Dustin's Dwarfs: The Wrap-Up!

 
Thus concludes another OWAC. I wish that I had been able to paint more, but it seemed like real life and adult responsibilities kept pulling my attention and energy away from the stunties. Overall, I'm really happy with my little force, as it brought me out of my usual Orcs and Goblins comfort zone, forcing me to paint more realistic skintones and even crafting a few banners from graph paper. It still feels a little small for gaming, though. I think I'd like to add another couple units of warriors or elites and a proper war machine or two. I had plenty of stuff on deck (Miners, Thunderers, Rangers, Warriors, Bolt Thrower, Goblobber), but time and motivation were in ever-shorter supply as the Challenge went on.

The final army list:

Level 20 Dwarf Hero (168), with double-handed hammer (2), Mithril heavy armor (28) -- 198 points
Level 5 Dwarf Army Standard Bearer (98), with heavy armor (3) -- 101 points

Level 5 Dwarf Hero (48) with light armor (2) and shield (1) -- 51 points
19 Dwarf Warriors with light armor and shields, Standard, Musician --  231 points

Level 5 Dwarf Hero (48) with crossbow (3) and light armor (2) -- 53 points
19 Dwarf Crossbowmen with crossbows and light armor, Standard, Musician -- 273 points

2 Dwarf Fire Thrower Teams with heavy armor -- 124 points

TOTAL: 1031 points

Looking toward next year's challenge, I've got a couple of ideas bouncing around in my head. Maybe more Orcs to make up for failing to complete last year's challenge, or some High Elves to really get out of my comfort zone. Still a few months left to decide (and pick up some new minis).

Thanks again to Iannick for overseeing and coordinating this whole project! Until next year!!

Dustin's (not so) Big Finish; or, the Dwarf Rank and File of June (254 points)

 Rank and File Month #4

 Of the innumerable things that a dwarf cannot abide, surely a close shave must rank highly. Sadly, this month's submission was a bit of a close shave, as I realized that simply submitting my planned rank and file of ten crossbow dwarfs would leave me almost 100 points short of the 1,000 point minimum stipulated by the challenge. Such is the price one pays for taking a mulligan in May. I had originally planned to paint some war machines as my wild card, so a pair of fire thrower teams will take me over the finish line.

The quarrelers are a mix of Perry Imperials and slightly flamboyant Marauder sculpts, both equally enjoyable to paint. I tried to keep the Marauders coherent, but not uniform in appearance. I think the two smoking pipes are my favorites, but the buttoned-up Imperials have their charms, too. My approach to the fire throwers was strictly business, as I had to finish them in the late hours of June 29th. Still, perfect is the enemy of good, and done is done.

10 Dwarf Crossbowmen -- 130 points

2 Dwarf Fire Thrower Teams with heavy armor -- 124 points

That takes care of June, and another OWAC is in the books. I'll save the navel-gazing for my wrap-up post.

Dustin's Dwarf General and Battle Standard Bearer (299 points)

Leader month

It's April, the middle of the challenge. That time when you start to lose momentum, maybe consider taking a mulligan. I know I thought of it, but I knew that if I took a mulligan, I would have that much more difficult of a time regaining my enthusiasm for the following month. So instead, I did the sensible thing and painted my general and army's battle standard bearer. A short (haha) and sweet painting commitment during a moment of weakness.

A couple of classic Marauder minis, to be sure!

Level 20 Dwarf Hero (168), with double-handed hammer (2), Mithril heavy armor (28) -- 198 points
Level 5 Dwarf Army Standard Bearer (98), with heavy armor (3) -- 101 points

That's all for April, now to get a head start on May's entry.

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, a-quarreling we will go; Dustin's March Rank and File (196 points)

 Rank and File Month #3

More rank and file for the month of March (gotta fulfill those Warhammer Armies composition requirements)! This month, I've painted a small unit of doughty crossbowdwarfs with full command. After two months of monopose plastics, it was nice to get some variation by way of these classic Marauder sculpts, although I do have some repeat poses amongst their ranks.

9 Dwarf Crossbowmen with crossbows and light armor, Standard, Musician -- 143 points

Level 5 Dwarf Hero with crossbow and light armor -- 53 points

That's all for March. I'm going to need to factor in some building and priming time for next month, as I'll be deviating a bit from my original list (happens every year).

Dustin's Rank and File Dwarf Warriors, Part II (172 points)

 Rank and File Month #2

OWAC IV is well underway, and I've now finished my first unit of stout Dwarf Warriors. More PBS3 plastics, this time joined by a Citadel command group.

 

Despite this being a shorter month, I felt less of a time crunch working on these guys. I painted this month's minis in groups of five, which I think helped with my motivation compared to last month's batch painting of ten at once. Another factor was likely the variety offered by the metal command figures. Much as I love these plastics, they could really use a couple more head options. The metals were a lot of fun, though. I think I'll need to source some Imperial Dwarfs or Prince Ulther's Dragon Company at some point in the near future.

9 Dwarf Warriors with light armor and shields, Standard, Musician --  121 points

Level 5 Dwarf Hero with light armor and shield -- 51 points

That's all for February. Here's to a bit more variety in next month's sculpts!

Dustin's Rank and File Dwarf Warriors, Part I (110 points)

Rank and File Month #1

OWAC IV begins in earnest (for me) with some basic Dwarf Warriors, 10 vintage plastics from good old PBS3, the Warhammer Fantasy Regiments box. These guys (and next month's batch) came second-hand, so there was a bit of persistent old paint and glue damage that had to be worked around. They're already pretty low-detail, so a melted belt buckle or chainmail link isn't immediately noticeable.

 

I've since managed to source a goodly amount of unbuilt ones, so subsequent units will be slightly neater.

10 Dwarf Warriors with light armor and shields -- 110 points

 I should probably get back to painting, since February will be over before we know it.

Dustin's Dwarfs for OWAC IV

Well, I'm back and seeking redemption for ending up in the Field of Bones during the last challenge. I made a good start, but the combination of global pandemic and an ending lease forced me to focus my energies toward finding a house, packing up our lives, and ultimately moving, which was no small feat for April of 2020. Even after settling into my new home, I couldn't quite get settled into my new painting area (a basement office that needs some updating), and my orcs languished. There was also little incentive to paint, given that there would be no in-person gaming for the foreseeable future. I had a few ideas about solo gaming with rulesets such as Oathmark, so I considered creating a "good" army to oppose my Orcs and Goblins. Empire was tempting, but the vintage minis certainly aren't cheap and I didn't fancy the idea of painting all those ostentatious landsknechts on a tight schedule. I then considered High Elves. I still had my 4th edition starter set minis and had picked up some metal command figures in dribs and drabs over the years. High Elves were looking like "the one," until I saw a Facebook post where someone mentioned painting something like 60 gemstones on a small unit of basic infantry. Ugh. My High Elves would have to wait. So maybe I'd go 40K for this Challenge, but I just haven't been feeling the grim darkness of the far future lately, and I still wanted someone to fight it out with my Goblinoids. Around October, I was able to get a batch of old plastic Fantasy Regiments Dwarfs. These figures were pretty simple, but had a charm that appealed to this old Heroquest fan. They looked good en masse and straightforward to paint, all points in their favor. And so, after scrambling to get some additional troops, I have put together the following list for my initial 1000 points (using 3rd edition Warhammer Armies):

• Level 20 Dwarf Hero (168), with double-handed hammer (2), Mithril heavy armor (28) -- 198 points
• Level 5 Dwarf Army Standard Bearer (98), with heavy armor (3) -- 101 points
• Level 5 Dwarf Hero, Warriors' Champion (48), with light armor (2), shield (1) -- 51 points
• 19 Dwarf Warriors with light armor and shields (209), with Standard (11) and Musician (11) -- 231 points
• 12 Dwarf Crossbowmen (156), with Standard (13) and Musician (13) -- 182 points
• 12 Dwarf Thunderers (156), with Standard (13) and Musician (13) -- 182 points
• Dwarf Fire Thrower Team with heavy armor  -- 62 points
• Total: 1007 points

 

I'm still waiting on a few figures in the mail (general, thunderer standard, more crossbows), but I've got plenty to get started with.

Now for the Overlord Offering, my test figure for my Dwarf Warriors:

This guy was fairly relaxing to paint, no weird "what is that supposed to be?" textures or difficult-to-reach details. I'm looking forward to getting on these guys come January. Here's to another installment of the OWAC, may the Field of Bones remain empty!

Dustin's February Orcs (203 points)

February is always a busy month for me, so I'm glad I didn't have to mulligan. Instead, I focused on some command models for the orcs I painted last month and some fire support in the form of an LE22 Orc Bazooka Crew (they appeared in flyers for both Fantasy and Rogue Trader).

Sleazy Company, Band of Bovvers

Fun times with anachronisms.

Lvl 15 Orc Hero with Additional Hand Weapon, Heavy Armor -- 92 points
Standard Bearer and Musician for last month's Orc Halberdiers -- 46 points
Orc Bazooka Team -- 65 points

Onward to March!

Dustin's Orcs of the New Year (203 points)

And so it begins...

After a bit of a slow start, I was able to finish my first dozen orcs, along with a nasty ol' C20 marsh troll for good measure. These guys were pretty fun to paint; nice and simple, but suitably menacing when ranked up.

The troll was a real treat, though. I've already opined on the C20 trolls elsewhere, and this guy might be my favorite of that bunch. I love the little details like the fish poking out of his net, pure character without going to extremes.

12 Orc Boyz with Halberds, Shields, Heavy Armor -- 138 points

1 Marsh Troll -- 65 points

Onward to February!

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!

Down, Down to Goblin-Town; or, Dustin's Wrap-Up Post

Well, I did it. I actually finished an army, somehow keeping to a semi-regular painting schedule and even managing to play a few games along the way.

The obligatory "Warhammer Armies" pose. Bonus points for being taken in a hotel room where a game of 3rd edition had just been played.

The final army list:

Night Goblin General on Gigantic Spider - 103 points

Night Goblin Master Shaman - 159 points

24 Night Goblin Warriors with Boss, Big Boss, 3 Fanatics - 238 points

21 Night Goblin Stikkas with Big Boss, 2 Fanatics - 162 points

21 Night Goblin Stikkas with Big Boss, 2 Fanatics - 162 points

3 Stone Trolls - 195 points

Giant - 200 points

TOTAL: 1219 points

A hasty close-up of the assembled Night Goblin horde.

I managed to get in a couple of games of 3rd edition at Historicon with fellow OWACers Anthony Bo and Darren "Lopez" Stephens. In a rare display of greenskin cooperation, Anthony and I joined forces against Lopez's Dark Elves. We crushed the elves in our first game, but fell victim to infighting and panic in the second. My fanatics managed to cause plenty of casualties among the elves, and an almost equal amount among their own kind (sadly). It wasn't all doom and gloom, as Lunkh the Giant managed to show up sober in both games and killed a hydra in the first and a cockatrice in the second!

"Oi, yer wants annuver, do yer?"

Is an army ever really finished? I know I've got a weird number of points. I could pad the list out for 4th/5th edition and add some "Herohammer" magic items, along with a herd of Squigs and Squig Hoppers. I seem to be playing a lot of 3rd at the moment, so I might add some Orcs (I've got plenty of Ruglud's boyz waiting for paint) and a Lead Belcher. Regardless of what edition I play, I definitely want another big mob of gobbos, some wolf riders, more trolls, and possibly another giant. A horde of monsters is where it's at.

Thanks again to Iannick for organizing the challenge (I'm working on your mini, I promise) and to Blue in VT and airbornegrove26 for being my sounding boards throughout this whole thing. Now to get to painting more gobbos!

Dustin's Big Finish for June (200 points)

June turned out to be another busy month, but despite breaking the 1,000 point barrier in May, I really wanted to avoid taking a mulligan on the last month of the challenge. I was originally going to paint more trolls, then I thought about doing some squig hunters, and then it hit me--I should really paint a giant. Historicon is coming up and I'm looking forward to playing some games of 3rd edition, so having a giant drunkenly stumbling around the battlefield naturally sounded appealing.

Giant -- 200 points

This guy is from Reaper (02770: Lunkh, Hill Giant). He's a little on the small side (not like all those real giants out there), but I like his pose and general shouty expression. Despite this, I did not enjoy painting him as much as I expected. I also noticed a couple of moldlines after I had started painting him, so it's not exactly my finest hour. Regardless, I've got a giant to throw down at Historicon, and I've completed the OWAC without using my mulligan, success!

Gobbo for scale.

Trouble on Eight Legs: Dustin's May Goblins (199 points)

The penultimate month draws to a close, and I've broken the thousand-point mark on my army! Part of this involved painting my army general, one of the classic Marauder MM35 Gigantic Spider Riders.

Night Goblin Warlord with Light Armor and Shield, riding a Gigantic Spider -- 103 points

2 Night Goblin Big Bosses with Light Armor and Shield -- 72 points

2 Standard Bearers and Musicians for Stikka Mobs -- 24 points

The Warlord on his White Spider.

From another angle.

The spider rider is a mini that I picked up just prior to the challenge, having wanted one since I first read "The Battle of Iron Peak" in the 4th edition army book, where he was "Gorblum the Magnificent." I read that battle report countless times as a yoof, and now I've assembled a similar warband years later. The big bosses and command elements are part of my plan to rearrange my stikkas based on my experience fighting Blue's dwarfs at Cold Wars. That weekend, I had been using small units for harassment purposes and delivering the odd fanatic, but the only thing that could keep them going in combat was their hatred for their stunted foes. Since then, I've decided to group my stikkas into two larger, 21-strong units, each containing a standard bearer and musician, and led by a big boss. I figure the additional bonuses to combat resolution and leadership (as well as the fighting ability of the big bosses) will make them a bit more respectable on the battlefield (for a bunch of poxy gobbos, anyway).

See you in June for the thrilling conclusion!!

Dustin's April Shroom Gang (219 Points)

When T.S. Eliot declared that “April is the cruelest month,” I’m fairly certain the poet did not have miniature painting challenges on his mind (although you never know, maybe he had a copy of Little Wars somewhere on his shelf). Where March was a flurry of painting and gaming, my schedule really filled up after Cold Wars, with family travel and work commitments consuming a lot of my mental space for the past month. I definitely felt some burnout, and got frustrated with my efforts on some figures I was initially enthusiastic about (they may crop up later in the challenge). The mulligan crossed my mind, but I’d really like to avoid taking it unless something truly dire cropped up. For me, the whole point of this exercise is to get an army painted, which is not really something I’ve been able to do in the past (at least to my satisfaction). Anyway, I had an ace-in-hole, an “anti-mulligan” strategy; namely, a wizard.

Doom Goblin Shaman by Kev Adams

All true Night Goblins have red weapons.

The nice thing about wizards and heroes is that they can be of varying levels and points costs, which gives some flexibility when you have to paint a target number of points per month. Under the 4thedition rules, this charming fellow is going to be a level 3 wizard, a Master Shaman. He is accompanied by a pair of fungus-addled fanatics that will be distributed among my existing units. Based on my experience at Cold Wars, I’m going to spend the coming months expanding my main unit of melee goblins and combining the archers into two larger units and giving them each a command section with a big boss.

Whirling Death. A bit of Bob Olley and a bit of Kev. All good.

Night Goblin Master Shaman – 159 points

2 Night Goblin Fanatics – 60 points

We’re getting there.

Dustin’s Goblins - Beware the Red Eyes of March! (208 points)

After last month’s trolls, it’s back to the massed infantry. These scum are the start of my main block of Night Goblins, some Kev Adams classics from the early Nineties (plus a newer champion from Knightmare Games/Crooked Claw).

22 Night Goblins with Double-Handed Weapons, Shields, Standard Bearer, Musician — 96 points

2 Night Goblin Fanatics — 60 points

Night Goblin Boss with Double-Handed Weapon and Shield — 18 points

Night Goblin Big Boss with Shield — 34 points

I’ve had some of them since 1997 or so (better painted late than never). As I was attending Cold Wars in mid-March, I had a great motivation for getting these guys painted in time for some gaming with Airbornegrove26 and Blue in VT.

My ultimate plan is to expand this mob up to 40, and add some command figures to the mobs of stikkas I painted at the beginning of the challenge, so I know what I’ll be working on in April!

Dustin's February Submission (A Trollish Trio, 195 points)

February, the shortest month, and a busy one for me even when not participating in army painting challenges. This month's output is pretty basic:

3 Stone Trolls -- 195 points

These guys were fun to paint, and a good diversion from the gobbos. I've been a fan of these sculpts since the Nineties, but for some reason, had never painted any of them (in fact, I had never owned any until this past year). I'm glad I was able to pick them up before GW finally "retired" them a couple of months ago.

This is Glogg. I rather enjoyed painting the femur he wields as a weapon. Perhaps it's a femur with which to bash fimir?

Here's Fletch. He's not dual wielding weapons, the big rock is just a snack.

Finally, Ol' Stinkmouf, ready to empty the contents of his stomach on some unfortunate stunties. Failing that, he can bash them with his stone maul.

That's all for February. More goblins to come in March.

Dustin's January Goblins (198 points)

The first month draws to a close, and I've managed to knock out a solid number of models:

36 Night Goblins with Short Bows -- 108 points
3 Night Goblin Fanatics -- 90 points

 

Pretty quickly after starting the challenge, I decided to deviate from my intended list (likely to be a recurring theme over the coming months). I added more archers, figuring that I could field them as one big mob or a trio of smaller, nuisance units. Hopefully they can inflict the occasional casualty, or at least release their fanatics, before running away.

The figures are some Kev Adams sculpts from Black Hat Miniatures' now-defunct "Shattered Isles" fantasy range. They're nice, simple sculpts, not much ornamentation compared to the 4th edition Citadel Night Goblins or the more recent Greenskin Wars Doom Goblins, but that just made them easier to paint. I felt that painting a big chunk of infantry at the outset was key to maintaining momentum. Plus, I want to play some games at Cold Wars in March, so it was best to start with the rankest of the rank and file.

A trio of old-school Fanatics rounds out the January submission.

See you in February.

Dustin's Goblin Horde - Introduction

“Wherein a Lapsed Fantasy Player Returns to the Fold”

Despite being in the hobby since the mid-1990s (Heroquest/Battlemasters/Red Period were my jam), I’ve mostly gravitated toward the 40k side of the spectrum, with one major exception: Goblins. I loved the little blighters, but adolescent funds being what they were, my hordes were pretty much limited to the 4th edition plastics with a smattering of metal figures. My gaming group also preferred 40k to Fantasy, so once I was working part-time, I was more likely to buy Space Orks than Night Goblins. This trend continued up through college and well into adulthood, until fairly recently with a few bargains on old metal gobbos that I lucked into, plus some slightly reckless spending if we’re being totally honest.

Now, a lot of the “Oldhammer in the New World” crew that I currently play with are big into Fantasy, and I’d like to be able to join in with my own force rather than borrow minis or just lead a small contingent in a bigger battle. I bode my time until the next Old World Army Challenge, as I figured the group painting environment would help motivate me to actually finish a hobby project.

My intended army list at the moment (using 4th edition Warhammer Armies: Orcs and Goblins):

Night Goblin Warlord with Two Handed Weapon, Light Armor – 54 pts

Night Goblin Battle Standard Bearer with Light Armor – 67 pts

Night Goblin Master Shaman (Level 3 Wizard) – 159 pts

Night Goblin Big Boss with Halberd, Light Armor – 37 pts

38 Night Goblins with Shields, Standard, Musician, Boss – 136 pts

37 Night Goblins with Shields, Standard, Musician, Boss – 133 pts

20 Night Goblins with Short Bows – 60 pts

7 Fanatics – 210 pts

4 Squig Hoppers – 100 pts

1 Stone Troll – 65 pts

TOTAL = 1021 pts, 113 models

First big block of infantry, "Magrot's Malcontents."

"The Unreliables"

It just doesn't feel right without a troll, so here's "Ol' Stinkmouf."

I'm still waiting on some more miniatures in the mail, but this lot should be enough to start with. Time to glue some more and start priming!