Riders of Nuloren
Filed Under: Hobby
Slowly, but surely, the army of Nuloren (my personal City of Sigmar) is growing. The latest additions are two units of light aelf cavalry: Shadowblade Dark Riders and Wanderer Glade Riders, the latter of which are a perfect proxy for the former.
I had both built, primed and on the battlefield for a while before I got around to painting them. I don’t normally play with unpainted models, but as my hobby output slows it’s becoming more common.
Dark Riders
I painted the Dark Riders first.
This kit is from the early 2010s, as far as I can work out, and it holds up well. It was a little bit fiddly to assemble, but the details are crisp and the models are stylish and dynamic, with a real sense of rushing forward movement.
I used transfers on the banner. I don’t recall ever having used a transfer before, so I was glad they stuck down without any difficulty. Turns out it’s not that hard.
Any enemies of Nuloren foolish enough to invade the Vardenfold in small numbers soon find themselves ambushed by one of the city’s Dark Rider patrols. These shadowy aelves strike with spear, blade and repeater crossbow from atop their black steeds, arriving and departing in a storm of silence broken only by the rustle of leaves falling in the patrol’s wake. When called to battle, the Dark Riders act as scouts and outriders, protecting the army’s flanks and harrying those of the enemy.
Glade Riders
Next I painted the Glade Riders. These took several months as they were interrupted by Magewinds-related hobby distractions. I try not to have more than one hobby project on the go at a time, or to pause things, because it really messes with my sense of progress, but in this case I didn’t have much choice. It did still suck, though, and finally finishing them felt great.
This kit is about a decade older than the Dark Riders kit and definitely feels like a product of the early 2000s. The horses come on a separate sprue and are two pieces each, with a tab connected to their hooves on each side of the body so they can slot into double-slotted slotta bases. I had to remove the tabs so I could base them for Age of Sigmar. I regret not doing a better job of removing the many, many mould lines. They’re not very visible on the table but they were a pain in the ass to paint around.
Despite all these shortcomings I feel like it does a good enough job of seeming like it’s aged well once it’s built, painted and put on the table. The horses have a wonderful sense of momentum, accentuated by the riders’ flowing capes. The design language used for Wood Elf equipment in this era is beautiful, all flowing lines and acute angles that evoke the leaves of trees and other natural forms. They look exactly how Wood Elves should – part of the forest rather than separate to it.
In addition to the nomadic clans, who come and go with the many seasons of Ghyran, there is a large population of Wanderers who settled in Nuloren and the surrounding Vardenfold following the Realmgate Wars. These aelves, nomadic and settled alike, revere the Great Tree as a gift from the Everqueen that must be protected in order to atone for their people’s retreat to Azyr at the end of the Age of Myth. That is, they see the Tree as equal parts a reward for and a test of their faith in Alarielle. As a result of this belief, the Wanderers of Nuloren are often the first of the city’s inhabitants to rise up to defend it when danger arrives, taking up their bows and walking the hidden paths of the Vardenfold to ambush and rain down vengeance upon the foe.
Glade Riders are the Wanderers’ cavalry, acting as fast skirmishers and scouts in Nuloren’s armies. There is no part of the Vardenfold that has not been touched by the galloping hooves of their steeds. When war calls, the Glade Riders answer, streaming through the trees like a wrathful gale.
As I mentioned at the beginning, the Glade Riders will be run as an additional unit of Dark Riders in this, the Cavalry Edition of Age of Sigmar. They’re now a great unit and a significant one of the many reasons why I like the current rules for Cities. Their Sow Havoc ability is incredible:
You can’t plan on it going off, but likewise, your opponent can’t plan on it not going off – if they fail to wipe the unit there’s a 2/3 chance it’ll do some mortal wounds and fuck off into their back line, where it will begin stealing objectives and scoring battle tactics. Extremely fun and powerful.
I have been daydreaming about picking up some Ellyrian Reavers, the High Elf cavalry archers, for even more havoc 😈