“In evil’s millennium, the squad-fate fell to Schiltron Toothcutter. The Rökthane’s commands combined metal and mettle so that worlds were won by iron arms and iron wills.”

– Hreddi Falsetooth, the Nethyrtruth Edda

I’ve taken to Kickstarter to produce a small range of resin cast 28mm scale Space Dwarf miniatures for collectors, modellers, painters, roleplayers and tabletop wargamers.  This Kickstarter will enable the figures to be professionally moulded for production, and vacuum-cast in high quality resin.

I’ve got a deep passion for the science fiction concept of squat and indomitable warriors heading out into the stars with an arsenal of hi-tech weapons.  I wanted to distill the essence of techno-fantasy metal mysticism into miniature form, and do it with an iconically 1990s twist.

Rökthane Schiltron Toothcutter

Schiltron Toothcutter, Rökthane of the Naudor Thronesworn, is a leader who has earned the respect of his troopers a dozen times over.  His far-sighted view of the battlefield gives his squad a significant tactical advantage – and many battles have been won by the relentless advance or unbreakable defence he inspires.  Famously Schiltron and his warriors defended the Nethyr Edge for 13 cycles, saving countless lives.  

Schiltron is armed with a customised binar-blaster, enscribed on the casing with his runic S initial, and clad in diamond-flak armour. 

Röknaut Trooper with Wyrmboltr Rifle

Each Röknaut Trooper is a hero in their own right, respected throughout the galaxies as bloody-minded and unyielding in the face of any enemy. Not only are Röknauts experts in combat, but void travel, toxic environs survival and hardware maintenance.  Their extreme technical aptitude lets them operate where other forces have been destroyed by mechanical realities – and their adamantine-hard will lets them fight even longer still.

Armed with the iconic Wyrmboltr Rifle, and clad in diamond-flak, the Trooper is a bold icon of the Röknaut Thronesworn’s might.

Röknaut Trooper with Helstrom Autocannon

Those Röknauts with distinguished marksmanship are assigned heavy weaponry from the Röknaut armouries to support their squads. Capable of hefting a weapon on their squat shoulders that a human would need a tripod and a loader to operate as efficiently, these warriors are a redoubt on the battlefield, and many legendary figures from Röknaut folklore are famous for their excessive weaponry.

The Röknaut is armed with the deadly dual-barrelled Helstrom Autocannon, capable of obliterating opposing hordes with sustained fire, or rending a hole in the side of a battletank with a tightly focussed salvo. 

Classic 28mm Scale

Designed to fit in with the miniatures of your youth, the Röknauts  are sculpted as a love letter to the 1990s, when miniatures were characterful chunks of awesome.  The miniatures are scaled to fit with classic 28mm humans – the Trooper with Wymboltr Rifle measuring 18mm from boot sole to eyeball.  

What you will Get

Pledging to this project will get you a complete squad of five Röknauts vacuum-cast in high quality resin.  Supplied unpainted and unassembled. 

I love painting miniatures – it’s the primary way I engage with the whole collecting/painting/gaming hobby.  When the first Röknaut prototype arrived, I completely flipped out, whacked on some Savage Garden and entered a fugue state, only to emerge some hours later with the Rökthane fully painted.  I’m extremely biased when I say these miniatures are a joy to paint, so to triangulate if they’re fun-with-brushes I sent a set of advance castings to Oldhammer blogging supremo Jean-Baptiste.  He absolutely ripped through painting a whole squad of them in a magnificent weathered industrial yellow scheme.  Here’s his photos…

You can visit the project here.

Rök on!

It was competition time again over at the Oldhammer Community. The friendly neighbourhood Jeany-Bap-Baps challenged hobbyists to paint miniatures sculpted by the great Bob Olley, and have them judged by the Lord our Bob himself. I couldn’t resist, and so I created this mini-diorama.

Bob Olley was one of the key contibutors to the nascent Warhammer 40,000 range, and he sculpted a huge portion of the Squat range that I’ve loved collecting, painting and gaming with through the years.

The Squat Berserker isn’t actually one of those original Rogue Trader miniatures, but a hyper-limited edition that Bob sculpted for a tiny indie manufacturer that’s since disappeared. I was hoping its extreme rarity would mean everyone who saw my painted casting would HAVE THEIR MINDS BLOWN with the novelty.

Only not. The first bloke I showed mine to simply said, “Yeah whatevs, looks like the one I did.” Screw you, Paul. Screw. You.

Not only that, but turns out his blogpost features loads of other cool indie manufacturers’ Squat miniatures that he also painted before I did mine. Sho3box is exactly the kind of person that turns up to cool parties wearing the same Decepticon logo shirt as you. And with the girl you were hoping to ask out already on his arm.

So I had to push further to ensure novelty, and modelled the Slayer standing over another Olley sculpt – an original Citadel Miniatures Genestealer Patriarch. I sawed that huge lead torso diagonally in half, and chopped apart and resculpted the limbs until I was satisfied the Patriarch was looking sufficiently collapsed, defeated, and bleeding out into the cold metal grille of the base.

It’s also the second Genestealer model I’ve painted recently, the first being a Locus for a wet-blended purple cloth tutorial for Patreon supporters. Check it out here!

Over forty people made it to the finishing line in the Oldhammer Community‘s Olley competition, and we wait with baited breath to see who Bob judges the best. (If it’s sho3box, I’ll explode.)

Eggs on legs!  The greatest Warhammer 40,000 miniatures of all time!  Chibi Terminators!  The most iconic Squat models!

Thane Rædwald in Exo-Armour – a tough egg to crack.

This Exo-Armoured Squat Thane is the first Squat miniature I ever bought for a bargain 60 pence.  He’s the nucleus around which my Squat obsession has grown, and has sported several paintjobs down the years.  His chainsword arm is taken from a Chaos Squat in Exo-Armour, and is a conversion necessitated by the original owner.  I can feel guilty chopping up such rare Exo-Armour components – but you can’t make a omelette without breaking a few eggs.

Eggs on legs.  In this colour scheme, Kinder Eggs on legs.

The banner is tomato purée foil plus King Kazador’s back banner.  When converting Squats I try to keep their components (bases aside) from 1994 or earlier so the sculpting and detailing style match.  1994 marked the release of the last ever Squat model in the form of the Epic Thunderfire Cannon, so everything up until that point I consider fair game for conversions.

The bases are a tad excessive at 40mm, but I started the squad back in 2012 32mm bases weren’t on the market.  Such big bases help them pass for Terminators more easily in games.  Plus it means I can build up the bases’ height to allow the Squats to get a little closer to being eye-level with their opponents.  As the elite Squat unit it gives them a great presence in the army.

The hard-boiled Rædwald and his retinue supporting Strifemaster Borun.

I’ve modelled the squad with a multi-melta, which feels the most Squatty of all the heavy weapons.  It’s also a commonly enough available component from the Rogue Trader era to be chopped up guilt-free.

Lots more Squats coming soon!

I’m designing a pair of Kings of War books at the moment in tandem – it’s like filming the Matrix sequels. And I’m designing the next few months of Kings of War packaging. It’s unrelentingly Kings of War at the moment.

So when I get time away from Mantic, it’s nice to relax with something else.

Warpath!

Here’s my Huscarl conversion I mentioned last time. I’ve converted him with the statue base from the Kings of War Dwarf Hero to help him stand out. You may notice all my Warpath squad leaders are on bigger bases to mark them out (and stop other models towering over my doughty, squat warriors).

He looks cool enough to lead a small skirmish force, but he may not be a fully-fledged Huscarl. I see him as a Veteran Thane.

To bulk up the core of the army I’ve added a second unit of Steel Warriors. I picked up a load of the discontinued Drakkarim boxes in the crazy 2012 Christmas sale so I’ve got enough metal helmets for the entire squad. It helps me quickly determine which squad is which. Again, the Thane has been given a Cybermastiff and a pair of helm wings (from the Kings of War Dwarf command) to mark him out.

That brings the force to 495 points.

– Steel Warrior Section (150), Dragon’s Breath (25), Mjolnir (25)
– Steel Warrior Team (75)
– Huscarl (60)
– Iron Ancestor (160)

What’s next? Well, technically the army’s illegal as I’ve got two Heroes/Monsters and only one solid unit. But I think some Stormrage are in order for their awesome firepower – plus they count as solid if I take a ten-man squad. Or some ordnance…

There are several must-haves in a Squat army – and Exo-Armoured Hearthguard are several of them.  Like Space Wolves and their Wolfguard, these heavily-armoured characters can be sprinkled around the army to bolster the ranks, or formed up into squads for real hitting power.

This model may’ve been influenced by the famous Sutton Hoo helmet. It’s as though the Perry that sculpted these models saw it and thought “Hey! That would look great as a robot – all it needs are hands and feet.”

Eagle-eyed amongst you would’ve noticed that there’s a discarded RTB01 helmet on the base. This is to commemorate the Squats’ victory against Mark’s Storm Giants in our ongoing army challenge. So great was the massacre of these green Marines that Mark has switched to collecting Ultramarines.

Next off, let’s round these chaps out to a squad with all the variants.

We’ve thrown down the gauntlet at wotk to build armies for 40K6 at a rate of 250 points a month.  I’ve picked Squats – particularly apt as they’re name-checked in the new 40K6 rulebook.

First up is the Furnace Valley Brotherhood Command Squad.  Brotherhood Lords are in charge of their Stronghold at a tactical level, leading the Warrior Squads in the thick of the fighting.  They’re one step below Warlords who I’ll model later in the project with ornate carapace armour.  On the left is Commissar Gustav (kindly donated by my friend Luke), who is acting in an advisory rather than disciplinary capacity.  This Mark Copplestone classic is the only non-Perry miniature so far.  The Powerfist and Power Sword is quite overkill, but the model’s too damn awesome to kit out otherwise.

Left to right: Commissar Gustav, Trooper Stoner (Bolter), Medic Faunts, Warmaster Curiz, Trooper Sterling (Stronghold Standard) and Trooper Gast (Battlesynth).

The first Warrior Squad is composed entirely of Perry-sculpted Squats.  I picked all the models with photochromatic visors as the translucent red looks gives the squad a visual kick, and also satisifes my pedantic side where in Rogue Trader squads were either entirely with or entirely without the eye protection.

I’d have liked to’ve avoided using the metal/plastic hybrid Squats in this squad (and make squads of entirely hybrids later) – but the Plasma Gunner is festooned with Heavy Bolter pouches and I’ve no oldskool Heavy Bolters from White Dwarf 97.  I’ll split the squad up later – and might even split off the Squats with AK47s from the Lasguns.

Here’s the whole 250 points altogether.  It’s a nice nucleus to grow the army around.