Paul's Dwarf Army Month 3 Rank and file Spearmen.

 Three months in and things have been a bit hectic with family stuff including the arrival of a new granddaughter which was pretty amazing. Despite this I have managed to crack on with putting brush to metal and have finished a unit of 10 spearmen. The intention was to complete another unit of 15 models but time constraints have taken their toll and I won't be able to do any hobbying for the last week of March. So I've had to bite the bullet and give in for the time being. I have partially finished the command group but I can submit them next month so that cuts future me a bit of slack. 

These guys were an absolute delight to paint as each is characterful but they don't have the frustratingly high degree of detail that many new minis exhibit. The faces on these are amazing as well with some absolutely astounding expessions. At present they cost 121 points but with 3 ranks and a full command that will increase to 178 points. Once complete the spearmen, thunderers and miners will give me a total of 515 points for the army so far. Below are some close ups of the individual ranks.

As a preview for the next post I will be completing another 5 minis for this unit which will include the command group. I have made a start on these and below is a WIP shot of where I've got to with them. 

I want to do a flag for the standard bearer so I will be trawling through old copies of White Dwarf and Army books for some inspiration. As well as these guys next month I will be looking at the command models for my army. The original list had a General and a Hero but I found an old metal Runesmith which I thought would be a nice addition. There may also be some Orange haired axe wielding psychopaths on the horizon. That concludes this months post. Looking forward to the next instalment. 

Paul’s Dwarf Army Rank and file #2

 Well this has proved to be a tough month and I will be happy if I avoid the trip to the field of bones. Below you can see the completed unit. These guys include a full command group and add up to a respectable 221 points taking the army total to 337 points when taking the thunderers I painted last month into consideration. 

I have just finished the unit of miners but if I'm being honest I am not completely happy with certain aspects of the painting, notably the lanterns and the small pouches on many of the models. However, this month I painted a unit of 15 infantry and last month I only painted 10. 

The command group are character models all on their own and here are some images of the trio, as a collective and as individuals. 

I was expecting the miners to be an easier ride than the thunderers due to the fact that I didn't have to paint any of the yellow. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The NMM of the chainmail and the helmets makes up the vast majority to these sculpts and my main concern was that they were going to lack definition due to large amounts having to be painted the same colour. However, with a bit consideration and a lot of 'to-ing and fro-ing" I think that there is a fair degree of separation which is created by the contrast of the highlights. Painting the candles was an absolute joy and I was hoping to do a bit of OSL from these but that was being far too optimistic. It may be something that I look at adding at a later stage. 

Hopefully these shots show off the individual rows of the unit.

Next month I have even less time to paint so I think I will have to look at painting a couple of character models or a war machine just to be able to hit the deadline. After viewing some of the other blogs I feel that I should also attempt a themed display board for this army. I would also like to thank everybody who commented on my post last month. Thank you for the kind words and support. I will endeavour to respond to everyone. See you all next month.

Paul's Dwarf Army January Rank and File First Unit 156 points completed

 I've been back in the hobby for a few years now after a long hiatus. Prior to this I was into army painting and have four completed 8th Edition armies. My painting techniques were batch painting with a limited colour palette and basic layering techniques. The individual models would not win any prizes but en masse on the tabletop they looked ok. On returning to the hobby I wasn't playing the game any more and I started to paint in a different way. Through online forums I met some amazing people and started painting for competitions. When I did the test model for this army I was just enjoying the process of painting the individual model. So I employed a lot of the techniques that I'd improved at and learnt such as glazing and NMM. These are great when you have plenty of time to spend on a model but I have come to realise that doing a whole army like this is going to be more difficult than I first realised. However, I've started so I'll finish and I have to admit I'm pleased with the way they are looking.

Below is the first unit for the army. 10 Thunderers with a full command unit of leader, musician and standard bearer. This comes to a total of 156 points.

Going forward I will need to adjust the way I approach the painting process. The yellow is built up on a black undercoat with four different colours being glazed over each other to build up colour and contrast. Whilst I think it looks great it is time consuming and I will need to think about the process going forward so that I am not struggling to hit the deadlines for future instalments. The other mistake I made was painting the armour and gold in NMM. I don't have any alternative now that I've painted the first unit and I think that it contrasts nicely with the yellow and black. I realised that as the painting process was dragging on that smooth blends weren't going to be an option if I want 1500 plus points painted in a reasonable time. So I'm hoping that layering so that contrast creates the illusion will cover up the lack of smooth transitions. Below are some more images of the regiment showing each of the models form three different angles. 

 

The next unit I'm attempting are 15 miners. These are mainly clad in mail coats so I'm going to get lots of practise with NMM chainmail. Wish me luck and see you next month.

Paul's Dwarf Army - Intro Post

Hi, I'm Paul and this is my first time taken part in the OWAC and I'm very excited about it, especially after seeing the amazing armies that are created each year. I used to play 8th Edition and have Empire, Tomb Kings, Burgle warriors of Chaos and Bretonnian armies. I've always liked Dwarf minis and have been collecting metal sculpts for a few years now. I thought I'd try and mimic the fabulous Paul Sawyer and paint these guys up in yellow and black as I think that's a great colour combo. The photo is a test model for the colour scheme I have in mind. 

Below are a few shots of the models I've cleaned up ready for priming. There are some others including a general, gyrocopter and some clansmen but they will be shown in future posts.

The army composition hasn't been based on a tactical, game playing process but purely on the models that I have managed to collect for this. I would like this to be a full metal army so I'm limiting myself to the models that I can get with this constraint in mind. I have the general and hero to purchase.

Using the 5th Edition Army book it breaks down as follows

1 General                            160 pts

1 Hero                                 104 pts

10 Thunderers                     130 pts     

10 Thunderers                     130 pts

10 Thunderers                     130 pts 

15 Miners (plus                   204 pts

standard and musician)

12 Slayers                           132 pts                         

10 Warriors                         110 pts

1 Flame cannon                  119 pts

1 Cannons                          110 pts

1 Gyrocopter                      100 pts

1 Bolt Thrower                    54 pts

Really looking forward to this so here goes...............

Paul & Tom's OWAC 8 Dark(ish) Elf and Undead Wrap-up post

Vor'Lach, Lord of Daggerpoint still, sat atop his foul smelling steed , high on the crags above the Valley of the Sisters. His hubris was filling his mind with visions of venom and stone, fire and blood. Soon these filthy blood traitors would find out where the true power lay in this region of Naggarythe. Yes, the Blood Dragon would find out there were real monsters in the wilds this far from Ulthuan. The Gorgo-hydra had deliberately been left hungry and would no doubt devour the very next unfortunates to enter the sisters' domain, after the sisters petrified them first.

Movement at the far end of the valley caught his eye, among the many broken statues that were the sacrificial victims of the sisters. He sneered as he caught sight of the Blood Dragon's emblem on the shield of the haughty cavalry officer. His scouts careful manoeuvrings of the interloper forces was about to deliver them into the trap.

His sneer turned to a confused scowl as the next thing he saw was a group of orc prisoners being driven into the valley by a troupe of raiders bearing the emblem of a nearby dungeon dwelling rival. Had the Blood Dragon already made allies in the region, or were these just scum working for gold? 

"Dear sisters!" called Tomax, or was it Xamot? "The Blood Dragon understands you have been left wanting by the miserable wretch who claims to serve you! He withheld your due sacrifice as a ploy to set you against us!"

The treacherous elf gestured sharply and the mercenary Dark Elves pushed the orc slaves forward towards the writhing shadows and undulating threat of the gorgons' lair.

"The Blood Dragon bids you accept these gifts as a token of our new friendship. Venom and stone. Fire and blood."

He turned his horse and started away, having no desire to risk getting caught up in what happened next.

Atop the cliffs Vor'Lach spat bile as he realised he had been outplayed yet again.

It is mission accomplished for El Ocho! Having already painted everything on my original list I have been able to add a few extras that have been hinted at in the background story throughout my posts.

The Dark Elf escorts are a handful of left overs from a batch that I bought pre-painted and with a pre-existing choice of shield and design. I gave these a glow up and added a couple of damaged models with weapon swaps to the unit, having fun trying to replicate the colour scheme.

This small group will mostly serve in dungeon crawl type games, and at one point they were in the running to be the inspiration for my main Dark Elf unit in this project, so it felt appropriate to use them here as a small force of rival Dark Elves, recently brought under the control of the Blood Dragon escorting a band of Orc slaves, who have also been rebased and given a quick polish for future dungeon bashing.

While the 4th Edition Warhammer Battle Bestiary does have an entry for Gorgons (page 80), describing them in fairly traditional terms with basic fear and petrification abilities, the format of the book means it doesn't give a points value. Annoying, but at least this is confirmation that Gorgons exist in the world and it gives me some licence to think about how they might be developed. 

The idea of the three crone sisters is obviously taken from Greek mythology, and I like the idea of them being most powerful together, but their power diminishing when one or more of them die. Maybe they count as a level 4 magic user when you have all three, two level 2 magic users when one dies, and finally just a level 1 sorceress when the last sister is on her own? That idea would need some work but I like the idea of having a special character for this army.

When searching for Gorgon sculpts on Etsy I came across this absolute horror from The Dragon Trappers Lodge and instantly realised that my Dark Elves were missing a Hydra proxy and that this fit the concept for the Cult of the Gorgon perfectly and shut up and take my money...

I know I could have taken the paintjob further, but the heat wave set in here and my paints were so claggy I was doing more harm than good, so I called it a day. I might go back and work on the eyes and fangs at some point.

It's obviously not Warhammer but I think it fits this army and it's surrounding lore really well. 

My two main reflections this year have been how much I enjoyed painting bad elves (especially subverting 'good' elves), and how rewarding it was to develop the background story and a sense of the geography and to paint and base the army accordingly. This is fundamental old school warhammering, I know, but it was great to be reminded of what that feels like in practice. 

Grand Total:

Rank and file month 1

36 Dark Elf Crossbowmen - 468 pts

Rank and file month 2

24 Dark Elf City Guard - 288 pts

Rank and file month 3

5 Dark(ish) Riders inc Champion - 157 pts
10 Dark(ish) Elf Spearmen inc full command - 180 pts

Rank and file month 4

28 Dark Elf Swordsmen, inc. Musician and standard bearer (Light Armour, Swords, Shields) - 330 pts
Dark Elf Champion  (Light Armour, Sword, Shield) - 51pts
Dark Elf Sorceress - 59pts

Leader Month

Dark Elf General w/ heavy armour and shield, mounted on Cold One - 174 pts
Dark(ish) Elf Hero w/ light armour, shield mounted on Elven Steed w/ barding - 114 pts

Wild Card Month 

2 Repeater Bolt Throwers - 200 pts
7 Dark(ish) Elf Scouts - 91 pts
5 Harpies - 75 pts
3 Assassins - 168 pts
Witch Elf Champion - 62pts
Giant Scorpion - 50 pts
Manticore - 200pts

Total: 3495 pts
137 models or equivalent by OWAC counting

And once you add in the Blood Dragon itself we are easily at 4000 pts before even looking at magic items, or any proxy options for the Gorgons and basilisk etc. I'm pretty chuffed with that, and yet again there is no way I would have painted all that without the motivation of the OWAC!

As I say, I've enjoyed developing the basing theme for this army over the course of the OWAC and I've let that enthusiasm carry over into re-basing some of my old orcs and goblins this last month. 

I say 'old' orcs and goblins as I have some 'new' old orcs and even a few goblins lined up to be my entry for OWAC IX. 

Congratulations to all those who made it, and a hearty cheer to all those challengers who made a brave attempt and are looking forward to making a come back. Here's to next year! :D

Toms Bony Bit

I'm really proud of what I have painted this OWAC even though I had to change plans and decided to paint my Wight lord instead of painting one of the two vampires I had lined up. 

I kept with the colour scheme again with the skeleton horde and red fade, you can see I used this almost every month or I tried my best at least! 

This is a good example as you can see the red fade on their clothing and the sack with the skulls in (there's a few dark elf ones in their too).

Grand Total:

Rank and file month 1

20 Ghouls - 160 pts

Rank and file month 2

10 Skeleton Crossbowmen inc musician and standard bearer- 144 pts

Rank and file month 3

10 Skeleton Archers inc musician and standard bearer- 120 pts

Rank and file month 4

5 Wights on skeleton steeds inc. standard bearer - 234 pts

Wild Card Month 

Screaming Skull Catapult - 74 pts
3 Skeleton Beastmen, with shields, one with a spear - 28 pts

Leader Month

Wight Lord with spear on skeleton steed - 68 pts

Total: 828 pts
58 models or equivalent by OWAC counting

I know that's slightly under the 1000 points target, and I could just count my leader as a Vampire to bring the total up over the 1000 pts, but that didn't feel right and I still have two vampires to paint in the future as my undead horde continues to grow!

This is a photo of (almost) all the units I have painted in the last two OWACs and a few extras! I love how it all looks when it comes together, one of my favourite units is the first batch of steeds I did last OWAC which you can see in right of the photo.

It was only after we took the pictures we realised that we forgot the carrion but here they are on their own.

I'd like to say thank you for all the support the community have showed me the past two OWACs it really means a lot and I've loved being apart of the community, I hope everyone's OWACs have gone well and I hope everyone has a lovely summer!! ;)

Paul's Dark(ish) Elves - Wilderness Wild Card Month (846 pts)

"The Blood Dragon met with the Priestess of Khaine just after the midnight ritual, just as you predicted my lord" reported one of Genral Vor'Lach's many spies. 

"By dawn their wildling scouts will have found the secret path up through the Harpies nests on the cliffs. We fear they will discover the Valley of the Sisters much sooner than we'd hoped. Forgive me, lord, but such treachery from the priestess must not go unpunished. I would be honoured to wield the poisoned blade mysel...."

"The Witch's treachery is entirely predictable and will continue to be so. I will turn that to my advantage, just as I have always done" interjected Vor'Lach with a sneer. 

"Tell our own scouts to herd them deeper into the canyons. Any that survive the Sisters' many pets will be worthy sacrifices for the Cult of the Gorgon."

The dark elf lord snapped his jewelled fingers and pointed to his goblet, indicating to a nearby servant that it should be refilled. 

The assassin disguised as his cup bearer had been watching carefully through the window of the tower room for the allotted signal, two brief bursts of dragon fire from out on the water, but it didn't come.... this time. The little packet of poison powder was slipped back inside their sleeve, but this did not go unobserved...

From the shadows of the arched doorway, the assassin serving as one of Vor'Lach's personal guard watched as the 'servant' carefully concealed the poison, slowly exhaling the breath they had been holding for some time, and letting the hilt of their poisoned dagger settle back into it's deadly sheath, but this did not go unobserved...

In the adjacent watch tower, the assassin posing as a member of the Daggerpoint Cityguard took their finger off the trigger of their crossbow, just a hair's breadth from having shot the bodyguard with a poisoned bolt before he could strike the servant. Not tonight then, but soon....  

The final month of  OWAC VIII, 'El Ocho', is upon us and I'm playing my wild card to throw a fun things into the mix of my Dark(ish) Elves.

The Scouts are obviously leading the way this month, making their way through the wilds of the bleak coast, encountering the local wild life.

One of the mantras for this Dark(ish) Elf project is 'no Elf left behind', in reference to my previous High Elf and Wood Elf projects. We've already met the treacherous High Elves of the House of the Blood Dragon, but I also wanted to make use of a few damaged Wood Elf Wardancers, and a random Elf Blitzer from Bloodbowl. I could see them as Elven pirates, used to exploring and foraging on wild shores, fitting neatly into a unit alongside some more traditional Dark Elf Scouts from Daggerpoint. 

One of the Wardancers needed a repair for a missing lower leg, not my best bit of putty work after I realised I didn't get the bend right in the wire quite right before fixing it in place. There was some reshaping of one of the damaged swords, and the Blitzer got an additional Elven looking dagger on his hip. 

The other missing weapons were replaced with cut down crossbows, and they got a little pouch of bolts, with the idea being the pistol crossbow is both more pirate like but also a clear nod to them adopting Dark Elf equipment. 

Another example of the two sets of forces merging are the two Repeater Bolt throwers, which I imagine were mounted on the High Elven ships and now bolster the Blood Dragons forces on land. 

One of the bolt throwers was missing the rear leg piece but again, it wasn't getting left behind. I had a crack at a quick press mould... 

...but was the result was far from usable, so I upgraded my methods with a Lego frame to hold everything in place.

The final result wasn't perfect but it was useable. You can notice one is a lot chunkier and clumsier when you look at them side by side, but that is my first go at casting a structural piece and I learnt a lot from the process.

The crew are a motely combination of a couple more Dagger Point City Guard, along with a Dark Elf warrior learning how to use the Ulthuan variety of the familiar war machine, and a damaged plastic High Elf archer who is now learning to use a crossbow plundered from a Frostgrave Cultists kit.

 

Sadly I snapped both the X-bow strings and my patience in the process of making it fit...

The final result is in line with what I'd envisioned, just don't look too closely at the angle of the arms! I definitely took perverse enjoyment from painting him up in Dark Elf colours like his new 'friend'.

The other two crewmen have run into some trouble with a Giant Scorpion who has been snapping their store of bolts for lolz...

I think I got this from Otherworld Miniatures, which now very sadly no longer seems to be trading! Hopefully they get a second lease of life as they had a really lovely set of wilderness encounter, animal, and monster sculpts. I certainly enjoyed painting this big beastie :) 

Early in the challenge I suggested that the noisome leather used in the armour of the Daggerpoint City Guard would have a local source, and here we have the answer in the rubbery hides and wing membranes of the local monstrous populations. 

The Harpies, Giant Scorpion, and Manticore were painted up in the same colour scheme as the Basilisk I painted in the run up to this year's challenge as a palette tester. 

While the basilisk doesn't have a WFB profile it could proxy as various things if needed, giving me a variety of monster options and showcasing the local wildlife.

Next we have a few shady characters who have been conspicuous in their absence from the Dark Elf ranks so far (and so they intend to remain until the necessary moment!). These assassins are loyal to the cult of Khaine, which will prove interesting in the merging power structures of Khaine worshipping High Elf interlopers and a heretical Dark Elf lord and his forces loyal to the Cult of the Gorgon. 

The two chunky 4th/5th edition era sculpts are fairly uninspiring if I'm honest, and so it was easy to paint them in a way that deliberately blends them into the background of the landscape as well as their host units. No prizes for spotting the ubiquitous Ainur, the Sword of Twighlight Mordheim freebie model from White Dwarf, but I hope you will agree he fits the bill in this band of rogues.  

Last up (for now...) is a Witch Elf Champion. The sculpt is a Ral Partha Blade Maiden Mistress and is still available at a bargain price. The only problem is I don't have any Witch Elves for her to lead, so for now she might have to serve as another assassin 'in game'.

Monthly total:

2 Repeater Bolt Throwers - 200 pts
7 Dark(ish) Elf Scouts - 91 pts
5 Harpies - 75 pts
3 Assassins - 168 pts
Witch Elf Champion - 62pts
Giant Scorpion - 50 pts
Manticore - 200pts

Total for the month: 846 pts

To sign off I will look ahead to OWAC 9 which will have the theme of taking inspiration from a piece of Warhammer art. Alongside my unknown Sorceress sculpt, and the Dark Elf lord on Battle Lizard, I think the Blade Mistress make a good proxy for the trio featured on the front of the Dark Elf Army Book, something which has definitely been an inspiration for this years project.

Tom's Bony Bit

I made it! This is my second completed OWAC. I had lots of fun and I wanted to say thank you all for being so kind with all the positive feedback, I love being apart of the OWAC community it is a pleasure to paint along side fellow nerds :)

This was a short month it was tricky to paint due to the heatwave here in the UK but I still managed to complete my leader month. I am very happy with the outcome in combining the rider from Mierce Miniatures (a present from my Dad) with one of the undead horses from Fireforge Games as his steed. 

I used the same mix of greens and browns I used for my ghouls, to show he's undead even though he is not a skeleton. I used green, brown, and red inks to add finishing touches to bring him all together.

I did not like the axe or whip from the weapon sprue so I decided to use a spear from my collection, the model was very fiddly so I had to ask my Dad for some help, but I'm really happy with the final look. I'm going to use him as a Wight Lord in games of WFB.

Monthly total:

Wight Lord w/ spear on skeletal steed - 68 pts

Total for the month: 68 pts

Thank you for reading. I hope your final months went well, many thanks, Tom :)