November 24, 2006

Well, it took a final weekend stuck indoors but I have finished my army. The last touch of basing has been finished, and my (mostly) converted army is complete! It’s always a great feeling to see an army project come to conclusion. I think the red, bone white and black work really well together. I think the Hellcannon skull acting as a standard icon for every unit in the army really ties it all together. Huge red bull skulls staring down the enemy, spelling their impending doom!

For every army I produce I like to have a wide variety of elements in the army so I don’t have to always play with the same force. While conceiving what I wanted for this army, I knew that I would want to have multiple blocks of troops (as Dwarfs generally do have), as well as the extra bells and whistles. This army list utilizes war machines and the Anvil of Doom as the main destructive force. This leaves me a little weak in combat, having three fighting units to engage the enemy. A good starting force, but there is always more to do!

So, the next phase of the Chaos Dwarf force is to beef up the ranks. I’ve already assembled a Slayer unit represented by Savage Orcs on 20mm bases. I figure I can stick the theme of Red-Skinned Orcs joining the Dwarfs for war. (Red Orcs - slower movement rate - better discipline). A few more Thanes and a Dwarf lord are necessary for a fighting army. Perhaps switching out the Sheildbearers for mechanical legged platform, and a Gyrocopter represented by a flying demon engine similar, but smaller than the Hellcannon. I’m currently collecting bits for another two units of Chaos Dwarf warriors. However I think these will be black armoured Chaos Dwarfs, and represent Longbeards.

Now to see if anyone actually fails!

November 17, 2006

In my last entry I said that I am aiming to have everything nearly done by November 14th. Well, that isn’t the case. However, last night I finished converting up the last models in my army. The Anvil of Doom or Tesla Coil of Doom as I envision it. This is represented by a steam powered mechanical bull idol covered in power gizmos.

I have also made up a Battle Standard Bearer to join one of my Dwarf Warrior units. Any model that comes in Gromril armour will be black rather than white, just so that future characters stand out against the foot troops.

Since my last entry I have finished everything but my Battle Standard Bearer and Tesla Coil. Besides this I also have to finish the snow bases for all my models, but this can be done in an evening, and hopefully I won’t forget.

November 3, 2006

Completed Chaos Dwarf units, (nearly):
- 2 units of 20 Chaos Dwarf Warriors
- 1 unit of 15 Handgunners

Chaos Dwarfs in progress:
- 15 Miners
- 2 Grudge Throwers + crew
- 1 Organ Gun + crew

Chaos Dwarfs I haven’t even looked at:
- Battle Standard Bearer
- Thorik and the Anvil of Doom

I seem to be progressing well, but with just one month left I’m in the danger zone. Anything could happen that could throw me off my game. The plan is to have everything finished by the 14th of November. This gives me two weeks to actually finish any little details that I may have missed.

This week I present the artillery pieces in progress. I’m keeping the colour scheme in line with the rest of the army, using black, red, bone white and bronze. I thought these would be quick and easy, but due to the size of the Hellcannons it’s taking longer than I thought. I swear this army will be done, oh yes, it will be done.

October 13, 2006

This past week I’ve been on the road to Conflict Halifax with horrible old Cory Burns. Long days on the road provide excellent painting time in the evenings. This week I’ve finished up my regiment of 15 Handgunners. This unit was fairly simple, not having many conversions at all. A few of the Handgunners have been given small spikes sticking out the top of their helmets. The command has the standard Hellcannon bull skull for its standard, a Saurus Cavalry drum for the musician and a Chaos Maruader drum to make a perfect tall hat for the Champion. I would of loved to have found enough hats for all of them, but it would have taken 32 Marauder sprues to give them all big hats, and even the studio doesn’t have that many resources.

I stuck to the paint scheme mentioned before, deep red for the majority of the models, and secondary black and white sections. I really like how this unit looks next to my completed Chaos Dwarf warrior unit. The similar, yet reverse paint scheme looks pretty cool. Time to start on some war machines!

October 5, 2006

I finished my first Dwarf Warrior unit! Working at Games Workshop has its benefits. Having access to loads of sprues and bits just laying around makes it easier to put together crazy conversion ideas such as this. To make 12 of these models I have to use parts from 3 different regiment boxes, an old Dwarf box, old Chaos Warrior box, and a new Chaos Warrior box. Let me explain why.

Converting these takes a wee bit of time. First I start by gluing an old Chaos Warrior torso onto old Dwarf legs. Next I take two old Chaos Warrior arms, remove the hand and elbow and glue the two huge armoured shoulders onto a torso. The weapon arm is a right arm and the head is stolen from the current Chaos Warrior sprue. At this point I add some green stuff under the helmet and to the back of the helmet and quickly sculpt some hair and a beard. The shield arm is the left arm from the old Dwarf box with a Marauder shield added. Overall it takes about 20 minutes to convert each Chaos Dwarf.

Because the old Chaos Warriors, with their extremely wide and pointy shoulders, were meant for 25mm bases, fitting the models onto 20mm bases is tricky. I try to keep the arms of the models as close to the body as possible, and make sure they fit into rank before gluing them to their bases.

My paint scheme is fairly simple. The idea is that the models should appear sinister and chaotic, without adhering to an existing Chaos god’s colour scheme. So, I stole Chris Kraatz’s Chaos Undivided colour scheme. The palette consists of a dirty bone white, glowing deep red, and black. Bronze and silver combos will represent all metal in the army. This combination of colours makes the army look dark and ‘Chaosy’, but remaining fairly unique among standard Chaos colour schemes.

The core armoured Chaos Dwarfs are predominantly bone white, with deep red accents in the decorative areas of the armour. Boots, hair and weapon handles are black, and blades and small decorative bits are silver and bronze. For all non-armoured Dwarfs the colour scheme will be reversed; the main colour being red, with black and white and my secondary colours.

So, my first regiment is done. I’m still a bit behind, having to build my hero, Anvil of Doom, and finish converting up my Miners regiment. I’m going to have to put in some serious time to get back on track. Till next week!

September 28, 2006

My name is Kris Aubin, and I work as a graphic designer in the Canadian
Studio. Ahh, time for another painting challenge! Painting challenges are nasty, intense competitions that can wear on a man’s soul. I’ve completed two and a half painting challenges while I have been here at the head office. The first was a massive 2,500 point Death Guard army, which was heavily inked and dry brushed, taking about 3 months to complete. The second was a Tyranid army, which went fairly well until... I started painting gaunts, but was completed on time. Finally I painted up 500 points of Imperial Guard in a month for the Medusa V campaign. This wasn’t so much a challenge, but a personal goal to complete the 65 models I wanted for my force.

This time around I’ve decided to pursue an idea I had ages ago; Chaos
Dwarfs. Well, I may be one of the only people left who appreciates the
stovepipe hats, blunderbusses, bull centaurs and dwarf sorcerers who cast
lava magic, and even my old friend Mr. Lammasu, but for this army I’m doing
something different. Before the Chaos Dwarf army book, (I’m thinking it was
1994?) Chaos Dwarfs were units that appeared in Chaos armies, and were
essentially Dwarfs clad in chaos armour. Essentially short chaos warriors,
and this is what I wanted in the core of my army. Even though there is a
Chaos Dwarf army list from Ravening Hordes, it is a bit outdated and
overpowered, so I decided it would be better to stick to the latest Dwarf
list to keep things easy.

My force will be mainly defensive, consisting of some defending blocks of
infantry, the good old Anvil of Doom, accompanied by a cluster of war
machines. My overall goal is to get a playable army done for the painting
challenge. I’ve already started thinking of converted units that I can add on to
it later.

Next week I should have some models ready to show.