Painting Challenge Submission #5 - Warmaster Dogs of War Artillery

10mm "Galloper Guns" for Warmaster. 

A participant in Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge had been inspiring me with his Warmaster-scaled Dogs of War entries. I too love playing GW's "Warmaster", and I also love the "Dogs of War". Now, the "Dogs of War" were done by GW in 28mm, never in their old 10mm version of the Fantasty game. But thanks to the efforts of genius 3D designers and printers, there are now some really awesome "Dogs of War" suited just perfectly for the scale - and submission #5 to the AHPC is a prime example. This is a battery of Mercenary "galloper guns", modeled on "Bronzino's Galloper Guns" from the original "Dogs of War" collection. I believe these were designed by "MiniRat". 

Bronzino directs his crew as the gun is laid for action...

The match is lowered...

Of course, the original 28mm version of Bronzino had lost a leg, poor chap. The battery commander here still has both - so one might assume this is simply a younger, less-veteran version of the famous mercenary commander (or perhaps the more famed commander is available as a separate hero sculpt, something I need to investigate). These figures have been gathering dust in my pile for years...after all I painted a 10mm version of Braganza's Besiegers back in 2022, and I would have picked these up at the same time... 

On this base, we have a limbered version of the gun - move lads!

These "MiniRat" designs are just brilliant. The proportions have a slight amount of exaggeration, done just right, to enhance the look of the 10mm sized figure. I tried to catch every detail I could manage. 

These sculpts are just tremendous! They are really fun to paint.

Maybe the only issue I encountered is that they did not size very well on the bases...in hindsight I should have shaved off the sharp edges, as they are all sculpted/printed together on the single base...oh well...contract firepower to support the highest bidder is now available for my Warmaster collection! That's all for this week - hope to be back with more "catching up" posting from the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge soon. 

Painting Challenge Submission #6 - 10mm High Elf Heroes for Warmaster

High Elf heroes for "Warmaster" - 3D prints, mostly designed by Forest Dragon.

My sixth submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was modest, featuring a small collection of High Elf heroes in 10mm size, mounted on round bases to serve as characters/heroes for the game "Warmaster". These are 3d prints, most of them (although not all) designed by the amazing "Forest Dragon".  There is a mix of warrior-type heroes and mages, a cadre ready to lead a High Elf army into battle on the table. 

Valiant mounted High Elf warrior, leading the cavalry to battle!

"Warmaster" is one of the very best "specialist" games GW ever released - the bones of those rules went on to serve as a foundation for a number of very, very popular rules. Plus, they are just great to play on their own. Those rules are so awesome in terms of how to mix the actions of the different troop types, of heroes and of magic. Heroes and magic have an impact, but cannot carry things on their own - but for all that, you can have a lot of fun with the hero figures!

When you have the right sceptre, one can read AND ride into battle!

GW's original line of metal 10mm figures for Warmaster were incredible, and for the most part are now very hard to come by. But holy smokes, have the 3d printer ever filled the void! Not only can you find equivalents...the current 3d prints are functionally even better IMO. These character figures are all 10mm, but they are just...they are amazing! All sorts of wonderful little details one can take a stab at with their brushes!

A mounted "not-Tyrion" - another fine 3d print!

Does 3d printing have ANY weaknesses? Well...these resin figures do kinda maybe break if you drop them on the floor...one can say that about ANY figures, I suppose, but there have been, let's call it, "V2 requirements" after encounters with the hardwood floor in my house. No matter how much I swear, it seems you can't always fix broken figures...but here we have, at last, a group of non-damaged 3d prints!! Re-painting broken 3d prints is massively f*cking frustrating super-rewarding but it all works out in the end.

Floating on a cloud, but carrying a flaming sword...ready for whatever comes up!

I have strips and strips of 3d-printed High Elf infantry and cavalry waiting for their turn under my brushes...one of the 10 "top priorities" I had lined up for this edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. Will they get any paint this year? We'll see...but I'm glad to get these heroes finished off at last. 

This fellow could be a mage, or some kind of sword-master type hero as well. 

That's it for submission six - as ever, thanks for reading, and remember to check out the AHPC XV main pages for all the latest work!

Warmaster Battle Report!

                                    

Last Thursday Conscript Greg was in town, and as previously planned, he brought two Warmaster armies with him to put on a game! The armies were both old-school GW metal models and looked fantastic - Orcs and Empire!

Conscripts Mike F. and Dave (but mostly Mike F.) ran the Orc horde while Greg and I commanded the Empire army. The scenario was pretty straightforward - the adversaries were battling over control of the ruined tower in the middle of the battlefield.

                                        

We deployed the Empire army on both sides of the wood in the middle of our side. On our left was a solid block of three halberdier units fronted by crossbowmen, a battery of two cannon, and another crossbow unit.

                                        

Over on our right we deployed two rock-hard units of Knights with some more halberdiers and crossbowmen. The plan was to send the Knights around the Orc left flank while the rest of the army fronted the enemy.

The orcs had their own ideas! They deployed in a huge brigade in the middle with Trolls and goblins off on their right flank advancing on the tower.

                                            

Knights charge the Orc left flank! It didn't go great for the Orcs,

Meanwhile the Empire age was whizzing around making a nuisance of himself with his fiery ball spell (it worked once). But he made sure to get well out of the way when the Knights got into position for a charge on the Orc brigade. Fortunately for those orcs they were able to "left-face" and avoid a flank charge from the knights.

An excellent fight resulted - the mage even helped by casting an opportune Weird Enchantment on the orcs - they subsequently suffered -1 Attack per stand and treated all enemies as terrifying. Came in really handy for the Knights as they ran through and wiped out both units facing them.

Meanwhile back on the left flank the orcs were charging forward, led by the Trolls. The brave crossbowmen at the front of the halberdier brigade fought them to a standstill then wisely withdrew to the rear, leaving the halberdiers to face them. The cannons at the left pivoted and let fly, driving the Trolls off to the Empire right. Before that they'd blown up a bunch of goblins.

But the main Orc assault was yet to come, the Orc general joined a unit of Warriors and in they went. It went pretty well for the greens at first as they kept winning combats, but at the last the remaining halberdiers steeled themselves for one last effort and inflicted enough wounds to wipe out the attacking unit... and with it the Orc general. Game over.

Man this game was fun, we hadn't played Warmaster in years and years. And the armies looked fantastic. Even at about a thousand points a side this made for a great game!

Warmaster Empire Characters

Some Empire Characters for Warmaster. Sculpts by MiniRat, printed by Excellent Miniatures.

Just one more post before Christmas - a few more Warmaster character figures, this time for The Empire. These figures are 3D prints, sourced from Excellent Miniatures, and I believe the design genius behind the files is MiniRat Studios. Here we have a wizard, a priest (certainly can be a Priest of Sigmar, but this is not specified), and an Elector Count.

A Priest of Sigmar.

Nice little shrine to accompany the Priest.

Nice big hammer to sort out those who do not believe!

My Empire forces for Warmaster are pretty old and established, but having coming across these sculpts, I thought they were all so cool that I wanted to add them to my collection, taking to the field to lead and support the forces The Empire on the table. Long time fans of Warhammer Fantasy Battle will recognize the inspiration for these sculpts from GW's long-lost WHFB ranges. 

A College of Magic wizard - spell in progress!

A really, really cool sculpt - ready to zap the foes of The Empire.

These sculpts are brilliant, and there are many, many small details that are just wonderful to see - and try to capture if I can with my brush. Like any project, there are always things you look back on and wish you could have done better, but there is always scope to improve, and these small, 10mm figures are the sort that will inspire you to keep going!

An Elector Count to lead the forces of The Empire.

Yet another amazing sculpt, tons of detail, which I did my best to capture.

In "Warmaster", the command and character models are important, but their influence is subtle - some can throw a few spells, and they can join regiments in the line of battle to add a lift their combat ability, but their most important role is to provide commands that move your units around the table. These character models add a nice touch of Empire "flavour", and I hope they can see action on the table someday soon. 

Thanks for visiting - happy holidays to everyone, and as the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge gets underway, watch for the submissions to start rolling in! 

A Few More Orcs Before Christmas

Orc warriors ready for action - metal figures from GW's long-gone "Warmaster" range.

Some more OOP goodness from the distant era of the early 2000s and GW's excellent "Warmaster" - here we have another regiment of Orc warriors, ready to pour out of the mountains to cause mayhem across The Empire! These are metal castings from GW.

The Orc & Goblin army for GW's "Warmaster" relies on, well, Orcs! Makes sense, right? You can augment the force with Ogres and Trolls, but the core of your forces will be built around basic regiments like these ladz.

Axes? Check. Big banner? Check. Drums? Check. OK - let's go ladz!

As ever, these old castings were a real treat to paint. Such astounding sculpts, with great character and lots fun details to try and capture on such small figures. My brush skills could not get all of them, but I gave it a crack wherever I could, and in aggregate, I like how these fellows turned out.

The "line of battle" readies itself for action...

My Warmaster Orc & Goblin army now has four regiments of basic Orc warriors, an excellent foundation, but more are planned as the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge approaches, as I managed to source this on eBay this fall:

 A second Orc & Goblin starter box! This will be fun!

So watch this space for more Warmaster goodness - and indeed, more hobby goodness generally - as I join a number of other Fawcett Avenue Conscripts for AHPC XIII. The madness begins officially on December 21 - but I hope to have a bit more painting to share before then, so thanks for visiting!   

Warmaster - Trolls!

Trolls! Metal castings from GW's long-OOP "Warmaster" range.

As I continue to play "catch up" on the blog posting, it is time to share another diversion from 30k stuff - trolls! Not online trolling, but instead the trolls of GW's Old World! Yes, here we are back into GW's old "Warmaster" game, with a unit of trolls for my orc & goblin army. These are old OOP metal castings from GW. 

Brilliant old metal sculpts from GW.

The orc & goblin army is home to a wide assortment of creatures large and small - these fellows definitely land in the "large" side! They won't be following orders that carefully, but once stuck into a fight, a unit of trolls will be hard to overcome, particularly as they can regenerate wounds! While not the most disciplined marching companions, once the battle actually comes they would be useful in everything from absorbing the charge or enemy cavalry to beating up enemy units in protracted scraps. 

Nice assortment of stone clubs, club made with the teeth of some terrible monster, and one fellow just carrying a plain old rock!

Ready to wreck some sh*t in the Old World!

Each time I have had the opportunity to crack open one of these classic blister packs, savour the sweet 1990s air, and work on classic old metal Warmaster figures has been a real treat. I know exciting things are happening these days with digital design and 3D printing etc, but GW's metal Warmaster figure range was a real triumph, and I will always wish I could have hoarded away more of the stuff (what I wouldn't give for a metal Araby army!!). It is a great treat to work on these old metal figures, and I like to proceed at a sort of stately painting pace while working on them, keeping the nostalgia flashbacks coming at a decent pace.

At best, my brush can only approximately capture the stunning details on these old metal castings.

Onward into the Old World!

Any good raid out of the mountains and into the more settled (and delicious!) areas of the Warhammer Old World will be that much more fun with these fellows along for the trip! That's all for now - thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more! Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XIII looms - certainly some more Warmaster projects are likely to figure in my efforts there, and I know other Conscripts are preparing their own projects as well. Hope to see you here again soon.

Warmaster - Braganza's Besiegers

Another quick detour into "Warmaster" - "Braganza's Besiegers", a Regiment of Renown, created in 10mm by the brilliant MiniRat!

Fans of the now-deceased Warhammer Fantasy Battle may recall the "Dogs of War" faction - the assortment of mercenaries which could take to the field as their own army, or could be hired out to anyone willing to pay for them! These were excellent models, with fun back stories for the units - the "Regiments of Renown" - and they were pretty effective on the gaming table to boot. It was sure fun to bring large pike blocks into action against, say, Brettonians! The "Dogs of War" were fully realized in 28mm, but never did get the Warmaster scale treatment - thanks to 3D printing and brilliant designers, that is changing, as you can see in this post! I present "Braganza's Besiegers", a regiment of mercenary crossbowmen. These are 3D prints designed, I think, by "MiniRat" and printed under license by Excellent Miniatures.

Luca Braganza himself stands tall in the front line!

Most (though not all) of the "Dogs of War" mercenary units were from the Tilean city states, and this group of doughty and heavily armoured pavisse crossbowmen were foremost among their ranks. Under the leadership of Luca Braganza, the Besiegers were a sturdy and interesting missile unit option in the WHFB game. Unlike most missile units in WHFB, the Besiegers tended to hold up pretty well when contacted in melee, thanks to their armour and large pavisse shields, and so you could put them in different and unexpected places on your battle line.

A view of the battle line...

I really can't say enough about these sculpts - they are incredible, more than worthy heirs to the great tradition of "Warmaster" figures!

The "Dogs of War" were my first WHFB army - sadly no longer in my possession, of course. When I came across these figures during my more recent Warmaster efforts, my nostalgia was of course immediately triggered, and I was keen to add them to my existing Empire forces for Warmaster. The quality of the design/sculpting is incredible on these - they are lovely, faithful sculpts capturing very well the look and feel of the unit - and you can even see Luca Braganza himself! It was a real treat to paint these up, a palette-cleansing project in between 30k models.

Close up from behind showing more details, and my rather crude freehand on the banner.

Which Elector Count will pay up to ensure these fellow are on the right side?

While there were no official rules for Dogs of War in the Warmaster game, I really don't think it will be difficult to come up with some stats for them (and I'm pretty sure there are excellent fan-created ones out there, or just pavisse crossbow ones from Warmaster Historicals). The opportunity to add mercenary units (and, perhaps, some of the "logistical" problems that come with them) to a game of Warmaster in the future would be lovely, and as ever, the jolt of nostalgia will be great fun too.

It was lovely to spend a little time on Warmaster. But my brushes, of course, were soon back to projects tied to the, er, "other" Warmaster...stay tuned for more on that, and thanks for visiting!    

A Warmaster Detour - Warmaster Ogres

"Letz smash something ladz!" - Ogres for Warmaster. Metal figures from GW.

During the month of September there was another brief "detour" from my 30k painting, this unit of Ogres for GW's old "Warmaster" game. The figures are all metal castings from GW's classic, long-lost Warmaster figure range. They will augment the Orc and Goblin army I started painting during the most recent edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

Tremendous details on these GW sculpts...the Warmaster range was just so lovely.

In the "Warmaster" game, the Orc and Goblin army suffers from a lack of missile troops, but makes up for it with...well, a lot of orcs. Quantity is fun, but some quality is nice too, and so the Orc and Goblin player can select a few hard-hitting units to carry the fight, and Ogres fit the bill. Assuming they survive the approach to the enemy lines, the Ogres will hit really, really hard - not as hard as the Chaos warriors maybe, but still close - and as such, are important for Orc and Goblin players.

An example of the incredible details on these miniatures...love the poor goblin, tied up and sure to be served as a snack during the next rest stop...

Painting classic old figures like this bring a welcome jolt nostalgia. The quality of the sculpts for GW's old Warmaster figure line is just incredible, and these Ogres were no exception. They have different bits of armour, of clothing, and nice mix of weaponry that provides an appropriately mismatched look to the unit. The sculptors managed to place so many great details on these small figures. My favourite is the Orge who has a goblin tied up and strapped to his back - always good to keep a quick snack with you when on the march, right?

Marching out in a column, hopefully to a wargaming table in the not-too-distant future.

Even with the addition of these heavy hitters, my Orc and Goblin horde is still small. While I can augment the with some of the excellent 3D print options which have appeared in recent years, I still find myself scouring eBay to find more of the classic metal castings. This is not getting any easier with time, but this project has been on like a 20-year slow boil anyways, so what difference will a little longer make, right?

Hopefully these fellows will join a raid into The Empire on a gaming table sometime this year. That's all for now - stay tuned for more 30k nuttiness, mixed with other painting diversions. Thanks for reading!

Painting Challenge Submission 17 - Orc Characters and Support for Warmaster

Some supporting bits for my 10mm Warmaster Orcs - metal figures from GW.

This is yet another of my concluding submissions to AHPC XII. As the end of the Challenge approached, I thought I would round out my Warmaster Orcs a bit more. That project was a major focus for me during this edition of the Challenge, and it seemed right to make the initial force more complete. Here we have an assortment of Orc characters and commanders, as well as a good old rock lobber - fun awaits! These are all metal castings from GW's long-lost "Warmaster" figure range.

Here's a serious Orc Lord!

One of the (many) things the "Warmaster" rules get so perfectly right is the use of characters. I know one common detraction for the "Warhammer Fantasy Battle" game was the way overpowered characters can take over the game. "Warmaster" is much better - the characters are essential, of course, but indirect. They cannot succeed on their own, they have to work through the units they command. They can enhance them, yes, and have a notable impact, but in doing so they are also creating risk. 

The Wyvern is tricky to assemble (and needed a pin for the base), but what an awesome figure, I just loved it.

Tried to get a leathery look for the wings on this monster.

Even the characters riding terrifying creatures, like this Orc Warlord on a Wyvern, are therefore very influential, and powerful, but also at much more risk than the equivalent in a standard Fantasy Battle game. This figure is a favourite, something I have wanted to paint ever since I saw it in a GW catalogue so long ago. It has been sitting in a blister pack in my horde for something like ten years? How fun to get some paint on this beast at last!

Let's go ladz!

Suitably angry and armed boyz for the chariot.

Nasty war boars ready to charge home!

We also have an Orc hero riding a war chariot of some sort - will be a useful commander to use when the big guy on the Wyvern is not around. That chariot looks like a totally safe ride, I'm sure everyone on board will be fine, right? 

A weedy little gobbo shaman...

Orc Shaman with handy skull supply!

"Warmaster" also totally gets the magic aspect of fantasy wargaming correct - the magic is important, but won't win anything on its own. Still, the Orcs can now get in on the spell-casting with two of the heroes here - one is an Orc Shaman (with a handy skull-shaped altar, just for Barks!) and the other is a Goblin Shaman, with a couple of squigs on hand because obviously...squigs, right?

"Put yer back inno it!"

Finally, we have a rock lobber and crew. The Orcs don't really have much in the way of missile-armed troops in their army. Given their preference for brute force, that makes sense, but going up against all of those cannons and crossbows in the Empire, they could use a little bit of artillery, and this rock lobber fits the bill. 

Troll-powered trebuchet. I'm sure things will be OK with this, right?

You get more crew figures than can actually fit on the game-sized base, so I put the "commander" for the lobber on a seperate base, leaving the poor troll and two gobbos on the same base as the lobber. Looking at the contraption, I can see the orc wanting to keep a bit of distance, in case things go wrong...

Thanks for reading - there was one more submission before things concluded in AHPC XII, and I will post that shortly, but in the interim, happy brushing everyone!