Tag: Warhammer

  • Rebasing My Dwarf Army for Warhammer: The Old World

    Rebasing My Dwarf Army for Warhammer: The Old World

    Now that Warhammer: The Old World has been out for a year or so, I’ve decided it’s time to rebase my dwarf army from 20mm to 25mm, preparing it to march in all its square-based glory. This project is a labor of love, as it’s the same army I built and painted for the 2023 NOVA Open Squarehammer event, which I wrote about here. Revisiting this force not only brings back great memories but also sets the stage for new battles to come.

    A Nod to the Old Core

    My original army was built around a sturdy core of dwarves from a few Battle for Skull Pass boxes, including miners, thunderers, and warriors. These iconic models were supplemented by tons of metal slayers, gyrocopters, and cannons, which formed the backbone of my list for years. Over time, I painted up additional units like runesmiths, engineers, an anvil of doom, quarrelers, metal hammerers, and ironbreakers, expanding the army into something truly formidable.

    Growing the Collection

    Since the NOVA Open, I’ve continued adding to the army. Recent additions include a classic metal unit of Thunderers, some iconic 1980s GW and Marauder dwarves, and standout models like the Goblin Hewer and Doomseekers. My artillery train has expanded further, now including flame cannons, organ guns, and bolt throwers, supported by a growing roster of characters and engineers.

    This month, I picked up the Dwarfen Mountain Holds supplement from the Warhammer web store as well as a box of plastic Irondrakes. You can grab your own Dwarfen Mountain Holds book and plastic Irondrakes. I’ve heard great things about Irondrakes in this edition, and I can’t wait to paint and field them.

    Rebasing for The Old World

    For the rebasing, I’ve stuck with the same basing technique that served me well during the NOVA Open project. My bases come from Wargames Base World on AliExpress, a cost-effective alternative to Games Workshop’s offerings. Here’s the step-by-step process:

    1. Apply Texture: Cover the base with PVA glue and sand to create texture.
    2. Paint: Once dry, basecoat with Vallejo Chocolate Brown and drybrush with Vallejo Iraqi Sand for added depth.
    3. Finishing Touches: Add static grass for realism and paint the rims black for a clean, polished look.

    This method strikes a balance between simplicity and effectiveness, giving the army a cohesive battlefield presence.

    Painting with Zenithal and Contrast

    All of my dwarves are painted using Citadel Contrast paints applied over a black-and-white zenithal undercoat (the slap chop method). This technique is quick and efficient, making it ideal for painting large armies while still showcasing the rich details of these classic sculpts.

    The Old World in Gozo and Malta

    While preparing my army, I’ve also been reconnecting with the community here in Gozo and Malta. There’s a small but dedicated group of us on Gozo diving into The Old World, and plenty more players on Malta, many of whom have been active for years. The heart of the Maltese community is The Realm of Pure Fantasy, a fantastic club and store located in Mosta. It’s a great place to connect with other players, share hobby ideas, and dive into games.

    On Gozo, Noel, a veteran player, has both dwarf and chaos armies, while Matt is a newcomer building a Bretonnian army with the starter box released last year. Personally, I haven’t played The Old World since I left Virginia last July due to the move, but now that I’m more settled, I’m eager to roll some dice again.

    If you’re in Gozo or Malta and want to play The Old World—or older editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle—reach out. Whether it’s a casual game or an epic campaign, there’s nothing better than bringing these iconic armies to life on the battlefield.

    Let’s keep the spirit of Warhammer Fantasy alive, one square base at a time!

  • Oldhammer Style Bretonnians for The Old World

    Oldhammer Style Bretonnians for The Old World

    I started playing Warhammer Fantasy when I was 10 or 11 back when it was the tail end of 4th edition and Bretonnians had been squatted for a while. I’d grown up with all the Arthurian tales as a child and fell in love with the few photos of the early quasi historical Bretonnan armies that featured in the color pages of the rule book, but never thought I’d get a chance to actually own or play them.

    When 5th edition came out, I had a small Bretonnian army with Louen Leoncoeur, the Lionhearted, Bertrand the Brigand and the Bowmen of Bergerac, Morgiana le Fay, Fay Enchantress of Bretonnia and of course the plastic knights and bowmen that came in the box set. Being a young kid in New Zealand, I couldn’t afford what was needed for a full army especially once the exchange rate, postage and taxes were taken into account, and that was if I could find them in stock at Pendragon Games (I believe this was before Games Workshop opened a store directly below them in the MidCity Center).

    Life got in the way, I became a teenager, discovered girls, then paintball and the warhammer was mostly sold off (though recently my old neighbor Andrew told me he has a bunch of my old stuff in storage, though it might be mostly orcs and goblins – I’ll have to dig it out next time I make the 20 hour+ flight from Washington DC to Auckland) and I didn’t get back into wargaming properly till around 2017.

    When The Old World was announced, along with the new Bretonnian models I decided I wanted to build a Bretonnian army, though I wanted to make it all (or as much) metal as possible. Thankfully Brian Ansell and the team at Foundry Models still have most of the moulds for the 3rd Ed models (you can find them in the Ex Citadel, Early Medieval / Barons Wars / The 13th Century, Wars of the Roses / 15th Century Men at Arms, Medieval Cannons where most, if not all were sculpted by the Perry Twins. You can also find some more modern sculpts over at their sister website Casting Room Miniatures.

    I’ve picked up a bunch of stuff including bowmen, men at arms, peasants, nobles, cannons, foot knights which should keep me busy for quite some time.

    I’ve been scrounging around and managed to find some of the old GW 5th edition metal models for characters and a metal trebuchet and decided I wanted to occasionally add a bit more pythonesque flavor to the army so picked up a bunch of the Medieval Mayhem models produced by Hayland Terrain. I think these will make great unit fillers including knights and their coconut carrying squires, the black knight and the three headed giant.

    I’m starting work on the infantry as they are the only ones where I know the base sizes for the new version of the game (25mm), so far I’ve got through a couple of units of archers, a sorceress and a knight. The new edition suggests that knights will run varients of their lords heraldry, so I’ll probably keep most of them to a Blue and Red color scheme. As usual everything is painted using a airbrushed Zenithal prime, white drybrush and citadel contrasts/army painter speed paints. Banners will use a variety of historical banners that just “look good” if I can find them on the internet.

    I was really happy to find the 5th edition models for Bertrand the Brigand, Gui le Gros and Hugo le Petit. I think they work well with the unarmored archers to make up a unit of Bowmen of Bergerac or Herrimaults.

    Now that the NOVA Open is over I’ll have some more time to paint, so hopefully the rest of the army will start to get some color on it over the winter and will be ready to play once the Old World hits (whenever that is). Now all I need to know is what size bases the knights actually go on!