Grimstonefire:
From the last email they sent out:
The Chaos Dwarfs possess a mastery of steam technology that would make the Engineers of the Empire baulk in awe. The Chaos Dwarfs fuel these war machines with the resources of their cruel land. Primarily this is a form of coal which is ensorcelled to burn hotter and more constantly than would naturally be possible, but lesser materials such as wood can be pressed into service if needs be, and rumours abound of infernal devices that run on blood, ground bones and screaming souls.
Anyone actually planning on painting their coals differently because of this?
I was wondering about painting it white, then each coal black (leaving some white inbetween), then putting red ink all over it.
Thoughts?
Fluffwise what do you all think of this?
zobo1942:
What about something like a ‘warpstone’ effect, maybe with a more subtle green?
RTGamer:
I like the idea (I know I’m new here so I may be frowned upon for saying this). I think your idea is good. Maybe painting a few like gems with faces inside would look good. I have some Midnightblue which will work well for slightly off coal which has an oily look.
I think that putting runes on them and painting the runes like magma might look awesome too!
Pyro Stick:
If i was to paint it differently then i would probably paint it to look like anthracite or something:
Basically coal, but glossier. If i was to do something a bit more fantastical i would paint it a very dark red.
Anonymouse:
Ensorcelled coal? C’m on people, you can do better than that. Otherwise there will be hexed wood, cursed oil, magical peat and pixie-dust from real pixies.
Otherwise: it’s a good opportunity to try some OSL 
cornixt:
I wondered what they were shovelling, I couldn’t tell if it was coal or entrails from the FW pics.
nitroglysarine:
I’d be tempted to add a fine highlight of random colours, sort of a magical sheen.
so 90% black then blend the colours on the edges. (might work, maybe)
Glimpse the Void:
I say black, into either bright red or purple. Green makes me think of skaven, which are dirty…
Waste Rider:
The city I live in was built around the anthracite coal industry Nitros idea is interesting because multi-hues would look prismatic,
sort of like real coal if your gazing at the right angle. Why not blue though? built up with progressively lighter shades and then last white.
With a few gaping skulls here and there for the slaves that got tossed into the coal hopper 
Fluff-wise “enhanced” coal is sort of lame IMO - souls burn brightest.
Edit: build=built.
snowblizz:
Ensorcelled coal?
No really?
In what way exactly?
There are CD Sorcerers etching runes on each piece of coal?
It would certainly explain their long absence. The sorcerers have only recently managed to ensorcelled each piece of coal for a longer campaign. And how inconvenient to run out of it in the middle of the Empire?
So no deamonsmiths, but coalsmiths?
nitroglysarine:
The city I live in was built around the anthracite coal industry :) Nitros idea is interesting because multi-hues would look prismatic,
sort of like real coal if your gazing at the right angle.
Waste Rider
I was thinking it might be easy to do with black undercoat, white along the edges (maybe even a neat dry brush) then use inks/washes in lines of colours to look as waste rider said 'prismatic'
Could be quite cool if done right.
nagged:
unsure about what colour to paint the coal , but there are a couple of skulls in there . guess if i don’t like my experiments can always paint it black. so far its a toss up between blue or green
Thommy H:
Black glowing green like warpstone would seem to be the way to go to me. That usually means magic (and corruption) in Warhammer. Warpstone should mostly be a Skaven thing, I think, but the analogy between the stuff and nuclear materials fits the idea of Chaos Dwarfs being reckless and short-sighted in their consumption of resources.
Grimstonefire:
I’m going to give it a go with glowing green.
Something like; white> yellow> scorpion green wash. Coals painted black, then drybrush light grey maybe.
I was thinking about this earlier and green is the only viable colour that will fit in with my army I think, being the complementary colour of red. I did consider magical red coals, but they would just look like they were burning.
Abecedar:
that is a hard one, too much bright green = skaven and warp stone, red = on fire, shiny black would be shiny black and doesn’t normal coal have some shiny facets anytime? the prismatic sounds good but how much work would it take to achieve it. Good luck with it.
Waste Rider:
Warpstone should mostly be a Skaven thing, I think, but the analogy between the stuff and nuclear materials fits the idea of Chaos Dwarfs being reckless and short-sighted in their consumption of resources.
Thommy H
I like this idea.
In the write up for the corpse cart there is mention of the warpstone added to a "balefire"
and you know... the big chunk of it that came down to smite Mordheim.
So, whilst the vermin do hunger for it - its not theirs exclusively, Right?
Thommy H:
No, everyone uses it. Skaven are just obsessed with it.
RTMaitreya:
that is a hard one, too much bright green = skaven and warp stone, red = on fire, shiny black would be shiny black and doesn't normal coal have some shiny facets anytime? the prismatic sounds good but how much work would it take to achieve it. Good luck with it.
Abecedar
What about using cheap fake gems from a craft store, piling a few on top of the coal in the miniature, then inking color and black on top of that? It would give them a sparkle, yet still look like coal.
Admiral:
On the warpstone trail: It might also work if most of the coal is painted black, whilst a few scattered pieces are painted as warpstone*, possible with a small glow effect painted around every single warpstone shard in the coalbin.
I’m quite sure we’ll see at least one Iron Daemon loaded with glowing or burning coal, or perhaps even lava.
___
* Recipe from a friend’s Skaven army: Skull White - Golden Yellow - Thraka Green - Chaos Black spots though not on “highlight areas”, occassionally with a small speck of Skull White to represent light reflection in the dark patches.
unheilig:
I will paint them as I usually do… but simply intend to make them look “hotter”.