Bjorn Grendel's Dwarven Holds - April: rank and file. The Golden Month

 April, Ranks and Files. The Golden Month

Always by the skin of my teeth...

It's 10:48 PM on April 30th as I'm about to write this month's report. I've said many times that for me, photographing, editing, and writing the blog are the hardest parts. I don't like spending time on my phone; it takes me hours each time. I'm one of those people who can paint dozens of details on miniatures, but I get impatient after just a few minutes of technology. I feel like an old boomer.

I'll try to keep this short because it's late and I'm tired.

This month is the golden month. Every model I've made has a powerful metallic and gold component. Why? Because I felt like it.

COMMISSION: Dwarf mercenaries

A few models. 8 old-metal ironbreakers. Few, but good, I'd say. They are some original Marauder sculptures, Imperial dwarves. The client was undecided whether to include them in his Reiksguard unit or as the front of his Tilean pikes. Ultimately, he chose the second option. Gold, flat red, and triangular shields with a simple freehand, to match the style of his army painted many years ago. A work neither infamous nor praiseworthy.

RANKS AND FILES

More ironbreakers, this time from our collection.

I managed to find ten metal models, with a complete command group. I spent a small fortune sniping on eBay, and I limited myself to the bare minimum, mostly to have them in the collection. They're gorgeous. Gold, steel, and blue livery. Simple and elegant.

Did you expect that? More ironbreakers! 18, more than enough for a decent unit, this time... A few years ago, I won two boxes in a painting contest: I've never really been interested in them; I've built some for conversions or experiments, but without interest. Every now and then, I've received some loose models from mixed batches, which is why the unusual number. Along with them, I also built four Irondrakes, which I hate, but as mentioned, no dwarf will be left behind, so I painted everything. The flamethrowers will remain as a side element, just because they're there.

Slayers. 3. Let's slowly move forward to complete the unit. I promised you more lore, and they'll come, don't worry. But not today.

Oh! Rangers! I finally got my hands on the command group! I loved them, I had so much fun. I even added a couple of extra rangers and a warrior that fit perfectly, so I managed to bring the regiment to 15 rangers (16 including Bugman)—quite an achievement!

Note on the banners: finally, after four months of waiting, I've found a solution I like. Beautiful printed paper banners with different designs but a similar style, perfect for homogenizing such a large and varied army. A friend of mine made them, and I jumped at the chance. I didn't feel like drawing them all by hand, because, damn, I have a life, too, and I didn't want simple totems. I needed color, so here's the perfect solution. Okay, maybe I'm getting lazy, but the number of models is so huge, I'll have to get by somewhere...

DWARVES TREASURE HUNTERS (evil)

A few more models from my personal collection. These are some chaos dwarves operating war machines or cannons. I had them. I'd painted them poorly. I rediscovered them and freshened them up a bit, perhaps waiting to build or find a demonic machine to give them. In the meantime, here they are. No dwarf will be left behind (and who knows, maybe they'll have a chance to redeem themselves one day). In this group of bastards, I also included an old Marauder dwarf warrior, who I didn't know where to put and who still had a malevolent appearance (closed helmet and armor with nipples), and a Reaper Bones dwarf, decidedly huge compared to the others, but the "no dwarf will be left behind" rule must always be respected, so here he is in this section.

DWARVEN AUTOMATA

Another new entry. Dwarven automatons. Obviously, these, especially the centurion, are inspired by the Dwemer from the Elder Scrolls. Especially Morrowind! But also a little Skyrim. The two smaller ones and the most bizarre one were created many years ago with Space Marine bodies and Chaos warrior arms for a DeD campaign (the smaller ones) and an old Kinder Surprise (the funny one), while the larger one is a more recent composition, starting from a toy found on the street by chance. In all cases, they were painted crudely and unsuitable for the current project, so here's the opportunity to improve them, changing a few details and refreshing the color scheme. And now they're ready to defend the inner halls of the mountain again!

As of today, the army is composed as follows (updated the number of finished models and updated the point cost for banners and command groups where applicable).

And now I'll leave you, as it's 11:32 PM and I still have to upload the photos to the blog. Sorry, I don't have the time or energy to edit them properly; this time you'll get them straight from your phone.

I'm tired. But I'll keep painting and staying Old School.

Adrian April's Rank and File month - Brommedir's Bows (306 points)

Rank and File month #3

Brommedir is the elf leader of the small garrison stationed at Orc's Drift. Their elves are in charge of guarding the supplies of the Grand League army as well as the gold chest for the payment of the soldiers.

Normally it would have been a dull and boring task, far from the real fight against the goblin armies. Patrolling the river while the dwarves fix the bridges. Escort the wounded until they can be sent back to Palesandre. Everything changed when news of a second army of orcs approaching from the mountains.

The return of King F'yar from the mountain pass was a surprise, but the elves will barricade and fight in the crossroad. Every step towards Palesandre will cost them blood.

Time for the elf garrison that will make the last stand against the orc hordes at Orc's Drift. I changed a little bit my starting plan and got a proper old school Brommedir proxy for the garrison. Recently an original Brommedir popped up in Europe, if you're the buyer that brought it from Sweden reading this, lucky you!

Lahaven Ramjewe, the champion of the classic Regiments of Renown Lothern City Guard will do the job.

Brommedir is not armed with a magic sword but I wanted to make it pop a little bit over the normal metals.

He is commanding 14 armoured archers with shields. I coverted them to have a different kind of helmet that align more with me (yet unpainted) elf kindred warriors or militia. Also, they will have a different appearance from the other armored archers with the typical pinty helmet.

I used the medieval japanese style for the clothes and bows following my previous OWAC high elf army. This time mixing a white and dark blue with the magenta. I plan to freehand some shields with the griffon design as well as feathers.

I could have posted this image and said that it is only an example of the shields. But, unfortunately, the shields are my Achille's heel on every OWAC and I couldn't finnish all the freehand. At least this time I did not lose a bag of shields, or worse, a box of shields already painted like in previous editions. One of the dwarf shields exploded nonetheless. Literally. Next time I will not clone bits with purely white milliput, it breaks easily if the part is pretty thin.

Did I say dwarves? Ah, yes, I painted some additional miniatures too.

The miners of Ashak Rise guard the baggage just before travelling back to Palesandre.

I finnished my Ashak Rise dwarves. I used several dwarves that were left unpainted from my Dragon Company. This was the perfect opportunity to complete the unit at 20 dwarves.

And lets not forget about the baggage train used in the campaign. They will be also useful for ttrpg or baggage trains for any of my armies. I think that they come from Foundry Miniatures but I am not entirely sure. The Orc's Drift campaign was again the excuse to paint them, as they were sitting in my desk for years!

That makes:

Brommedir + 14 elf archers with shield = 246 points

4 dwarf sappers = 60 points

For the next entry, the Kwae Karr orcs and let's hope for some surprise I got in the mail.

Until then,
Adrian’s out

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

 

Ranks and files and almost a mulligan for me this month.

I started with the best intentions, but instead I managed to finish less than half of what I had planned... DAMN!

COMMISSION

Two units of dwarf quarellers. 16 models each, 32 models in total. Full command. As always no standard bearer because I'm still developing the flag designs. For them i opted for a classic, fast-paced color scheme, one blue and one red, in a true Age of Empires style... Yep. Again grass green and snow bases, as requested by the client (a choice I find horrible). He also changed his mind about the border and now wants a classic Goblin Green, which I don't have and had to order; so, for now, the trim is naked plastic (and that's why I hate being a commissioned painter).

Sjor, are you hearin a strange "Whololo" yourself?

RANKS AND FILES

NOTE: Before reading this next step, you HAVE TO play Wind Rose: Army of Stone. You'll find the video on YouTube. Thank me later.

I've long owned a handful of dwarves from MOM Miniaturas, the famous Spanish company that recently switched production from resin casting to 3D resin, a real shame. I've never liked the design of these specific dwarves, but the guys in Spain sent them to me for free. However, I still hadn't found the will to work on them: they're far too tall and crude compared to the GW miniatures, and the overall design clashes with that of the other dwarves. I've been tempted several times to sell them or use them for something else, perhaps as terrain elements, but then I thought: Ancestral guardians! So, I fixed them up, replaced the crude and "stoney" weapons with some from the Mantic kit, and painted them straight away. The idea is that the descendants of particularly virtuous and noble dwarf heroes collect the remains of their relatives and place them inside statues bearing the deceased's likeness, even including some of the hero's favorite and cherished items. Those statues are then protected with great runes and skill and armed with ceremonial weapons and buried in the clan halls or outside the Mountain, to guard the entrances to the stronghold. In extraordinary cases, the spirits enclosed within the statues awaken to protect the People and the Dvarven Holds once again.

Some might object that the painting of these guardians is dull and uninteresting, that I could have dared to add a little dirt to the stone, a little corrosion to the weapons. You're right to point this out, and I myself had a hard time NOT proceeding with heavy weathering. But I thought that, indeed, such precious objects, such revered ancestors, are not neglected by their descendants, who often take care to keep the stone clean and the weapons polished, not allowing the dishonor of neglect to fall on the statues of their Guardians, so reluctantly I kept them simple and clean… For the weapons I chose a monoblock of ancient bronze, like the more famous Ghal-Maraz, which according to my head canon belongs to the same typology of artefacts.

Hail to the fallen!... So hail to us!

DWARF TREASURE HUNTERS

Two more models from our family collection, refreshed and retouched to modernize them and incorporate them into the project. This time, they are my wife's first player characters, created for Heroquest campaigns. One is the dwarf warrior Ataz. He is a kitbash based on the body of a plastic ironbreaker, with horns from a chaos raider and a backpack from the Catachan warrior kit, painted based on an old artwork she liked.

The second model represents Ataz's daughter, Viz, created and played with after his passing. Viz was also built starting from the body of an ironbreaker, but with the front made of Greenstuff to give her a more feminine look. Some runes and details were added from the same kit, as were the weapon and shield. Special mention goes to the head: I don't had a female head in my bitzbox, so I picked a male head from the plastic chaos raiders. I chose the beardless one with earrings, filed down the chin and proportions a bit, and sculpted a greenstuff helmet to hide as much “manliness” as possible. After sculpting the hair, I added the original quiff at the bottom of the ponytail and some braids from the beastmen kit. With my current skills, I'd make different choices today, but overall, we've grown fond of this tough warrior lady.

And now let's get to the elephant in the room (quite literally): the giant dwarf.

I'm not sure how I came into possession of this Russian Technolog, probably from some cheap mixed lot. The fact is, Bjorn liked it, and instead of using it as a toy, he convinced me to paint it for him. So, last year, since his birthday present, which I'd ordered, was late, I showed up with this painted dwarf. The model itself is charming, despite some sculptural deformities in the hands and face, but my son loved it and even insisted I base it so he could play with it despite its size! Since I'm an adult and have a terrible imagination, I started to protest, but I was quickly silenced by the story of this incredible dwarf.

You must know that Ubbe was once a perfectly ordinary dwarf, a young warrior who served as a scout alongside other companions... one day the team was attacked by goblins: surrounded, the dwarves were ready to fight dearly when the greenskin shaman who led the tribe pulled out a crude staff and began charging it with a strange, sizzling energy. Fearing for the lives of his companions, Ubbe emerged from the shield wall and leaped at the shaman to wrest the weapon from his hands. After a brief struggle, the two were engulfed in energy and exploded together. When Ubbe awoke, his companions were safe, the goblins dead or driven away, and everything seemed to have resolved itself for the best, even if the helmet suddenly felt too tight. Over the following days and weeks, Ubbe began to grow slowly and steadily until he reached a size impossible for a Dwarf! Despite the respect and gratitude his companions showed him, Ubbe couldn't stand to remain in that condition, unable to predict how tall he'd grow. So he decided to leave the mountain and join a group of adventurers seeking a magical or alchemical solution that could rejuvenate him in time for his wedding!

"So I can use him according to the rules of the Ogre Mercenary, Dad."

My son is definitely wiser than I am.

WAR MACHINES

The beer cart I built last time was so popular that one of my Instagram followers decided to give me his incomplete one so I could sculpt another driver and finish it. Of course!!! Here's the second cart, so my dwarves never run dry.

Below is the updated table with this month's progress...

Thats It For this time.

As always: keep painting, stay old school!

Fresh beer, come get some!