Ian's Intro post - Mordheim

Hello everyone,

My name is Ian McMurray, I am from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I am French Canadian (yeah I know, McMurray…) so please be indulgent with my written prose.

OWAC V was my first time. I painted a small part of my goblin pile of shame for the challenge to add to my already existing goblin army. It was a great experience to challenge myself and share my work with all the participants and readers. I knew I had no chance to win but that was not my goal. I really enjoyed having a monthly task and stick to it, building a small army month after month. I think I did a decent job and was quite proud of it. I still didn’t find some time to play my first game in about 30 years though…

Of course, I wanted to enter OWAC VI and was frantically spending a ridiculous amount of money to acquire enough Big Hat Chaos Dwarfs (which I had absolutely none in June 2022) for this next challenge. That was before the Overlord decided that OWAC VI could be something different… So all those weird looking evil dwarfs will have to wait another year (more time to buy more, sadly) and my aim shifted to Mordheim, the city of the damned. I bought quite a nice amount of the original miniatures in the last 4-5 years and, more so, a complete box set of the game with all the original content.

I love Mordheim. I love the grimdark setting and lore. I love the art and stories in the books and supplements, the weird and disturbing characters. I am attract to the hopelessness and filthy destroyed streets of the damned city. Having a warband of a dozen of miniatures that can evolved, or get decimated, is very appalling and a complete change from the hundreds of goblins and undead I’ve been painting those last few years. So I am very excited to have the opportunity to paint 4 warbands for OWAC VI. Each month will be something new and will be a breath of fresh air compare to painting an army of repetitive miniatures. So here’s my goal for OWAC VI :

                                          

Each warband with their game’s point value will be described in details each month. For now, here are a few more pictures of each one.

Beastmen Warband

Possessed Warband

Skaven Warband

        

Witch Hunters Warband

There might be some changes or additions to each warband if I have time to paint more but that's about it. I will have a special character not showed on the pictures as my leader month (I have a few choices) and might try to do some scenery in my wildcard month.

Here's my offering to the Mighty Overlord. It will be delivered in person in May or June.

Good luck to all the OWAC VI participants.

Peace, love, health and fun for 2023.

Ian

Ian McMurray Goblin’s Army - Wrap Up

I am proud to have complete my first Old World Army Challenge. It wasn’t always a joyride, but I am quite satisfied with what I’ve accomplished from January to June 2022 for the OWAC V.

When I first sent a message to the Mighty Overlord back in November 2021, I was quite anxious about THE waiting list and getting into the challenge for the first time. I was very happy when He wrote me back about a month later telling me that I was in!

After not too much deliberation I settled for a Goblin Army to add to my preexisting one. Adding at least 1000 points would reduce my pile of shame of about 1% of my miniatures, right? So having accumulated quite a lot of wolf’s riders, three chariots, including Grom’s, I decided that my main objective would be a quick strike force, with the mandatory Night Goblin unit and a few dumb muscles with 5 Trolls.

I managed to complete everything I was aiming for except for one Goblin Fanatic... and banners.

I started with my leader (Grom, Niblet, Chariot, 3 Wolves) in January and was very motivated and had a great time doing it. I am very happy with the result. After that came the 20 Wolf Riders. I found some tutorials to quickly paint the furs in a few different ways and made all 20 wolves very quickly, probably 2 evening. I like the result. Then came all the Goblin Riders and that was a bit harder (and much longer) with all the details on those miniatures. I must admit that I can’t put myself to “quick paint” anything. Except the wolves which was pretty quick, I must have spent a minimum of 3 hours on every miniature, lot more on the Trolls. I try to take care of every part, every details, with base coat, multiple shading, highlights.

So as the months flew by, so did my motivation… Time was limited with work, family and training and painting was often the last thing on my priorities. But I made it! My only regret would be my inability to make banners. I tried a few things, but the result was always mediocre. I have no talent in drawing and painting over a printed banner on a paper didn’t achieve the result I wanted. The commitment to the OWAC also made it very hard to paint anything else, which I would have like a lot to change my mind from those Goblins. But I made it!

Here's the Bryan Ansell hommage:

Congratulations to all the participants who survived till the end. I was very inspired by all the challengers. Now I know the time, dedication and energy needed to accomplish such a project. I would like to give a special praise to some of my favorites from the OWAC V:

1. Byron’s Hakbutschutzen of Gusseldorf (this guy sculpted ALL his army! And lovely paint job!)

2. Steve’s Verlorene Haufen (very grimdark and original, I love it!)

3. Jaeckel’s Dwarfs (amazing paint job)

4. Mariano’s Wood Elves (amazing paint job)

5. Benjamin’s Korag Risen (a Bob Olley exclusive army! Almost every miniature converted!)

A very, very enormous thank to Iannick, the Might Overlord, and his assistant to give us a space where we can share our passion! I had the chance to meet him in person as we live not too far from each other, and he was very welcoming and gave me the chance to take a look at his awesome collection. The time he invests, for free, for us, is greatly appreciated.

Now one of my goals before the end of 2022 is to play at least one game of WFB with all those newly painted Goblins. I might do that with Nicolas Ouellet, another fellow and first-time challenger from this year, living less than an hour from my place. Last time I played was about 30 years ago… I don't think I'll have much success against his Daemon of Tzeentch army but it should be fun.

Here's a few last random pictures of my army and me without my digitally enhanced Bryan Ansell wig.

As many of my fellow participants, I am already looking forward to the next OWAC, hoping to be part of it for a second time. I am already planning my next army, the mighty, and super expensive, Chaos Dwarfs.

Wait… don’t I already have about 4000 points of unpainted Undead miniatures? Or should I continue my Goblin Army? I still have about 30 Wolf Riders to paint, a few Spear Chukkas, Doom Divers, Squigg hoppers, Spider Riders, Giants, literally hundreds of plastics Goblins from the Battle at Skull Pass boxset, metal goblins… But what about Skaven? I have a box full of old metal Skaven… I have many ogres too…

Cheers guys! Hope to see you all in 2023!

Ian McMurray's Goblins - Introduction

“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”

― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

My name is Ian McMurray, I am a French Canadian from Montreal, Quebec, Canada (just like our mighty Overlord). I am so happy to have the opportunity to participate in my first Old World Army Challenge! I discovered the blog about a year ago and was instantly hooked to all the talent and dedication of its participants. 

 

Those old school aesthetics and philosophy always had an effect of me, reminiscing me of my introduction to the hobby about 30 years ago, with a certain nostalgia and excitement. I quickly wrote the Overlord when I realized I could be part of it and was, like many others, put on the waiting list. I was very surprised to get an invitation in November 2021, as some places became available. I am very excited to be part of this great adventure!

 

About 30 years ago I played a handful of Warhammer Fantasy Battle games, mixing some WFB 3^rd and 4^th editions rules. I also played a few games of 40K with the first Rogue Trader book. I always like the excitement of collecting the miniatures, slowly building an army (mainly Wood Elves and Space Marines back then), writing lists, the quietness and concentration required to paint miniatures. And of course the friendly gathering to play games. I sadly gave away most of my miniatures after a few years but still kept a few in a shoe box than I rediscovered about 4 years ago… Which was the impulse to get back into the hobby.

 

In 2017, I bought Shadow War Armageddon, then Kill Team a year later. I never had the chance to play any of them but I liked the concept of small squads, requiring a lot less investment of time and money to play and paint miniatures. I sold both games not long after, realizing that I was really drawn back to the fantasy world and that 40K was really not my cup of tea (or pint of beer as I don't drink much tea). In the meantime, ironically (forget my previous statement about not investing too much money...), I was buying tens, ok maybe a few hundreds miniatures, painting supplies and accessories... and a complete box of Mordheim. I was spending money that I never had has a teenager/young adult. I bought a lot of miniatures to put together Mordheim warbands as I rediscovered this game and was very attracted to it. Meanwhile, I was also slowly building both a goblin and an undead army… with many other side projects, which means more miniatures. I also started building some scenery with XPS foam and other materials. 

 

Fast forward to November 2021 and that message from the Overlord telling me I was accepted in the 5^thedition of the OWAC. I already have tons of miniatures (almost none really old school though...) and wouldn’t require buying too much more to submit an army. I had a few options: 

 

1. Continuing my ever-growing goblin army.

2. Continuing my ever-growing undead army.

3. Skaven (I have about 200 metal Skaven).

4. Go out of my comfort zone and do something totally different from what I am used to.

 

Number 3 and 4 were eliminated quickly as I realized I really wanted to expend one of my existing army. After a few days of writing lists for goblin and undead projects, I finally choose those pesky green skins! That goblin box of shame will slowly diminish for a good cause: the OWAC!

 

Here’s a few pictures of some of my painted goblin collection:

 

So my main idea is to add a quick strike force consisting mainly of wolf riders and chariots as I already had almost everything I need. I was also trying to figure out a way to avoid painting hundreds of goblins for my first OWAC and limiting myself to almost the strict minimum, trying to be realist with my leisure time. So here’s the planned army:
 

Some pieces aren’t glued because it will be easier to paint them apart first and assembling afterward. I am also missing a few shields for the wolf riders. 

 

I used the 4^th edition Orcs & Goblins army book to build my list. I didn’t spend any points on magic items, banners and all those extra stuffs. I only wanted a simple list with the minimum 1000 points requirement. So here's how I plan to paint:

 

Leader month: Grom and Niblit in chariot - 257 points

 

It will be put on a single base and I hope I will have the time and talent to do a nice banner.

 

Rank & File months 1 and 2: 10 Goblin wolf riders each month - 200 points

If I have enough time, I will try to paint all 20 wolves riders in one month and then have some spare time for an extra unit or something special for the available month. 

  

Rank & File month 3: 5 Trolls - 325 points

 

 

Rank & File month 4: 20 night goblins and 3 fanatics - 150 points.

 

I chose to primed the goblins in black as I am painting the cloaks first with some dry brushing and it saves me a lot of time. Pictures aren't very clear though...

 

Wild Card month: 2 goblin chariots with scythed wheels - 180 points

 

 

Total: 1112 points

 

Finally, here’s my offering to the Overlord, which I would like to thanks again for all the time and passion he put into this project. I will try to deliver it in person as we live not too far away from each other.

 

 

Voilà! I hope everyone will have fun, participants and readers alike! I wish everyone a wonderful holiday, stay safe and take care of each other.

 

See you in January!

 

 Ian