Along with the Archers, Silver Helms and Spearmen are two of the Core regiment choices in the High Elf army list and if I wanted a strong army I would defiantly need to paint a regiment or two of each. Although one regiment is infantry whilst the other is cavalry, I think they both have similarities when it comes to painting - the only real, noticeable difference is that I need to paint a horse for the Silver Helms!

When painting a Warhammer regiment, I find that neatness is the key to creating a unit that looks great on the battlefield. I find it easier to paint riders and steeds separately. I stuck the riders to plastic flying stands while I painted them which allowed me to paint the areas which would otherwise be hidden or difficult to reach with a paintbrush. It also helps keep grubby fingers off the model!

Click on the thumbnails to see a larger version of each step.

1. I started by spraying the models Chaos Black, as a Spearman is predominantly clad in metal, and metallic paint is better applied over a black undercoat than a white one. Next, I painted the flesh areas (hands and face) and spear shaft with Bestial Brown and any cloth areas with Codex Grey.

2. I highlighted the flesh areas with Dwarf Flesh, and the spear shaft and sword hilt with Snakebite Leather. Using Fortress Grey, I highlighted the cloth areas, ensuring that the Codex Grey was left in the recesses to act as shading. For the red armour trim and helmet decorations I find that Red Gore doesn’t show up very well over a black undercoat, so I painted on Blood Red first, then Red Gore over the top.

3. Elf Flesh was my highlight colour for the flesh areas, Bubonic Brown for the spear shaft and sword hilt, and Skull White for the cloth areas. I then drybrushed the mail shirt with Mithril Silver, remembering to be as neat as possible. All the other armour, the helmet and the spear tip I painted, rather than drybrushed, with Mithril Silver. I then repainted the trim with Red Gore, which allowed me to paint over any mistakes I had made whilst drybrushing the armour.

4. I gave the areas of flesh a final highlight with Pallid Flesh and the spear shaft with Bleached Bone. Any small details, such as parts of the armour and sword decoration, I carefully painted with Shining Gold before basing the models and attaching their shields.

1. After spraying the horses Chaos Black, I painted their bodies with a 50/50 mix of Chaos Black and Codex Grey. For the barding, I used Boltgun Metal, painting each scale separately. I followed this by neatly drybrushing the scale mail with Mithril Silver. Although this needs patience, it does give a clean, neat appearance to the armour, which is a characteristic of High Elves.

2. Next, I painted the saddles and hooves with Scorched Brown. For the cloth robing under the barding, I painted the top side with Codex Grey and the underside with Blood Red. The edging around the bridle and harness was also painted with Blood Red.

3. The outside of the saddles were painted with Bestial Brown, which I also used to highlight the horses’ hooves. For the cloth robing, I highlighted the top side with Fortress Grey and the underside was painted over with Red Gore.

4. To finish off the horses I used Shining Gold to carefully pick out all of the detailed decoration. I then highlighted the manes and tails with Codex Grey and the top side of the cloth robes with Skull White before basing the models and attaching the riders.

Shields and Banners

High Elf shields can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. A simple colour with an attached icon painted in a contrasting colour is a good way of making a simple but striking shield. You might want to make the shields and banners of your elite regiments more intricate than those of your regular troops, for example, by painting an Elven rune on a flat coloured background.