Spoiler: The Dwarfs Win (Battle Report)

Welcome back to another, long overdue, report on an Old World battle played between The Bob and I. 

I chose to play with Chaos Daemons (Renegade) vs. Dwarfen Mountain Holds. And, Spoiler: The Dwarfs win! Ah, but the twist is in how they got there...read on!

We set the board up with the idea tht the dwarfs were defending and old ruin that has something buried in that Tzeentch wants. But that's as far as any plot for this fight goes as it's essentially a Pitched Battle scenario.. 

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Dwarfen Mountain Holds [1244 pts]

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

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++ Characters [370 pts] ++

King [192 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Full plate armour

- Shield

- General

- On foot

- 2x Rune of Shielding

- Rune of Might

- Rune of Cleaving

Runesmith [68 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Full plate armour

Thane [110 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Full plate armour

- Battle Standard Bearer [Rune of Battle]

- On foot

++ Core Units [398 pts] ++

15 Dwarf Warriors [135 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Heavy armour

- Veteran (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

10 Thunderers [115 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Handguns

- Heavy armour

- Veteran (champion) [Handgun]

- Standard bearer

- Musician

10 Longbeards [148 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Heavy armour

- Shields

- Elder (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

++ Special Units [308 pts] ++

12 Hammerers [213 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Great hammers

- Heavy armour

- Royal Champion

- Standard bearer

- Musician

Cannon [95 pts] 

- Cannon

- Hand weapons

- Light armour

++ Rare Units [168 pts] ++

10 Irondrakes [168 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Drakeguns

- Full plate armour

- Ironwarden (champion) [Drakegun]

- Standard bearer

- Musician

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Created with "Old World Builder"

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

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Tzeentch Firebomb [1251 pts]

Warhammer: The Old World, Daemons of Chaos, Renegade, Open War

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++ Characters [575 pts] ++

Daemon Prince [400 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Ensorcelled weapon

- Light armour

- Fly (9)

- Daemon of Tzeentch [Level 3 Wizard]

- General

- Winged Horror

- Iridescent Corona

- Daemonology

Daemonic Herald of Tzeentch [175 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Flames of Tzeentch

- Wizard [Level 2 Wizard]

- Disc of Tzeentch

- Daemonic Robes

- Dark Magic

++ Core Units [424 pts] ++

12 Pink Horrors of Tzeentch [162 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Flames of Tzeentch

- Iridescent Horror (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

20 Blue Horrors of Tzeentch [186 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Flames of Tzeentch

- Ectoplasmic Horror (champion)

2 Brimstone Horrors of Tzeentch [76 pts] 

- Hand weapons

++ Special Units [252 pts] ++

3 Flamers of Tzeentch [120 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Warpflame

3 Screamers of Tzeentch [132 pts] 

- Lamprey's bite

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Created with "Old World Builder"

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

Before the battle began I randomly determined my spells. The Daemon Prince (Scalthazar the White) ended up with Daemonic Vessel, Daemonic Vigor and The Summoning. Moonhead, the Daemonic Herald on the disk, got Doombolt and Infernal Gateway. The unit of Pink Horrors ended up with Gift of Mutation. 

TURN 1

We tied on the roll off, but the Dwarfs had a +1 due to finishing their deployment before the daemons so they got to go first. Going first essentially meant standing still and firing at anything within range. In this case the dwarf cannon pasted a single Blue Horror with a well aimed shot. 

The Tzeentch Daemons did the opposite on their first turn, and most of them surged to get closer to the hair runts in their way. The Daemon Prince (Scalthazar the White) cast The Summoning upon the Iron Drakes and actually killed one of them. Moonhead attempt to cast Doombolt on one of the opposing dwarfen units but the spell failed to wound. "It's good to see the magic," said Bob ironically. 

So far it's looking like fairly even fight, we both have only lost a single miniature.

TURN 2

 Seeing those Screamers quickly zipping at them, the cannon crew shoots at them and kills one. The rest of the dwarfs all take a stance a baseball batter, waiting to grand slam the hell out the approaching daemons. 

And on their Turn 2, the Daemons grant them their wish. The Flamers charge the Iron Drakes who blast them with their stand and shoot option, but by some miracle I managed to make all three Ward Saves! Galvanized by this feeling of superiority the Flamers kill two of the Iron Drakes while taking no casualties of their own, however the Combat Resolution resulted in a drawn combat. 

The Daemon Prince (Scalthazar the White) charges the Warriors unit. They seemed like an easy kill for him, and he did kill off four of them, and they fell back in good order. The Daemon Prince pursued and reengaged them, hoping to finish them off next round. 

The Screamers charged the Long Beards, but failed to wound any of them. In turn, the Long Beards pulled the screamers out of the air, stomped, hacked and otherwise pulverized them back into the void that spawned them. The battle has definitely swung in the Dwarfs favor at this stage, but the daemons still have some fight in them...

TURN 3

The Brimstone Horrors, who has failed this charge last turn, was now with in grapeshot range of the dwarf cannon. Combined with shooting from the Thunderers and one of those Stands was reduced to a single Wound. (I neglected to snap any pics that really show off what was happening on this side of the table so sorry about that.)

The Warriors win combat against the Daemon Prince bringing him down to 2 Wounds. 

The Flamers in melee with the Iron Drakes manage to kill one of the Iron Drakes, however the Iron Drakes win on CR and Daemonic Instability wipes out three Flamers in turn! At this pint it was beginning to feel like the Daemonic Instability was a bigger threat to my army than the dwarfs!

The Herald of Tzeentch, zipping around on his disk, attempts to cast Doombolt at the Longbeards. He miscasts, rolls an 8, which means the spell goes off anyway, it wounds one the Long Beards who makes his save regardless. It was a lot of work to figure out it didn't matter! 

The Iron Drakes kill off the last Flamer. 

TURN 4

The dwarfs seize their opportunity and go in for the kill. The Iron Drakes shoot and two Blue Horrors are blasted from the material plane. 

The Thunderers charge the Brimstone Horrors and kill off a stand. 

The Longbeards and the Warriors gang up on the Daemon Prince (Scalthazar the White) and their combined might sends the evil fiend back to the hell that spawned it. Hilariously, no Wounds were caused, it was Daemonic Instability which brought him down entirely.

The entire Pink Horrors unit is lost due to Daemonic Instability.

And the last Brimstone Horrors stand is also removed because of Daemonic Instability. 

So all I had left was the herald and the Blue Horrors, The Blue Horrors I moved into Skirmish Formation so as to maximize their shots. I was determined to kill off at least one unit and the Iron Drakes felt like the tastiest one to me at this stage. It was a fruitless effort. 

All in all, it was a fruitless effort, We ended the game here, as it was obvious that the Daemons had lost. We didn't even tally up the VPs, we knew the difference would be extreme. 

So what went wrong for the daemons? My dice rolling on those Daemonic Instability checks was a huge factor. Again, I lost more to those checks than anything the dwarf army could throw at me. But where I can truly blame myself was overestimating the effectiveness of Tzeentch Daemons in melee. They suck at it. I have all this shooting capability and should have just kept it that way. Their shooting wasn't nearly as effective as I liked, but it was far better than their melee results. 

One particular mistake on my part was ignoring the Screamers Slashing Attack ability and instead charged with them. This would have been a far more effective use of them instead of the suicidal charge I put them in. Play and learn, yes? 

So I am not giving up on them yet, I just need to really think about what they do and how to get them to do it instead of playing them like orcs...

Also, I bet this little army would do far better in games with objectives then a straight pitched battle such as this. I hope to prove that sooner than later. 

The dwarfs on the other hand performed admirably. I dare say Bob's skill with them makes them into patient apex killers, and they did what I imagine my Dwarfs should do. I chose his Long Beards as MVP. I threw a lot of shooting and spells at that unit and nothing seemed to really effect them. And they dished out death to anything that got to close to them. And they look awesome. Well done all around Bob! 

 

Lookout Gnoblar

 A Lookout Gnoblar. 

"Look out sir, dey gotta cannon!"

This is a test piece for a unit of Gnoblars that I will be painting some point in the next few months. It was a bit challenging working out how to paint them as I only had the Original WFB 7th edition era Ogre Kingdoms book and Destruction Battletome Ogor Mawtribes an outdated AOS hardcover (A used book which I only bought for the paint guides) to provide a glue on how to paint these guys. The 7th edition book cited a scheme using outdated paints while the AoS  book seemed a bit odd. So I had a plan...

Prined

Contrast Paints were once again my salvation. I used Black Templar on the Gnoblar's skin. Of course I used Skeleton Horde m on the skull he's standing on. I am imagining that this is a skull from one of the Sky Titans that the Ogres wiped out some time ago. 

Black Templar skin.

I decided to go with a scheme that belies the scrappy nature of the Gnoblars. Colors that don't even begin to make sense, that look like random scraps that were found and converted into garments. The colors used were Snakebite leather for the headpiece, Miliitarum Green for the shirt and Sigvald Burgundy for the... tunic thingy.

Contrst Colour clothes.

The next step was to add Castellon Green onto the flesh. Although I like how the Black Templar looked by itself, it only looked that good under harsh lighting. Otherwise it appeared too dark for the look I was going for. 

Castellon Green skin.

I painted Dawnstone onto the Castellon Green. This was basically me conceding to follow the recipe in the AoS book, and I think it works. 

Dawnstone skin.

Next I wanted to add a bit more character to this fellow, so I reddened his nose.  I did this using a conservative application of Bloodletter. 

Bloodletter on the nose.

To dirty up the clothes, I gave e them a wash if Agrax Earthshade. I really think this does the trick in making things look more grimey. Note that I haven't finished the base yet. 

Agrax Earthshade wash (front)

By the way, I listened to this inspirational podcast on Gnoblars that I highly recommend that you listen too if the subject interests you at all. 

Agrax Earthshade wash (back). 

So, why, you maybe asking, and I suddenly painting a Gnoblar? Well I'm not just painting one, I am about to paint 30 of them! The leader of this massive unit is called a Groinbiter  (find me a unit champion with a better title than that!) who I am calling Mastablasta! 

Mastablasta the Groinbiter.

This unit is part of a 1000 point poi t force of Ogre Kingdoms that I am doing for the Call of the Crown challenge starting on October 1st 2026.  I have to finish one unit at the end of each month. I will probably add another character for a 6th unit unless I have to take a mulligan. To find out what I mean by that, check out thr Call of the Crown rules at the link above. 

The tribe gathers.

I spent some time in September assembling this force which , I must confess, I had a lot of fun doing.  The Yhetee were the only things I had prepared previously, I just never got back to them after that previous post. 

A better view.

Anyway, here's the army list that I am basing this challenge on: 

Ogres CCC 2 [1000 pts]

Warhammer: The Old World, Ogre Kingdoms, Renegade (v1.5.2.2), Open War

• Tyrant, Great weapon, Heavy armour, Brace of Ogre pistols, General, On foot, Potion of Speed - 215

• 30 Gnoblar Fighters, Throwing weapons (Sharp stuff), Groinbiter (champion) - 65

• 6 Ironguts, Great weapons, Heavy armour, Veteran, Gutlord (champion) [Jade Lion], Standard bearer - 285

• 5 Leadbelchers, Leadbelcher guns, Light armour, Veteran, Thunderfist (champion) - 213

• 5 Yhetees, Grimfrost weapons, Greyback - 222

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Created with "Old World Builder"

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

I will discuss these units more as I work on each one. This is the 6th one of these that have been done, but this is my first year doing it. It should be fun, and I am excited to get it going. 

20 Halberdiers (Part 1)

The next unit for my Empire project is a big block of 20 Halberdiers. These are the classic mono-pose miniatures from the GW/MB game Battlemasters. Battlemasters came out in 1992, and although those miniatures were revolutionary for their time, thirty years later... they appear to be quite crude by modern standards.. 

20 guys, primed for action. 

I decided to do up two models first to act as "controls". The first model was stopped at the finished basecoats step. Black Templar on the metal areas, Snakebite Leather on the leather and clothing, Wyldwood on the halberd shaft, and Baal Red on the shield and tassel thingy on the halberd. 

Basecoated.

The second one I worked up to what is often referred to as a 'battle-ready' standard.  My old paint recipe for Reiklander uniforms is worked up from the Snakebite Leathe Contrast Paint basecoat, then  a craft paint by Folkart called Linen. I then went over that with another craft paint by Delta Ceramcoat called Raw Linen. I finalized the scheme with a highlight of Skull White. I used Nuln Oil Gloss on the recesses of the armored areas before topping them off with a Stormhost Silver highlight. 

Battle Ready

I was reluctant at first to add yellow to their feathers, but this choice was supported by the Reikland pages of the Uniforms & Heraldry of the Empire book that GW published way back in the last days of WFB 7th edition (I was always bummed out that they never finished the series, but I treasure the three books that they did release). 


Well, doing 20 of these guys is definitely a time consuming war against tedium, and just the Black Templar stage took me awhile. 

Black Templar. 

In Part 2 my goal is to get all of them basecoated. Stay tuned! 

Mounted Celestial Wizard

 I am building an Empire of Man Knightly Order army and I decided I wanted a mounted wizard to support it. Digging through the Neverness Archive I found three unopened blisters of old mounted wizards. A Gold Wizard, Jade Wizard and Celestial Wizard. I decided to go with the Celestial Wizard as I felt he would fit the theme of the army better than the other two.

Mint in blister, a Celestial Wizard. 

After cracking open that beautiful mint condition packaging, I cleaned up the model of it's flash and mold lines. Then I primed it and got to work slapping on the base coats using Contrast Paints. 

Next came the barded horse. Only the muzzle and saddle have any contrast paint on them. The rest of the model is classic Citadel Paint. Macrage Blue on the barding's basecoat followed by Caledon Sky. A subtle highlight of Calgar Blue finished the barding color. 

Dots of White Scar was applied to create a star field look. And a pentacle was freehanded on each cheek of the horse's rump. 

This all came together nicely, and when the rider was done he was glued into position on the horse's back. 

Finally, the flocking stage. I added the usual variety of grass tufts and fallen leaves, and essentially this model is now complete. 

I dig how he turned out. I think he captures that '90s Wayne England color pallette vibe well. 

Oh, the white under the leaves is the PVA glue which hadn't hardened yet before I snapped these pics. I assure you that is no longer apparent on the model now. The last thing left to do is to seal the miniature to reduce the risk of chipping. 

The the next you see him, he should be in battle. Could be awhile though,  but in the meantime I need to figure out a name for him so he can join the Neverness Fantasy Rogues Gallery. 

Big Guns Never Tire - Empire Edition (Part 2)

 I finished the crew in Part 1,  now for the actual big guns.

These things are fairly basic so I didn't bother with taling any WIP shots  Tbe first cannon I acquired about 20 years ago from Warfrog. He had made it in such a way so that the great cannon and mortar could switched out. I was able to scrounge the other bits needed to turn the leftover bits into a second carriage so that I could use both the cannon and the mortar. I had also found another mortar in my bitz box which gives me the option to field two mortars if I chose too. 

I took the basic idea for the color scheme from the WHFB 6th edition Empire Armies book. The weapons were painted using Leadbelcher topped with Nuln Oil Gloss. I used Leadbelcher to edge highlight the guns and used Stormhost Silver for a few final highlights. 

You might have noticed that one of the mortars has a cannonball in it. This was made by rolling up some greenstuff. I glued it in after I painted the inside of the barrel black just in case there was any gaps. 

Wyldwood Contrast Paint with a layer of old Bestial Brown was the basis for the gun carriages. I finished that off with a few Washes of Agrax Earthshade and some Nuln Oil.

Aftter some grass tufts and a few leaves were added, this project was done.  I hope to get these guys in action soon, but the specific armistice I am building these guys for have a few more units that I still need to add, so, stay tuned! 

Big Guns Never Tire -Empire edition (Part 1)

 Q: What is an Empire army without artillery? 

You likely already know that answer but even more pertinent is, what's artillery without crew? Lawn art! Usually in a town square or in front of a VFW facility. 

Fleshwash coat from 2007.

Starting off with these three guys who came with the Warhammer Fantasy Battle 6th edition starter,  and  in my opinion, these are amongst the best Empire miniatures produced in plastic and they still hold  up well 25 years later. These guys were gifted to me by Warfrog who had primed them all in a bright white primer. I had figured out a paint scheme using Citadel Colour Flesh Wash in a similar manner to how I use Contrast Paints now. The only problem with that is the amount of Flesh Wash I had to use to get the coverage that I desired. 

Contrast coats.

After I extended their bases out to 25mm, I decided to continue where I left off almost two decades ago. Using Contrast Paints I painted Guilliman Fleshwash on their skin, and Rattling Grime on their caps and vests. I these used Snakebite Leather Contrast Paint on their boots...and discovered that it was an absolute match for the old Fleshwash! This is great, as that color is now very much available where my Fleshwash is definitely running low. 

Linen layer.

My old paint recipe for Reiklander uniforms started with a Flesh Wash basecoat, then I used a craft paint by Folkart called Linen. I then went over that with another craft paint by Delta Ceramcoat called Raw Linen. I finalized the scheme with a highlight of Skull White. 

The wooden pole was painted using Wyldewood. 

For the modern update to this I am now using Snakebite Leather Contrast Paint for the basecoats and White Scar for the highlight. 

Baal Red was used on the kerchiefs. 

The brown hats and vests was done using Rattling Grime Contrast Paint. I usually had to apply this in a few coats  before I was satisfied with it. 

He seems like a bossy one, huh?

I did the flesh using Guilliman Fleshwash. And that was it. Any additional highlights or layers I thought might give these guys a 'cleaner look and I wanted these guys to give off the impression that they are hard working and a bit dirty. 

"Light 'em up!"

I decided to have a go at their eyes. Lately I have  been ignoring them, but some of these guys had well defined eyes so I decided to risk it. I think they turned out OK. 

Cannon ball painted in Leadbelcher and washed with Nuln Oil Gloss. 

After a few touch-ups and the addition of some grass tufts, these chaps were now finished and ready to kill (hopefully) and die (likely) in service to the Empire. 

Ok, so that's the crew essentially done. Let's get to the artillery pieces themselves. In Part 2. See you there! 

A:  Mass fodder!