Journey to the City of the Damned – Maciek’s intro post

 

Greetings!

For my third attempt at OWAC I shall reap the benefits of the “special edition” and go full scale into Mordheim. A game where rival warbands fight over the ruins of a former capital of Ostermark in search of magical "wyrdstone". For me it will always be – hands down - the best miniatures game that Games Workshop has ever produced.  

The haunting cover art by Geoff Taylor

There are many reasons why I found this game so alluring. First, the mad apocalyptic artwork - reminiscent of (and clearly inspired by) Hieronymus Bosh. A print of the cover hangs on my wall and I still like to pore over all the disturbing details. Second, the grim-dark atmosphere that is somehow both post-apocalyptic and yet full of portents of even more impending doom… When released in 1999 it stood out from the colourful Warhammer 5th edition and harkened back to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay – just the stuff I loved.

 

Then there are the extensive role-playing elements – individual equipment, experience, skills and injuries for warband members. All great for building stories and personalizing the members. Chaos and chance are always close – I had warbands rise to glory only to have mighty heroes laid low by critical hits, crippled by injuries or dying from minor wounds after the visit to the barber-surgeon. To add to the immersion the warbands collect the most unmistakably Warhammer resource of all:

 

Aaaah.... Waaaarpstone!*

The project

For OWAC VI, I plan to paint more damned denizens of Mordheim! I already have a number of warbands but some iconic actors are missing. The plan is to build at least four full-sized warbands and more terrain.

- Sisters of Sigmar

The excommunicated Sisters are the true force of good more than capable to smite the minions of chaos and evil. For this OWAC I focus on the original metals but some alternatives are added for variety.

- Witch hunters

Fuelled by hate and gold from the coffers of the Church of Sigmar these merciless zealots will cleanse Mordheim of all they consider heretical. Or unnatural. Or mildly suspicious. There are too many good witch hunter models to fit into one warband, so I went a bit overboard with numbers to have some extras.

- Middenheimers

Mighty men and women of the north. High concentration of hammers, wolf cloaks and some fierce hairdos. Low on helmets. However they are still soldiers of the empire so not all mercenaries follow the “barbaric” style, which is a good excuse to use models dressed in a classic imperial fashion.

- Beastmen raiders

The obligatory minions of chaos - savage beasts intent to defiling and dancing on the rubble of civilisation. Those of you with good memory may recall these models from my attempt at squad challenge in late 2021. Sadly I got as far as… one model. The rest remained untouched and a painful addition to the pile of shame. Their time will come in OWAC VI.

- Wildcard and Leader months 

Primary objective for the wildcard month is to build and paint at least one building, preferably more. True to the original intent, buildings will be crafted form easily available materials, no 3d printing. As secondary objective I have couple of hired swords (elf ranger, witch/warlock) and some quick-quick Skaven reinforcements.

For the leader month I will deliver the four warband leaders and the minotaur (if things go well, also the ogre bodyguard).

There may still be some additions or replacements of the models picture above, but I will document any changes.

Offering 

 

As offering to our mighty Overlord, considering his love of horror, I present one of the early 90s mummies by Gary Morley. This one has crawled out from the vaults of the Imperial History Museum in Mordheim, awoken from slumber by the hit of the warpstone comet.

Good luck to all challengers, I look forward to seeing all the projects of OWAC VI… and to bringing more souls (and fish and apple cores) to the merry dance of Death in Mordheim!

Cheers,
Maciek 

* Image originates from Shadow of the Horned Rat, another 90s classic  :-)

Paul M's High Elf Host (part the second) - OWAC VI Intro post

So.... this was me at the end of the last OWAC. Look how smug and self satisfied I am!

This is what I announced back in July 2022:

"Here is what I still have to go before I'm 'finished' with my High Elf Host:

22 Caledor Archers, inc. full command (refurbished unit)

22 Yvresse Archers, inc full command (refurbished unit)

22 Lothern Archers, inc full command

2 Caledor themed Repeater Bolt Throwers 

10 Silver helms, inc full command

2 Mounted Heroes

Mounted Mage

Mage on foot

BSB on foot

20 Phoenix Guard (Dragon Guard?)

Phoenix/Dragon Guard Hero on foot (converted from a metal Charioteer)

2 Chariots (both older metal ones, but one Tiranoc themed, and one Chrace themed)

Newer edition of Imrik on Dragon"

(listen, it gets worse...)

"That's more than enough for another OWAC, but I really don't want to do High Maintenance Elves two years in a row, so I'm going to try and blitz that before the end of the year and focus on something else for OWAC VI. Wish me luck!"

Actually, Mr. Narrator, that is not entirely true, but I certainly didn't paint any more high Maintenance Elves for the rest of the year... until this very week when I finally got my arse in gear and started on those refurbished archer units as a warm up for OWAC VI.

I also said this back in July:

"I've still got stuff to paint and I need the adrenaline and risk of humiliation amongst my peers! It just isn't the same without it!" 

I was right about that at least! I'm delighted to be back for what will be my fourth OWAC having previously completed a Nurgle Beastman army for OWAC II and a Border Princes force for OWAC III as well as last years High Elves. It really is the mainstay and highlight of my hobby calendar and I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with! :D

Having eaten some crow, and also having already painted my Battle Masters minis as part of my Border Princes force, I will be keeping things traditional despite this being the year of the OWAC Special Edition. Here then is my starting list for OWAC VI:

22 Lothern Archers, inc full command

3 Yvresse Archer command

2 Caledor themed Repeater Bolt Throwers 

10 8 Silver helms, inc full command

2 1 Mounted Heroes

Mounted Mage

Mage on foot

BSB on foot (converted from a metal Charioteer)

20 Phoenix Guard (Dragon Guard?)

2 Chariots (both older metal ones, but one Tiranoc themed, and one Chrace themed... but not with lions)

Newer edition of Imrik on Dragon

Here are some pictures of (most of) the minis with seasonal December frost for dating purposes:

The eagle eyed among you will spot a problem. Some of my units already have partly painted bases! OWAC rules indicate that bases can be prepared/textured/undercoated, but there shouldn't be any colour on the models. I'm very grateful to Overlord Iannick for allowing this one time only exception to the rules (and only on the basis that they were legitimately based up within last year's OWAC, but were a stretch goal to far at the time) and will be adopting a self imposed penance of having to paint one whole extra mini as part of the monthly minimum for every 5 pre-painted bases used (so on average I will be painting 12 minis instead of the minimum 10)

And this is the second chariot that I new I had but couldn't find until this morning- phew!

And this cheeky chap is going to be the Overlord's Offering (High Elf refurb units WIP in the background not part of OWAC VI) :)

It's a Goblin Vampire (B) from Macrocosm's Bonefields line, although I think it could do excellent double duty as both an alternate Vampire or Goblin Shaman in WFB, or even a Werebat in D&D :)

I think that just about does it for now. Time to read everyone else's intro posts now and get all sweaty and excited about your OWAC VI projects ;)

Good luck all!

Nathan’s classic blood bowl challenge

Another year and another OWAC. Thanks again to Iannick our benevolent overlord for running this - it is really appreciated as it is fun doing these challenges as it provides me with inspiration to paint up classic citadel figures I have collected over the years. This year I’m painting up classic second edition figures for blood bowl and dungeon bowl. I love the style of those figures even if the game itself isn’t as good as third edition. My plan is to paint up 16 figures (you had that many per team in that edition) for five teams:

- Storm Bolts (mostly dark elves) for dungeon bowl

- Grey Shadows (humans and snotlings) for dungeon bowl 

- Celestial Comets (elves) for dungeon bowl

- Chaos All Stars (mixed team inc big guys) for blood bowl

- Mongrel Horde (mixed team inc big guys) for blood bowl

Here is a pic with all the miniatures:

And finally here is a pic of my birthday freeing to our overlord which is a citadel ghoul from the night horror range:

Sam's Intro OWAC VI : Ah yes Sportsball!

Like my good friend AdamH and many other OWACers this year, I also like balls! And cups! Especially those! Yes, the thrill of the competition, that’s me in a nutshell! So for this years OWAC I’ve decided that I’ll be cupping balls… wait, no, that’s not what I meant to say! Bloodbowl, yes that’s it! Painting Bloodbowl!

So back when I was growing up I played a shit-tonne of Bloodbowl. In fact it was probably my most played game. Not only was it more accessible due to the everything in a box, low model count, self contained rule set, it also was a lot of fun to a bunch of snotty nosed teenagers. The edition I played was 3rd Ed. and looking back at all the old artwork by Wayne England and David Gallagher gives me that sweet sweet nostalgia hit every time. So with this years specialty focus I was onboard in a heartbeat.

For the models I’ve got four teams, humans, dwarves, chaos and undead making up the rank and file. A bunch of star players for the leader month. And for the wildcard month (assuming I don’t need to bail myself out with a crispy fried mulligan) an absolutely stunning 3D pitch kindly printed for me by AdamH.

 

A few Chrimbo latecomers still in need of a stripping

Finally in tribute to The Beneficent Overlord I submit this happy little chappy.

Any preference of player number O mighty Overlord? Otherwise my inner child will decide and it'll be 69

Otherwise, as always I look forwards to all the sweet painted models by the rest of the challengers. Good luck to all and peace out!

Sam