The High Elf Chronicler

Welcome to my blog! Here, I will be detailing my hobby progress through Warhammer The Old World. More specifically, I will focus on how I am building my ultimate High Elf army as well as my journey to the 2025 NOVA Open and other local tournaments or leagues.

But, before all that, I guess I should start with an introduction to me. I am a longtime Warhammer enthusiast. My original intro to Warhammer occurred in 2005 when my dad and I walked past a Games Workshop at a mall near Richmond, Virginia. My dad had been a D&D kid in the 1980’s and had read me The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings books as bedtime stories, but he had also seen all the original Star Wars movies in theater on release and knew just about every line, so I was intimately familiar with both high fantasy and sci-fi settings.

What drew me (and him) into the Games Workshop were the models in the display cases in the window. He had had (and I think still has) old lead and pewter D&D minis that he had shared with me, and I think we both saw the connection between his old minis and what was on display.

I was immediately drawn to the Space Marines (I think partly from playing Starcraft), and we ended up walking out with a Battle for Macragge box and some paints. Shortly thereafter, I had a full (in my view) Space Marine army painted in my own lime green color scheme. Having grown tired of constantly beating up on my dad’s Tyranids from the box set on the floor of our living room, I decided that it was time to take my Chapter back to the store and engage in proper warfare on the table.

I am very introverted, so this was a big step for me. I was also only 10 years old, so again, another big step. As I remember it, my dad called ahead to see if there were people playing and willing to let me join in with my meagre force of some Tactical Marines, Terminators, a Dreadnought, and a Rhino.

Fortunately, there were some older teenagers playing a game that were willing to let me have a spot on the table. Unfortunately, the kid I started to put my models down next to pointed to one of my Terminator models that had the rocket launcher on his back while being armed with the heavy flamer and said, “yeah you can’t have that weapon combo. You have to take that off or you can’t play with those guys.” Well, as someone who was really proud of what I’d brought out and had taken a really big step in just coming out to play, that really killed the whole experience for me. I honestly can’t remember if I even stayed and played the rest of the game or not.

Where Are We Now?

Fast forward to 2021. I’m 26, I have a cat, I’ve been married for 2 years, I’ve been working for 8 years, and I haven’t stepped foot in a Games Workshop or other game store for more than 16 years. My hiatus from tabletop games is almost able to vote (in the US). I’d been keeping up with Warhammer 40,000 through the Dawn of War games series and various Black Library novels throughout the years (Warhammer Fantasy never really crossed my bookshelf). Well, sometime in mid-2021, I started the Horus Heresy series, and it reignited my passion for Warhammer. I got deep into it. Like, way deep. I mean Mines of Moria deep. Lowest level of the underhive deep. I had the book bundles on my phone, reading every chance I got, paying no attention to my wife. You know; just beyond the point of no return.

It was at this point that I decided, “you know what? I’m going to see if there’s a Warhammer store around here somewhere.” Turns out, there was a store just up the road about 50 minutes. Sweet! Well then the question became: how do I tell my wife? She’s never heard of Warhammer, or tabletop gaming for that matter, and how do I possibly explain this entire universe of lore, minis, and hobby to her in a way that she’ll understand?

Well, I didn’t. I couldn’t! I mean it would’ve taken days, or weeks. So I gave her a little intro, and then explained to her my story above. I said “sweetheart, I haven’t been in one of these stores in over 17 years, but I have always loved the game, lore, and universe, but I’ve pretty much just been afraid to go into a store since I was 10. Do you think we could take a drive up and see what’s there?” My wife being the angel that she is (not an angel of death, thankfully), almost rushed me out the door immediately.

So we made a day of it, exploring the town the store was in, and later that evening came home with a bunch of paint and two Combat Patrols because my wife said if I painted hers, she would play. I think she just said that because she knew I just really wanted the models. She had no intention of playing 40k.

That was probably around August of 2021, and since then I have been fully engaged in the hobby and transitioned from anything 40k-related to Age of Sigmar in early 2022, then to Warhammer Underworlds around October 2022 (which continues to be my other main game), and finally to Warhammer The Old World in late 2024.

The Old World

My first Old World purchase was the Dwarven Mountain Holds battalion box along with the King on Runestone, and I have just taken off from there. Having experienced some really crushing failures (while still having tons of fun), I am moving onto High Elves, which will be the focus of this blog.

My love for elves probably has its genesis in Warcraft II and Warcraft III as well as the Tolkien universe. I’ve been enamored of the Warhammer variant of High Elves since I read Blood of Aenarion last year, and I’ve continued to read Old World/Warhammer Fantasy High Elf lore since then, just trying to get as much as I can. I just really love the High Elf aesthetic and culture. I don’t know if that makes me an impetuous, pompous, better-than-thou a-hole, but hopefully not! I definitely am not any better at hobby or gaming than your average person.

Well, I guess that’s a bit about me! I am sure that most posts going forward will not be this much text and will hopefully have more pictures. I hope you enjoy coming along this journey with me!