Bjorn Grendel's Dwarven Holds - January: rank and file.

 

Bjorn Grendel's Dwarven Holds - January: rank and file.

I don't think I'll ever get used to this posting thing.

Every month I always find myself procrastinating until the last possible moment. Having to fiddle with my phone for hours filling out the forum and taking photos is truly the most burdensome part of the process. Damn, I feel old!

This year in particular, I started out with all the best intentions and found myself in deep trouble: I didn't manage to paint anything for more than half the month, nor did I manage to finish all the models I'd planned for January. But, fortunately, it was more than enough to ensure I wasn't the first loser to end up in the Field of Bones and veterans know that's already a victory.

I'd planned to present a small, cohesive force each month, united under a single, specific commander: something thematic and rational. Unfortunately, many of the models I'd ordered haven't arrived yet (the Gods know why), so the plan, at least for now, has gone drastically awry. So, miserably, here's what I've managed to prepare. 

Bugman. The Brewer. A splendid model that I've always loved. This one in particular is finecast, so I had to plaster and correct it. Also, his banner pole was broken in the box, and I had to reattach it with string. I really like the result; it actually makes me think of a practical solution, suitable for a ranger.

The rangers. Only 8 at the moment, and no shields. To make a complete unit, I found myself using Bugman as a simple champion and adding an adventurer as a guide. The guide is a somewhat scatterbrained dwarf, but he always finds his way home in the end. I would have preferred him to be with the rest of the unit, which is lost somewhere in Old Europe. I sincerely hope they find their way again.

Fundinn Is still unsure if his map Is updated 

The brewer's cart. I hadn't even considered including it at first; I didn't even remember it existed. Then, a customer of mine sent me his own dwarf army to prepare, and there was HIS cart. I immediately thought it might be a fun project to build one from scratch, so I grabbed some coffee stirrers and a few bits from the plastic dwarf kit, and built the structure. Then I added a metal horse, of unknown provenance, too small for Warhammer but suitable for representing a dwarf pony. Not having a cart driver available I modeled one with green stuff and voilà, here is a nice little cart to quench my rangers' thirst along the road.

A cheerful beer vendor.

The Hammerers. 10. Classic scheme. Without shields. Once again, they have disappeared into the depths of Europe. Will they ever arrive? Fortunately, their numbers are sufficient and the command group is present. In the future, they will also have their own King in their ranks, but for now, they fight alone.

The slayers. Here's a sore point. A very sore one. I had planned to make at least ten of them, but suddenly I had to add more to the production line for a commission. I got distracted, and now my desk is cluttered with half-painted dwarves and not enough time to finish any more. So only four this month. What four! One of them is a really old dragon slayer, one of my favorite models. Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been kind, it had suffered a bit of lead rot, but after a brushing and a zinc primer bath, here's a salvageable miniature again. Sadly, many details have been lost and some have been redrawn, but all in all, a great result and a good way to give dignity to this venerable dwarf. Special mention goes to Snorra the Unchained. From the depths of Mordheim, he's returned to his kind... and with a new pair of throusers! (Snorra was a member of my wife's gang, a quick base change, a touch up of the color, repainting of the throusers and there he is at a career breakthrough.) 

The old dragon Slayer reminds me King Fergus from "The Brave".

Originally he sported a maille kilt, now a pelt One.

And here Is Snorra the Unchained...

...with his new pair of slacks!

That's all for now, but I have a few final thoughts:

1: You may have noticed that this year, coincidentally, I've been commissioned to paint a dwarf army IN ADDITION to the one I'm painting for OWAC. Look at the twists and turns of events. So I'm painting two at the same time, which is fine because I can paint some units in battery, but this risks drastically slowing down the process. I've received permission from my client to photograph and publish his pieces here as well, so get ready to see a DOUBLE DOSE of dwarves starting next month!! It goes without saying that they'll be highly recognizable, and according to the rules of our game, only the models from our army will count.

2- Missing models: My son's army is partly made up of his, my wife's, and my dwarf collections. We ordered much of what was missing to form complete units, but one of the orders is currently lost in customs. I hope this situation will be resolved. I'm aware that in 3rd Edition the minimum units are made up of 5 models, but I always aim for a minimum of 10. I'll try to solve the problem with extra models from time to time, hoping to optimize everything by the end of the challenge.

3- Shields and banners: The shields are arriving soon, and fortunately they're optional. They'll be added to the models (and photographed) ASAP. As for the banners, the plan is to keep everything at the totem level, since the vast majority of dwarf standard-bearers only have those. There are paper flagpoles, but they're a distinct minority. At the last minute we'll see whether to add the paper flags or leave the dwarf heads and glyphs as they are, but for now they're painted so I'll count them.

If I haven't completely misunderstood, here's the table with the count as of today, January 30th.

See you next month,

keep painting, stay old school.