The Old World Army Challenge: George's Space Dwarfs, Month I, Rank & File

When the orcs came, they threw everything they had at the ancient defences of Grimshaft. Walls and shields constructed countless centuries before fell to the bombardment and there was little time for the dwarfs within to prepare.

The stronghold’s long isolation had been a time of peace and the living ancestors had to call upon their most distant recollections to recover forgotten military expertise.

But in the meantime, volunteers flocked to their king’s call. The brotherhood soon swelled in number and as the old armouries were opened up, brave dwarfs lined up to face their terrible foe.

Once the defences had been breached, the orcs poured through. Devastating battles were fought in vast caverns and tight tunnels.

The tales of heroic last stands became all too common as the squats of Grimshaft suffered horrific losses in defence of their home.

But when the tide turned, the brotherhood fought back, driving the orcs from the mines and pursuing them with merciless conviction.

The king ordered his son to muster an expeditionary force. Of the countless volunteers, the most battle hardened brotherhood veterans were hand-picked, ready to travel the galaxy to seek revenge.

The space dwarf miniatures from 1987/88 are some of my favourite Games Workshop sculpts of all time. I spent countless hours looking at the pictures in the Rogue Trader rulebook and in White Dwarf 111, imagining how I would one day paint them.

So, on 2^nd January 2023, I took my primer spray can and panicked! What if I obliterated all of the detail on these priceless heirlooms of my youth? Erring on the over-cautious side, I barely undercoated them at all and sat down to paint straight onto exposed lead. This didn't work and I ended up hand-painting an undercoat and wasting most of my first week – so much for my carefully crafted schedule!

In the end, I had to rush to finish and didn’t have time for the shading, highlights and fine detail I had hoped for. But overall, I’m happy. I’d be very comfortable deploying these stout fellows on the gaming table.

Using David Gallagher’s classic Space Dwarf box art as my guide, I used Nostalgia ’88 Red Gore, Coat D’Arms Sun Yellow and my original Citadel Jungle Green from the 80s as my core colours. I used bronze and gold for weapons and armour, because that’s how the squats of Grimshaft roll! I wanted the bases to reflect the cracked terrain of Grimshaft, basing the colouring on the painted figures pictured in the Rogue Trader book.