Brennan's Dwarves - Intro Post

Hello! 

Well I'm back again for another round.  I had a very hard time deciding what to paint this year.  I debated doing another round of Slann.  Which would be fun, but the two other painters local to me, were painting up 4th ed armies.  I thought about doing more with my Orcs and Gobbos, which is great army in 4th, but I also had other projects that were calling out for my attention.  That landed me on Dwarves.  I have a third ed dwarf army that I have played with off and on.  I really enjoy dwarves in third because they aren't as slow as they are in other additions, primarily due to encumbrance rules and how they affect other races.  However, in 4th dwarves reward players who use the special troops types, this is mainly because clansmen can't have heavy armor and are not required troops.  BUT they will feature heavily in my list because, I like the figs.

So, I'm going to be doing an army with a fair number of imperial dwarf figures from the Citadel range and Marauder dwarves that I hope match the theme well.  I'm not going to have many puff and pike dwarves, not because I don't like them, but I'm hoping that this army will have a consistent look, like a separate brigade in the army.  So there will be a consistent color scheme but, hopefully it won't look like a uniform.

We will just have to wait to see how that turns out!

10 Iron Breakers with musician and standard: 240 pts

10 Crossbowmen: 130

16 Longbeards with musician and standard: 270 pts

21 Warriors with musician and standard: 253 pts

2 Bolt throwers, with light armor for the crew: 120 pts

1 Dwarf Hero Heavy Armor and Double Handed Weapon (109) and 1 Runesmith w/ Heavy Armor (81)

All together now!  For 1,203 Points!

Dustin's 'Orrible Orcs -- An Introduction

When I completed the OWAC II, I had a nice little army of Night Goblins. Now, those poxy little gobbos need some support (and possibly the lash for discipline) in the form of some dead 'ard, proper Orcs.

For OWAC III, I'll be selecting my force from the Orcs and Goblins army list found in Warhammer Armies. WHFB 3rd Edition is my primary ruleset at the moment, so it makes sense to the build the force to those guidelines. Granted, Armies does have some hefty minimums when you're selecting a horde of goblinoids (20 orc boyz, 20 arrer boyz, 20 gobbos, 20 stikkas), but I consider my Night Goblins to fulfill the compulsory goblin requirements.

The initial muster for the challenge.

Lvl 20 Orc Hero with Double-Handed Weapon, Heavy Armor -- 121 points
Lvl 10 Orc Hero with Bow, Shield, Light Armor -- 66 points
Lvl 10 Orc Hero with Additional Hand Weapon, Shield, Heavy Armor -- 66 points

19 Orc Boyz with Halberds, Shields, Heavy Armor, Standard, Musician -- 241.5 points
19 Arrer Boyz with Bows, Shields, Light Armor, Standard, Musician -- 220.5 points
12 Scabbies (Half-Orcs) with Shields, Light Armor, Standard, Musician --  104 points
1 Marsh Troll -- 65 points

Bolt Thrower with Orc crew -- 46.5 points
Orc Bazooka Team -- 65 points (bazooka 40 + two crew with light armor 25, per WHFB3)

Total = 1003.5 points, 60 models

'Ere we go!

JamesP's Empire Army

The Sons of Solland

First I’d like to say I am chuffed to take part in OWAC III. I’ve followed other OWACs and admired the great work done by the participants. 

This the beginning of a larger project to create a 3000-point WFB 3^rd edition Empire army. I’ll start with 1500 pts containing the requirements (plus a bit for fluff and points) and add to it another instalment of 1500 pts later. My hope is to take part in  OWAC IV later this year to see the project through to completion. I’m using the Wargames Foundry ex-citadel line for most of the army as it is cost effective and allows the customization I require.

Over the years I’ve developed a technique that allows me to organise, paint and base my armies. I organise the miniatures in units and PVA glue them to plastic sticks in the same order they will be placed in the unit by rank. This allows me to avoid colour and pose repetition. After painting I pop the minis off the sticks and base them. Finally, I flock the bases and add the banners.

I’ll update the blog monthly with a painted unit with a short story about the unit. We all like a bit of fluff, don’t we…?

My painting schedule is:

Month 1 – Reiksgard unit (251 pts)

Month 2 – Hohensknechte Unit (259 pts)

Month 3 – Helblitzen Unit and 1 Reiks Kanone with crew (238 pts)

Month 4 – Helblitzen Unit and 1 Reiks Kanone with crew (238 pts)

Month 5 – Armbrustschutzen Unit and the Army Standard Bearer (264 pts)

Month 6 – Fleglers Unit and the General (held until last as I am still sourcing the flagellant miniatures) (261 pts)

In 3^rd edition the cost of  a unit musician and banner bearer is the cost of model x2.

The list is as follows:

Level 15 Hero – 84pts (General)

·        Hand Weapon, Heavy armour, Shield, War Horse, Barding and Hellhoned Blade

Level 10 Hero – 144pts (Army Standard Bearer)

·        Hand Weapon, Heavy armour, Shield, War Horse, Barding and War Banner

5 Hohensknechtes – (leader, musician and standard) 259pts

·        Lance, Hand Weapon, Heavy Armour, Shield, Barding

15 Reiksgard – (champion, leader, musician and standard) 251pts

·        Double-Handed Weapon, Heavy Armour

Level 5 hero

·        Heavy Armour, Shield

14 Helblitzen – (champion, leader, musician and standard) 178pts

·        Halberd, Hand Weapon, Light Armour

Level 5 hero

·        Heavy Armour, Shield

14 Helblitzen – (champion, leader, musician and standard) 178pts

·        Halberd, Hand Weapon, Light Armour

Level 5 hero

·        Heavy Armour, Shield

10 Armbrustschutzen – (leader and standard) 120pts

·        Crossbow, Hand Weapon, Light Armour

1 Reiks Kanone Batterien – 120pts

·        2 Cannons with 3 crew each

12 Fleglers - (champion, leader, musician and standard) 177pts

·        Hand Weapon, Additional Hand Weapon

Level 5 Hero

·        Light Armour, Frenzied Blade

Total points:1521

I've exceeded the 1000 point goal. The flagellant unit is a bonus unit...I may not find the rest of the models that I want to use. 

I’d also like to wish everyone good luck. I can’t wait to see the different armies and painting styles.

Ragnar's Rangers a Dwarven Expedition (Robert)

Glutton for punishment much? Why yes I am. This is my second OWAC and I am looking forward to it. This time around I will be painting up Dwarves. I am loosely basing this army off the Dwarf force from White Dwarf 153 The Battle of Grimdal's Tomb.

I am going to go with a Bugman's Brewery theme for my Ragnar's Ranger's army. I searched around for some shields that had a beer mug on them with no luck. Next I tried to find decals for the shields and again did not find anything suitable. Next I looked into the cost of having it sculpted and about passed out from the pricing I was getting to have this done. In the end I decided to try my hand at a bit of sculpting and surprised myself with the results. Equipped with a new sense of purpose I began sculpting Bugman's beer mugs on all of the shields to help tie the force together. 

Here is a look at the models I have chosen for Ragnar's Rangers. As you can see I have chosen models to be able to create a force "inspired" by the White Dwarf and more to boot (I have a few surprises not pictured). I figured that I wanted to get some war machines in the army as no self respecting Dwarf army would leave home without them. I am still in need of the Kislevite horse archer and am searching for one now.

The next few months should be a lot of fun and maybe even a little stressful as I will be moving to a different state at the end of February. Needless to say I am pumped and can't wait to dive into this adventure.

Till the next post 

May your drinking horn never be empty

your paint brushes never gather dust

and you never end up on the field of bones.

Skal

Graeme's ravening horde of Skaven

So, this is my first attempt at OWAC, the first time blogging about anything, and the first time I've picked up a paintbrush in earnest in about 20 years. A massive horde of Skaven just seems the obvious choice, really...

Yup, it's probably a mild form of insanity that's made me dive into the furry end and choose Skaven for this challenge. However, back in the late '80s, they were the first blister packs of Citadel miniatures I bought. I'm a big fan of Jes Goodwin's designs and after seeing the armies of Pete Taylor in Warhammer Armies and Andy Chambers in White Dwarf 137, I've always wanted to build my own army of them. However, at the time, when my school friends and I were building up 3rd edition armies to battle with, I just couldn't afford to buy the number of models needed. I ended up buying some second-hand wood elves and playing them instead.

The seed of an idea had been planted, though. The slow and steady collecting of Skaven continued.

In the last couple of years, I discovered a lot of Oldhammer groups and blogs, and OWAC was one I really enjoyed following. The regular contributions of a dedicated group of people, with so many of the old miniatures I'd grown up with and collected, made an impression. It finally inspired me to dig out my collection and start building that army I'd dreamt of fielding.

So here we are - I hope this challenge will help me focus my time and attention on this furry little bunch and finally get the majority of them painted.

On to the army list - I'm sticking with WFB 3rd edition, based on the list in Warhammer Armies.

This gives a Grand Total of 1664 points!

Photos of the preparations so far:

The characters

Black Skaven Clanrats

Clan Eshin - Gutter Runners

Clan Pestilens - Plague Monks

Clan Skryre - Jessails

Clan Skryre - Warpfirethrowers and Poison Wind Globes

Clanrats with spears

Clanrats with hand weapons

Clan Moulder - Packs of Giant Rats and Rat Ogres

Skavenslaves

Realistically, I won't be able to paint all of these during the challenge. I'd love to, but I suspect I'm just not a fast enough painter. I might focus on the more expensive troops in the beginning, until I hit my stride, then bring in the piles of cheap ones. I've got some extras of most of the models if I want to expand the units. My main aim is to reach the 1000-point target, build the backbone of a massive Skaven horde, and break the OWAC Skaven curse (and make the inhabitants of the Old World shudder in fear!)

In any case, a load of old minis will get the attention they deserve and have some paint splashed on them.

Best of luck to the other challengers! I'm really keen to see everyone's contributions, especially the other Skaven armies. The Skaven tide is rising!.

Ratwig's Dark Elf OWAC III Force

Greetings! For this third iteration of OWAC, I will be painting Dark Elves (yes, again!). I will be adding more warriors, witchelves, crossbows, mercenary Samurai, and another giant scorpion, plus a new unit type for me, cold ones. The warrior unit will be made up using a 25 figure Mengil Manhides Regiment of Renown as they are all I have to represent warriors. This will get this army to its warrior minimum of 40 figs. I'm giving crossbows to the second unit of witchelves just to try out that option. The new crossbow unit will be used as skirmishers. The list is as follows:

1) 14 x Witchelves led by a Lvl 5 character, with extra hand weapon and crossbow: 275 points

2) 10 x Crossbows led by a Lvl 5 character, with shields: 180; 1 x Giant Scorpion: 45 = 225 points

3) 25 x Warriors led by a Lvl 10 and a Lvl 5 character: 415 points

4) 1 x Lvl 20 Mercenary Samurai Commander with heavy armor and longbow, mounted on a Kirin: 186; 12 x Mercenary Samurai with heavy armor, double handed weapons: 131 points = 317 points

5) 10 x Helldrake Cold One riders led by Lvl 20 and Lvl 10 characters: 754 points divided into two submissions

Total points: 1986

Let's see how my cunning plan survives contact with life...

This third OWAC will bring my total Dark Elf army project to around 5000 points.

There's figs to prep and some Jack to test, so I better get busy!

Ratwig out.

goblinpaladin's Gnomes - an Introduction

This project is being kindly sponsored by Old School Miniatures.

Jamie and Byron over at Old School Miniatures (OSM) decided this year to sponsor a project using their wonderful range of vaguely-Swiss Alpine Gnomes. I'd ordered a handful of them in the past and really enjoyed painting them - and was even considering doing a Gnome project next year. When they asked for volunteers, I stuck up my hand and, well, here we are!

wood elves can wait!

OSM have put together army lists for their gnomes, covering most of the better periods of Warhammer, but for this project we'll go with the Third Edition list. It's a blend of the usual elements of fantasy army lists (.i. wizards and speargnomes) with the Warhammer: Historical take on the late medieval Swiss (.i. no 'heroic' officer types). This means that the list has a strong emphasis on infantry, which is exactly what I like.

I already have five Fuschsschütze (crossbow scouts on foxes), several illusionists and a heroine on foot, but these don't count. Here's a slightly terrible photo anyway:

spent a lot of time googling 'foxes black feet?'

So, what do I have to work from here?

that's so gnomen many

That's a strong pile of Guarden Gnomen (halberdiers), a pile of Ambrust Gnomen (crossbowgnome militia), a few Gnome-an-Armen (mounted gnomes on foxes) and some artillery. Unfortunately, it's not enough Burgher Gnomen (speargnome militia) to meet the minimum model count of 20, which is a bit unfortunate. I'll just have to get more gnomes! (darn)

Esme de Loktibogen, a gnome heroine

For now, I'll work to the following list:

CHARACTERS

Cantonal Standard: FREE
Guildmaster, level-5 hero with light armour and a shield: 33 points
Illusionist on Fox: (call her a Hillcantor, level-15) - 157 points
Apprentice Illusionist on Fox: (call her a Heathtinker, level-5) - 62 points

master and apprentice

RANK AND FILE

19 x Guarden Gnomen with light armour + standard bearer and musicians: 252 points
8 x Burgher Gnomen with light armour and shields + standard bearer and musicians: 90 points
10 x Ambrust Gnomen: 80 points
10 x Ambrust Gnomen: 80 points

guarden gnomes

local burgher militia

5 x Gnome-an-Armen + standard bearer and musician: 77 points
3 more Fuschsschütze: 45 points

some foxy young men

Kleinekanone: 45 points
Orgelkanone: 75 points
Orgelkanone: 75 points

big-badda-boom

Villagers and camp followers: FREE

barrel rolling is a sport, probably

WEIRD

While OSM have some tentative rules for their swallow riders, they don't actually have any points values. But assuming we'll make the two riders Guildmaster-level heroes for now, I'll just round to about 50 points each, including their crossbows, armour, and shields.

it's not a bird, it's - no, wait, it is a bird. two birds.

That makes our character total about 352 points, the rank-and-file 819 points, for a total of 1171. A pretty good start! I also have a couple of duplicates which means that I can make up for not sending any conscripts to our feudal lord last season...

small but stingy

Gnomes are on the cheap side, so getting 200 points a month painted is going to be tough. I don't have a Zoat this time around! (well, I do, actually...)

© Matt Smith, 2015. Used without permission.
http://matt-illustration.squarespace.com/

See you on the field of bones...

Andrea’s High Elves

Hi OWACers,

Finally we gather for the third journey into the old world! 

This year I am going to paint an old resident of my boxes, never really started (except some recent Dragon princes models) but always wanted to do: the High Elves.

All started buying the box of the 4th ed of WHFB with all those monopose elves... and, well, only 10 archers survived (I really don't know where the f..k they are, and probably they will come out when the challenge is finished). But digging into my pal’s cave, of course looking for something completely different, I found my collection of High Elves, gathered for a 6th ed army and dating back to 2000’s or so. This was clearly a call to arms!

The army is a mix of minis from different editions, spanning from the 4th to the 6th (also the 7th, perhaps); all metal figures except the 10 monopose archers.

Let’s start with characters:

The army’s general, probably the most recent model in the group, and two mages. High Elves are the magic kin by definition, thus at least two mages are something really due.

One of two mages is the good old Teclis, one the oldest minis in my collection and one of the greatest mage models ever produced.

Then, the center-regiment of the army: the Sword Masters. These are my favorite High Elves unit and I wanted to have a High Elves army just because of them!

Of course, a good regiment of archers cannot be missed when talking about elves. And so, the 10 plastic survivors together with some metal models (same age) and the command borrowed from the Sea Guard.

A regiment that always looked nice to me is the one of common warriors. These are irregulars trooper and, to represent them, I just selected some Wood Elves warriors from the 3rd edition. They are led by a blind guy with an unnatural ability with the double handed sword, probably an aspirant Sword Master that experienced some kind of incident (here represented by Eltarion the blind, from the 6th ed).

A well respected army cannot lack of scouts, and the mine makes no exception. So I included two units of Shadow Warriors, old model (probably the ugliest sculpts in the range of the 4th ed High elves, but I really love them!).

Last but not the least, two glorious Repeater Bolt Throwers.

So, here the breakdown of the point value, following the army book from the 4th ed:

General, with light armour and shield .......................... 163 pts

Mage ................................................................................ 59 pts

Mage ................................................................................ 59 pts

Archers x16 (standard bearer, musician) ...................... 180 pts

Sword Masters x12 (full command) .............................. 208 pts

Shadow Warriors x5 ........................................................ 55 pts

Shadow Warriors x5 ........................................................ 55 pts

Elf Warriors x8 ................................................................ 72 pts

Repeater Bolt Thrower x2 ............................................. 100 pts

Total ............................................................................. 1003 pts

Well, then! I am ready to start and I am looking forward to see your magnificent armies,

ciao, Andrea