As you know, we here at Master of Magics we like to keep our eyes pleaded for interesting and unique painted miniatures and armies, in order to show and inspire you in your own hobby adventures. Hobbyists spend hours of their time creating, for lack of a better word, art. So, when we see some mini’s that impresses us, we reach out and ask the owner if they want to tell us about how and why they came up with their ideas. The other day I came across one such army. One that invokes some classic old-world nostalgia. So, I knew I had to reach out to the owner and ask them to share the army with you all. So today we are going look at the fantastic looking wintery forest folks of Travis Kennedy’s Living City.
Hi Travis. So, how long have you been into Age of Sigmar? Are you primarily a painter, a gamer or both?
I have been into Age of Sigmar since 2016. When it was first released without points values and some strange rules, I thought that it wasn’t for me. I mean, even as an avid worshipper of Slaanesh (I have played 40K, specifically Emperor’s Children, for a long time), I thought that rules where I had to gaze into a mirror while rolling my dice for Sigvald was too much of stretch for me to get into the game. With the release of the second General’s Handbook and points values, I was sucked right into Age of Sigmar and didn’t realise all of the fun I was missing! I used to be more of a gamer and was happy to play with minimally painted models (if painted at all) but after I started playing some games with a mate who is a great painter, I was motivated to put more effort into my own painting, and we have had fun having battles with our fully painted armies in recent years. Also, joining wargaming Facebook groups and playing in some tournaments has motivated me to keep painting and I would now consider myself equally a painter and a gamer.
What drew you to The Living City? The Aelves? The Treefolk? Or something else?
Ever since a mate of mine had Wood Elf models in the mid 90’s I have always had a strong interest in the army. When I was looking for a new project after starting my foray into Age of Sigmar with Slaves to Darkness, Wood Elves were an easy choice. The models were amazing, and I loved the lore from the Old World. Unfortunately, the changes to Wanderers saw a lot of my units disappear or unable to be used together, but the Cities of Sigmar release did allow for one awesome thing – the ability to run Living City which gave an opportunity to fully integrate Sylvaneth units into the army and give back the old Wood Elf/Treefolk force. Immediately I set about getting a Treelord, Kurnoth Hunters and a huge unit of Dryads to bring back the old school Wood Elf vibe.
How long did it take you to complete the army?
I have been working on the Wanderers on and off over the last 4 or 5 years between Slaves to Darkness, Hedonites and Freeguild projects. It was during an extended lockdown period in 2020 that I salvaged a second-hand job lot of Sylvaneth. A lot of re-posing, re-arming, re-basing and re-painting over a five-week period saw the Sylvaneth component of my Living City force completed. Funnily enough, after barely playing any games last year due to the pandemic and in need of some cash, I sold the Sylvaneth force and regretted it immediately. Nearly a year later I considered contacting the person I sold them to about buying them back, and would you believe the next week I saw a for sale post with a familiar army on it, my Sylvaneth force! It must have been fate. Needless to say, I immediately bought the army back and reunited them with their Wanderer allies. I have since managed to play some games with them and have had an absolute blast!
Do you have a particular model you are the proudest of?
I am really pleased with how the winter theme turned out, especially with the Treefolk. I had fun painting the Aetherwings up like eagles to match the theme and have some more on the way. I am particularly happy with the Dryads. Although they were reasonably quick and easy to paint, I love how the pink leaves and glowing blue runes, as well as a subtle sprinkling of snow, contrast with the darker colour of the bark. The unit of thirty Dryads look like a swift moving deadly forest on the table and I love it!
So, what’s next on the painting table for you?
Apart from the Aetherwings and a Spellweaver to use as a Battlemage I have on the way, I have been drawn back to Slaanesh with the new mortal Hedonites. I have built and undercoated a 2000-point force of the new models, and of course the army will be led by none other than Sigvald the Prince of Slaanesh. I may just be tempted to dig out our finest silver mirror to gaze into while rolling my dice to make up for the lost opportunities to do so with Sigvald when Age of Sigmar first came out!
Thanks to Travis for sharing their work. If you have a unique and interesting army you have been working on and would like to share it with the wider community, then you can contact me via twitter @TenguPlaysGames or via our FaceBook page, and maybe yours will be the next army featured in our showcase. If you have enjoyed today’s article, please like and subscribe to keep up to date with all we do here at Master of Magics. You want to support the site directly; you can join our Patreon for as little as a $1 a month. Until next time though remember, Stay Safe and look after yourselves.
