Ol' Piet's Beer Cart: Thunder Mountain Dwarves' Baggage Train Part 2

An ancient and sacred tradition in the Thunder Mountain colony dictates that when the King's army marches to war, it does so fortified by a number of casks of excellent beer and cider furnished at he King's own expense. 

Although appreciated by all, for some Dwarves the 'King's ration' is simply not enough.  Those who need a little something extra while working themselves up for, or winding down from, battle can turn to some of the private ale-selling enterprises that invariably follow in the army's trail.

Shown here is one of the more celebrated of these entrepreneurs, Pieter Larsen, known to the soldiery simply as "Ol' Piet."  Like the army's other farriers, Piet fought in the ranks in his youth, earning many hair-raising scars and blood curdling war stories which he's glad to share around the ale barrel in the evening.  Like so many old war vets, Piet is well known for being a bit crotchety and  short of temper.  His club and hook hand serve as an excellent deterrent to those Dwarves who have a hard time knowing when to stop tapping the kegs.

Here is Piet's beloved friend and co-worker, Polly, well known for being just as cranky and violent as Piet himself.  Her hind legs have developed enormous strength over the years of hauling her heavy loads and a sharp kick from her aft hooves have been known to knock obnoxious customers out cold.

Tellin' War Stories

Taking care of business.

"Snerk...Hrmm? Just a few more minutes Sarge, few more minutes. I'll be right there."

The complete baggage train.  The pictures look a bit washed out because I used my wife's camera and I haven't really figured it out yet.  Well this was the very last piece of my 3,000+ point Point Oldhammer Dwarf army.  It has taken years and I still want to add another 2k points or so, but the muster of  Thunder Mount is finally 100% ready to march! 



Cavalcade of Corruption - Chaos Baggage Train Part 2

 

Another collection of ruined things, degenerates and bestial horrors trailing feebly in the wake of the Chaos Horde...

This completes my Chaos baggage train project. at least for the time being, and overall, I'm pretty proud of it.

Again, I used the RAFM undead war wagon as the base for the cart model.  This time I left the wagon pretty much intact, keeping the side panels and the original wheels.  I did add some bits here and there...some extra shields, etc. 

To the front of the wagon, I added a Citadel plastic lantern from some Mordheim kit or other, and some poor unfortunate metal impaled guy by Armorcast.  Most of the crates and barrels which fill the wagon are Armorcast, too. I think.

As was the case with the last baggage train section, I used mostly Eureka figures for the camp followers... Here is Mr. Log.  He's big. he's heavy, he's wood.

And here is Mr. Cthulhuoid snail/mollusk thing.  Despite his cruel and severe mutations, he still seems to know how to dish out violence with that kitchen knife he carries, so watch out.

In spite of his own mutations, Lizard Lad is still quite agile and dangerous, and makes himself useful by inspiring the cart's beasts of burden to ever greater efforts with blows of his iron shod staff.

Here one of the cart's draft animals can be seen laboring away.  This is also a Eureka mini.  The figure has two faces that are sort of melted together.  Fun idea, but unfortunately one of the faces is invariably obscured by whatever the figure happens to be pushing on, so you can never get a really good look at him.

I think all Oldhammer fans recognize these guys.  I was lucky to be able to snatch them up by themselves on Ebay a few years ago for a pittance.

Last of the Camp followers.  These are cultists rather than mutants.  Citadel witch on the right and a Grenadier Drow or Vampire on the left.  I bought the witch about 4 years ago with the intent of using her as a camp follower for a baggage train someday.  I had no idea what the finished project would look like at that time.  It's taken a long time for all the other pieces to fall into place.

Another view of the Eureka cart pusher....

...and of the other side of the wagon...the standard came with the RAFM wagon kit.  I added the iron bells from I think the Citadel plastic giant kit.

The dog is also part of the Eureka miniatures 'Chaos Army' line.  He's a nice touch.  I roped him to the axle of the wagon with a scrap of wire.  When I saw him, I immediately thought of the dog in Pieter Bruegel's The Triumph of Death. 

I'm not sure if the sculptor was thinking of this piece when he made the poor creature, but there's certainly a resemblance to the miserable, depressing looking beast, which is helpful when you're working with a Chaos theme.

The completed baggage train.  Completed for now, anyway.  I still plan on adding quite a few points to Buzzgobb Phesterlick's Chaos horde, so there will be room for more wagons and camp followers in the future.

A sick and twisted but highly satisfying project to have completed.  Now I just have to finish Willie da Wheela's Goblin chariots and steel myself to repairing Big Blackie's chariot and finish painting Big Blackie himself.  Then I'll be ready for the big showdown between the two most heinous-est and evil-est hordes in The Black River country! 







The Dance of Lost Souls - Chaos Baggage Train Part 1

"Bringing up the rear of any Chaos horde may be seen their hideous train of camp followers.  Foul beings including those mutants too far gone to be worth putting into the battle line.  They accompany awesome, creaking wagons of  horrific form, riddled with woodworm and decay, and drawn by pathetically deformed beasts of burden...

These weird wains are piled high with cages, cauldrons and sinister inlaid caskets, while implements of torture and insane ritual are hung about them.  A continuous, eerie sighing emanates from the sad, snuffling and cowled figures groping behind the wagons..."
                                                                                                                  -Warhammer Armies

Who among us was not mightily inspired by that passage, reading it as a kid?  Twenty-some odd years later, Nigel Stillman's words have finally resulted, partly, in this.

This baggage train section was quite a colossal kit-bash. The wagon model is based on a RAFM Skeleton War Wagon model.  I bought a pair of them very cheap from RAFM direct and I added some wheels from a new-school Skaven war machine kit, purchased separately on ebay.  The skeletal horse came with the Skeleton War Wagon kit.

Added some other plastic and resin bits from Armorcast and GW, including the cage in which our Devil Pig (I like to think of him as some sort of lesser daemon of the minor Chaos God of gluttony), is keeping a particularly tasty bit to eat later on.  The tasty bit is an old Ral Partha slave girl.

The Devil Pig himself, the whipping horse and most of the camp followers are from Eureka's delightfully old-school flavored 'Chaos Army'.  The line isn't so much an army as a mob of mutants with a very Bosch/Bruegel theme.  Very cool.

The Whipping Horse.  Poor Fellow.  It's a sad figure but I'm very attached to it.  When I saw it, I was immediately reminded of the Devil's horse in Albrecht Durer's The Knight and the Devil.  I found this illustration in a book on medieval warfare when I was a very small boy.  It has exercised a very powerful hold on my imagination ever since. Particularly that miserable horse.  I have no idea why.

The first of the 'sad snuffling and groping figures...a mutant too far gone to fight in the line but still rather scary.  Nice mini. Could easily be a Cenobite from Hellraiser...  A Eureka piece...

An old Citadel Witch.  Seemed like a good choice for a cultist model.  Careful inspection reveals that her personal equipment includes a flashlight/electric torch!  As good as a wand of light, I guess.

Here we have a miserably mutated creature...approaching being barely functional.  I think this is a Heartbreaker model.  I'm not sure.  I painted him a long time ago, you can see he is painted and based somewhat differently from the others.  I thought he'd fit in well, though.

 Bird/crab man.  Very Bosch/Bruegel flavored.  I like him.

Egghead.  Another Eureka  A fun piece.

Another shot of the wagon...

And of the section as a whole...

Still another RAFM cart and lots of Eureka mutants to fashion into a second baggage train section for Aulech Henschblut's Chaos raiders.

Nov 13 2015

JackJaw's Junkwagon (Orc and Goblin Baggage Train Part 2)

"Everbuddy acts like dey fink workin' da baggage is easy.  Well, it ain't, ya can take my word ferrit. Fust, ya got ta march at the back a da column an eat everbuddy else's dust all day, an don't fink dey don't take ever chance dey git ta go stompin about and kickin' it up and breakin' da biggest winds dey can muster right in yer directshun.  Dey tink dat's all real funny, roight? Huh!  

Wagon Boss Juggo Jackjaw

"...An try gettin in line fer chow over at Flo's when ya's one o' us!  Dey kick ya ta da back a da line!  See dey fink we're not a proper part o' da army 'cause we don't git up ta where da foightin' is most a da time.  But I asks yous..where dey fink da stuff comes from?  Arrers don't fly wiffout supply, dat's what I sez...'An, yeah!  Everbuddy complains all da time...not enuff a dis and not enuff a dat and why ain't yoo lot 'ere yit?  Well...lookit wut dey giv me ta work wiff!  Ya run a baggage, dey giv ya da wurst a a lot ta help out...

"Sometimes its a coupla gobbos dat's too chicken ta fight anybody...

"Or some bastard 'e's too busy lookin out fer hisself ta be any damm good foightin' in da loine...

"An some?  Some is jist too stupid ta foight.  Dey fergit wut dey doin...wander oft un git lost.

Wudda 'bout me, ya sez?  Well, Ah....ah...urm...well, ya know...uh, dey sez I is too intelli...intel..intellycunt...yeah, too intellyjunt ta foight, ya know.  I gotta use me massive brain power ta help keep fings organized fur da Big Boss.

"'Ere's me wagon.  Nice, eh?  Dere's all kinds a important stuff in ere dat da boys need fer foightin.  Like uh...ya know, some rags en some old straw...an uh...some boards...er...somefin...and a rat...

"Ackshully, now I fink about it, nobuddy keeps nuffin dey care about in da wagon, 'cause dey know some bastard'll just come along an steals it in about five secunds...so, come to fink ovvit...I don't even know why I'm here!  Haw!

Aw, well!  Wut da hell, I'm gettin paid, roight?  Ey you Gobbos!  Git dat stuff over here naow!  Dat's army property!  Nar, don't open it, jest givvit me, I'll check on wut's  innit meself later.  (aside) Who knows?  Could be beer...I could use a drink...or ten er twenny...haw haw haw!"

The completed (for now) baggage train.  One section for each 1,000 pts worth of troops.  Of course I plan on pushing Big Blackie's horde out to  6 or 7 thousand points eventually, so the wagon park has a ways to grow yet.
The Orcs are all Citadel Orc Villagers.  The Gobbos are superfluous Citadel goblin war machine crew.  I added a resin barrel to one of them.  The wagon is an Old Glory incendiary wagon.  The combustibles in the wagon made a good base for a the bunch of bits and a Ral Partha rat I piled on top.  I liked the straw, rags, timber and barrels of the combustibles because I thought they would bear a pretty close resemblance to the piles of nasty, stupid crap that I imagine Orcs collecting and hauling around.

So.  My first real Orctober post.  Two more to go for this month!