leg, shoulder, cleavage, knee-cap, ankle, etc does not necessarily determine who an individual is or what that person stands for. I don't see modesty as a line on a body that must be covered. I don't believe in condemning someone's moral code simply by judging how they look or by seeing what they do/don't wear. Ultimately I think that clothes are a social norm, but that being a social norm neither makes them right or wrong, just something our society has gotten accustomed to. In a non-judgmental world clothes would only serve to as comfort and protection from mother nature.

Modesty as a term speaks more to me when used by its other definition. I would rather people dress simply and with a sense of humility, refraining from gaudy attire. I think that that dress code might do more for us as a society rather than a dress code where people are required to cover up certain body parts for the sake of covering up certain body parts.

I'm almost finished with painting up my army of Wood Elves.  Here is a sneak peak.

Censorship

This blog started out as something that I wanted to completely devote to one of my hobbies, and even though I am particularly proud of my capability in that hobby I am even more intrigued with discussion.  Interaction with others over different ideas is something that I love reading and talking about.  So here I go trying to expand the theme of this blog.

Recently I have engaged some of my family and friends on some controversial subjects and many of those times I have been the voice of the opposition.  Sometimes my contrarian views have been well received and debated; and other times my blatant opposition has been ridiculed.  In a few of these occasions my thoughts and rebuttals were completely deleted and censored by the people that started the conversation.  I feel that the censorship of ideas is offensive and cowardly.

I believe that a healthy discussion can be had with many oppositional viewpoints.  In fact, I think that the best discussions will have more than one view represented.  I think that debate can make the debater smarter.  By stating what you believe and why you believe it, you strengthen your logical reasoning skills.  The act of reasoning (thinking logically) through your beliefs can also found those beliefs on something strong than “that’s just how I feel”.  A sad problem with debate is that people take it personally. I personally can recognize the difference between an argument and a person and that’s why debate/discussion is fun to me.  Some people cannot make that distinction and that is why people take offense to any sort of opposition to their ideas.

It doesn’t bother me at all when others tell me that they disagree, or that they think I am wrong.  So long as they are able to back up their thoughts with some logic and evidence.  I actually welcome anyone to show me how I am wrong in any one thing.  If someone can disprove my views then that makes my understanding of truth better. Pointing out flaws in my logic is a service to me, so that I can think and speak like an educated individual. If I refuse to be persuaded by real evidence and good presentation of that evidence then I am just holding onto a dogma for emotional reasons.  A wise friend once said: “I am open minded to anything that can provide evidence. But I have no tolerance for crappy ideas under the guise of ‘open mindedness’ and ‘tolerance’.  All ideas need to compete in the marketplace of ideas and there is no special deference for [any particular claim]” 

I am a firm believer that people should be respected.  Love, understanding, respect, and equality should be given to an individual.  I am also a firm believer that people's ideas, beliefs, ideals, and worldviews should be critically observed, weighed, and discussed.  No idea is above criticism because every idea may be presented.  I welcome any and all ideas into my discussions.  Nothing is off limits.  But not all opinions/beliefs are created equal.  Someone’s opinion on the existence of unicorns and dragons is not the same as someone’s belief in the medical properties of penicillin.  (Of course this would be different if someone could present some evidence to support the existence of unicorns and dragons).  When discussing honest ideas and beliefs no contrary belief should be dismissed simply because it is a contrary belief.  Please feel free to disagree with what I say, but please disagree with it on a foundation of logic and evidence. 

Warhost from the City of the Six Spires

In Warhammer, there are four major Chaos gods.  My favorite is Slaanesh, the youngest of the gods of Chaos.  He is the god of excess, sadism, and the dichotomy of pleasure and pain.  Since I had plenty of models laying around, I tried to find a way to bring them together into a cohesive army.  I think it worked well with the Warhost from the City of the Six Spires.

Older Dark Elf models with some Dark Eldar bits from Warhammer 40k became my Chaos Marauders.

 The Chaos Warriors from the game Battle Masters became my...uh...Chaos Warriors.

 With some Warhammer 40k bits from the Chaos Space Marine range, Chaos spawn bits, and some other random findings I created my unit of Chaos Forsaken.  Although they have found recent use as a unit of Chaos Chosen recently.

 My Demon princess was converted by taking an Inquisitor model, filing down the wires on her, sculpting her hair, and adding pegasus wings.  I still haven't gone back and fixed her eyes, but she doesn't see a whole lot of play, so I haven't felt the need.

 This is a completely converted Hell-Cannon.  This took a long time to fit together and sculpt.  I still am not entirely happy with all the flesh color.

 The guy on  the left holding the banner is awesome.  I am very proud of the Chaos star/eclipse on his banner.

Sotek's Host of the Serpent Coast

I aquired over 40 5th edition (?) Lizardmen skinks through a friend.  With some extra purchases I quickly had a complete Lizardmen army.  Since my particular Lizardmen spawning inhabits the Southlands, the larger Saurus are a rarity.  Most of my army is comprised of skinks who are buffed with the Slaan's light magic.

 Cold-One mounts pose as Kroxigor in my army.

Old (6th ed?) Cold Ones were converted into fire-breathing Salamanders.

 Plastic dinosaur toys became my stegadons.

 Chameleon skinks with blowpipes

The Darksunz: Hobgoblin tribe of the Dark Lands

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Goblins and Orcs.  After reading many fantasy books in my youth I thought the idea of little green men riding wolves and terrorizing human kind was seriously cool.  Later on, I stumbled on chaos-dwarfs.com, where I instantly fell in love with Chaos Dwarfs, their Hobgoblin slaves, and their purposefully bred Black Orcs.  This hobgoblin tribe is the first part of my Dark Land armies.  The Chaos Dwarfs will come later.

 I used Warhammer 40k rippers for my squigs.  They look more sinister and are cheaper.

 Custom built chariots.  Supposedly steam powered.

 Harpoon Launchers

 Suicide bombers...

 Sneaky gits

Over all I think this is the best looking army that I've painted.  All the colors go well together, and the theme is powerful (in my humble opinion).