The second started-but-never-finished unit in my Space Orks army for Warhammer 40k was a mob of Goffs. I had painted two metal figures with heavy weapons and a Gorkamorka Nob with a Warhammer Fantasy Orc head plus two plastic miniatures to start these off and now managed to complete another ten.

Like many of us, this Nob collects Space Marines

The paint scheme is appropriately no-nonsense, with dull metal, a few browns, a bit of red and a lot of black, accentuated with the typical chequer pattern on shoulder and back plates.

Choppas swinging, the Orks close in

Comin’ to stomp all over ya

My 1,000 points Praetorian Guard army for Warhammer 40k 7th Edition is finally completed. It started out 20 years ago with the Chimera and the lascannon teams taking part in a tank battle. Since then the other elements gradually came together, with the occasional interruption for re-basing and additional detailing on parts that had already been finished.

Taking up positions in an abandoned outpost

Similar to my Mordian Iron Guard, this Praetorian Guard force is based around an infantry platoon with attached weapons teams and some armoured support. The backbone of the Imperial Guard taking to the field.

A forward headquarters is being established

Squads are ordered into a defensive perimeter

The reconnaissance element consists of a Sentinel with multilaser and two 3-man teams of Ratling Snipers. All suitable choices for the savannah like area of operations I have in mind.

The Sentinel is brought up to run patrol

A multilaser also provides solid offensive capabilities

“Quick, secure the pantry!”

Fire support is provided by lascannons and a mix of heavy bolters and an autocannon. When I saw how people had swapped the lascannon wheels for those from the old Ork artillery, I borrowed the idea.

The big guns hunker down behind improvised barricades

Any attackers will wade through a hail of bullets

A mortar battery lays down suppressive fire

The Lemon Russ was the last model to be finished. All vehicles ended up with different shades of sand colour, since several generations of paints went out of production during the raising of this force. I chose to interpret it as adding to the realism of an army supplied by the Adeptus Administratum.

The Leman Russ acts as a mobile strong point

While I was avoiding painting the tank I decided to convert the veteran squad and accordingly also the Command HQ which is formed of veteran soldiers. I both wanted to add variety to the appearance of the infantry units and also make it easier to tell them apart on the battlefield. The topknots were mainly plundered from the Chaos Marauders for Warhammer Fantasy Battle which is a kit that keeps on giving.

The Command HQ flies the banner of Praetoria

A veteran squad brings experience and firepower

There are another 500 points of reinforcements in different stages of assembly and painting, so the Praetorian Guard will be added to whenever inspiration for them strikes me.

The Chimera is a mobile command vehicle

Men and machines in the service of the Imperium

“Smite the enemies of the Imperium, for Praetoria!”

For the longest time I have been contemplating which scale to collect World War 2 forces in. A while back I bought the Battlegroup rule set thanks to its good reviews and the nice presentation. Its miniature photography is really the best in capturing the eye level view of a soldier in the field that we are hoping to recreate with our wargames (well, I am anyway).

The choice then came down to either 15mm or 20mm scale, and I opted for the larger of the two. Since I am more interested in infantry engagements over tank battles, individually based soldiers appealed most to me. I wasn’t going to go with 28mm since I wanted more room for manoeuvre and more realistic weapons ranges on my usual 6’x4′ gaming table, in addition to cheaper armies that would be easier to store.

I kicked off my collection with a platoon from a German infantry division fighting in Normandy 1944. It is based on the army list in Battlegroup: Overlord – Beyond the Beaches.

I am only going for reasonable representation with regards to colour schemes. In terms of accurate base uniform colours, the opinions online are already divided. I opted for Vallejo’s German WW2 Field Grey. All other colours are chosen from the range of paints I had in my collection for all-round use.

The figures are kits from the Plastic Soldier Company. They are easy to assemble hard plastics. Details are a bit soft and there were some mould lines to scrape off but I am happy enough with the quality to keep using the range. All figures come with integrated bases, so after gluing them to 1p and 2p pieces (40mm Renedra plastic bases for the MGs) I used Polyfilla to blend them in. This provided a good ground texture at the same time.

I simply applied a layer of base colours over a white undercoat and then brushed on Army Painter Dark Tone. My usual grass mix works in this scale and setting I find. After giving them a dusting of Testors Dull Coat they are at an agreeable gaming standard for me.

The only ‘conversion’ I did was replacing the antenna on the radio operator (which broke off anyway) with a plastic broom bristle.

The platoon contains three bipod mounted MG34 teams. I painted up two in deployed mode and one advancing for now, to give me some variety. For gaming later on I will probably want all three deployed. First off, I am going to work on various support units though.

I continued with my late war Germans and completed the infantry support units. From start to finish the force took me 6 weeks of building and painting 64 figures, amounting to 300 points in Battlegroup, a squad level engagement. Costing £27.50 for two sets of figures (plus £2.50 for the German Field Grey Vallejo paint), this is probably my cheapest and quickest playable force so far. Going smaller scale, plastic and Army Painter dip in a historical setting really makes a difference for getting things done.

I put together two medium mortar teams with loaders, two MG42s on tripods, an additional grenadier squad with an MG34 on bipod, plus MG ammo carriers. I still have a spare medium mortar and MG42 but felt it’s unlikely I would every use those. I also didn’t build the 120mm mortars since I would rather have them as off table support.

Two panzerschreck teams, a medic and enough grenadiers with panzerfausts to equip every squad complete the infantry element of this army. Next up, armoured support and possibly some halftracks.

Progress on my Dark Elves for Warhammer 3rd Edition is slow, something which these Doomdrakes aptly demonstrate. The first of the Cold One riders was finished in 2015, and I just completed the last. There probably won’t be a second rank anytime soon.

Dark Elf knights leaving their stronghold

Since I am fielding them carrying lances, I converted some of the riders, using the plastic lances from the original Citadel skeleton horsemen. For the shields I decided on particularly sharp edged versions, which suit Dark Elves in any case, envisioning them being used as weapons, slicing limbs off their opponents as they thunder past.

The Cold Ones take up the scent of their prey

This leaves me with ten Witch Elves and a Jabberwock to finish for my modest raiding force of 65 models, equalling 1,500 points in old money.

Edging closer to completion, I painted up the ten Witch Elves in my Oldhammer Dark Elves army for Warhammer 3rd Edition. These are a mixture of slotta and earlier sculpts – the older ones are my favourites in terms of posing, best demonstrating their bloodlust as they throw themselves into battle.

Furious Witch Elves storm ahead of the army

The witches wield wicked blades

I wanted to keep the overall colour scheme of the force unchanged while also distinguishing them as being part of a specific faction. Therefore I opted for replacing purple with red, which in addition to their more dynamic poses and flowing hair gives them a different vibe to the rest of the regiments.

Blood red is the colour of this murderous coven

The final element in my Oldhammer Dark Elves force is a Jabberwock, summoned to do evil deeds by the sorceries of the Death-hood.

It’s a quirky sculpt of a weird monster that I’ve always liked, so I am glad to have found a place for it amongst my armies. I thought the traditional colour scheme would make a good fit for my Dark Elves. Their habit of fielding bound monsters to bolster their ranks is something I gladly subscribed to as well, since the Jabberwock is the points equivalent of another regiment of infantry or cavalry.

The sorcerer has bound the monster to his will

The Jabberwock prowls through the woods

Top down view of the Jabberwock next to stone ruins and a pile of skulls

My Oldhammer army of the Dark Elves for Warhammer 3rd Edition is completed. I think I managed to include a good cross section of troop types in the 1,500 points that will make the army interesting to field while looking good doing so.

A host of Naggaroth marches to war

The core regiments consist of a large block of armoured warriors with swords and shields, two sections of crossbowmen and some Witch Elves and Doomdrakes for hard hitting but fragile close combat power.

The rank and file of the Dark Elves under their gruesome banner

The wicked crossbow is the Dark Elves’ favourite weapon

The Witch Elves spill blood for the Lord of Murder

Dark Elf knights spur their cold blooded mounts into battle

The characters in the army are a Death Dealer as its general, a Death-hood sorcerer and a Goredirker assassin.

The leader of the Dark Elves revels in ostentatious cruelty

The sorcerer directs evil energies towards his foes

The assassin seeks out his prey amongst the opposing army

A repeating bolt thrower will pepper the ranks of the enemy with steel tipped death, while the Jabberwock with its poisoned attacks and regenerative powers should strike fear into all enemies, assuming it doesn’t get bogged down by its stupidity.

The repeating bolt thrower sows quick death amongst the ranks of the enemy

The Jabberwock has been bound to the Dark Elves’ service

Following the Forces of Undeath from 2015, at this rate I might still make it through all of the content in Warhammer Armies, assuming I can achieve a timely demise. The most likely candidates for next finished force are the Orcs & Goblins, so expect to see some updates on them in due course.

I’m still in an Oldhammer mood and making progress on my Orcs & Goblins. While painting is slow, I’ve been taking stock, putting together regiments and constructing movement trays.

I did also manage to finish the mob of 20 Gobbo Stickas that is one of the core units of the army. About half of these are plastics that I had bought second hand and which were painted so well that I kept them untouched other than a little detailing and new bases. The rest are mostly metals that break up the uniformity of the regiment nicely.

No greenskin army is complete without a mob of ‘stickas’

The champion takes his best shots out skirmishing

The mob deploys in line

The goblin archers shield the advance of the elite orcs

In lieu of any significant hobby progress and to battle the Salute-That-Never-Was 2020 blues this weekend I set up a Discord server for The Lost and the Damned. I hope some of you lot will join me there for raving discussions and colourful banter about toy soldiers and the worlds they inhabit.

https://discord.gg/ETnD92q

For my part I’ll be using it to present some of the activities that don’t make the cut for a blog post, like staging this single player Warhammer 3rd Edition battle between my nearly finished Orcs & Goblins and my not quite so nearly finished Dwarfs.

Orcs battling ghostly apparitions of dwarfs

There’s a lot of rank and file painting going on for my Orcs & Goblins and Dwarfs for Warhammer 3rd Edition lately. In-between I also managed to complete the command for my greenskins finally, consisting of an Orc Shaman and an Orc Warlord.

The wizard is the very same I bought in the early 90s (?) as part of the Poly the Wyvern box set. It had base colours on for a couple of decades but only now can be considered finished.

The hero is a new addition but also a vintage model, courtesy of Kev Adams of course. He’s a real brute, with possibly some Black Orc blood in his family tree.

My mate undeadhighelf kindly sent me three Grotz, providing me with the perfect opportunity to expand my Blood Axe warband with a Runtherd and his minions. Usually part of the Squig Katapult crew, they make great looking assistants working in the Squig Acquisition department of the horde.

Once a warband reaches a certain size, it’s really time to hire a GR Manager to keep all those pesky employees in check that are not like Orks motivated enough by the prospect of the next good scrap. The Runtherd is a firm believer in the carrot and stick approach to leadership. Unfortunately for the Gretchin, the squigs ate all the carrots.

My Oldhammer Dwarfs have called their warriors to war, and a solid regiment of 20 has been raised under the ancestral Banner of the Anvil. For the troopers I used plastic figures from the Fantasy Regiments box set. I equipped them with a mixture of axes and hammers but decided on plain helmets rather than horned ones to better fit in with the other regiments in the army. The champion in the metal command group is a random Norse dwarf from my collection, which I will eventually replace with an Imperial version. At that point I will obviously have to start a Norse mercenary force to put him to use.

Since these warriors are not part of a standing army but a militia, raised as needed from the local craftsmen, farmers etc., I gave them a mix of clothing and shields with various colourful, simple patterns. This still leaves me the option of later adding runes or symbols as the regiment distinguishes itself through heroic deeds. I think the variety in colours and shapes also helps break up the mono-pose look.

The banner is a freehand job, inspired by a version in Warhammer Armies. It’s simply painted on paper, with PVA glue between both sides that helps keep its shape.

I’ve added some more big beasts to my army of the Ghoul Kings in the form of three Crypt Horrors. As with the Ghouls, I wasn’t keen on the sculpts originally, but by choosing the parts I liked and painting them in my chosen pale colours I am now very happy with the result. Or whatever the equivalent of happiness is for a cold hearted necromancer like myself.

I still have the Terrorgheist to add to the force as well, but for now I’ll probably move on to other vampiric houses and practitioners of the necromantic arts. I do like the idea of adding a unit of human followers in the form of the Strigany to the Ghoul Kings though, eventually.

I’ve been feeling the call of Chaos and decided to revisit some of the units I had previously raised but not quite finished. I have put together an army list for 1,000 points of Warriors of Chaos Undivided, using a no-nonsense black and metal colour scheme and consisting of Warriors, Marauders, Knights and a chariot.

First off I re-based the chariot, propping up the steeds on bits of slate while doing so to give them a little more height.

Next I touched up the bases for the Chaos Marauders and painted the remaining two in full, making it a mob of 20. This regiment started out when these sculpts were first released and they have a quick and dirty dry brush job for the skin.

Shortly before I had also completed this alien tree from Wargames Terrain Workshop. While I had envisaged it to be part of my Catachan jungle terrain, Captain Darling over on Discord pointed out its Lovecraftian qualities. With my eyes opened such, I can see it equally well as part of a Chaos landscape for Warhammer now.

I’ve moved on to painting the Warriors next which will join this dark crusade in due course. Assuming they don’t get lost in the Chaos Wastes for another twenty-odd years.

An army of the Warriors of Chaos needs a unit of these dreaded fighters themselves of course. As I am putting together a core force of just 1,000 points, a group of ten of these provides a hefty chunk of the army’s fighting strength.

These warriors march under the banner of Chaos Undivided, clad in cold, chaos-infused steel and wrapped in heavy cloaks and shaggy furs. Their relentless assault on the civilised lands can only ever end in complete annihilation, be it theirs or their enemies’.

The Aspiring Champion leading this band of merciless killers is a figure released for Games Day 2009. He fits the style of the plastic Chaos Warriors well but has enough additional detail and flourishes to make him stand out as their commander.

My Warriors of Chaos are nearly ready to invade the civilised empires now that I have completed the final unit of the army. These five Chaos Knights and their steeds are the most costly fighters in their warband, but they do pack a mean iron fisted punch unless they can be stopped by an artillery barrage before smashing into the enemy lines.

Since this cavalry is nearly completely covered in metal plates without any of the pelts that break up the Chaos Warriors’ colour scheme, I applied some flesh wash to the horse barding which gives it a different tone from the riders in their cold steel. Horns and fleshy bits on the shields do the rest with some bronze elements on the command group.

Now what this force needs is a mighty and ruthless leader, backed up by a cunning practitioner of the dark arts to lead it into battle and glorious victory for the gods of Chaos.

On top of the various army size projects I have in the works for Warhammer, I have plans for a number of mercenary and allied contingents, aimed at the 500 points mark. One of them are Estalians, built around the Dogs of War releases and specifically Pirazzo’s Lost Legion figures.

To start off, I finally managed to paint a ten strong unit of handgunners, consisting of old Citadel sculpts from the Empire range, conversions of Pirazzo’s legionnaires and a Conquistador figure by the Perrys that I got as a freebie in the distant past.

Pirazzo’s soldiers can be equipped by default with pikes or crossbows, meaning that the slots for their hands are well suited for operating handguns too. The firearms and hands are taken from Mordheim and Empire free company kits.

The single piece Empire soldiers add some additional variety to the unit. They have less detail in terms of pouches, Lustrian gold emblems etc. and were therefore much faster to paint. I’m not complaining.

The second contingent size force for Warhammer Fantasy Battle I am working on is based around a Witch Hunter and the followers he has stirred up. These consist of a unit of flagellants, some free company fighters and a group of huntsmen.

I started off with the flagellants, combining the current plastic kit with old Marauder sculpts. Altogether I am aiming for 15, which will also include figures from the Mordheim range.

The Witch Hunter is also a Mordheim model. Once this contingent is finished, it should provide a good recruiting pool for a warband to head into the City of the Damned.

Painting flames for me is a pain, but they do give this faction a suitable vibe. Much more enjoyable to paint was this flagellant carrying a stack of books on his back, who has always been a favourite sculpt.

The mob of flagellants is ready to preach fire and brimstone at the end of an iron flail across the Empire. While Warhammer 8th Edition rewards massive armies with hordes of 30+ models, I am more interested in painting moderately sized forces with a variety of archetypal troop types. It’s always possible to double up later.

Throwing together three generations of sculpts made this an enjoyable painting project. The models from the Mordheim range sport the most additional detail, which is very characterful. Admittedly I could have added extra bits and pieces to the newer figures from the plastic kit, but for an entire regiment I am quite happy keeping it simple. The Marauder Miniatures versions are the most plain, but do have individual character with distinct faces and poses.

Leading the charge for my Witch Hunter contingent and the wider Empire forces I am building, these guys are some of the few humans I have painted for Warhammer Fantasy Battle. While not going to reach my Imperial Guard numbers anytime soon, I do hope to rectify this somewhat over the next months.