Stormweaver on Unicon (Part 2)

 Between all the other projects I have going on, I dabbled some more on this model. Here is the current work in progress from where we left it off in Part 1 up to the present. 

As I stated I would do in Part 1, green stuff was applied to the most grievous of gaps left over after assembly. Then it was mounted to it's base. For some reason, it's left letgs peg kept trying to pop out of the hole. This resulted in it appearing a bit more elevated than intended. 

I hid this weird feature with grit and rocks. And when the miniature is fully painted I will hide it more with grass tufts and leaves. 

I had one of those rocks form a kind of a ledge that I hid a skull under. I dig weird little details like this, as they hint at a bigger story or event  which might have happened beforehand.

So I primed the miniatures and was pleased that my green stuff work seems to have been a success. Then I painted up the base.  I used Skeleton Horde on the hooves and horn. Then I.... realized that I needed to figure out the unicorn's color scheme before I could continue further.  

Check back in Part 3 to see what I do next with this miniature. 

Something is Stirring in the Dark Lands

 

The forges have been reignited, acrid smoke billows into the foul air, and flying cattle take to the air. Yes, the Chaos Dwarfs have arrived to the Neverness Hobby Chronicle. 

A box 'o Chaos stunties.

...and they arrived all jumbled inside of a card box. I got these guys from a local shop (thanks Remington!) In the fall  of 2024 and it wasn't until the spring of this past year (2025) that I had the opportunity to strip off their paint. Unlike the dwarfs that I picked up in the  summer, of 2024,  simply painting over the existing paint was not an option for these guys. The existing paint was practically smothered onto them frosting over a lot of detals.  It would all need to be stripped off.

After a long and drawn out paint stripping process, that took up much of the later part of Spring and well into Summer of 2025, I was finally happy with the state of these guys. The first miniatures I stripped were the Hobgoblins. I wanted to ease into this army by focusing on the fodder units first. 

The first units completed were not part of this acquisition. The AOS Hobgrots were done as a sort of experiment which has led me to working on some of Hobgoblins included in this lot.  I got a Khan done as well.. The next unit for this army, the Black Orcs, were also picked up after the fact, but I felt they were necessary, and they have the bonus of being able to be used by my Ocs & Goblins as well. 

There are definitely some more old Chaos Dwarfs to be revealed from this haul and over the course of this year and beyond* I hope to finish and share them here when I do. 

*I would put your money on 'beyond'.

Stumped

Recently I decided that I wanted to add more woodland details to some of my miniatures.  That was when I remembered the stumps that Woodland Scenics made. For years, many years, I would see these things in hobby stores and model train shops and think about how they might work as basing material. Well, I think it's time to put them to the test. Of course, after seeing them for years in various hobby stores across the land, when I wanted to finally get a pack they were nowhere to be found. Luckily I found them on eBay for less than $20 after shipping. 

This pack contains a variety of pewter stumps in various sizes. They have stubs on the bottom to allow you to plug them into whatever material you were making your model out of. For the purposes of the wargaming hobbyist those studs fit near perfectly into the round mounting holes that a lot of 40mm (and larger) GW bases have. I did have to clip some of them down a bit though, as you can see in the pic below. And

These sexy minotaurs were more than gracious enough to model these stumps for us. Indeed, I think these will greatly enhance their bases to give them the impression that they are smashing out of an old woodland area. This helps fill out these bases with detail as these older models feel a bit small on these 50mm bases. But I really enjoy modeling up bases so this was kind of it's own reward for me. 

Of course they will work great with Wood Elves and forestry based Empire forces. Really any fantasy models now that I think of it. The next stage for these minotaurs is to enhance their bases further with rocks, fallen brush, dead leaves and even a corpse or two. And skulls, always skulls. These model will likely be covered in their own post thread as I begin focusing more on them and their beastmen ilk. Meanwhile, I think I might try to locate another pack or two of stumps to have on hand as I continue to work on more fantasy miniatures. 

Target Point

 Hello. I had this idea while playing a recent game with Rob. It was my dwarfs versus his goblins in a fight, to once again, save a village of cowering peasents.  It was during  one of the three turns that my dwarfs still had a cannon and I had to chose a target point for the shots. 

As illustrated in TOW BRB.

Typically we just use a die for the small marker, but I thought about the squashed goblin from the old 7tb edition WFB starter (Battle for Skull Pass) and how that thing would be perfect as a target marker. 

It just so happens that I have a few of these things, one of which had been painted by someone else. That was the one that I decided to try this idea out on. So I glued it to a 20mm base (I have a vast surplus of these things now so finding a use for just one felt like a win) and added some grit to it. 

Mounted and gritted 

Here is how I intend for this work; you point a corner in the direct that the shot is going in, drawing a line back towards the cannon. I used a laser line to illustrate this below. Also, I would treat the closest edge of the base to the target at the point to measure the bounce roll from. 

Follow the line.

I thought this worked out. So I proceeded to the next step which was priming the whole thing.

Primed. Or re-primed as the case might be.

Next I painted them. I used a combination of Foundation Paint, Contrast Paint and straight up Citadel Paint. And I think it turned out well. The next one I do might have some grass tufts added or he might even be in robes of a different color. I'm still mulling over that last idea though...

Basecoated.

After a few more minor highlights, this little model is now done. Hopefully so I will. E ablr to put this thing to the test in an upcoming game. 

Finished. Just like this gobo.

Ancient Hate Fight

 

Welcome back to another tale of battle. This one features my Dwarf army vs. Rob's Goblins. The original plan was to do what we did last time and have Bob and I throw a combined force at his greenskin horde. Only Bob couldn't make it so Rob tooled his army down to 1,000 points and we set about playing another Pitched Battle. 

The Dwarf army

===

Helga's Entourage  [999 pts]

Warhammer: The Old World, Dwarfen Mountain Holds, Open War

===

++ Characters [242 pts] ++

Queen Helga [242 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Full plate armour

- Shield

- General

- On foot

- Master Rune of Adamant

- Rune of Striking

++ Core Units [275 pts] ++

16 Dwarf Warriors [200 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Heavy armour

- Shields

- Veteran

- Veteran (champion)

- Standard bearer [Rune of Battle]

- Musician

6 Dwarf Warriors [75 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Heavy armour

- Shields

- Drilled

- Veteran (champion) [Rune of Speed]

- Standard bearer

++ Special Units [110 pts] ++

Cannon [110 pts] 

- Cannon

- Hand weapons

- Light armour

- Rune of Reloading

- Stalwart Rune

++ Rare Units [193 pts] ++

10 Irondrakes [193 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Drakeguns

- Full plate armour

- Drilled

- Ironwarden (champion) [Trollhammer torpedo]

- Standard bearer

- Musician

++ Mercenaries [179 pts] ++

4 Imperial Ogres [179 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Heavy armour

- 4x Great weapons

- 4x Ogre pistols

- Captain (champion)

---

Created with "Old World Builder"

[https://old-world-builder.com]

===

Orc & Goblin Tribes [986 pts]

Warhammer: The Old World, Orc & Goblin Tribes, Open War

===

++ Characters [383 pts] ++

Goblin Oddnob [245 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Wizard [Level 4 Wizard]

- General

- On foot

- Idol of Gork

- Power Scroll

- Dispel Scroll

- Waaagh! Magic

Night Goblin Bigboss [80 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Battle Standard Bearer [War Banner]

- On foot

Night Goblin Bigboss [58 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Additional hand weapon

- On foot

- Potion of Strength

++ Core Units [603 pts] ++

28 Night Goblin Mob [224 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Thrusting spears

- Shields

- Netters

- Boss (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

- 3x Fanatics [Fanatic ball & chain]

29 Night Goblin Mob [228 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Thrusting spears

- Shields

- Netters

- Boss (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

- 3x Fanatics [Fanatic ball & chain]

13 Night Goblin Squig Herd [151 pts] 

- 7x Squig Herder

---

Created with "Old World Builder"

[https://old-world-builder.com]

The field of battle.

How about some lore to set this thing up?

 When we last saw Queen Helga her force was defeated by the Chaos Warriors of the Gray Reavers in the Wasteland region of the Empire. While her demoralized army was making it's way back towards her mountain hold, reports of a goblin army marching towards a small village of men reached her. Sending word to another Dwarf army nearby, they both agreed (via carrier pigeon) to meet outside the village and together they would crush the goblins. Helga's force arrived, the other army did not. Seeing that the opposing force was much smaller than the original reports suggested, Helga made the gamble and decided to lead her force into the village anyway to try to hold it from the foul green skin menace...

   

TURN ONE

Dwarfs first Turn.

The Dwarfs went first. Pretty much the whole army surge forward, as fast as their lil' stubby feet could carry them. The cannon shot and it missed dramatically. 

End of Dwarf Turn 1

The Goblins did like-wise but the Oddnob successfully cast Foot of Gork right in front of the 16-man Dwarf Warrior unit with the Great Weapons. 

TURN TWO

The Foot of Gork scatters onto the 16-Man Dwarf  Warrior unit with the Great Weapons, killing three of them. The dwarfs unleashed a hail of bullets via the Iron Drakes who kill two goblins from the big block closing on them. The cannon also fires but only kills a single gobo. 

Then the Fanatics were released. 

Two of them passed through Queen Helga's unit of Dwarf Warriors with the Great Weapons killing four more of them!

Fanatics unleashed.

TURN THREE

The Foot of Gork wanders onto the Iron Drakes stomping four of them into paste. 

The lines up for a perfect trick shot and...blows itself up!

The Iron Drakes only kill two more goblins. Which is not a good trade-off for the losses they just endured. 

The Imperial Ogre mercenaries an the smaller Dwarf Warrior unit charge into the Squigherders. This turned out to be a bad idea as lost combat  by two CR. The dwarfs were pushed back but the Ogres stayed in the fight. 

Pushed back but still wanting to help.

Queen Helga and her Great Weapon wielding dwarfs charge the large unit of goblins that hosted the Goblin command. The Goblin netters made things more challenging for the dwarfs  also.  In the excitement of it all, In the excitement of it all, I totally forgot to have Helga issue a challenge. I think this would've made a difference, as her side lost the combat. . They make the Break Test however and they stay in the fight. 

Sprawling Melee!

At the start of the Goblin Turn a Fanatic tears through the big fight in the middle of the board killing three models for each side. The other two Fanatics both rolled doubles and strangles themselves. 

At the other melee the squigs kill another Imperial Ogre.

Those things are tough! 

The fight in the middle of the table goes totally afoul for the Queen, as they lost the fight and the Break Test (I rolled an 11!). Then I rolled very low on the flee distance, something you don't want to when playing units with the Resolute special rule. The Goblins take full advantage of this and run them down, eliminating the Queen from the fight!

TURN FOUR

More Fanatics are released and crash into the Iron Drakes , killing three more of them. The Imperial Ogres finish off the Squig Herds whose dramatic demise kills most of the small Dwarf unit, leaving only two behind. They regroup, look around, and realize that there isn't much of an army left for them to support. 

"Oy, where did dat Queen go? She still has to pay us!"

So with only a hand full of models left (like, I could literally hold the survivors in one hand), and the remaining models left from the unit of Iron Drakes surrounded by a tria of whirling Fanatics. concession seemed to be the only option left for the dwarfs. 

This looks Ike the end...

The finally VP tally was:

Dwarfs:  168

Night goblins: 769

Hahahha, yowza! That was a fun game, but it really went south for the Dwarfs very fast. Most of it was a result of the dice. The most dramatic failure in the game was probably the cannon failing to kill more than just a single goblin before it blew itself apart. Then came Helga's notching of the break test followed by a very low flee roll. A lot of it though was simply the way the army was built. It was just not equipped to handle these massive units. These goblin units are so big that they absorb range attacks like a sponge, and they absorb melee attacks almost as easily. Well, these goblins are definitely going into the book! 

Jacobus Vyne in the Old World

 

Warhammer Quest: Dark Water has some interesting models for sure. But as soon as I saw him I knew I had to get Jacobus Vyne and his animated leaf familiar. 

He is a way taller than his older counterparts, but that's cool. It reminds me how Gandalf the Grey towered over everyone else. The more realistic proportions give him a small head than the older miniatures which, to me, helps to imagine that he is a tall old guy. 

I used Contrast Paints almost exclusively on this miniature. Militarum Green, Creed Camo and Aeldari Emerald are the three dominant colors here. 

Anyway, the brevity of this post is a result of me not taking WIP pics or notes as I worked on this. I have to admit, I had a lot of fun jamming away on this guy. I even went just on the flocking stage giving him a variety of tufts, leaves and even a cat tail! 

Hopefully this guy will hit the table in the near future as I get my old Reiklanders rebased and battle-ready! 

Slayers! (Part 1)

A Slayer charges in!

What do you do when you're down with the illness? Well, if one's not too ill, you jam out some models!  In this case I assembled 26 Dwarf Slayers onto their 25mm bases with basing grit added. Then they were primed. 

A horde 'o Slayers primed.

 

This will either make for a massive unit, or I  can break them up into smaller units. I definitely like having this option. Also I have the restrained slayers (which I promise, I have not  forgotten about) which can also be used to fill out the ranks. I pulled an old Citadel Catalog from the shelf  and began separating them based on their level (ie Trollslayer, Giantslayer, Dragonslayer  and Daemonslayer) and a fifth group of the few I couldn't figure out or that the catalog lists as just "Slayer". 

Primed, with Skeleton Horde on skulls.

These first four models are the ones I couldn't figure out,, so I chose them to launch this paint party.. I started off with Contrast Paints. Appropriately Fyreslayer Flesh was painted into their flesh. Their hair was coated in Magmadroth Flame and Snakebite Leather used on their boots (except for the guy who was barefoot that is). 

Contrast paints started.

Then Black Templar was painted onto the weapons. I used Snakebite Leather on their boots and Warp Lightning (a deep green) was used on their pants. I had to apply two coats to get the coverage I wanted with the greens and flesh. 

Contrast Paint stage complete.

After some touch-ups (because I can get a bit sloppy with Contrast Paints) it was time for the traditional acrylics. 

I used Cadian Fleshtone in a very conservative layer onto of the Fyreslayer Flesh. An even more conservative highlight of Kislev Flesh was added on top of that. Firedragon Bright was carefully added as a highlight on the hair. 

Close-up at this step.

After those touches were added, I finished up the weapons using Leadbelcher and Stormhost Silver.

. I then, as best I could, added straight white stripes onto their pants.  This turned out as well as I had hoped considering how small the surface area was that I had to work with, and how wrinkled the fabric of their pants happens to be. 

I used a blue .05 Micron to draw some simple tattoos onto these guys. Most of them have them on their arms in form of lines, faux-celtic knots, or wavy lines. One guy has a heart with "Mom" above it. And another one has "LIV" and "DIE" on either hand. The guy below has a spiral on his back. 

Spiral tat.

Simple designs they are, but it does give each guy an additional sprinkle of character. So in my "head canon" (since I have been fruitless in determining what the actual canon is) I'm feeling that the more accomplished the Slayer, the more tats he'll have. So my Daemonslayers will likely look like crazy half-smurfs by the time I get to them. The Trollslayers are next, and I will advance their tattoos up to thicker patterns close to the examples I found in the tutorial from the 2004-05 Edition Games Workshop US Catalog.