2025 wrap-up

In terms of painting, this year was reasonably productive. The first half was dedicated to the completion of the army of the White Lady with some cavalry, a warmachine, the cult of the Marblers, the funeral procession of the late Count Heinrich and two wizards. 

Unfortunately, I ran out of motivation before completing the White Lady (painting the standard with the two faces drained most of it), a mobile ossuary, a portable altar, and some shooters using gravestones as pavises. Not sure I'll come back to this army, as the color scheme ended up feeling really dull.

 

After that, I decided I needed a break from humans, and opted for... surprise... dwarfs! And since the new AOS Helsmiths of Hashut aren't my type, I dusted off my Chaos Dwarfs from Marauder Miniatures, which I've been collecting for the past 20 years or so. 

These dwarfs prove to be really difficult to paint. Blame the rounded armor, the blurred details, and the softened edges. I can't say the trolls were any more pleasant to work on. In the end, the only truly enjoyable pieces were the desecrated Anvil of Doom and the Chaos Dwarf sorcerer. At least I managed to secure the army general 👍 

I also spent a lot of time trying to change my usual 'stone and moss' base formula, and... failed, as you can see below. 

Well... Despite the unexpected difficulties in painting this army, I hope I'll still have the motivation in 2026 to produce a unit of Chaos Dwarf fanatics, hopefully some cavalry, a few more trolls, and some fire power. In the meantime, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Troll reboot #3 and trio complete

Another beast-handler hidden behind its troll 😐 Well... I did what I could to revamp these damn creatures and tie them into the Chaos Dwarf army theme. 

 

Glad this trio is done... again.

 

 

Troll reboot #2

Back to the Marauder Miniatures Chaos dwarfs, using one of the rare models with a 'kind of' dynamic pose. I replaced the original axe by a whip, and the hand protected by a shield now holds brass knuckles. Simple conversion for a background model 😋

 

Troll reboot #1

Did I mention that I didn't like my trolls? Maybe a couple of times, ten times maximum 😏 Beyond the models themselves, and my not-so-satisfying painting job, I think I've also missed the part where these creatures are supposed to be tamed and used as brute force on the battlefield by my Chaos Dwarfs.

So, back on the workbench, I decided to make each base a duo, with a beast-handler and his ill-treated troll. The bits from the AOS Kruel Boyz were very helpful here.

My first troll-handler is not from the Marauder Miniatures range, but from the original Citadel Chaos Dwarfs, designed by the Perry brothers in the 1980s. I simply swapped the two-handed axe for a vicious man- (or whatever you want)-catcher.

 

Once I've reworked the initial trio, I'll convert the following trolls.

The army of mini-me general

Chaos dwarf number 1 done! I'm more than happy to break my personal curse: the general-less armies. 

Now the pressure is mounting... Will my general command more than one regiment and a trio of trolls?

 

PS.  I have actually another general in mind to lead this army. But first... rank and files!

The Black Anvil

Something I've already struggled with in previous armies is the painting of the general model. I usually postpone painting the characters until the end of the project, thinking that my colours and techniques will be well established before tackling the 'masterpiece'. The problem is that, by the end of a project, my motivation tends to fade, and the general remains unpainted (and the army useless, but I'm used to that 😝). 

Well... Lesson learnt for my Chaos Dwarfs! 

The choice of the model was pretty obvious, as there is only one miniature in the whole MM90 range that looks like a leader: the wizard mini-me. To make him look more imposing, I will perch him atop a desecrated Anvil of Doom. And as I have never understood this strange model with wheels but without harness, I decided to add one, using a Marauder Miniatures cart, and two boars from the same Greenskins range. The Anvil itself is adorned with shields and the remains of former sacrifices.

In my painting, I tried to depict an anvil in dark metal placed on a statue carved from black stone. I added some touches of color by painting a glowing Chaos rune, a stretched skin in weird tones, and a few golden ornaments. 

I can't say I was very inspired by the carriage and the boars, though. 

Let's move on to the wizard now!

 

Another troll

And that makes tree! I tried to change the skin tones on the extremities (hands and feet) while keeping the backs of the limbs and the torso black. Can't say I'm totally convinced by the result, I really need to work on painting skin tones... Maybe with some chaotic slayers?  

In the meantime:

 

And the unit completed:

 

Second troll

 Second inhabitant of the Troll Country. Can't say I fully enjoy the painting process, the sculpting job can be difficult to understand.

 

 

 

One more guy, and the unit is complete.