Blipvertus multigame Dwarf army
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About the Project
It started out simple. I wanted a Viking army for Saga but I wanted it to be different because everyone does Vikings. So instead I did seven other armies. I finally hit upon the idea of using Dwarves as my Viking stand in. Dwarves are also a part of Norse mythology and they’re ill tempered and armed with axes. Seems like a natural fit! When Oathmark came out with a plastic Dwarf infantry box I found everything I’d need for a Saga army. You can make dwarves armed with bows, something that is pretty rare for most Dwarf models, as well as spear and axe armed dwarves. You can also equip figures with a weapon in each hand making them a great substitute for Berserkers. One of the nice things about this box is all the figures are wearing chainmail and to me, that’s quintessentially dwarfish. Originally I was going to make the spear armed dwarves my warriors and my axe and sword armed dwarves as my hearthguard. But Oathmark came out with a box of Heavy Infantry Dwarves so I may use them as hearthguard. These also feature chainmail but also have segmented armor and some platemail. They also feature a lot of steel face masks integrated into their helmets. This is something I love because Tolkien mentions something similar in The Silmarillion about the dwarves in Middlearth. With my Viking army all planned out and a couple of boxes of minis, I was set. Huzzah! Then Age of Magic arrived. And Warlords of Erewhon. The unit options in both games increased the variety of units a Dwarf army could take. So I set about trying to find suitable minis that would look good together. I found a nice set of crossbow armed dwarves from Conqueror. Conquer also had dwarves armed with two-handed axes. Both units are also in chainmail thus making it easier for them to blend in. I then found some chainmail wearing handgunners from Mirliton. Because I’m getting minis from several different ranges I worried about how to make them look like a cohesive army. I asked our local guru, Sean Twiddy. He’s one of the smart guys that teaches art at one of the local universities and uses miniature painting in some of his lessons. Sean is also an avid Saga player. He suggested using the same color pallet for the whole army in order to tie it all together. So I tried it and painted up a test color scheme and I think it’ll work. The header/thumbnail photo is of the test minis. I’m going to try to document how I got to those finished images. I’m going to try to show and explain every step as well as show the sources of the materials used.
Related Game: SAGA
Related Company: Studio Tomahawk
Related Genre: Fantasy
This Project is Active
Glaze - cloth sleeves
GW Guilliman Blue glaze
This is such a small area I really don’t want to cover the whole area so I just did a thin pin wash where the sleeves meet the armor and the gloves. Washes - armor
GW Nuln Oil shade
Because the areas of the washes are getting smaller you’ll need to take care to really control where the shade goes. Don’t load too much into the brush. You can do additional washes. And if you do wind up with too much, just use a clean brush to soak up excess if it’s still wet. You can also touch things up after the wash dries and reapply the base color. 
Washes - Face
GW Reikland Flesh
I apologize for the images as it’s just too small to make out the subtle details but they are there.
Sleeves, Muzzles and touch ups
Army Painter Wolf Grey for the sleeves. This step is mostly for touch ups as this is also the primer color. 
Army Painter Matt Black for the muzzles. 
As the base color is Wolf Grey at this point I’m only doing touch ups of the sleeves. The last color applied to the minis itself is for the muzzles of the gun barrels.
I do try to be as neat as possible while painting but let’s face facts, you’re always going to “paint outside the lines.” I try to plan the painting so every new color I add covers up the mistakes of the previous application.
The rest of the painting is going to be touch ups. I’ll paint the bases later and talk about that in a different update.
Powder horn
Army Painter Skeleton Bone 
Only a few figures have powder horns. This particular paint will require multiple thin layers to cover the primer. Brass barrels, studs and hair accessories.
Bet you never thought we’d have a discussion on hair accessories, did ya?
Brass barrels for everyone, brass hair accessories for the dwarves wearing the pickelhaube helmets, brass fittings on the powder horns and brass armor studs on the leather jerkins for the majority of the unit.
Vallejo Brass
The left hand figure has several brass ornaments in his hair. Brass barrels, studs and hair accessories.
Bet you never thought we’d have a discussion on hair accessories, did ya?
Brass barrels for everyone, brass hair accessories for the dwarves wearing the pickelhaube helmets, brass fittings on the powder horns and brass armor studs on the leather jerkins for the majority of the unit.
Vallejo Brass
The left hand figure has several brass ornaments in his hair. 
