Pokrzyw's Empire Army - Month 6 - The Emperor - Leader Month - OWAC IX

 The leader of humanity, mighty emperor Karl Franz on his griffon Deathclaw. Wielding Ghal-Maraz is leading his forces to the victory

Plans for June:

The plan was paint Karl Franz or Archlector with some cavalry unit (still outriders, white wolves and a band of halflings are not painted). 

Hard year, not easy June. I have really 48hours to paint it. 

Hour 0

Temperature about 39-40 celcius cause it a little bit problematic, but finally at least one big model has been painted.

Few moments later..

Gallery:

Ghal-Maraz in hand of mighty Karl Franz

Claws & beak that may rip the flash of the enemy

A lot of feathers - on emperor as well as on mount

Points:

Karl Franz on Deathclaw  450pts

What's next?

I've started outriders it shall be finished for wrap-up post. white wolves also are on the table. Let's see - I will do my best to finish planned models.

JohnR's Month 6 - Leader Month (263.5points)

Evening all, super hectic month this month so only a few figs finished and I almost didn't even get them done!

 

This is my leader and a few of his retinue (read drinking cronies). There's 2 Diehard mini's 2 BOYL minis and a modern Copplestone in there. There were going to be more but...

Left to right they are Jak 'Luckless' Gibbs, 'Blot' Snake-tail, Captain Silas 'Silver' Ansell (captain of the pirate ship 'Lazarus' and leader of the army), Bartholomus 'Bart' Speirdyke (a rogue Navigator) and Eliza 'Red' Rythkil - Ansell's three armed bodyguard and lover.

Points.

All get frag and crack grenades plus the following:

'Luckless' Gibbs - Human Champion, Flak Armour, Sawn-off Shotgun, Laspistol 

'Blot' Snake-tail - Human Minor Hero, Mesh Armour, 2 Autopistols

'Silver' Ansell -  Human Major Hero, Mesh Armour, Refractor Field, Power Sword 2 Laspistols

'Bart' Speirdyke - Human Champion, Laspistol, Refractor Field, Level 1 Psyker

'Red' Rythkil - Human Minor Hero, Mesh Armour, 3 Laspistols, Vortex Grenade

Total = 263.5 points

Well, I managed to struggle over the line this month and finish the challenge. I've just worked a seven day stint and we're not even into the silly season yet so army photos will have to wait for next month!

Take care y'all.

George's Imperial Guard, Leader, Month 6

Colonel Audacian was growing impatient. He had spent his entire career winning. Conquering worlds, reclaiming imperial outposts from heretics. And throughout he had kept his men alive. An unusual feat for an imperial commander.

But now the imperial authorities had grown suspicious and they were testing his loyalty with an order to send his men to almost certain death.

Audacian stood and watched the massed ranks marching past towards the heavily defended heretic fortifications. He felt the cold stare and the mirthless smile of the commissar behind him.

But he wasn’t going to abandon his men now. Without warning, he raised his sword and charged.

I had great fun painting these glorious lead minis, mainly Mark Copplestone command figures, and the commissar a beautiful gift from fellow Challenger Graeme. Thanks Graeme!

It felt great to crack out some bright colours again (I do love bright colours!) I was inspired by Mike Mcvey's Warhammer 40,000 painting guide from 1993. He used lots of red hats and helmets, so I went for it and thoroughly enjoyed it! I like the contrast with the drab tones from the rest of the regiment. 

It was insanely hot while I was painting and I was slow, even by my own slow standards! So I will be using my final month to add the flags and banners that the original John Blanche artwork deserves!

June Points:

Command Section: 280 points

Commissar: 45 points

June Total: 325 Points

Army Total:

Command section: 280 points

Commissar: 45 points

Support squad: 425 points

2 x Tactical squads: 400 points

Army Total: 1,150

Colonel Audacian and his command! Sinister commissar courtesy of Graeme!

Audacian leads his regiment into battle!

Paul's Dwarf Army June Leader Month

 The last two months have been pretty hectic and having the time to sit down and do any painting has been a bit of a luxury. As a result I had to skip last months post. However, I have managed to get a little bit more on track and this month can show my leader, a fine sculpt in an action pose with his foot on the severed head of a green skin. The quality of finish on this model is probably the highest I have achieved for this army. I am very pleased with the way that he has turned out. 

As well as the leader of the hold I have managed to get a cannon fully painted and the crew almost painted up. Once again the NMM approach has produced a nice final result but was very time consuming. It probably didn't help that I tried to show all the wood grain on the cannon body and then opted to add a highlight to that as well. To tie the war machine in with the rest of the army I originally painted the wheels yellow and black stripes but I wasn't happy with the final result and ended up stripping and re-painting them as you can see in the photo below. 

This is one of two cannons, the other which is almost finished. The crew are almost complete but still have little bits and pieces that need doing. The second cannon and all six crew will be ready for final overview next month. Below shows the current state of the crew so far. 

Adding to my spearmen (which I showed in a previous post) I have managed another six models including a full command of champion, musician and banner bearer. 

I am especially pleased with the banner bearer and the banner pole which was mainly due to the influence of Frogbug who insisted that I do a stripey maypole effect on it. I was reticent to do this but I have to admit it does look pretty good and was a motif I carried on to the next unit finished for this month. Below is a close up of the banner bearer.

At the start of the challenge I had lots of models which I had acquired from a friend many years ago after we exchanged armies. I had some 40K imperial guard which I passed over for the dwarves. Amongst these were what I had thought to be dwarf clansmen but after starting the challenge and purchasing the 4th edition codex I realised that they were longbeards. These were too good not to get a coat of Deep Sea Blue and Volcanic Yellow so they joined the production line.  Below you can see the unit without shields. 

The biggest pain with these guys were the shields which took an age to paint. I'm still not happy with them and will need to revisit them and neaten up the final result. I initially painted up the shields with a Yellow Field as you can see from the photo below. However, when you put them against the minis I'm not sure that it works so I then painted up a shield with a black field. I'm still trying to make my mind up before I commit to gluing them to the models.

As I like gun line armies I added another 10 Thunderers to join the first unit. I believe that some of these sculpts may predate the thunderers shown in the army book. I have to admit that I like the variety in sculpt as I wasn't going for. mono-pose army with these guys. 

Finally, what Dwarves Hold would be complete without a unit of Quarrellers. I have a unit of twelve, all individual sculpts. I would like to get the final two sculpts which are illustrated in the army book but despite scouring the obvious sites I haven't been able to locate them. That's a job for the future. You can see the dirty dozen below.

Looking back at what I have just typed I have realised that there are a fair few models that are completed. The challenge has led to me developing techniques in order to get the army finished. Looking at the models as a collective I feel that the quality of finish on these later models isn't as refined as the earlier ones but in order to cater for volume of models something has to give. However, I believe that I have got better at adding details which cause the models to 'Pop' on the table and so when seen all together the sum of the parts is much greater than the individual models or units. 

A few units that I started painting and are in progress are a Runesmith and a Gyrocopter. I was desperately hoping to have them completed for this month but it wasn't to be. However, below is a photo of the current state and they will be completed before the end of July. 

Part of the reason that these aren't complete is the fact that I am not the most focused when working and I tend to jump around a lot as I have the attention span of a gnat. One of the things that I have loved about this forum is the creativity of the people involved. There are some amazing painters in this group but there are also some brilliant writers and scenery builders. Whilst I do not have the imagination or the literary skills of many in this blog I have been inspired by the scenery and display aids that are frequently on show. This has been both a blessing and a curse as it has led to me losing painting time as I have endeavoured to create a display board for the army. I'm trying to go for a more vertical look with models on lots of levels rather than the traditional 2' X 2' board that I would normally go for. Therefore I have made a start on some scenery. I have built a couple of dwarves towers and battlements together with a gate which needs the top completed. I'm hoping that these raw builds will be completed for the final round up next month but in case they aren't then here is the current state. I've included a couple of figures to give an idea of scale. 

Well that's it for now. It's 23.59 on the 30th June so this ic cutting it fine. Hope you like what you've seen.

Jaakko and Rugluk - Leader month

Morrslieb was full and seemed to smile as Rugluk's warband crept from the trees.

The dwarfs had made themselves comfortable. Some still drank beneath The Owl's sign while others snored beside dying campfires.

Rugluk raised a clenched fist in silence.

Goblins slipped between the wagons while a group of boyz crept toward the sleeping guards. Even the trolls, after repeated threats from Rugluk, managed to stay almost quiet.

Then Rugluk dropped his hand.

"WAAAGH!"

The night exploded.

The dwarfs fought hard but the surprise was complete. Before long the survivors were retreating into the darkness, dragging their wounded with them.

Rugluk climbed onto an overturned ale wagon, looked over the wreckage and bared his teeth in a satisfied grin.

"...Maybe da old ghost knew a fing or two."

Welcome back! I'm in good spirits as I write this post, as I came very close to not finishing anything this month. There was never any fear of dropping out of the challenge, though, since I had already painted a half-orc shaman back in January. Byron shared a picture of the chariot riding Grom he was working on, and it gave me the needed inspiration to paint my version as this season's leader.

I had intended to paint more (and have a few half-finished heroes and shamans on the painting table), but I'm quite happy with these guys. I'm not sure what happens next with the army, but I might present some of the remaining leaders in the wrap-up.

I wanted to make a chariot-riding version of the original Grom the Paunch of the Misty Mountains. So I simply cut the puddle base from under his feet and stuck him on a chariot. He has grown a lot since the first two sculpts.

This sculpt is quite busy and not one of my favourites, but I wanted to include a model that could pass as a half-orc. In fact, I'd also like to include a unit of scabbies in the army, but I need to do some collecting first.

This month in points:

And that's it for now. See you again next month!

Ian's Goblin Army (part II) - OWAC IX - June: Leader month

June was a particularly difficult month to keep the motivation and finish the challenge. I only had to paint my leader, Skarsnik and Gobbla, but had a pretty hard time finishing it. There is so many details! At the end I rushed it and I'm not quite satisfied with the result.

I'm leaving for Mexico for vacation from June 28th to July 18th. As I couldn't focused too well on my leader, I started a few other miniatures that I might be able to finish when I come back, before the end of July.

 

 

 OWAC IX Goblin Army (4th edition)

January 2026

10 Goblin Wolf Riders with spear, light armour and shield - 130 points

February 2026

10 Goblin Wolf Riders with spear, light armour and shield - 130 points

March 2026

18 Goblin Wolf Riders with spear, light armour and shield - 234 points

April 2026

5 Goblin Doom Divers - 500 points

May 2026

5 Goblin Wolf Riders with stuff - 65 points

2 Trolls - 130 points

3 Wolves - extra, no points

June 2026

Skarsnik and Gobba - 205 points

Total : 1394 points

Sybou's Chaos dwarfs - OWAC 9, May Post [Leader - 152 points]

 Hello everybody,

a really quick month for me: the Leader month!!!

Here he is, the Lord of Madness himself

This guy coming from the classic chaos dwarf boxset inspires leadership and bossy attitude.

The one I bought was kind of in a bad shape, the minime on his helmet is a bit broken.

I gave him a red armor and a brown beard.

The shield is a classic big hat iconography a burning skull:

Here we are for this month, a cool leader for the mean stunties.

Next month, I should finish my chaos dwarf regiment with banner and musician.

Take care.

Cheers                                                                                                                                Sybou

Filippo's Leader Month - Chargeeeeeeee!

I give my body, heart and soul, to the Lady whom I seek. No plea for help shall find me wanting. No obstacle will stand before me. No evil will taint the lands bequeathed unto me. When the clarion call is sounded, I will ride out and fight in the name of Liege and Lady. That which is sacrament, I shall preserve. That which is sublime, I will protect. That which threatens, I will destroy, for my holy wrath will know no bounds. Honour is all. Chivalry is all. Rejoice, for we, the Knights of Bretonnia... will be your shield.

For Leader's month I present you my Paladin

I picked up this model last year, and I immediately fell in love with it. Finally, a model without a lance or a sword, and with an extremely dynamic pose.

I had to use it as a Paladin.

The color scheme was chosen by chance. I was flipping through the old army book and found a white‑and‑red scheme that really inspired me.

“Painting white can’t be worse than painting yellow!”

It is.

The inspiration for the colours

I’m sorry I couldn’t paint anything else for this project, but May is always far too busy because of the many modeling fairs and the various game systems we need to prepare.

On that note, while digging through old rulebooks and talking with my friends about future projects, I remembered Full Tilt, which GW even re-released last February.

Full Tilt in all his glory

So now, more than ever, I need more knights!

Andrea's additional Leader month - The Seer and the Dreddy

 So, Owacers,

this is the second leader month and I can't be more happy as 1) I turned 50 and still feeling good, 2) I painted the most spectacular Eldar Farseer ever sculpted: the finger-pointing, mosquito-helmet, dramatic-pose Farseer!

The best thing is that, being a fine sculpt, it is as funny as expected to paint: a real pleasure! The shape of the helmet (marvellous, despite - or maybe, thanks to - its mosquito appearance) was abandoned in favour of a more technological-looking and mysterious version (cool, nothing to say) and only very recently recovered in the last Farseer incarnation (that I still have to get it!). 

But, this month is not only about the Farseer but it is also about another old friend, whose aesthetic remained longer on the shop shelves: the Dreadnought. Actually, in the RT era there were three version of it, but all based on the same body which remained basically the same even throughout the 2nd and the 3rd edition. Of the RT three patterns, I got the War Demon one: a Dreadnought apparently made to slap enemies, rather than shoot them down!

And now, of course, a little comparative analysis of its changes through time:

Here are the three main incarnation, form the left: RT, 2nd/3rd edition and 4th edition (the Wraithlord, although the full plastic kit like this one is more recent). 

Ok, I would have like to paint more but time is very tight these days, but still these are 330 points (Farseer, 170 pts; Dreddy, 160 pts). I hope to get more time in the next month!

Keep painting, fellows! and see you in June!

ciao, A

James WRR’s Leader Month: Nobody expects the Ordo Malleus

+++ LOG OF INQUISITOR ALBRECHT HALFTHOR, ORDO MALLEUS +++

+++ THOUGHT OF THE DAY: A LOGICAL ARGUMENT MUST BE DISMISSED WITH ABSOLUTE CONVICTION +++

The assault on Sanctum Sapiar was a great success. The texts upon which this small, yet unbearably thorny, culture had structured itself were located, swiftly interpreted by sacrificial Servitors, then burned upon the pyre.

My conclusion? There is not much to say. It is a common story after all. These people simply imagined their way into heresy. I have no doubt that it was quite accidental, mind. But a crime cannot be forgiven simply because it was an accident. 

I was surprised that the local population, as seemingly barbaric as they were, was able to mount such a defence. One Brother Donovan of my Grey Knights was slain in the attempt, simply overwhelmed by the mass of desperate arms. But I am told his geneseed was recovered and there were no further casualties. A Space Marine is but a cheap tool to replace. 

Our duty on this world is ended.

REMINDER: Inquisitor Clavicus was seen once again departing my quarters. If I suspect his fruitless investigation into my affairs is set to continue much longer, action will be taken. My writ is just as unquestionable as his.

+++ LOG ENDS +++

+++ LOG OF INQUISITOR ERROL CLAVICUS, ORDO MALLEUS +++

+++ THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: HATRED IS OUR SUREST WEAPON +++

My Grey Knights have proven themselves once more on the field of battle. Much unholy blood was spilled and many bones collected for future study. 

Halfthor was pleased with his little bonfire, believing the work to be done. But the war rages on. Only through the bloodrite and the scrying of bones will answers reveal themselves.

Either Halfthor is too arrogant to recognise this, in which case he must stand down and let a wiser mind take the lead, or he is complicit and must be removed.

The Inquisitor’s quarters house a great many books and scrolls, not all of which I have been able to examine. It is my belief that he has sequestered texts that he was so keen to have destroyed. Iconoclast, my boot. Halfthor is a fraud and, Emperor forgive me, perhaps worse.

I will consult the viscera.

+++ LOG ENDS +++

_________________

And so, with the triumvirate of leaders complete, my Ordo Malleus force is ready for battle!

Inquisitors Clavicus and Halfthor of the Ordo Malleus

Painting these two models over the course of a month has actually been one of the most challenging parts of this project. Obviously, each Daemonhunter had to receive special care and attention — as well as a carefully considered, utterly ridiculous colour scheme — but I think there was also an added pressure: I had to finish on a high note.

I’ve painted so much silver armour over the past few months I really wanted these guys to stand out. And boy, do they! With their near-fluorescent green accents (the lovely Bright Green from Rogue Hobbies’ Pro Acryl set), they really are set apart from the rest of the army.

Hmm. My finger points!

Which I think they should, right? While an army of Space Marines will be largely uniform beyond a few flourishes, a character as individual, strong-willed and revered/feared as an Inquisitorial Daemonhunter should be able to make their heraldry truly their own.

I can’t judge Halfthor’s pink and green styling, can I? I’d probably be executed as a heretic.

Slaying in style

Each of these models are just perfect representations of their character. The masked and hooded Daemonhunter, Clavicus, bears arcane symbology and devil’s heads designed to make him look as fearsome as the monsters he hunts. Meanwhile, the fellow with the robotic leg and cool ponytail, Halfthor, commands the respect of age and wisdom. He’s stoic, technologically advanced and totally serving judge. 

While Clavicus came to me through a job lot of old minis, as most of my army has, Halfthor was a very kind birthday gift from our resident miniature bug-painter Tom. I hope I’ve done him justice! 

A truly radical outfit

In terms of painting these fellows, I’ve obviously decided to go wild with their colour schemes, embracing that 80s anarchy found in old White Dwarfs and source books of the time. Halfthor’s green and burgundy armour would be considered complimentary if it weren’t for the flaming orange gun casing in his hand and shock of blonde hair. Clavicus’s black armour and yellow pauldrons paint him as something of a toxic creature, with the addition of the vibrant green making him look positively radioactive and dangerous… and strangely, I think, Brazilian. 

These models’ poses really didn’t pose much challenge in terms of painting (another reason to love Oldhammer), though I did struggle to get at Clavicus’ face between mask and hood. I think the bit of flesh tone and dots for eyes suggest enough of a hidden visage to do the job. 

A colour scheme that screams "danger" and, maybe, "Lé lé óh"

Of course, being augmented humans with the best healthcare and biomechanical enhancements the Imperium can provide gives them much healthier looking skin tones than my sickly grey Grey Knights. That's another key element that sets them apart.

One of my favourite aspect of this pair of Daemonhunter models is that one is clearly supposed to be more radical, potentially even heretical, while the other is a more clean-cut, inspirational character. Having both at the helm of my army gives it a nice split personality — an ideal representation of a horrific space Empire at war with itself as much as it is with heretics, daemons and aliens.

And so, that’s my quota filled for this year’s challenge! And a month early, too. But I’m not going to rest on these laurels. I’ve got a bit of a wildcard addition to add still…

_________________

Army list as of May

Inquisitor Halfthor
Daemonhunter
Tactical Dreadnought Armour, Bio-Scanner, Displacer Field

Plasma Gun, Power Glove, Digital Weapons, Psyk-Out Grenade

Bionic Leg

Psychic Mastery Level 3
201 points

Inquisitor Clavicus
Daemonhunter
Tactical Dreadnought Armour, Bio-Scanner, Displacer Field

Psycannon, Force Rod, Scare Gas

Psychic Mastery Level 4
454 points

Captain Torkamadus
Grey Knight Terminator Captain | Hero
Tactical Dreadnought Armour
Nemesis Force Weapon

Psychic Mastery Level 4
450 points

Techmarine Tarantus
Techmarine
Basic equipment
Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle
97 points

Squad Deza
Grey Knight Terminator Tactical Squad
1 Sergeant and 4 Marines in Tactical Dreadnought Armour

5 Nemesis Force Weapons

Psychic Mastery Level 4
1,200 points

Brother Bethor
Deredeo Dreadnought
Missile Launcher, Heavy Plasma Gun
Standard Sensor Package, 2 Power Fields, Power Field Synchroniser
270 points

Squad Heliod
Tactical Squad
Sergeant with Bolt Gun, Bioscanner and Power Glove
1 Marine with Missile Launcher
1 Marine with Flamer

7 Marines with Bolt Guns
275 points

Bright Sword
Rhino APC with Techmarine Pilot, assigned to Squad Heliod
2 Bolt Guns
387 points

Riot Corps
Adeptus Arbites Squad
1 Magister with Bolt Pistol and basic equipment

5 Judges with Bolt Pistols and basic equipment
102 points

Squad Apollo
Devastator Squad
Sergeant with Bolt Gun
2 Marines with Beamers
2 Marines with Heavy Bolters

5 Marines with Bolt Guns
379 points

Grand Total: 3,815 points