Empire - Sigmar Nine

Cannons & Engineer

This week’s blog update features a heavy-hitting addition: two new cannons. I’ve had plenty of bits lying around for a while, but I was waiting on a few "Oldhammer" miniatures to finally arrive in the post.

Deep within the soot-choked streets of Nuln, the rhythmic thunder of the Imperial Gunnery School never truly ceases. Known as the "Iron City," Nuln serves as the industrial heart of the Empire, where master smiths and eccentric engineers toil over massive casting pits to forge the finest black powder weapons in the Old World. 

Group shot of both Cannons & Engineer

Since they turned up a few weeks ago, I’ve been busy working out a cohesive paint scheme and deciding where they fit into the collection. Having already gathered units from various provinces across the Empire, it was time to bolster my missile support and heavy artillery. I’ve started with a Nuln Engineer and a classic artillery crew. All seven models are original 90s sculpts; the only one missing from the set is the Academus model, which has been hard to find at a reasonable price. Perhaps I’ll add a mortar or a volley gun in the future with him included

Engineer close up

But before I get ahead of myself, let's look at the stars of the show: a stalwart Nuln Grand Cannon and its companion War Cannon. While there’s no difference between them in the rules, in my own lore, the rune-encrusted gold barrel, an original metal casting, carries the prestige (and literal weight) of a Grand Cannon.

Grand Cannon

The second War Cannon is a plastic sculpt from the early 2000s that I rescued from the bottom of a bits box. Though it’s finished in copper without the ornate runes, coming from the Gunnery School of Nuln makes it every bit as lethal as its golden counterpart.

War Cannon

To ensure these batteries look right at home on the battlements of the Empire’s greatest foundry, I’ve stuck to the classic Nuln heraldry of charcoal black and flashes of Red. The crew’s uniforms are predominantly dark, practical for hiding the inevitable soot and grease of the firing line, with just enough red piping and detail to mark them as elite Gunnery School graduates. This somber palette provides a perfect high-contrast backdrop for the metals; the polished gold of the Grand Cannon looks suitably prestigious, while the weathered copper of the War Cannon gives it a rugged, "workhorse" feel.