Nicolas' Chaos Army of Tzeentch - Rank and file Month #2 (450pts)

 Equilibrium

The dad I am needs to be more like a chaos warrior on disk. You know, finding proper balance to fully embrace speed of things passing by.  (Im an engineer, not a psychiatrist)

So here they are, the first 5 chaos warriors of Tzeentch on disks for 450pts.

Painting them made me realize I had not painted armor else then boltgun metal + agrax eartshade in over a year.  Finding the middle between edge armor and the muted colors of the disks was tricky, but in the end, I thought achieving a contrast in texture was the way to go, really emphasing on the separation of the disk and warrior on top.

Definitly Keith Flint - Prodigy Singer

As for assembly, all of warriors were first pined to the disks, which were pined to there base with paper clips, the tip coiled into a ball stuck into the original plastic peg hole. As is, it is wobbly, but adding clay and sticky material with super glue to hide the steel wire also stabilize the hole miniature.

Nathan’s leader month (1415 points plus a friend)

April was spent painting up my leader which is a greater daemon of Tzeentch. To that I added a disc/screamer of tzeentch. I also managed to finish off my greater daemon of slaanesh to go with the genestealer suit army I painted a number of years ago. I must admit that I found all three figures difficult to paint - not because the sculpts are a problem (they are great IMHO) but they have lots of difficult to access areas. But I got there in the end and I’m happy how these ended up. Here they are:

The Lord of change and disc add up to 1415 points. The Keeper of Secrets will be another 900 points to my slaaneshi forces. Onto May and my pink horrors.

  

Ben's Blood Drinkers Space Marines - Rank and File Month 4

This month, I painted two five-man combat squads: the 5th Company 8th squad, an Assault Squad with Jump Packs plus a Chaplain to lead them, and the 1st Company 3rd Squad, a Veteran Squad with additional Rhino.

The first squad I painted were the veterans.  They are led by Veteran Sergeant Eidolan (using the lovely Veteran Captain with Bionic Leg miniature) and have a mixture of armour marks.  The battle brother in Mk4 armour I also gave an older backpack which I thought fitted well.

Their Rhino was another rescue job with 3d-printed Ram and Hatches, bike Bolters and WWII stowage.  I wrapped a tow chain around the Ram partly in homage to a RT picture I remember and partly to cover where the printing didn't come out quite right.

The assault Marines I found oddly hard work, having to paint the models without their jump packs to start with until their transfers had been applied, then attach them and finish the highlights.  I haven't quite done them to the standard of my other models so they may get revisited later if I have chance to add further details.  I tried to make the armour look battered like they had been in a good scrap.

They include a Veteran (using the Sergeant with Power Fist miniature) and a battle brother converted from the Sergeant with Grenade for a variety of posing.  They are led by a chaplain with a later edition Jump Pack from my bits box.  He is so bloodthirsty he has some dripping from his mouth.

Both squads are pointed using the combat squad rules that came out in White Dwarf, and the total for April comes to 487 pts:

The Relief of Plavigorica - Mark's Araby Allied Contingent April Rank & File-ish

We meet the dusk with sorrow.  At dawn we moved expediently toward the siege lines, the Emir urging us forward, our carpets protecting our flanks.  We routed the Skaven reserves and pursued them to their fetid engines; the air was thick with the smell of braziers. 

We did not sense the trap until we were caught between their jezails. Many martyrs fell as we faced a mass of clan rats, Chief Vile-Throttle's totem hoisted to the fore. We broke their lines but with bitter losses.  

We have yet enough strength to reach the walls of Plavigorica tomorrow.  We must.  There is no longer any choice. 

----

This month I have painted two flying carpets.  I picked up the first at the flea market at the Claymore wargames convention in Edinburgh, so I don't know the manufacturer.

This OWAC asks us to make a homage to Oldhammer artwork. I have tried to copy the Talisman  Saracen character card, and the Dwarf Lords of Legend box art, but my main art reference is this illustration from 1989's Empire in Flames, (the final instalment of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay's Enemy Within campaign). 

 

Those pages were my introduction to Warhammer's Araby.  Re-reading it in 2026, it's harder to overlook the xenophobia. The Arabyan character is called "Ali Hand' El Bar ben ibn ben Khazi". While I still quite like the "Hand' El Bar" part, his name seems pretty ignorant.  'Ibn' and 'ben', for example, have pretty much the same meaning, ('son of') and I don't think GW looked that up. 

Instead of Ali's herbalist companion, Roberto from Estalia, (a pastiche of Fawlty Towers' waiter, Manuel), I have substituted a Ral Partha dwarf scribe, Snorri Ibn Gudruk, who is in fact, the narrator of the story of the relief of Plavigorica. The human rider is Citadel, and the first miniature I bought when I decided to take on OWAC 9.

                                                                    Carpet diem!

The second flying carpet is a doll house book cover, which had seen some rough handling by my children. The rider is from Ral Partha. His original wee carpet was more like a flying beach towel.  I think this miniature has an Oldhammer cartoonish quality.

Flying carpets are controlled by Arabyan magicians through secret words of command, and cannot be animated by any other models.  They present a fast moving platform for these magic users to scout and attack the enemy from height (e.g. with fireball spells).  

Carpet bombing - riders may alternatively drop one grenade per turn on a target under the flight path. This follows the normal deviation rules for dropped objects.  Grenades should not be dropped from attack (or ground!) level as this will also hit the carpet rider.  A D20 roll of 20 indicates it has exploded before being dropped or very shortly afterwards, and the carpet and rider take the blast.  

----

Earlier in Snorri's account of the fateful journey to the Border Princes, is this passage: 

Among our camp followers is a purveyor of snake oil named Don Al-Drumf.  With an orangey pallor, the unkind speculate there is some hobgoblin in his ancestry.  Avoiding service in the Arabyan Guard due to "bone spurs", he remains a harmless (if annoying) presence in the caravan.  However, when the whim takes him, Al-Drumf can unleash deadly serpents, spreading fear and poison.  

                        

Don Al-Drumpf: snake oil salesman                                        Hegssssseff!! Venomous danger unleashed

Snake charmers allow an Araby force to field a swarm of serpents without the costly investment of magic points that arguably make 3rd edition swarms pretty much unviable.  The snake charmer works like an animal handler with the snakes otherwise following the swarm rules, and points cost.  Serpents inflict +1 strength hits (S2) against enemies without immunity to poison. Initially attacks = 7, but as the swarm incurs wounds, its number of attacks declines proportionately.  The charmer model is from Midlam, and the basket carrier is a slightly converted Gripping Beast plastic Arab spearman. The snakes are from Ral Partha.

Finally, as this is officially another rank & file month, (despite my promise in March), I have painted some extra miniatures (albeit very small ones).  This scene depicts the Arabyan vanguard being spotted by jezailachis as they approach Plavigorica.  This is a poor attempt at forced perspective using 6mm Arab figures from Irregular Miniatures, I've had since the '90s, and two photos edited together so both parts are in focus.   (The Skaven were painted before this challenge).

The Allied Contingent so far:

January:  10 Arabyan Guard + Hashishin: 165pts

February: 10 Desert Archers:110 pts

March: 10 Araby Corsairs:198 pts

April: 2 Flying Carpets with level 5 Fakir magicians: 140 pts

          Snake Charmer and Swarm of serpents: 185 pts

Total: 798 pts

I think that really is it for rank & file.  Next month: leaders.

Jaakko and Rugluk - Rank & File month #4

The camp had grown. Fires burned across the hillside while boyz laughed, fought, and argued over loot they hadn’t earned.

New faces had joined daily - hard-looking orcs, sly goblins, and even giants who towered over the camp, slow-witted and hungry, but useful enough to be welcomed.

Things seemed almost orderly.

Rugluk sat by the largest fire, chewing something questionably edible, watching his growing force with quiet satisfaction.

Not far away, goblins whispered among themselves.

“Dey say dwarfs been seen in da hills.”

“Heard it too. Whole army, marchin’ somewhere close.”

“Maybe dis way.”

Rugluk’s ears twitched.

He spat into the dirt and grinned.

“Let ‘em come.”

Welcome! I’m literally writing this post at the last minute, so I’ll keep it short. Let’s check out what I’ve painted this month!

I was relatively busy but managed to paint three Giants and a Goblin Battle Chariot. Not quite as much as I had initially planned, but that’s still a few miniatures cleared from the lead pile and enough for another Rank & File month. The Wild Card and Leader months are just around the corner, and I’ve actually already started crafting some terrain.

The first army I collected and played was Dwarves, so I’ve developed a real appreciation for anything that moves quickly. That’s one of the reasons why chariots are some of my favourite units, and I’m hoping to include more later.

I’m glad to see our mysterious wagon from last month in action. I can’t wait to steal one from a baggage train and push it up a hill in an actual battle. I’ve attached the (3ed) rules here to refresh our memory. I love this kind of crazy stuff.

This month in points:

And that's it for the month. Happy painting everybody!

ChrisP's Orks - April - Rank and File 3

Evil Sunz Nob on bike with plasma gun - 39pts

5 Evil Sunz on bikes - 235pts

Total 274 points

 

 

The speedy contingent of my army grows with these warbikers. The models are mostly standard, with a few small conversions to replace components lost or broken over the decades. Naturally they're red, with the yellow gun-muzzles inspired by an even older warbike that I remember from White Dwarf battle reports. 

Next up will be another fast and reckless mob - Stormboyz in May!

Byron's Invasion of Ulthuan - Jus' Marchin' 'round (148 pts)

 

"'E's jus' 'ad us marchin' 'round fur days now!" 

"My feet is tired!"

"I bet it's all their fault! Those at the front! They isn't proper sneaky like - scaring the elves away they are!"

"  'ow much longer 'til we get to the big fight?"

"Haven't even seen any stinkin' elves since we showed up on this island."

Slowly it dawned on the goblin host that most of war wasn't fun things like stabbing, chasing, or other war-related mischief. No. The majority of war wasn't fun. It was marching. 

Goblin Fanatic 30 pts

Spearmen x10: 35 pts

Archers x10 w/ command: 36 pts

Another banner from the box art

Clubbers and netter (and a boss): 47pts

Total points for the month: 148 pts

Finally, my progress for the month. 32 goblins only fills up half of the month for April. 

So, there are 2 months left (3 if we count the wrap up). 

Next month is the wild card. I plan to paint up Eltharion and shields for my High Elves. I also want to paint up the doomdiver catapult and a handful of rank and file goblins (let's aim for 15)

Then for the leader month I will paint Grom (and another handful of goblins)
Finally, there's the wrap up post which means one last chance to paint more of the rank and file goblins.

Bjorn Grendel's Dwarven Holds - April: rank and file. The Golden Month

 April, Ranks and Files. The Golden Month

Always by the skin of my teeth...

It's 10:48 PM on April 30th as I'm about to write this month's report. I've said many times that for me, photographing, editing, and writing the blog are the hardest parts. I don't like spending time on my phone; it takes me hours each time. I'm one of those people who can paint dozens of details on miniatures, but I get impatient after just a few minutes of technology. I feel like an old boomer.

I'll try to keep this short because it's late and I'm tired.

This month is the golden month. Every model I've made has a powerful metallic and gold component. Why? Because I felt like it.

COMMISSION: Dwarf mercenaries

A few models. 8 old-metal ironbreakers. Few, but good, I'd say. They are some original Marauder sculptures, Imperial dwarves. The client was undecided whether to include them in his Reiksguard unit or as the front of his Tilean pikes. Ultimately, he chose the second option. Gold, flat red, and triangular shields with a simple freehand, to match the style of his army painted many years ago. A work neither infamous nor praiseworthy.

RANKS AND FILES

More ironbreakers, this time from our collection.

I managed to find ten metal models, with a complete command group. I spent a small fortune sniping on eBay, and I limited myself to the bare minimum, mostly to have them in the collection. They're gorgeous. Gold, steel, and blue livery. Simple and elegant.

Did you expect that? More ironbreakers! 18, more than enough for a decent unit, this time... A few years ago, I won two boxes in a painting contest: I've never really been interested in them; I've built some for conversions or experiments, but without interest. Every now and then, I've received some loose models from mixed batches, which is why the unusual number. Along with them, I also built four Irondrakes, which I hate, but as mentioned, no dwarf will be left behind, so I painted everything. The flamethrowers will remain as a side element, just because they're there.

Slayers. 3. Let's slowly move forward to complete the unit. I promised you more lore, and they'll come, don't worry. But not today.

Oh! Rangers! I finally got my hands on the command group! I loved them, I had so much fun. I even added a couple of extra rangers and a warrior that fit perfectly, so I managed to bring the regiment to 15 rangers (16 including Bugman)—quite an achievement!

Note on the banners: finally, after four months of waiting, I've found a solution I like. Beautiful printed paper banners with different designs but a similar style, perfect for homogenizing such a large and varied army. A friend of mine made them, and I jumped at the chance. I didn't feel like drawing them all by hand, because, damn, I have a life, too, and I didn't want simple totems. I needed color, so here's the perfect solution. Okay, maybe I'm getting lazy, but the number of models is so huge, I'll have to get by somewhere...

DWARVES TREASURE HUNTERS (evil)

A few more models from my personal collection. These are some chaos dwarves operating war machines or cannons. I had them. I'd painted them poorly. I rediscovered them and freshened them up a bit, perhaps waiting to build or find a demonic machine to give them. In the meantime, here they are. No dwarf will be left behind (and who knows, maybe they'll have a chance to redeem themselves one day). In this group of bastards, I also included an old Marauder dwarf warrior, who I didn't know where to put and who still had a malevolent appearance (closed helmet and armor with nipples), and a Reaper Bones dwarf, decidedly huge compared to the others, but the "no dwarf will be left behind" rule must always be respected, so here he is in this section.

DWARVEN AUTOMATA

Another new entry. Dwarven automatons. Obviously, these, especially the centurion, are inspired by the Dwemer from the Elder Scrolls. Especially Morrowind! But also a little Skyrim. The two smaller ones and the most bizarre one were created many years ago with Space Marine bodies and Chaos warrior arms for a DeD campaign (the smaller ones) and an old Kinder Surprise (the funny one), while the larger one is a more recent composition, starting from a toy found on the street by chance. In all cases, they were painted crudely and unsuitable for the current project, so here's the opportunity to improve them, changing a few details and refreshing the color scheme. And now they're ready to defend the inner halls of the mountain again!

As of today, the army is composed as follows (updated the number of finished models and updated the point cost for banners and command groups where applicable).

And now I'll leave you, as it's 11:32 PM and I still have to upload the photos to the blog. Sorry, I don't have the time or energy to edit them properly; this time you'll get them straight from your phone.

I'm tired. But I'll keep painting and staying Old School.