Jaakko and Rugluk - Rank & File month #4

Act 4

The dwarf fort jutted from the foothills all grey and unfriendly with it's thick walls and murder-holes. It looked like it didn’t want visitors. Rugluk Backstabba glared at it from his makeshift war throne.

“Why won’t da stunties come out?” he growled.

They’d been chucking boulders for three days straight. The walls didn’t care. Neither did the dwarfs-except to shoot back. A black orc chief had lost his head to a cannonball. A goblin regiment routed when their battering ram caught fire.

Rugluk bellowed at his lieutenants, kicked over the stew pot, and ordered a charge. It ended in complete chaos. A pump wagon broke up halfway across the field, splattering the crew and flattening three goblins who’d been hiding behind it. Then came the arrows. Cannonballs. Boiling oil.

That night, the camp was quiet. Too quiet. Rugluk didn’t like it.

He paced his tent, muttering. “They’z whisperin’. I know it. Gits think I’z lost it.” He scratched his chin. “Maybe I ‘ave. Or maybe it’s them dat needs stabbin’...”

A goblin runner crept in with bad news-another warband had left during the night. Rugluk stared at him for a long time before saying anything.

“Anyone else got ideas ‘bout leavin’?” he shouted to no one in particular.

Outside, the lads kept their heads low. The mutterin’ had started. They said Rugluk was cursed. Said da wyrm lied. Said da boss had lost it.

And Rugluk? He stared at the dwarf fort and thought he saw it grinning.

 

And so, the final Rank & File month is here! There’s still a lot I plan to do, but the heavy lifting is done. I can feel the pressure of the challenge lifting from my shoulders-and it feels nice. I chose to paint a big unit and two war machines, but honestly didn’t expect to finish all of them. The Goblins were quicker to paint than I expected, though I admit some midnight oil was burnt.

 

I managed to finish painting a unit of Goblins, two Skull Crushers, and a Sow (shown later). As mentioned earlier, Grom's Goblin Guard was a priority-Tom gave me part of the unit, so I really wanted to paint it this season. They’re a fine addition to the force, and as you can see, they’ve already successfully stormed the fort!

I like the elite look that monopose units have. A block of Goblins is always fearsome to behold… but yeah, okay-I admit they're only elite in the fluff.

The cheek and neck guards remind me of Roman legionaries and I let that influence the shield design.

I usually varnish my models after taking photos, and naturally, managed to chip some paint from the banner. There's a red checker pattern hidden somewhere under that layer of dirt.

 

I also managed to paint two Skull Crushers with crew. One of the front wheels is a spare made from green stuff.

 

This month in points:

 

 

 

 

I'm very happy with how things are going at the moment, but I understand that painting a horde is an endurance sport. I've already made some outlines for what I'd like to paint next season, but I still hope to reach the minimum army requirements in Warhammer Armies in addition to the OWAC requirements this season. That would mean painting a unit of Stickas, a few more Arrer Boyz, and of course Rugluk.

 

SIEGE

I'm keeping it simple in the Siege section.

I picked up this Sow from Wargames Foundry and gave it a simple paint job. I chose to keep it generic, without anything orky, so I can use it with other armies too. It came with some human crew that I’ll paint later.

 

The Sow is basically a mobile cover that you can push around the battlefield. It's not very manoeuvrable with it's movement of 3" and turn radius of three times the moved distance. You can enter it and shoot through the slits. I imagine putting a small unit of Arrers in it.  The points value depends on the crew capacity and varies between 10 and 30.

 

And that’s it for the month. I think Rugluk will have to wait a while longer, and May will be my Wild Card month, with a focus on the Siege section.

 

 

Ben’s Chaos Gnomes - Month 3

 When the ground began to thaw, Kazar ordered his axes to clear a field’s worth of timber, and that a mine be sunk in its place. The wood and the ore would help to resupply his troops, and rekindle the war engine.x However, there are some who have little appreciation for mining and forestry, and thus the industrial effort attracted the ire of an ancient elemental.

Before too much harm could come to the work, a pair of gnomish lords on great beasts appeared and in short order, they turned the elemental into kindling. Kazar met with them, and learned that they too had come for the pass, but had expected it cleared by now so that they might wage their wars on the other side of the mountains. After a long haggle, both lords had pledged their strength in the taking of the pass, but the terms of the agreement were not shared among the occupants of the tower. Whispers began about what consequences the parley would have, since the only gnome you can trust less than a stranger, is a stranger that shares your allegiance. Whatever was to come, it would have plenty of hammers and axes pledged to it.

+++++

Instead of making a new army this month as I had in January and February, I decided instead to bolster the combined force with some heavy hitters. First was a battery of four bolt throwers, manned by scale appropriate hobgrobles. I did not enjoy painting these as much as I’d hoped to, but a thing I’m learning this year is that you can paint toys like toys and not get in trouble. As long as I’m not unhappy with how they turned out, their paint job is alright by me.

This Sorcerer on Lamassu however was a hoot to do. I got to replace a lion’s face with a Muppet head, which is an automatic win in my book, and then I got to blend the rider to its steed, which was a second win if ever I had one. It occurs to me that this might be the army’s centerpiece model, with it being the most costly hero character my force can field, and that epiphany is fine by me. I’m proud of the conversion and the paintwork on this one, and so I’ll happily find room on my roster for the chonker 

Lastly, we have the Hero on Cockatrice, who is the king of “guys who barely fill out their bases.” To me, this epitomizes the army, where we try to manage the precarious balance of serious threat and little dog energy. In theory, the Chaos Dwarf list is very versatile, but to my understanding, the way I have built my roster is very goofy. My goal hadn’t been to build a “come and get me” brick, but when building with minis I’d gotten thanks to the rule of cool, that’s exactly what I did. Anyhow, I also like this hero and how top heavy he is; that poor Cockatrice is really putting in the work keeping its ride’s bulk from gracing the ground.

This Month’s Additions

Sorceror Lord on Lamassu - 528

Hero on Cockatrice - 254

Hobgoblin Bolt Thrower x4 - 168

Total: 950

With those additions, we now wield the current war host:

Chaos Gnome General - 165pts

10 Chaos Gnomes with Blunderbusses - 140pts

20 Chaos Gnome Warriors with full command - 348pts

5 Chaos Gnome Bull Centaurs with full command - 357pts

Chaos Gnome Sorcerer - 59pts

Chaos Gnome Hero - 104

Chaos Gnome Sorcerer Lord on Lamassu - 528

Chaos Gnome Hero on Cockatrice - 254

4 Hobgoblin Bolt Throwers - 168

Total: 2123pts

It’s likely not a legal list, but that is a huge chunk of dudes right there, with room to adjust for a 2k point game. Wild to think that three months into a six month challenge, I could be completely finished with this force (I’m not, but the end feels awful close.) I had a plan at the beginning of the challenge, and for the most part I stuck to it (despite my best efforts,) but now I’m faced with the fact that I only have 30 some-odd models to go until that’s a wrap.

That said, I did manage to pull out another 20 man unit of warriors from my bits bin, so hopefully I’ll be occupied until the end. My to do pile is now two more units of warriors, and maybe a unit of hobgoblin archers, so I can promise at least that much more to come. Who knows? I’ve still got to sort out the baggage train, so there’s still some opportunity for things to go off the rails :)

Anyhow, thanks for another lovely month! Keep up the good work, and see you in the next one!

Adrian's orcs - June (37.5 points)

-Home, smelly home.

 The last month of the challenge. Some people like to end with a grand finale. But eh, I checked the boxes and I was only left with some spare orcs that couldn't finish a single row. 

Instead, I decided to take it easy and build a comfy tent where the warboss will rest after all the pillaging and (watching in a strategic back position how his minions do) hard work. I made a simple design with cardboar and layers of paper + watered glue. 

After the main structure was ready, I started to add lots of spare bits from the box. The story behind my band of pillagers revolves around a raiding clan that has terrorized the southern part of the empire, Estalia, and the lands of the sea elves and dwarves accross the tilean coast. I painted some of the desecrated banners based on the designs of the 3rd ed. army book.

-This counts as two grudges in my book.

Lastly, there is no good vacation without hunting some beast and making a barbecue. What's better for hunting than a big a** spear chukka, instead of a javelin or a flimsy orc bow.

The (black) goblin Spear Chukka 
[37.5 points] 

I had this contraption sitting on my table from way back I started to collect the army and I really wanted to paint it at some point. This month I had nothing left, so it was the perfect opportunity to get it done and try some of the fluor paints in the process. 

With the scenery piece and the additional war machine, the army is complete. See you in the wrap up post.
Adrian's out!

Paul's Border Princes Month Four (266 points)

"Yo back up now and give a brother room
The fuse is lit and I'm about to go boom!
Mercy mercy, mercy me

Boom, shake, shake, shake the room...

 .... tick, tick, tick... BOOM!" (Let's hope that's not a HIT and a MISFIRE)

This Month I've added some heavy firepower to my Border Princes force with a Dwarf Cannon, an Empire Cannon/Mortar, and a Bright Wizard.

First up is the Puff and Slash Dwarf Cannon - this wasn't the one that was stripped and ready at the beginning of the challenge, but the Puff and Slash-ness of the sculpts demanded it be them, so into the dip they went, and I'm glad I bothered as they do fit the force much, much better than the other (more Dwarfy) Cannon and crew who will be saved for my 100% All Dorf. All the time. force.

This is a Bell Bombard from Citadel/Foundry - to be used as Cannon/Mortar depending on what the army list calls for. When planning the project I thought I had something in the lead pile suitable to use as a proxy mortar... turns out this was MUCH smaller than I remembered, and I didn't fancy paying the crazy prices for an actual Empire Mortar, so I bought something that looked somewhat suitable and combined with the rag tag crew men I'd assembled, including two slightly converted/repaired plastic Battle Masters crew, and a classic Empire Artilleryman sculpt.

I was quite chuffed with the tiny writing and diagram I manged to achieve on his note pad :)

Next up is a Foundry/Ex-Citadel 'Time Warped Wizard' who has been painted up in the army colours which suits him as a Bright Wizard. It's a characterful set of sculpts, if a bit pricey, but I enjoyed painting him... except for that damned staff which suffers from a bit of a mangled cast, and my lack of time to try any decent paint effect. In the end I opted to paint a golden orb embedded in the top as this both kept to the colour scheme but also speaks to me of a magical item at rest (as it is in the sculpt) - Gold is a good substance to have made magical staff top out of, even if it is not currently blazing with magical OSL goodness ;)

Month Four Total:

Human Cannon and 3 crew - 100 pts
Dwarf Cannon and 3 crew -110 pts
Human Wizard - 56 pts

TOTAL FOR THE MONTH: 266 pts

Except it wasn't quite all for the month! Having taken it right to the last few hours with the two Cannon, crew, and Wizard, I suddenly found myself with time to knock out one more mini as an extra. He is another characterful, Oldhammer style sculpt from the Foundry Time Warped Wizards collection, who I thought looked the part to join this force either as Quartermaster for the Baggage Train, a VIP NPC for RPG purposes, or, more practically, an extra Cannon Crew member - I like the idea of expensive pieces of ordinance being owned by enthusiastic militarily minded Nobs who then turn up with a goblet of wine to watch it being fired ;)

This is also practical as it frees up the Battle Masters Plastic Artillery Commander to act as a Unit Leader/Champion for the Crossbowmen. to make them up to a unit of ten if needed.

I still have some chunky units to complete before I will consider the challenge completed, but I at least managed to get everything left on my list based and undercoated over the Easter Holiday (about the only thing I did get painted mind you!) so fingers crossed I make it over the line.

Bon courage all.'

Anthony's May Offering: Of Spiders and Mangonels (203 pts)

A little bit of an eclectic mix this month, boys. First up we have a unit of spider riders. These are going to form part of a larger forest goblin army (eventually..... very eventually). It's a slow burn project, as any goblin army has to be if you wish to preserve your sanity. Since my army is 3rd edition (and forest goblins aren't in it), they are stand-ins for 10 Gobbo Wolfboyz and come out to a total of 110 points.

I quite enjoyed painting them, although painting cavalry is always a pain for me, even in the best of times. I painted the spiders, their goblin riders and the bases separately. The shields will eventually have custom-made decals attached to them, although that is a separate project entirely.

 

Next, we have an Orc Man Mangler. I've been meaning to paint this model for a long time, being inspired by Kev Adams' amazing paint job on the box art.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this model originates from a  time when sculptors painted their own pieces. 1987, to be precise. How things have changed in 32 years!

I initially picked this kit up from a friend, although I soon realized that some of the crew members that came with the model were not part of the authentic crew. As a purist, this simply would not do. Of course, I realized this while prepping the model the month prior to painting it. I was, however, able to find the missing crew culprits on evilbay for a not entirely unreasonable price.

I braved the freehand on the shields as a tribute to Kev Adams' original piece (see box art pictured below it, courtesy of Stuff of Legends). I have also included the original fluff story (also courtesy of Stuff of Legends), since it would be criminal not to. The Orc Mangonel comes in at 93 points, making the points total for the month 203 points

Original Man Mangler box art, taken from Stuff of Legends

Graglug, chief of the Skull Cleaver Orcs, looked down at the mass of timber, rope and metal before him, and shook his head sadly.

"Been worried about you, Bruglodd," he said, "you're goin' stunty." The other looked up sharply.

"Wotcher mean?" he demanded, "I'm as tall as you any day!"

"Nah," persisted Graglug, "Not stunty, I mean stunty! All this makin' stuff. Ain't right. Not what Orcs do. Bet you don"t even know where your sword is in all that junk."

"I can find it quick enough if you want to make something of it," retorted Bruglodd, "Even if you are the chief."

"But all this stuff," said Graglug, "I mean, what's it for?"

"It's a weapon." said Bruglodd proudly.

"A weapon?" gasped Graglug incredulously, "A weapon? Have you any idea how many clubs and cleavers and skull crumpers and bone snappers you could make with that lot? And you're going to make one weapon out of the whole lot? Daft, you are. You'll never be able to pick it up, let alone swing it."

"Not that sort of weapon," Bruglodd assured him, "A special one. Give us a hand and I'll show you. 'Ere, grab this." A heavy wooden beam was thrust into Graglug's hands, and before he had a chance to protest that manual labour was beneath his dignity as a chief, he found himself lashing it to the framework that Bruglodd had built.

"That's the way," Bruglodd encouraged him, "Now we can put the wheels on."

"Wheels?" echoed Graglug, "You're not thinking, are you? I mean if you need to build a cart to move it about on, how are you going to swing it?"

"You'll see," Bruglodd chuckled, "Just wait." By now a small crowd of Orcs had gathered round, watching the strange spectacle of their chief helping Bruglodd the Fruitcake build the strange construction. Next, Brugiodd bolted a huge and ugly carved face to the front of the structure.

"Looks just like you, chief," he chuckled.

"Watch it."

Graglug clapped his hand over his eyes as Bruglodd dragged from his cave a huge, twisted piece of thornwood, strung with a thick rope

"A bow," he said, as much to himself as to the crowd, "A bowl What the gutsucking good is a bow you need to carry around on a cart? We're Orcs, you know - Orcs not pansy Elves forty foot tall! You'll never get arrows big enough, for a start."

"Not using arrows," Bruglodd explained, lashing the gigantic bow to the framework, "Using rocks."

"ROCKS?" Graglug almost screamed, "Whoever heard of shooting rocks from a bow? Have you been drinking the lamp-oil again?"

"You'll see;" muttered Bruglodd, dragging out the final piece of the structure. It was a beam of wood, almost fifteen feet long, with a huge metal hand at one end. He fitted it to the structure, then tied the hand end to a winch at the other end of the frame.

"Give us a hand, chief." he said, and the hand slowly descended as the two Orcs worked the winch against the pull of the bowstring. Next, Bruglodd staggered out of his cave with a large rock, which he put in the hand.

"Watch this," he said, winking at Graglug *

He cut the rope holding the arm to the winch, and the pull of the bowstring snapped the arm up. The rock flew through the air, landing some distance away with a crash.

The assembled Orcs murmured in awe. Graglug scratched his head, speechless.

"Saw some humans using one once. Mangle-something-or-other, they called it. Wotcher reckon?"

"Could be handy," conceded Graglug, "If you can get some boys to work it. Still reckon it's stunty stuff, though."

"Look at Notlob," argued Bruglodd, "Having those spearchuckers didn't do 'im no harm."

"'Spose so," agreed Graglug, "So what's it called again? Man-mangler?"

"That"s near enough," said Bruglodd. "That"s what it"ll do, anyway."

"Yer," said Graglug, slowly warming to the idea, "Nice one. Got another job for you now, too."

"What?" asked Bruglodd eagerly.

"You can get that rock out of my 'ut and rebuild it - NOW!"

In summary:

10 Gobbo Spiderboyz: 110pts

Orc Man Mangler: 93 pts

Total 203 pts

And with that I have completed the second annual OWAC. I will post pictures of the whole army next month. Thanks for following and good luck to the remaining challengers...