Axe & Oath

My first unit of non-orange beards for this army. I tell you, a whole new respect for people who paint regular dwarf armies. There is just enough diversity in each unit to really make them time-consuming (I’m looking at all that hair in a new light).

This was a unit of firsts. It was the first time I tried to do all the metallics with an airbrush; I achieved a nice top-to-bottom fade, which I am happy with. I also tried painting tartan. Let me say the best tartan is in the front rank.
Josef Bugman will be along shortly (I hope)

One oldhammer era Dwarf Adventurer. I attempted to paint as much of the red as possible with an airbrush.

Over a Black Primer with White Zenith, a Khorne Red Back, Titanium White Zenith, Evil Sunz Scarlet, Titanium White Higher Zenith, Vallejo Red Game Ink.

Four Harpoon ‘Count as Bolt’ Throwers.

Will eventually be crewed by a handful of Slayer Pirates

They are made from 6th Ediition Dwarf Bolt Throwers with the Bolt Tip replaced with one of the AoS Idoneth Deepkin spear tips

Thirty Six Slayer-Miners tastefully referred to as ‘Siners’.

Overall a very simple conversion, just weapon swapping. It was theraputic to go back to something far less ambitious, and actually it reminded me of my first unit the ‘Slammerers’ (Hammerers).

I hope you enjoy

I had time to setup my new scenic backdrop and photoshoot all my units again. It makes them look pretty cool in my opinion. Anyway onto the pictures

Since starting my Axe & Oath account, I have seen other hobbyists’ great work. While their models are superb, the photo has been significantly enhanced with a scenic backdrop.

I was inspired to try it myself. My earliest photo of this project (that I can find) was taken on 29 May 2024, making it roughly 10 months in the works.

And boy, it has been fraught with delays. The most significant part has been the sourcing of the needed supplies, which were lost in the post.

Anyway, without doing, here it is:

Method

This required planning. Mine is going in my display cabinet, so its dimensions were limited to the width and height of the shelf. Once it was determined, I sent a rough diagram to a local woodshop, and a week later, it arrived flat-packed.

Secondly, once the dimensions were determined, I had to decide what picture I was using. I found a Total War/Vermintide PC Wallpaper (I believe) that I liked. I upscaled its quality, photoshopped out the GW logo (Not, sorry), sorted its dimensions, and then sent it to a vinyl printer.

Then, it was just a process of basing it. I used cork sheets of different thicknesses. The trees are from Epic Basing, which I printed in different scales for variety.

Reflection

Now that it is done and I have had some time to reflect, there are three things I would do differently.

▪Flat bases for the scatter pieces. I think using flat bases would tie the scenery into the base better

▪Photoshop out the Dwarf statue in the foreground. I think it looks cool, but it defines any photo with it. A more neutral backdrop would be better

▪The backdrop tone needs to match the basing better. It would certainly be easier to pick the picture and then determine my army’s basing, but that was not the case here.

These fire-slinging warriors are my converted version of Irondrakes, made using Long Drong’s Slayer Pirates and armed with custom-designed drakeguns. I had originally planned on using parts from the Irondrakes kit, but converting the weapons to be left-handed was a bit of a pain. I wasn’t able to use the drakeguns from the kit in any of my conversions, but I did use their nice, detailed banner to help tie the unit thematically to the Irondrakes.

Instead, I designed and printed 3D my drakeguns, twisting them: instead of regular dragon heads, they all have Myrwyrm heads. These guys are fiercely unleashing their devastating armaments into the fray; for all intents and purposes, they count as Irondrakes. And it’s not just their intricate nautical tattoos showing their past; such tattoos are a sigil of survival, warding off the scorching heat of their devastating Drakeguns. A perfect cocktail of Slayer tenacity with engineering ingenuity!