a Load of Old Toby

The Dawn Guard The Dawn Guard of Ras Morthil My blog this week is my own personal ‘forge’, boom boom….. 😂. A place to chronicle the hidden histories of the Dwarves, specifically those who dwell in the shadows of maps and the forgotten folds of far away mountains. I have long been drawn to the rugged, stoic nature of the Naugrim, finding in their heavy, iron-grey beards and calloused hands a narrative depth that demands to be brought into the light.  The Dawn Guard Through my painting, I aim to seek to capture more than just steel and scale; I aim to illustrate the weary duty of these watchers. I will leave us all with a little more story behind this unit below. I hoped the narrative will develop over time, as the army fleshes out. But like the ancient quiet of the deep halls, this army is definitely going to be a long term project that I might revisit bit by bit over time.  So far I only have three or four units, either painted or in my head, or even in my bits box. The rest ...

Victory at Sea - Royal Navy This week I am showcasing something a bit different, the Royal Navy starter set from Victory at Sea. Most of my blogs to date have varied in writing style, sometimes I plunge into painting or modelling detail other times I add a bit of fantasy or history fluff. Newly added to the cabinet  I like to bounce around a bit because first and foremost I am not a writer, in fact I have a passionate dislike for English literature as a subject full stop. Gammer nazis are the pinnacle of all things wrong with the subject in my opinion, anyone spending their time judging others for a missed colon or full stop have lost their own minds. Anyway back to my point, one of which is that I don’t really know my own style nor am I very good at the whole blog thing. So I hope that for those of you reading these little logs/blogs/diary entries, that they are good little digests and always fresh and of use, in some instances at least! One SQN of Swordfish Bi-planes On to the to...

Reiksguard Foot Knights Empire of Sigmar This army was started in 2024, but I decided to rebase half way through the process this year for oldhammer.  Full unit, with JH backdrop So I would like to introduce the next rebased unit that is completely finished except the movement tray. Overhead shot This majority of the unit is Games Workshop & Citadel Miniatures however, there are some old marauders miniatures and Assault Group Miniatures to flesh the unit out. All miniatures are very much in keeping with the theme and style of the original.  Side view The painting scheme was really simple, Citadel Natural Metal followed by Nuln Oil wash and a Silver drybrush. The red is Vallejo Paints: Terracotter 982 and highlight Scarlet 817, with the white being an Ivory 918 and White 951 highlight . Rear View, good shot of the banner back There are little touches of green and browns for weapon handles or laurels. But in the main the only difference in the unit is the Command is pai...

Battlefleet Gothica..Maybe Space wars - Orion Rebellion No news has come in from the outer rim for nearly a decade now…. Equipped with the best long range sensors and lightdar, the deep space scout frigate Voyager was dispatched to the Orion Massive to investigate. Returning to Earth after 3 year trip she has bad news to report…..Rebellion and Anarchy have erupted again in the outposts of man. Grand Marshal Tiberius in desperate need of supplies immediately authorities executive order ‘Black’ to requisition all civilian transportation shipping to hand, and dispatches them to way point alpha. Under Earth defence destroyer escort. While Admiral Nechayev responds in support of her liege lord, by issuing fleet recall and assembly of all Fleet Auxiliaries at Jupiter Planitia Anchorage, even the newly constructed Fleet Tanker Kraken is rushed into service. Commandeering Voyager as temporary flag ship she sets out for way point alpha six weeks later. Meanwhile Tiberius contacts General Brutus...

Eternal Guard, Chariots & Wizards Part Six - Witches, Wizards, & Roses Hello everyone many thanks for joining me. I am now drawing a close my Woodelf army this week. I may return to it in the future, as there are a few more units I would love to collect and paint, I’m thinking of the Attack Chariot and an Eagle rider. Everqueen's Rosewood Guard Having now painted ten plus units it’s time for a break, overall I am really happy with the army and it is probably the best I have painted to date. Model for model I do not think there is a bad one. There are a few that could be considered top tier, not that I’m saying I would win an award, more a self reflection on how I am improving. The first unit to show you today is the Everqueen’s Rosewood Guard, these are my Eternal Guard. Rose Guard Advancing I am really happy with how the shields have turned out in this unit, the green cloth with the yellow shields really make them pop on the table top. They are made from plastic Oathmark,...

Spear & Falconers Core Units Part Five - Mern's Kindband & Keltoi's Moon Falconers Well we are right into the core of this Woodelf army now and having shown you three core units last week, this time I have another three to show you. These three are all a little different, two foot troops and a proxy archer unit. Full Unit - Mern’s Speartooth Kindband First up we have Mern's, 'the Gardener', Speartooth Kindband. Essentially these are to serve as Eternal Guard in the new The Old World (ToW) rules. However, I have written the unit card as a standard unarmored elf spear unit. I like basic units in the theme of this army, most elves living in the wood are not just going to pile out as some super unit in my head. In addition to that, it really makes the army feel more feral in nature, more natural if you like. Mern Advances Mern himself came out really well here and is simply one of the five original Citadel Miniatures from this spear elf set with a hood. The oth...