Graeme's Skaven (part three - Revolutions)

Graeme's Skaven - OWAC 7 Introduction Post

Paint something different this year! That was my plan. I wanted to get out my comfort zone and paint something new. Not more Skaven. Definitely not!

I put a poll up in the OWAC Facebook group and Slann came out on top, with Norse coming a close second. I dutifully dusted off both my Slaan and Norse models and started counting out and organising them. I had enough models to do either. I had some interesting models looked out to give both armies a bit more character. I opted to go for Slann, because they're ancient, sentient, space frogs, with an Aztec theme!

Then, halfway through my prep, I hit some snags with my Slann...

...and at the same time came across my remaining Skaven models.

I got to thinking...

I wasn't happy how I left off on OWAC 6...
...and I still didn't have a full 3000 point Skaven army I could play with...
...and I had a bunch of already prepped Skaven, just squeaking out for some paint...
...and I was tantalisingly close to having enough painted models to be able to field that Skaven army I dreamed of...

...and, in the end, yet again, the lure of the Great Horned One was too great!

There's definitely some masochistic tendencies needed when choosing a Skaven force to paint for an OWAC. The Jes Goodwin sculpts which make up my force are packed full of detail, which makes them a real pleasure to look at, but sometimes a bit of a chore to paint. And you need lots of them for a decent horde army.

So, ehm, I might have gotten a bit carried away with my prep...

I mean, I had a few Clan Eshin Gutter Runners lying around from my first OWAC...

And it was obvious I had to add to the Clanrats I had left over...

And maybe I could either add to the main Clanrat unit, or create a new Stormvermin unit...

Bulking up the unit was spears was needed...

And adding to the Skavenslave unit was a no-brainer...

Then I added to the bunch of Black Skaven I had lying around...

Obviously I'd need some firepower from Clan Skryre...

And some muscle from Clan Moulder, with something exotic thrown in for good measure...

And, of course, we have to have some leaders and special troops...

To be honest, I stopped counting after a while. It's the largest number of models I've ever prepped for an OWAC. The only thing I need to do in the next five or six months is paint (sounds so simple, right?). I have a few of conversions and something special in the pipeline, but only if I have time.

Realistically, though, I'm going to aim low. To complete a legal, practical force which I'm likely to actually play with, I'm going to focus on finishing these:

• 20 Clanrats, armed with hand weapons, light armour and shields (120 points)
• 10 Clanrats, armed with spears, light armour and shields (65 points)
• 5 Skavenslaves, armed with spears and shields (17,5 points)
• 2 Jezzailachis teams (78 points)
• 2 Poisoned Wind Globadiers (52 points)
• 1 Plague Censer Bearer (41 points)
• 1 Warpfire-thrower team (81 points)
• 1 General (level 20 hero, around 100 points)

This little horde of 42 Skaven only brings me to about 550 points - well short of the target 1000 points.

Either I paint a LOT more Skaven from the core units, or some elites (Black Skaven or Gutter Runners), or I recruit the swarm, Rat Ogres, and the Manticore (or Harpies that I planned to use last OWAC) to bump up the points. We shall see!

Fingers crossed I can make it through at least the stuff I plan to do. I'm hoping for more, but I've seen real life get in the way far too often.

Good luck to all the other challengers! (Especially the other member of #teamSkaven this year - AdamH).

There are some great-looking plans already afoot. I suspect this will be a sensationally good OWAC!

Graeme's Skaven - July - Wrap-up

Graeme's Skaven  (266.5 points)

Wow, six months have flown past!

It's been a proper challenge this year. It started with indecision about which army to go for, and included some dips in motivation, severely limited hobby time due to work, and the usual amount of procrastination. Starting to paint with magnifying lenses really helped my eyes, but slowed down my painting when I realised how much detail I had been missing...

While I'm glad to have finished, I really scraped through on the bare minimum of models, and let's not even start on points value...

My plans were much grander, and I just don't feel this year's effort is up to the standard I was aiming for, or really completed - there are loads of details I want to redo, and I still didn't get round to painting up their shields, due to a silly amount of work in the last month.

Still, it's another dent in the pile of shame. I'm a step closer to fielding a proper Skaven army. Progress is progress!

Anyway, here's the end result:

So the final tally is 42 figures, broken down into:

1 Warpweaver level 10 Wizard, armed with a spear - 82 points
15 Clanrats, armed with a hand weapon, spear and (still not done) shield - 97.5 points
15 Skavenslaves, armed with a hand weapon and spear - 45 points
5 Clanrats, armed with a hand weapon and light armour and (still not done) shield - 30 points

6 Giant Rats, armed with malice and evil intentions - 12 points

Which is a whopping 266.5 points in total! I'm lucky this was a special edition of OWAC, or I would have been resting gently and deeply in the field of bones!

Thoughts of OWAC VII are already floating around in my head. I've got to try to come up with a realistic and less grand plan if I'm going to take part next year. I came up with a list of options for armies and the popular vote in the OWAC group pointed to extemely Oldhammer-esque candidates of either Slann or Norse. Now I'm not ruling out another last-minute, ill-advised switch to Skaven again, but those are looking like the strongest contenders so far. Some test models are in the pipeline!

I've also got plans for the next 'special edition' OWAC, which involves a Rogue Trader theme. So the summer months should be busy, prepping as many figures as I can.

Massive congratulations to the challengers who managed to finish the challenge. I'm incredibly impressed with the number of challengers who go above and beyond, with not only well-painted armies, but also huge quantities of figures (and scenery)! I'm envious, but also inspired! Keep it up!

Graeme's Skaven - June - Leader Month (82 points)

 Graeme's Skaven - June - Leader Month (82 points)

This month started off well - I converted some models to give me some variation of leader models and add a little bit of character to the army. I managed to get the base colours on them in the first week, and was feeling optimistic that I was going to be able to end the challenge on a high note and deliver a group of at least seven well-painted characters. I even looked out some musicians, in case I finished ahead of schedule, and made progress on the rat swarm I'd been working on.

I'll spare you the details of the , but work got crazy busy, the weather was too hot and humid to paint (at least for me - my Scottish blood doesn't appreciate temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius. I couldn't focus well, and I was getting frustrated with the paint not flowing well.) and I suddenly found myself with a week left in the challenge with no way of completing them. I decided to focus on just five models. After a couple of days that got narrowed to three. With a day left in the challenge, I just focussed on getting a single figure finished to avoid the field of bones...

So, here he is:

1 Warpweaver level 10 Wizard, armed with a spear - 82 points

I'm VERY fortunate I left the leader month to last. I wouldn't have had a chance if it had been a rank-and-file-month. In the end, I'm happy with how he turned out, and to get over the finish line, but I'm frustrated at how little I painted this year - I started with grand designs, but I've been struggling to keep up the pace, and this month in particular feels like a real let-down.

I'll put some finishing touches on as many 'in progress' models as I can in July, and see what I can put together for my wrap-up post.

Congrats to all the challengers who made the finish line! I'm genuinely impressed with the quality and quantity that people consistently produce here. It may takes me years to complete the same amount of models some people get through in a six-month challenge, but progress is progress.

Graeme's Skaven - May - Rank and File #4 (75 points)

Graeme's Skaven - May - Rank and File #4 (75 points)

Well, May was the first month where I felt confident that I'd finish my monthly contribution. Unfortunately, things were busy at work in the last week and I didn't really have time to get the finishing touches done, yet again. So it's a pretty basic look for some of this motley crew, but it keeps me in the race... with the finishing line in sight!

May's contribution of 10 Clanrats:

Luckily, rounding things off with my leader month should give me enough time to catch up on all those shields, details and finishing touches I've missed over the last few month, so I'm aiming to make sure the final results will significantly better.

10 Clanrats, armed with a hand weapon, spear and (still to be painted) shield - 75 points

Breaking my monthly total record yet again with a whopping 75 points!

I've made a start on a couple of the leader models already, and have a couple of ideas for bonus models, so am looking forward to putting together the final lineup.

Graeme's Skaven - April - Rank and File #3

Graeme's Skaven - April - Rank and File #3 (52.5 points)

This month should have been a walk in the park - I'd almost finished painting my March contribution, but just couldn't get things over the finish line. I expected it would take a few nights of adding the finishing touches and then I could get the April post done early and make a start on some of the May contribution, or pick up some leaders or more exotic troops.

The reality was slightly different.

The end result for April:

5 Clanrats

5 Skavenslaves

Naturally I had forgotten about a short break in the beginning of the month - I went with my wife and a group of friends to Islay (my fourth pilgrimage to the island) for some whisky-tasting and sightseeing. The preparations and trip effectively took up the first 10 days of the month. Well worthwhile! I tasted some great whisky and brought back a nice memento or two.

Just a little souvenir...

After returning I half-heartedly picked up my paintbrush and faffed for a week. I think I painted, re-painted, and then refined the same pieces of tunics and armour on three figures for about a week. I got stuck in a weird rut, where I just didn't like what I painted.

Then one of our two cats, which we've had from kittens, suddenly developed a blood-clot. My wife adopted them when a friend found them abandoned in some woods in Germany, about nine years ago. Within two hours of me spotting something was wrong, I found myself sitting at the vet's, watching her being put down. This was on my wife's birthday. The day before my birthday. This resulted in cancelled celebrations and a week or so of little motivation to do much, let alone paint.

Baloo

I finally forced myself to sit down and get some painting done in the last few days of the month, in a desperate attempt to avoid the field of bones.

Yet again, it's not my best work, and I don't feel the Slaves are really done, but they'll do. I'm pretty happy with how some of fabric and details, especially on the Clanrats, turned out. I was finally enjoying painting them in the last couple of days and it was a welcome distraction from the suddenly much quieter apartment.

So, the final tally for April:

5 Skavenslaves, armed with a hand weapon, spear and (soon to be painted) shield - 17.5 points

5 Clanrats, armed with a hand weapon, spear and (soon to be painted) shield - 37.5 points

Resulting in my highest monthly total yet: 55 points! That's an army total soaring into the dizzying heights of three-figures!!!

Anyway, the end is in sight! Lots of unpainted Skaven still await me, as well as loads of little details to finish off, as well as shields and bases still to complete, so that should keep me busy enough. I really hope I find my zone again in May and I can put in a strong finish.

Graeme's Skaven - February - Rank and File #2 (27 points)

Graeme's Skaven - February - Rank and File #2 (27 points)

Like the month, it's going to be short and sweet...

Without further ado, here's my February contribution in all their glory:

February's rabble

February is always a tight squeeze, so the Giant Rats were called up to make things a little easier to hit the 10 figure target. I painted up two of them as albinos, just to break up the dark colours.

The Skavenslaves turned out well, and I'm really happy with them. However, I've been fiddling with my lighting and camera setup and still don't feel the photos are coming out quite right, so the experimentation will continue until I hit the sweet spot and can display them in all their glory.

Skavenslaves

5 Skavenslaves, armed with a hand weapon and spear - 15 points

6 Giant Rats, armed with malice and evil intentions - 12 points

So, the dizzying total of 27 points of Skaven rank-and-file is added to my army this month!

That brings the grand total for the challenge so far to 72 points!!!

The plan for March? Uhm, more Clan Rats and Skavenslaves... It's not creative and it's not exciting, but it's slowly bulking up my army, thank you very much.

I promise to try to prep some more exciting and colourful stuff for later in the challenge, but for now I'm just going to keep grinding out more cannon fodder.

Graeme's Skaven - January - Rank and File #1

Graeme's Skaven - January - Rank and File #1 (45 points)

I expected getting back into the OWAC saddle was going to be a challenge, and I wasn't disappointed.

Breaking last year's record of 2 painted miniatures wasn't going to be difficult, but getting the minimum 10 done before the end of the month came down to the wire, again.

Scraping in by the skin of my rodent teeth, I present my motley crew for January:

January's mob

I've mixed feelings about these. I had to rush in the end to get them done in time, so the bases still need flocking, the Clanrats are missing their shields, and there are a few things that I'm going to tidy up later. So, on the scale of things, not my best effort.

On the other hand, I had to start facing the realities of getting older by using a magnifier while painting, to take some of the strain off my eyes. It's definitely helped there, but also let me see all the flaws and sloppy errors I make while painting, in glorious detail. I think I'm painting more neatly now, and can pay more attention to details (because I can finally see them!), but this has the downside of costing more time. I'll have to adapt a little, to up the tempo...

The bug-eyed monster

Anyway, I'm happy with what I did paint, and I suspect I'll be satisfied once I finish off those niggling details that are missing. I've been getting into the swing of things the last week, so I'm planning on painting smaller batches, to help speed things up.

Some more detailed photos of the meagre January offering:

Skavenslaves with spears - front

Skavenslaves with spears - rear

Clanrats with swords - front

Clanrats with swords - rear

One of the things I forgot to prep, due to my last-minute switch of army, was some suitable shields. And the weather over in The Netherlands hasn't been conducive to undercoating anything - the temperature hasn't gotten up to 10°C in more than 2 months. Fingers crossed things get warmer soon.

Luckily, this edition of OWAC doesn't have a minimum points requirement per month, otherwise I'd be in a spot of trouble...

5 Skavenslaves, armed with a hand weapon and spear - 15 points

5 Clanrats, armed with a hand weapon and light armour (with shields still to be done) - 30 points

So, a whopping 45 points of Skaven rank-and-file to add to my army!

On to February! More of the same, I suspect. Although I might have to do a small batch of Giant Rats to meet the figure count in the shortest month...

Graeme's OWAC VI Introduction post

OWAC VI: Embracing Chaos...

OWAC V was a complete washout for me. I had grand plans of a glorious Elven force, which never got off the ground. Getting married at the end of January soaked up more time than I expected and I fell at the first hurdle. The trip directly to the field of bones was unexpected and disappointing...
This seriously dented my painting mojo and I lost my motivation. Coupling this with a new job in the middle of the year, I ended up painting a grand total of two minis in 2022.

OWAC has been the main driving force in getting me to the painting desk over the last few years, so I decided that I would re-focus my energies on the prepping for OWAC VI. I was determined to avoid my previous mistakes and go into this challenge as well-prepared as I could. So, I spent months cleaning, de-flashing, basing, and base-coating an impressive amount of Wood Elves. I focussed on mostly compulsory troops, with some special troop types, big monsters, and characters to add some flair.

Some of the compulsory archers

Some additional troops

Great, right?

But doubts and uncertainty had crept in...

I wasn't really feeling the inspiration for painting these graceful fighters.

Being spoiled for choice on what I could paint wasn't helping the decision either.

However, the pile of unpainted Skaven from my first OWAC started calling to me, eager to be unleashed on the battlefield to fight for the Horned Rat...

One of the two minis I managed to paint in 2022 was a Rat Ogre for Oldmanpaints #OctOgre challenge. I really enjoyed the process and end result... an albino Rat Ogre: (https://oldmanpaints.wordpress.com/2022/09/30/octogre-painting-competition/)

Painted mini #1 for 2022

This special OWAC VI edition meant that I wouldn't have to submit a minimum number of points of miniatures each month, just a minimum of 10 models... perfect for troops with a low points cost... Skaven, for example...

Then I saw ZeroTwentythree's introduction post (http://oldworldarmychallenge.blogspot.com/2022/12/zerotwentyhthrees-owac6-introduction.html) and the call of Chaos grew too strong to resist!

My originals plans found their way into the bin...

I'm back #teamskaven!!!

The new plan is simple - paint as many Skaven Clanrats and Slaves as I can. I want to work through as many of these compulsory troops as possible, with the aim of being able to field a legal 3rd edition army, based on Warhammer Armies, by the end of OWAC VI. For this, I want to finish 50 Clanrats and 20 Skavenslaves. If I get bored of painting these, or my sanity falters, I've got plenty of other models which I can turn to for some variation.

Some of the leftovers from OWAC III:

And some of the remaining pile, that still need some prepping:

Yes, you may have spotted the flaw in the plan - I've switched from a well-prepped force, to a furry horde at the last minute... I can't promise this is going to work, but I aim to embrace the Chaos and enjoy trying!

And finally, as an offering to our glorious Overlord: a Bob Olley Chaos Harpy!

These can be Chaotic hosts for a Skaven army and I've never painted one before. I decided to go for a rather more colourful interpretation than usually seen - a colour scheme which hopefully pleases the mighty Overlord.

Painted mini #2 for 2022

Good luck to the rest of the challengers in this special edition of OWAC!

There are some great-looking projects again, with a lot of variety. It's going to be a blast seeing them take shape!

Graeme's OWAC V Introduction post: Wood Elves - Forenrond’s Last Stand

Graeme's OWAC V Introduction post: Wood Elves - Forenrond’s Last Stand

In the early ’90’s a few of my friends and I decided to hold a small Warhammer 3rd edition tournament between ourselves, over a summer holiday, with 3000 point armies. We bought one or two of the Fantasy Regiments boxes between us, to help build up the core armies. One of my friends took the Goblins and Orcs, another took the Dwarves, and I took the Elves and Skaven.

I managed to built up the Skaven army quite a bit (as you might have noticed from OWAC III), but just didn’t have enough models to field a full 3000 points, due to the low points cost per model. So I resorted to my second-choice army - Wood Elves. A small, flexible, well-equipped, archer-heavy army, with a wealth of heroes and wizards. The lovely Jes Goodwin sculpts were a huge factor in choosing them. Thus, they became my first ever Warhammer army.

A plastic bag of second-hand Elf stuff bought from my friend’s younger brother provided me with a cavalry unit and some Wardancers. I then built up a few more units of archers, and a unit of spearmen. I also invested in the newly-released Marauder Dragon, Treeman, and Unicorn, for some serious muscle, with a slightly different style.

I've only been able to find one photo of my army at the time. Here it is in action in the tournament, held on the dining room table at my parent's house, around '93 or '94, I think... :

The bright-red Dragon really should practice his sneak-attacks...

In the end I was third in our summer tournament. I got off to a promising start, decimating an infantry-heavy Dwarf army with a Treeman and Dragon-mounted champion. I suspect the picture above is from that game.

However, I was trounced by the Orc and Goblin army (helped in no small amount by my opponent rolling the ‘invisibility’ Chaos Attribute for his army general’s Wyvern - yes, it was as bad as you imagine… ). The one highlight of this game was attacking a unit of Chaos Warrior allies in the flank, on my first turn, with my Eagle-mounted hero with magical blade. They promptly routed off the table, never to return... all 500 points of them… 

There was also a meat-grinder confrontation between my Cavalry, Wardancers and Spearmen against a unit of Skeletons, Skeleton Chariot and a Corpse Cart (where pushing back the undead caused instability which, due to the Corpse Cart in the vicinity, proceeded to increase the size of the enemy units and/or make them invulnerable to wounds the next turn…). A shortage of magical weapons meant it did not end well…

Despite the ignominious defeats, the Wood Elf army remained my favourite - let's say they were the moral champions! 😀

After going to University, I followed the usual path of losing touch with my friends and the hobby. Luckily, I kept all of my minis in storage, so a good chunk of the stuff you see here are from my original collection, which I’ve just been adding to over the last 20 or so years.

I’ve spent the last few months stripping the majority of my Wood Elf collection, to give me fuel for the OWAC. I suspect I have enough models for multiple challenges. I first considered re-creating my original army, but decided to go for something a bit different:

Forenrond’s Last Stand!

I always wanted to play this battle when I got the 3rd Edition rulebook, but never had enough models (from either side). After many years of collecting, this is no longer an issue… It also gives me an excuse (as if I really needed one) to put together another big group of Jes Goodwin sculpts.

There are no points costs mentioned in the scenario in the rulebook, so below is an overview of the force with points taken, or inferred, from Warhammer Armies for 3rd edition:

CHARACTERS

• Corma Lightmantle (leader of 1st Elven cavalry)
  General - Level 15 Elf Hero
  Lance, hand weapon, shield, light armour, barded warhorse
  143 pts
  
  
• Atlanta
  Level 5 Elf Wizard
  Hand weapon, warhorse
   184 pts
  
  
• Philander (leader of 2nd Elven cavalry)
  Lieutenant - Level 10 Elf Hero
  Spear, hand weapon, shield, horse
  93 pts
  
  
• Labriele (leader of elite Elven archers)
  Level 10 Elf Hero
  Hand weapon, longbow, light armour
  93 pts
  
  
• Sola Brighthelm (leader of Elven archers)
  Level 10 Elf Hero
  Hand weapon, longbow
  91 pts

Character total: 604 pts

RANK & FILE

• 1st Elven Cavalry
  10 mounted lancers, with standard bearer and musician
  Lance, hand weapon, shield, horse
  264 pts
  
  
  
  Yup, still some prep work needed for these...
  
  
  
• 2nd Elven Cavalry
  10 mounted lancers, with standard bearer and musician
  Spear, hand weapon, shield, horse
  220 pts
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 3rd Elven Cavalry
  10 mounted archers
  Hand weapon, longbow, light armour
  240 pts
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Elite Elven Archers
  9 archers (+1 missile elite), with standard bearer and musician
  Hand weapon, longbow, light armour
  143 pts
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Elven Archers
  9 archers, with standard bearer and musician
  Hand weapon, longbow
  121 pts
  
  
  
  
  
  

Rank & File total: 988 pts

Total points:        1592

Bonus ideas

Out of the rest of my Wood Elf collection, I’ve got a long list of potential ‘bonus’ and ‘super-duper bonus’ units.

The ‘bonus’ units are my fall-back to give me a change of pace from the archers and cavalry.

Bonus

• 10 Warhounds
  40 pts
  
• 2 Warhound beast masters
  26 pts
  
  
  
  
  
• 4 Bears
  80 pts
  
• 1 Bear beast master
  13 pts
  
  
  
  
  

Allies:

• Zoat Wizard
  Hand weapon
  275 pts
  
  
  

Realistically, I won’t get round to the ‘super-duper bonus’ stack, but I’m including them to reflect the good chance that my focus will drift and I’ll pick up something random and shiny near my painting desk and start working on it.

• Dragon Lord (Lvl 10 Hero, on Dragon 1, winged)
  Hand weapon, spear, light armour, shield
  392 pts
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Wain Lord Chariot
  128 pts
  
  
  
  
  
• Treeman
  280 pts
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 23 Spearmen, with standard bearer and musician
  Hand weapon, spear
  225 pts
  
  
  
  I'm quite happy with my rescue-job on the leader
  
  
  
• 23 Warrior Kindred, with standard bearer and musician
  Hand weapon, light armour, shield
  275 pts
  
  
  
  
  

This gives me plenty of options, and the freedom to paint what I feel like during the challenge, and it shouldn’t be a tall order to meet the points requirements.

One last thing - and it’s still just an idea - for a Wildcard month (if I suddenly find lots of spare time) I’m tempted to build the scenery for the battle, so that when I complete the Orcs and Goblins part of the scenario, I have something to play it on…

Finally, the Overlord’s Offering! I picked an Elven Wardancer from my Wood Elf army, with Iannick’s favourite colours - which are usually outside my normal palette. For the first time, I used a hobby magnifying lamp while painting, and realised how bad my eyesight is… I really noticed the difference and was able to pick out a lot more detail than normal. This is too slow a process for the main challenge, but I may just use it when painting the leaders... It gives a taste of how I'm planning to paint my army.

Hope you like it Iannick!