Slow Grow Community Spotlight: Checking Back In

Slow Grow Community Spotlight: Checking Back In

The Kings of War Slow Grow Challenge is now wrapping up, and we’ve been checking back in with some of the community projects we featured earlier in the series.

Back in Stage One and Stage Two, we highlighted various army projects that had caught our eye from across the community.

In today’s blog, with the Slow Grow coming to an end, we’re checking back in with some of those hobbyists to see how they fared – were they able to see the challenge through to a successful conclusion? Read on to find out!

Justin, Greyson and Caedmon

When we first featured Justin and his sons, Greyson (12) and Caedmon (11), one of the things we liked most was the family angle. Justin was working on Elves, while Greyson and Caedmon, both new to Kings of War, were building armies of Trident Realms and Halflings respectively.

Checking back in five months later, we’re very happy to report that all three of them completed the full challenge with flying colours!

Between them, they completed roughly 9,000 points’ worth of Kings of War models. Greyson and Caedmon each finished a little over 2,000 points, while Justin painted nearly 5,000 points of Elves and an Abyssal Champions Company box to boot. In total, the guys painted over 500 miniatures!

Justin, Greyson and Caedmon's full Slow Grow collection.

Just as importantly, they’ve been playing plenty of games along the way, including Champions, Ambush and full Kings of War. Justin told us that working on the challenge together, keeping each other motivated and reminding each other to get things done was a big part of the fun.

That makes us very happy to hear! A painted army is a beautiful thing. Three painted armies, built as a family project, is even better.

Caedmon's Halflings

Greyson's Trident Realms

For the Siege of Samarik, all three are hoping to see Samarik stand – Justin admitted that they still need to work out who is going to play the villain when they get some games in!

Adrian’s Forces of the Abyss

Adrian’s Forces of the Abyss caught our attention early in the challenge thanks to the army’s striking visual concept.

Instead of the usual red demon look, Adrian built his force around corrupted Basileans led by the (Un)Holy Prophetess Gaille, with a pink palette and “corrupted temple” basing that gave the army a very distinctive identity.

The (Un)Holy Prophetess Gaille - a conversion based on the Basilean Abbess miniature.

By the end of the Slow Grow, Adrian had reached around 2,200 points, meaning he beat the target of 2,000 points that we’d set for the challenge, but he doesn’t really consider the army “finished” yet. There are still several units he wants to add over the next few months.

Abyssal Guard - converted using Basilean Men-at-Arms combined with Lower Abyssal and Goblin parts, plus custom sculpted cloaks.

What pleased him most was the basing, which helped bring the whole army concept together. He also enjoyed seeing the project move from initial idea, to painted units, to a fully realised army lined up on the table.

For Samarik, the Prophetess Gaille and her True Believers are joining the campaign in suitably Abyssal fashion, fighting to “liberate” the city from the clutches of Basilea.

Adrian's regiment of Molochs

Adrian's full army so far - but he's still adding more to it!

Adam’s Salamanders

Adam’s Salamanders were another Stage One project we were excited to follow up on.

This was his first multi-based Kings of War army, with a bold red-and-black colour scheme, blue flame accents and a jungle ruins theme helping the army stand out on the tabletop.

Adam's Salamander Ancients

Adam's Fire Elementals with their striking blue colour scheme.

By the end of the challenge, Adam had painted around 3,000 points in total, with a selection of different heroes giving him plenty of list building options. He was especially pleased to see the full army together on its multi-bases, and said the challenge gave him the deadlines he needed to keep going.

Adam's collection of Salamander heroes.

Adam also gave a shout-out to the Mantic Fans Discord, where Kay’s monthly slow grow league had helped him build momentum even earlier in the year.

As for Samarik, Adam’s Salamanders are fighting for Samarik Stands. In his words: “We may be red and fiery, but we’re no devils!”

Adam's full army so far - currently fighting to help defend Samarik!

Dave’s Abyssal Dwarfs

Finally, we have Dave’s Abyssal Dwarfs, which we featured back at the end of Stage Two.

At the time, we were impressed by the army’s distinctive green glow, thematic basing and very characterful kit-bashing. Since then, the project has become something much, much bigger.

Dave's full Slow Grow collection - truly impressive!

Dave’s finished force now comes in at a whopping 6,700 points as built, including 10 Troops, 22 Regiments, 5 Monsters/Titans/War Engines and 10 Heroes, plus custom objective markers and command tokens. That is quite a Slow Grow result!

Dave's collection of heroes and custom tokens.

What pleased him most was seeing the whole project come together and staying focused on one army, despite describing himself as a hobby butterfly. The Mantic blog posts, Kay’s monthly targets on the Discord and the army painting threads on the Kings of War Forum all helped keep him moving.

A regiment of Slave Orcs - one of the units Dave had most fun building and painting.

Dave is also planning to get some games in during the Siege of Samarik. Unsurprisingly, his Abyssal Dwarfs are likely to be attacking the city – they don’t want the Forces of the Abyss to hog all the fun!

The Armies March On

A huge thank you to Justin, Greyson, Caedmon, Adrian, Adam and Dave for sharing their progress with us throughout the challenge.

Between them, they’ve painted Elves, Trident Realms, Halflings, Forces of the Abyss, Salamanders and Abyssal Dwarfs, and they’ve demonstrated just how varied and creative the Kings of War community can be.

We’ll be back soon with one final Slow Grow blog, as Team Mantic take a last look at our own armies and share our reflections on the challenge.