Strength of Steel

My Oldhammer Dwarfs have called their warriors to war, and a solid regiment of 20 has been raised under the ancestral Banner of the Anvil. For the troopers I used plastic figures from the Fantasy Regiments box set. I equipped them with a mixture of axes and hammers but decided on plain helmets rather than horned ones to better fit in with the other regiments in the army. The champion in the metal command group is a random Norse dwarf from my collection, which I will eventually replace with an Imperial version. At that point I will obviously have to start a Norse mercenary force to put him to use.

Dwarf warriors line up to defend their land

Since these warriors are not part of a standing army but a militia, raised as needed from the local craftsmen, farmers etc., I gave them a mix of clothing and shields with various colourful, simple patterns. This still leaves me the option of later adding runes or symbols as the regiment distinguishes itself through heroic deeds. I think the variety in colours and shapes also helps break up the mono-pose look.

Each dwarf carries their personal colours

The banner is a freehand job, inspired by a version in Warhammer Armies. It’s simply painted on paper, with PVA glue between both sides that helps keep its shape.

An anvil symbolises the tough nature of these fighters

The warriors take their place in the dwarf battle line

Herding the Runtz

My mate undeadhighelf kindly sent me three Grotz, providing me with the perfect opportunity to expand my Blood Axe warband with a Runtherd and his minions. Usually part of the Squig Katapult crew, they make great looking assistants working in the Squig Acquisition department of the horde.

Stab, net and stash – the three steps of squig hunting

Once a warband reaches a certain size, it’s really time to hire a GR Manager to keep all those pesky employees in check that are not like Orks motivated enough by the prospect of the next good scrap. The Runtherd is a firm believer in the carrot and stick approach to leadership. Unfortunately for the Gretchin, the squigs ate all the carrots.

Grot Resource Management is a thankless task

Headin’ out to hunt sum squigs

The Brains and the Brawn

There’s a lot of rank and file painting going on for my Orcs & Goblins and Dwarfs for Warhammer 3rd Edition lately. In-between I also managed to complete the command for my greenskins finally, consisting of an Orc Shaman and an Orc Warlord.

Zogdrek and Durgork muster the army

The wizard is the very same I bought in the early 90s (?) as part of the Poly the Wyvern box set. It had base colours on for a couple of decades but only now can be considered finished.

The shamanic staff crackles with malevolent energy

The hero is a new addition but also a vintage model, courtesy of Kev Adams of course. He’s a real brute, with possibly some Black Orc blood in his family tree.

The general holds a rousing speech that is unfortunately too vulgar to be related here

Dangerous in Numbers

I’m still in an Oldhammer mood and making progress on my Orcs & Goblins. While painting is slow, I’ve been taking stock, putting together regiments and constructing movement trays.

I did also manage to finish the mob of 20 Gobbo Stickas that is one of the core units of the army. About half of these are plastics that I had bought second hand and which were painted so well that I kept them untouched other than a little detailing and new bases. The rest are mostly metals that break up the uniformity of the regiment nicely.

No greenskin army is complete without a mob of ‘stickas’

The champion takes his best shots out skirmishing

The mob deploys in line

The goblin archers shield the advance of the elite orcs

Oldhammer Armies – Dark Elves

My Oldhammer army of the Dark Elves for Warhammer 3rd Edition is completed. I think I managed to include a good cross section of troop types in the 1,500 points that will make the army interesting to field while looking good doing so.

A host of Naggaroth marches to war

The core regiments consist of a large block of armoured warriors with swords and shields, two sections of crossbowmen and some Witch Elves and Doomdrakes for hard hitting but fragile close combat power.

The rank and file of the Dark Elves under their gruesome banner

The wicked crossbow is the Dark Elves’ favourite weapon

The Witch Elves spill blood for the Lord of Murder

Dark Elf knights spur their cold blooded mounts into battle

The characters in the army are a Death Dealer as its general, a Death-hood sorcerer and a Goredirker assassin.

The leader of the Dark Elves revels in ostentatious cruelty

The sorcerer directs evil energies towards his foes

The assassin seeks out his prey amongst the opposing army

A repeating bolt thrower will pepper the ranks of the enemy with steel tipped death, while the Jabberwock with its poisoned attacks and regenerative powers should strike fear into all enemies, assuming it doesn’t get bogged down by its stupidity.

The repeating bolt thrower sows quick death amongst the ranks of the enemy

The Jabberwock has been bound to the Dark Elves’ service

Following the Forces of Undeath from 2015, at this rate I might still make it through all of the content in Warhammer Armies, assuming I can achieve a timely demise. The most likely candidates for next finished force are the Orcs & Goblins, so expect to see some updates on them in due course.