John Bentley's January Dwarf Host - Warriors

Big things come in small packages

Starting the year off with the classic dwarf warriors x10. Never did find the shield, the cat wins this round.

Dont zoom in too far I am nowhere near as good all the rest of you but these guys are a blast to paint.

Looking forward to seeing all the rest of this groups painted minis.

Hope you all have as much fun painting as I did

Adrian's dwarves - Wrap Up of the unnoficial sequel of Snow White's tale

Army wrap-up post.

The army finally return home with the seven dwarf engineers and Snow White.

"Doc": Hey, it was not that difficult to escape with at least part of the treasure.

Ulther: Ahem.

"Doc": Well, it took some help.

King Kazador: Hey, you were seven at the start of this mess, didn't you? where is your other friend?

"Doc": That's right, what will be Dopey doing again? where is he?

"Sneezy": I *achooo* I have seen him walking up the northern path fighting the orcs.

"Doc": At this point I think he must have reached the chaos wastes.

Another month, another OWAC finished!

Some of the last six months were a bit intense, the typical treacherous miscalculation of the available time here and there. Several working trips. But in the end, planning ahead saved the day again. That and the lack of painting fatigue as my motivation was pretty high.

Again like my eldars, this is my main fantasy army after all. Many of the models were sitting in my desk for ages waiting to be finished. I wanted to give 'em a coat of paint finally.

The OWAC has turned in a mix of opportunity to work on lots of unfinished projects...but the temptation to start new ones or add new units.

The objective was clear, adding several oldhammer units to my multi-edition dwarf army. However, the main army colour is mainly greens and that was slightly wrong if I wanted to add Kazador, so I changed my mind with the main army no #1 rule about colour variation. That was the reason to alter the blueish to teal of the armours, shields and banners that sits perfectly with my main host as it represents single units.

I would lie if I said that it was just as planned... I simply started painting and it was like the perfect colour.

With each unit as it own "clan" inside my dwarf hold, I think I can mix them well and will probably guide toward that direction with some of my other unfinished units of the pile of shame. 

Don't worry, you'll probably see the next batch, there are like several hundreds of unpainted dwarves where these lads come from. Unfortunately nothing so awesome like the Dragon Company. For now?

One of the rarest units in my collection. I started way back in the last days of 5th edition and early days of 6th. Too young to see these on the shelves of a citadel store. I was a curious dwarf collector, so I had a glimpse into the oldhammer catalogues...

I first asked Mariano about some bugman rangers that I missed in my collection... he came with an opportunity to add the Dragon Company to my ranks... and here I am, even I have now a bunch of preslotta dwarves here and there and finishing in my third edition of the Challenge. It needed to be treated some additional care.

Lovely unit to paint. As I said in June, I'll come back to the banner and some small unfinished details but I think that so much effort expent in that unit is pretty rewarding, because not only it pops-out, it is also a satisfying unit to paint despite the small amount of different sculpts.

So, lets summarize

The Host of King Kazador

King Kazador of Karak Azul - 494 points

Runesmith - 78 points

14x Dwarf warriors with full command - 244 points

10x Hammerers with standard bearer - 202 points

10x Troll Slayers with musician - 141 points 

Prince Ulther (Hero) + 14x Dragon Company Iron Breakers and full command -  430 points

Organ Gun - 65 points

Flame Cannon - 119 points

Baggage train - 100 points

Snow White

A mine

Total: 57 dwarfs, 1 human, 1 pony, 1 unanimated pile of rocks, 1873 points

Now, time to prepare the next OWAC. I have an idea in my mind, as I wanted to jump into the Horus Heresy and it seems that beakies are the new black.

Until then, Adrian’s out!

Adrian's dwarves - January rank & file month of dwarf clansmen (363 points)

Rank and File Month #1 

The dwarf warriors march to the call of their King.

King Kazador has sent the messages across his realm and to their allies, the call for arms is spreading fast. The reward is no less than the head of the warlord Gorfang himself. 

Kazador is so eager to claim his vengeance that he will to advance with a vanguard ahead of his drong. He plans to strike the orc raiders in the mine while the two armies set up the lines in the valley, willing to save the brave dwarves. And, if lucky, duel the orc champion far from the mess of a large battle. 

Mustering the drong is a slow process for this risky plan, but some clans can be ready fast enough to join this adventure. The clan Hammergrim was the first to depart with their king, leaded by Grokrin Hammergrim, after accompanying some of the merchant caravans from Karak Azul. They did not need to rest after the long journey to other karaks in the North, as the promise of crushing orc skulls will be more than welcomed after their long and boring job as bodyguards. 

 

This month I almost finished the entire unit of 14 dwarf warriors with full command – 244 points

 

“Almost” because as you can see… the standard lacks a proper freehand. Shame. I will come back to it in the next month or in the leader month. 

I also changed a bit the troop quantities because a package with the last two dwarves I needed seems to be lost, sadly. I borrowed a volunteer from another unpainted unit. And I have come with a solution that you will see in the leader month as well.

Meanwhile in the mine, the seven dwarves will not let the orcs get their hands in the piles of gold and gems, much less raid the vaults of the rediscovered karak and its treasures of ancient times. “Doc”, Oin “Sleepy” Cliffchin and Grom “Bashful” prepare a surprise made with a set of old furnaces and a large amount of flammable and unsafe materials. 

The engineer and the fire team count as a Flame Cannon – 119 points. 

So this month ends with a total of 17 dwarves and 363 points. 

See you in the next post. 

Adrian’s out.

Brennan's Wrap-up Post (1,203 points)

Hello!  Well this is the end of my third OWAC and I'm excited to get through this chunk of the old lead pile.  First I want to thank the Overlord and all the other folks who have supported the challenge.  It has been a difficult year, but this part has been as good as ever and I appreciate that.

On to the final pictures!  Worksite army photo below...

10 Iron Breakers with Musician and Standard: 240 pts

10 Crossbowmen: 130 pts

16 Longbeards with Musician and Standard: 270 pts

21 Warriors with Musician and Standard: 253 pts

2 Bolt Throwers: 120 pts

1 Dwarf Hero Heavy Armor and Double Handed Weapon: 109 pts
1 Runesmith w/ Heavy Armor (under his clothes ;)): 81

So this was fun.  I haven't done a heavily armored force for the OWAC yet and it had been a while since I had done this much armor anyway.  I tried to keep it bright but with one finger on reality.  I wanted a good bit of contrast from the orcs and gobs I have been working on.  I think fantasy, or sci-fi, works best when there is a hint of reality to keep the brain anchored.  Otherwise, you just descend into a computer generated realm of disbelief... 

Well this is me signing off for about 6 months!  Paint well and be excellent to each other...

Brennan's April Post (253 points)

Oh this regiment!  I was tickled pink to have a go at it!  I have always wanted one, even when I younger and the RoR box sets like this were going away.  I was lucky enough to get the box and a set, I've added a few figs, in a bulk buy a couple of years ago. I thought they would be a great edition to the army challenge.

First the negative.  They are absolutely horrible to rank up.  I really like my figures facing the enemy head on and not looking to the side when in line.  To get these guys to do this was tough.  I got there.  I have to use the three fig unit bases with the tiny round piece.  I only had 2 of these so the use was very strategic.

Other than that I kept to the pallet I have been using all along, but I muted it a little.  These guys aren't elites, even if they are festooned with pistols...  So I wanted the unit to be a little toned down.

I also added a very similarly uniformed chap with a pistol in a dramatic pose.  I though it fit.

A few more pics...

And the command...

And some shields

So that's 21 warriors with musician and standard: 253pts!

Blue's OWAC 2019 Wrap up Post...Dwarf Reinforcements

Hi all,

After wrapping up the painting of the last few figures, the hand gunners and swivel gun, I was anxious to get some group shots of all the figures that I have managed to paint during the course of this contest.

So I quickly set up some terrain and started gathering my lights, tripod and other assorted Photog equipment.  

...then I spent way too much time arranging...and re-arranging my units until I was happy with how they were presented. 

But here are the results!  
 
A sizable reinforcement to the Grand Army of Strausburg...a thriving trade city on the outer fringes of the Empire. Strausburg is unique in that its rich mountain setting and acceptance of Dwarf refugees from abandoned strongholds in the Worlds Edge Mountains have given it a nearly equal population of Dwarfs and Humans.  In the City the Dwarfs have adopted much of the Imperial fashion (Puff and Slash)...and the Grand Army has adopted the dwarfs love of (and proficiency with gunpowder weapons) and large blocks of sturdy Infantry.

The OWAC 2019 has provided me the opportunity to further expand and refine my Puff and Slash Dwarf Army (which is a component of the mixed race Grand Army)...This is my largest army and the one that I have been working on the longest...literally since the late 1980s...it was the Marauder Dwarf Pike Block that started me down this path to insanity when I was 14yo!

Full Army Shot!

Click to see FULL size

And Some Close ups...

First some much needed reinforcement to my missile troops.  In the past I have always used my Unit of Bugman's Brewers to fill this role...but they are still in their 1988 paint jobs and really fit better, stylistically with my Imperial dwarf Army, so I'm glad to be able to replace them with some more appropriate shooters. And to fill this role there are no better figures than the Marauder Dwarf Xbows...these are all really great figures with a lot of variation to work with.  I decided to build two units of 12...though I fell short of that mark for one unit.  Additionally I added a small 3-man Cannon and a Swivel Gun to my force.

My original plan had been to do one large unit of Xbows...but as I started to cleanup and prime the figures it became apparently to me that there were actually two different "styles" contained within the range.  Half the figures are very much Puff and Slash...while the others have simpler "uniforms" with less puff and slash and feathers.  With this in mind I separated out the figures of each style into two units and added some more figures to bulk them to 12 dwarfs each.  The first unit of Xbows is from Strausburg proper and has fully embraced the Puff and Slash style of dress.  The second unit are recruited from outlying areas that are a little more rustic and not as concerned about being "flashy".  I have the figures ready to expand both of these units to 14 eventually.  (Also note that each unit has a "converted" standard bearer)

As to the Cannon...it is a very old style gun that will also see service with my Bret Army...this crew will transition to the Marauder Organ gun (from whence it came) when I get it painted.

The swivel gun is one of those fantastic White Knight sculpts (now sold by TAG) and is a nice addition to the Marauder swivel gun.

Next is the center piece unit....the PIKES!! (and all the rest...) When I started this challenge I opted to paint a full complete units (like the Xbows) as well as paint some reinforcements for already painted units.  For this reason I painted just two Zweihanders and nine handgunners.  Since these are not complete units and would look odd photographed as individual groups I decided to add them onto the Pike Unit for the photos...

So here we have a 21 Dwarf strong unit of Pikes with 9 handgunners arranged as "sleeves" on either side of the Pike block (they are the "shot" in "Pike and Shot") and they are further protected by a Zweihander on each flank.  This makes for an impressive looking centerpiece unit.

the Pikes are all White Knight sculpts, the handgunners are all Marauder sculpts....as is the Zweihander on the right.  The Zweihander on the left is from the short lived and tough to find Runecast dwarf range.

Points Break Down:
21 Dwarf Pike Block:      381pts
12 Dwarf Xbows:             224pts
11 Dwarf Xbows:             209pts
9 Dwarf Handgunners:  126pts
2 Dwarf Zweihanders:     30pts
Swivel Gun:                        50pts
3-Man Cannon:                 69pts
ARMY TOTAL:              1089pts

So...I guess this is the end! We have survived another OWAC and we have great stuff to show for it.  Congrats to all who stuck with it and finsihed strong (to those in the field of bones...I have only contempt...) :)

Hats off to Iannick for doing the grunt work of keeping this challenge moving forward and coming to a successful conclusion.

Cheers for now!!

Blue

Blue’s June ‘19 OWAC Submission: to the sound of the guns! (176pts)

Well here we are!  It’s remarkable to me that I actually made it thru the OWAC once again!  I’m not gonna lie...it was Very touch and go there for awhile.  So I’m very happy to here at the finish line and getting ready to take some quality pics of my completed army.

So despite the threats to paint some more Xbow dwarfs....at the last minute I shifted gears and went with some thunderers instead.  I’ve had five painted up to my current standard and I really wanted to expand that to a functional unit...so I opted to work up 9 additional handgunners to grow my unit to a tasty 14 strong unit. These are all figures from the excellent MM16 Marauder Thunderers range...all excellent figures and, IMO, some of the best dwarf sculpts ever...

Additionally, I decided to add a second swivel gun to my army.  The first is the classic Marauder Dwarf Swivel Gun...this second is from White Knight’s excellent range of puff and slash dwarfs (now owned and sold by TAG) I think it looks superb with the hand gunners!

So here they are! The handgunners and their swivel gun back up!

And here they are in their combined units with other non-OWAC figures

Points breakdown for June
9 Dwarf Handgunners with light armor and arquebus 126 pts
1 Dwarf Swivel Gun and Crew 50 pts
Total: 176 pts...a little light this month but enough to put me over the 1000 pt total

Next up! Group shots!!

Cheers,

Blue

Tom's Dwarfs, Month Six (449 points)

Well, I write this at the eleventh hour on the Thirtieth of June.

This month has been mentally super stressful, for personal reasons.

Physically though, I've just had some cartilage removed from my knee which has laid me up a bit and, although I've kinda enjoyed my time off from work, I've not made the best painting use of it.

I started my months quota relatively late on the 19th, after languishing in a doldrum, so all in all I'm very pleased with my output!

Here's some before pics, as they were not in my original quote. You'll have to forgive that basecoat painted dude - I was too eager to get started!

They are pictured with models I've painted for the challenge - that's their 'timestamp' :)

Once I had painted these up, it turned out that I'd really enjoyed painting them and I'd be able to paint a few more in the allotted time, so here's their pic:

That gyrocopter was for if I was feeling particularly motivated and flash. Turns out I wasn't, so he sadly remains unpainted.

Everything else though, is painted and roughly based - however the banners are not done yet. And neither are all the movement trays. I think these can be deemed as non-essential, and so they can wait for tomorrow! (And, if not tomorrow, then the follow-up OWAC2 post which'll include a nice army shot).

It being late, I'll have to do my photo's tomorrow too, but you can take my word that my 200points for this month is done.

Actually, I'll take a rough photo now, for those of you who doubt, (although I guess there's no timestamp to be had):

Here we have 27 doughty warriors ready to protect the Hold. It includes Champion, a Hero, a Musician and a Standard Bearer, for a princely total of 449 points.

I always wanted to paint up a large unit in the Oldhammer tradition of using monopose plastics as the main bulk, and metals for the front line and here it is! For the record, I really prefer these plastic over the round comical looking ones that came out after these. The ones that look like this:

Anyhow, after a nights sleep, and gluing the tufts onto the bases, here are some pictures of the completed unit models:

The standard doughty dwarf!

The greater horned doughty dwarf!

I see here that I've forgotten to add shields to the metals which need them (like this dude on the left). They're done and on the painting table, but right now I will save the completed pic for the next instalment.

Twins, pictured above! The twins were the first metal models I painted for this unit. I had in my mind to paint an Anvil of Doom, but in the end I thought I'd best stick to the range. They reminded me, strangely, of the Anvil guards which is kinda fitting.

The unit hero pictured above with two of his chums. I really like this model - the hammer looks like it packs a hefty whack!

The champion, standard bearer and musician. I disliked painting the champ for some reason, so he's a bit rough... To be fair, I think they're all a little rushed, although I feel that the plastics came out much better than the metals! 

As an aside, you can really see the downside of taking photos outside, where the very slightly different light conditions create a not so uniform effect. Fingers crossed a friend will take some proper photos in a couple of days, which should look noticeably better.

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A group shot!

I've the movement tray ready for painting, and I'm just waiting on some magnetic sheets to come in the post so that I can create some more movement trays for the war machine crews, and a spare tray so that I can re-arrange the warrior units into different weapon types.

Here in this unit, it was a conscious choice to paint as many metal dwarfs with hammers as I had left. I could mix these up with the other hammer holders in the Homestead dwarf unit, and so draft in a unit of Hammerers. Failing that, I guess the front rank can demonstrate the unit type instead...

To go with them is an EXTRA model, brought as a nice find on ebay after the start of the challenge. An iconic slayer champion - aaaand I'm choosing the least points value here, so he'll count as a Giant Slayer for the purpose of the OWAC round up next post.

He was painted a little while ago though.

Apologies in advance for the style range break.

Here's his before pic - pictured with some of last months Goblobber crew mid paint as a timestamp:

And done:

He costs 63 points. I liked painting him, but I do regret not putting blue war paint // tattoos on any of my slayers,. Never mind. I guess I could go back over them again if I really wanted to...

That's it for this month I'm afraid. I guess they all count as extras anyhow, as I'm well over the thousand mark :)

Here's a 'group shot' of all my 1000 points - a before and after, if you will.

I've done my best to lay the painted ones out exactly like they were when they were unpainted.

The only model I failed to do was the duplicate King Gorin. He was originally meant to be Iannick's tribute, but instead he received an injured fellow as;

1) I thought the injured dwarf would see more tabletop time as an objective or something and,

2) I really didn't like painting my own King Gorin!

Here's a link to the original, starting post: LINK

And here they all are painted up.

I've left out the many extra units/models/items I was fortunate enough to complete.

You'll have to tune in next time for the full model shot, count and breakdown!

Hopefully by then I'll have the banners done too, although I can't promise anything...

There are some cracking armies coming to completion in this OWAC, and I've felt privileged to be a part of it. I can't wait to see all their complete army shots!

Many thanks to Iannick for creating and running such a lovely challenge. I still have some units of Dwarfs left to paint (Bugmans Rangers, Prince Uthers Dragon Company, the rotund plastics, Thunderers, more crossbows, more war machines, Thrones, Anvils - LOADS! ...but I doubt they'll see any paint until next year. Right now I'm very much enthused on another army project, and hopefully these new GW contrast paints should be just the trick for them).

Here's some links as usual:

January:
130...Crossbowmen
54...Bolt Thrower
33...Warriors
LINK

February
202...Slayers
LINK

March
143...Warriors
110...Cannon
LINK

April
176...Warriors
209...Warriors
LINK

May
160...General
74...Stone Thrower
LINK

June
449...Warriors

TOTAL POINTS: 1740 (not including the extras - they'll be in the breakdown next time)

Cheers all!