Norse Giant

Evening all! My last post was an update on my 3rd edition Warhammer Norse army, and I mentioned  in it that I had a Norse Giant on the way - well, here he is!

Next up, finish off 30 skirmishing archers!

Cheers

3rd edition Warhammer Norse army update

Way back in pre-history (1986), a 13 year old version of me started a Warhammer Norse army. I bought it one blister at a time, using the money I earned from my friday morning paper round, and I think I managed to build it up to quite a respectable size. I've no idea what happened to that army, it probably got lost (along with my entire White Dwarf collection) when I left home, but the Norse always remained my first Warhammer love, and I've always enjoyed 'low fantasy', pseudo-historical themed armies as a result. I think its because Warhammer started out using as many miniature ranges as it could, whether full-on fantasy or straight up historical, and mashing them all together into a world full of familiar, yet fantastical tropes, giving that period a certain gonzo charm I've wanted to recapture for quite a while.

Fast forward to late 2013, and I decided I'd make an effort to collect that Norse army again, and this time to do it full justice. I'd be using the 3rd edition Warhammer army list from White Dwarf 107, building up a core of 'sensible' units before adding in the last few truly fantasy units (such as a giant, wolves, Were characters, eagles, that sort of thing). I even posted about it on this very blog! I wanted to keep that low fantasy/pseudo historical feel, so decided I'd be using primarily historical miniatures, but with things like banners sourced from a range of Warhammer kits.

Now, its mid-late 2018 and I can feel the project nearing completion, so I feel justified in showing it off (which will also give me the impetus to finish the job off!)

The Kyning and his army standard bearer, leading a unit of Huscarls. The banner is inspired by the art on the cover of Warhammer Armies!

A Bondsmen unit..

A second unit of Bondsmen.

Berserkers.

A second unit of Berserkers.

A Sorceress, from Citadel.

 A Wizard (also Citadel). Both wizards will be Elementalists, with a focus on weather magic, as is appropriate to a Norse army. I keep characters that won't be joining units on round bases, as I think its looks nicer (inspired by Warmaster and Warhammer Historical).

Next Up

So that gives me a solid core to the army, and even as I type this I'm working on some skirmishing Bondsmen Archers (three units of ten, on round bases), which should make for a good battle line. I've collected a big (20 strong) unit of Ulfwernar made of Black Tree Design miniatures, and a second of Foundry Bearclad Berserkers. I have two more 10 strong units of Berserkers assembled too, plus associated characters, as well as a Viking-styled Giant by Reaper.

The last few things I need to buy are some Wolves from Ral Partha Europe, some Giant Eagles (from the Citadel Lord of the Rings range) and then some loot pile terrain pieces to serve as the obligatory (in 3rd ed Warhammer) baggage wagons.

Only when I've painted the skirmishers will I allow myself to actually play the army though, and I already have a game lined up with an opponent who plays Dwarves with Norse allies. I'll be sure to post pics of the game, as its been many, many years in the offing!

Squat heavy weapons team

Hi all - inspired by the fact that the Warhammer World New Year Open Day will soon be upon us, and that for the last few years I've been asked to display my old school Rogue Trader collection there, I've been revisiting my Squats so I have something new to show off. Here's a Combat Team, equipped entirely with heavy bolters, something Squats were uniquely able to do in their White Dwarf army list. Technically the squad leader shouldn't have a heavy bolter too, but I'll redistribute models between squads for games anyway.

Hopefully see you there!

Space Slann Warleader

Finished this Space Slann War leader today - you might have guessed I'm a huge fan of this lost, enigmatic species!

Space Slann finished

I've finished the Space Slann I posted a work in progress shot of a while back, and taken a picture of them moving in file (to hide their numbers...) through a typical 40k jungle. I was aiming to take a picture that would have been at home in the Rogue Trader rulebook and I don't think it's too far off!

Slann, from space

Just a quick shot of a project that got half done a year or so back and has resurfaced (like such half finished hobby projects tend to). This is a work in progress shot of a set of Space Slann. I have all thirteen of the original twelve Space Slann (nudge nudge wink wink) already painted green, so I'm painting this second set blue so they can mingle and minimise the effect of the duplicates. If I'm lucky enough ever to start a third set maybe they'll be yellow!

And here's the leader, a conversion I did a while back.

Squats and Dominators (together at last)

I was at the Warhammer World Open Day this Monday gone, manning the Specialist Games stand, but as the event had something of an old school theme (celebrating Rogue Tracer's 30th anniversary year) I brought along some Squats, Space Slann and Zoats to show off next to Tony Cottrell's original Sabre Tank Hunter, Spartan Assault Carrier and other assorted old school treasure.

Before putting the Squats back in my display cabinet I thought I'd take a quick picture of them for the blog. I realised I should have brought my two Dominators (Tyranid Warriror concept models briefly sold via Mail Order as otherwise unknown aliens) along to the show too, so included them in this shot just for fun...