Maciek's classic undead: Wrap-up (1776 points)

My first OWAC is complete!

I can hardly believe I made it to the end. Looking at the models helps it to sink in. So, without further ado, here is the whole army with the mugshot:

 Job's a good'un!  :-)

Reflections

This was my most focused and productive painting project to date. The result is 69 figures in 6 months (inc. 11 cavalry), which is a lot by my standards. Without OWAC it would take years for me to paint that many figures. Hence the smug expression on the selfie. What made it possible? What can be improved? For me, a combination of multiple factors:

Strong inspiration - that was the main factor in staying motivated. This army was a nostalgia trip to the 90s when I was first exposed to Warhammer and started painting figures. At that time my hobbies were mostly RPGs and heavy metal, not wargames. But back then a Warhammer army of undead would have been my choice. So thanks OWAC, that is one childhood dream fulfilled ;-)

Planning & preparation - Prepping models in advance and planning monthly batches helped a lot. There is room for improvement here - months when work deadlines were parallel to OWAC deadlines were pretty tense (that was 4 of the 6 months...). I'll have to plan less for these months next time.

Monthly deadlines - wonderful motivator. I now know I need a cracking whip to deliver regularly and keep working ;-)

Balance - keeping the balance of family commitments, work and OWAC was the greatest challenge. Improvement for next time is more steady work, less mad dashes at the end of the month. Painting just when the mood strikes may not be enough.

Variety - I (barely) managed to stick to one army for 6 months because it offered some variety in types of undead allowing to try out new things each month. I'll plan maximum variety in next projects.  

Feedback - peer feedback helps! Many thanks to the great community of this challenge for the "moral support".

OWAC army breakdown (1737 points):

- 20 skeletons with spears inc. undead hero and command (January) - 343 pts

- 11 Death riders (February & March) - 335 pts.

- 20 zombies with standard (April) - 88 pts.

- 10 ghouls (May) - 80 pts

- the Necromancer (Level 25) - (June) - 340 pts

- the Vampire (Level 5) - (June) - 330 pts

- Wight standard bearer (Level 15 undead hero)  - (June) - 135 pts

- Vampire wannabe - (Level 15 undead hero) - (June) - 85 pts

 Bonus stuff (0 points):

- 9 skeletons (January + July)

- Skull chucker catapult! (July)

January - Skeletons 

20 Skeletons with spears 

 

Bonus skeletons

 February and March - Death riders 

 

11 Death riders

April - Zombies

 

20 zombies

May - Ghouls

10 Ghouls

 

June - heroes

 

July - bonus stuff

Things panted in July are not part of OWAC and I claim no points for them. But they were prepared for OWAC and painted on the motivation rush generated by it. Hence, I take the liberty to include them in the wrap-up post, to demonstrate OWAC's lasting impact.

1 x Screaming skull catapult. I love the malevolent crew and the goofiness of the catapult. Gave it a scenic base and a string for some added "realism" (probably not the word to use for this device).

 

5 x old plastic skeletons. These guys spent 25 years as broken and badly painted pieces in the bitz box or decorating bases. They were cleaned and put together for OWAC and I'm happy to be returning them to service.

 

Next steps
This OWAC covered most of my undead collection, though some units still await the brush - armoured wights, wraiths and more heroes. But for now, the Undead are strong enough to hold their own in the field. So for the time being, I will hold their further expansion and switch gears

 

In next months I will focus on smaller projects - more warbands for Mordheim. Next year, I would love to join the OWAC V, if Iannick will grant me a place. 

 

Assuming I get a place my first choice would be a multi-culti "Grey Mountains Alliance" - Dwarfs and Bretonnians. An alliance born of necessity to fight the green-skin (and occasionally wood elf) menace. It would feature mostly imperial dwarfs and allied feudal Bretonnians (go heraldry!). I have already started preparations and filling gaps in my collection.

 

But there is another, darker path and its lure has been growing stronger. An army of mortals, beasts and demons under the banner of Chaos undivided. Recent stimuli have further fuelled that inspiration - pictures of delightful Chaos armies in OWAC IV, newly discovered chronicles of Corum by Moorcock or a recent visit to Beksinski's exhibition in Warsaw (which resulted in an instant gain of d6 insanity points).

 

 Conclusions

OWAC IV was an amazing ride. Inspiring, motivating, very challenging, often exhausting, at times tense, but ultimately... immensely satisfying.  It was an honour to be part of it.

Beyond a newly panted army my biggest gain is awareness that I can paint faster, stay focused on one subject and what conditions I need to do it. This opens possibilities to actually paint my lead pile before retirement.

 

Many thanks to Iannick for organising this collective madness. This challenge brings about more painted Oldhammer models into existence. That alone makes the world a better place :-) Plus, as an added bonus, it makes a lot of figure painters happy! Kudos to you!

Thanks to the other challengers for feedback and congratulations for all your amazing work!  It has been a source of inspiration and motivation during this challenge. I am looking forward to reading all the wrap-ups!

Cheers and hope to see you next year!