Ben's Alpine Gnomes - OWAC VII Wrap-Up

Oh! There's another month you say? Wrap Up's aren't til July? Well then, I guess we're still cooking!

Hello Again Oddbods, stunning weather for a recap innit? We had some laughs, some tears, and some fears along the way, but we made it to the end, all fingers and toes still on. Since last we met, I've had some time to unwind, and think a little (more) about my very first OWAC.

What's left to say after six months of posting? 

For starters, I think I did a pretty good job. Like many of you, I'm sure we've played our fair few games with models silver, grey, or black, so having an army fully painted before it sees play is quite the joy. Its me fulfilling the social contract on my end, and doing it in style even. While not all the paint jobs are ambitious, the overall consistency makes these wee friends a delight to behold when filed in ranks. When someday they do grace a table, these gnomes will look sharper than their pikes. Ouch!

One of the things I don't think I talked about at the start: why gnomes? Why did I devote half a year to these little clowns? I can answer that!

Gnomes by Wil Huygen

Helga's Dowrey and Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

Many of the book-objects of my youth touched on the folklore of the faefolk; hard working, resourceful, tradition laden people who got into as much trouble as they got out of. I suppose I was predisposed to the little guys on that one hand, reading the borrowers, watching the borrowers, wishing I was a borrower... you know how it goes. In retrospect, I think the color choices I made in this project may reflect some of these early encounters, but use your own eyes and tell me if I'm talking fancyfarts.

Outside of this storybook justification, the other rationale could be that in the world of miniatures, these miniatures were miniature. I'd been fascinated by miniatures before warhammer bit me, what with dollhouses, oragami, that indian in the cubboard movie, and more, but gnomes just... they're so tiny, even compared to the miniatures we usually call miniature. Its no wonder I have so many of them now.

my first gnome army; the quiet march led by necromeister Gneil

Yeah, I have more than the 90 you saw for this project. Pictured above is a full army of Undead Gnomes for Dragon Rampant, which could easily translate to a small WFB6E army of undead gnomes, which I'll have to make rules for someday. But yes, now you know my secret shame.

And my other secret shame, the chaos gnomes (which are just 15mm chaos dwarfs from admiralty miniaures.) I have another small army of these guys waiting in my bits box, meaning that someday, I'll have three armies of gnomes, after which I'll need a fourth to make it a good number. What is a good number? One that feels good of course! 

Ok, ok, enough dawdling, I know what you're really here for...

the artist, and their army.

Well, there I am, in the picture. Sorry if its a bit blurry. 

I'm not terribly photogenic and cameras know it, so this is me doing my best.

What are the next steps?

There's a few I think.

Foremost is the period where I do a bunch more math, after deciding which system and edition that the I and the gnomes are best suited for. I will likely re-stat them for sixth edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle, since its my childhood, and because I've been playing Mordheim and its all very surface right now. However, Byron's Rules for Ravening Hordes 6th edition were written in 2017, and no longer encompass the entire range, and so I've made up some point values of my own. I'm also taking liberties with some of the units, and will detail those after the list.

Characters (lords 0-1, heroes 0-4, max 4)

x3 hearthtinker = 55x3

core 3+

25 pikegnomes w/ light armor, champion, bsb, and music = 7x25+30

19 pikegnomes w/ light armor, champion, bsb, and music = 7x19+30

14 crossbowgnomes = 7x14

12 guarden gnomes w/ light armor, champion, bsb, and music = 10x12+30

special 0-4

cannon = 60

5 fox patrol = 15x5

rare 0-2

alpine giant = 160

organ gun = 64

1142 points total without special items

I've decided to charge myself 7 points per pikeman, and that the fox patrol can be a special unit. The special units slot looked awful barren with just units of cannons, and while I appreciate an artillery battery as much as the next general, I don't want to force castling playstyles on myself or my opponents. I don't care much about the scout or fast cavalry special rules, so I'd be happy to shed those in negotiations with any coplayer, as I'll already have to ask permission to play this homebrewed army anyhow. The important part is having fun, and playing with toys with people you like, so whatever it takes to do that is honestly what I'll do.

For 1000p games, I have had a good long think, and this is what I would do. I would drop the giant, a pikeman, and a hearthtinker to get below 1k. Then I'd pop a belt of giant strength on the hearthtinker leading the smaller unit of pikes, upgrade the other hearthtinker to a level 2 wizard, and give the cantonical standard pike unit a stag banner. All of this means bubkis to the uninformed, but basically I'm buffing my gnomish magic, making an in-unit hero a whiz at challenges, and giving my anvil unit a 5+ ward save against ranged attacks. Are these good moves? They're moves that I thought were good. For any list-builders in the audience, I invite you to do better (because I like to learn, and think engagement is fun.)

Summation of changes to the above list, for a 1k point game of wfb6e

-giant

-hearthtinker

-1 pikegnome

+stagbanner

+belt of strength

+level 2 wizard

Are We Done? Maybe for now.

No army is ever done. I said that last time, so now I can reference myself. Also, I'm a big Stillmania fan, so that's a consideration too. 

For the uninitiated (and because I like to repeat myself,) here's the jist.

Since I'm still not at 2k, I'll still have a ways to go before this gnomish army is actually put to bed (if ever.) Because I'm a nerd, and I don't plan on dying before this project is done, here are some brief ideas of how I would expand this project down the line.

• Keebler Illusionist on Tatzelwurm - the model exists, and I think having a big centerpiece model like some gryphon-riding elector-count would be fun, even if the mini I'd use is less than a quarter of the size.
• More Cannons - at least two to round out that unit on the hill.
• Another block of infantry - maybe some old gnomes to add some grumble to the rumble.
• Another unit of fox reiters - because they're in my bits box somewhere.
• Allies, mercenaries, and dogs of war! - so the rules state that gnomes can ally themselves with halflings, dwarfs, and manlings, and knowing me, that sounds like a great excuse to make some little 500 point armies, who can then turn into 1000 point armies, and then into future challenges. No, I kid, but I did always like smaller format games, and that sounds like a terrific excuse, doesn't it?

In Reflection

How did participating in this challenge go? Was I irrevocably changed? Who am I now?

Yeah, no. I'm still the same lousy git, but now with slightly stronger time management skills. Having these deadlines really helped me to prioritize mini projects that were achievable within the time constraints, and led to success more months than not. Furthermore, finding things that worked was really helpful for painting skin and bases, those also cut down on time because I knew what my goals were, and what it was I liked to look at. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love the bases for this army; they turned out like a rose-tinted version of the ones I remember from old White Dwarf magazines, or the sand-crusted ones of my old LGS. I lived on Cape Cod when I was younger, and thus sand was free, so you could literally grab a cup of the stuff and dunk your dudes in with a little Elmers glue smeared on the bases. Its some regional nostalgia, but it his the spot.

The paint techniques used on the models were also fine I guess. All of my personal growth points went towards learning about my capacity as a creative, and my project management needs as a nerd who needs to manage projects. I think next time, I'll try to assemble all my components and ideas before I take the plunge, just to take the scramble out of some of it, but on the other hand, the scramble makes for some creative solution generation. One is less stressful for sure, but who can say which is more successful? More compelling? More CINEMA!

Admittedly, I did learn one more thing. Given the way things are right now, I rarely found time or inclination for painting models outside of those obligations I pledged myself to via OWAC. Its something I want to work on, since making and painting are processes I find peace and satisfaction in, and I feel its absence when I don't make time to do it.

 Hopefully, lining up more OWAC-like projects will help me to nurture that part of who I am, and scratch those creative itches so that I don't wind up going half a year without picking up a brush. I've started doing some painting challenges with a friend, and while I've fallen woefully behind in recent months, the intent and accountability are still there. With a little determination and some dedication, I'll be back on the painting horse in no time, ready to take on the next fools errand that strikes my fancy!

everyone, but with dynamic bedsheet mountains

All of that said, again, thank you everyone. You've been wonderful and I couldn't have done this without you. Safe travels, happy hunting, and see you again soon!