The Oathbreaker's Dirge - An ill fated expedition into the Realms of Chaos

[Kharrdruk_Oathbroken]

THE OATHBREAKER’S DIRGE - AN ILL FATED EXPEDITION INTO THE REALMS OF CHAOS

Listen here lads, I won’t say it again. Lose these lofty ambitions of seeking riches in the wastes. There once was a host clad all in gleaming white that was led to it’s doom by the greed of one foolish Thane. To the north they sought untapped seams in those accursed mountains, and those accursed mountains welcomed fresh souls into their bowels.

We know not the full tale of their ill fated expedition, but we have heard rumours of a sickly pale host emerging from those darkest of caves… Changed…

Now sit and be still beardlings, as I sing to you The Oathbreaker’s Dirge.

PRELUDE

Welcome all to this account of The Oathbreaker’s Dirge, a thread dedicated to the assembly of my chaos dwarf host led by Kharrdruk Oathbroken, a foolish dwarven Thane who gambled the souls of all who followed him and lost.

Browsing the old forum years ago before the death of the old world I fell in love with the helmeted chaos dwarfs from 3rd edition and the fresh take that Clam commissioned via the skilled hands of John Pickford. Now that the range is available through Old School Miniatures I have caved and decided to start a chaos dwarf army for a new 6th edition scene that is sprouting up in my area.

Kharrdruk Oathbroken - Chaos Dwarf Hero and leader of the army in games below 2000pts, once I get to 2000pts I’ll be giving giving him a big beastie mount to elevate him above the rest of the host.

Hopefully I’ll be getting the mounted version in the post in the next few weeks and I can’t wait to see the sculpt in person.

The Shattered Anvil - A selection of dwarves from the block of warriors that form the backbone of my battle line in smaller games and act as the bodyguard for Kharrdruk Oathbroken when he’s in his hero form.

These were great fun to build and even funner to paint, they’re simple sculpts but they ooze character and with the face shields I’ve slapped on them I think it really helps to add a little bit of individual flair to each guy even when they’re in a unit.

I’m hard at work getting the rest of the Shattered Anvil finished before I move onto the next units in the army, I might take a slight detour to some artillery in the meantime though for some easy wins for getting units fully painted.

Hope you enjoy!

[Zoddtheimmortal]

Its great you have started a blog, i will be following with interest. I also backed this kick-starter but haven’t painted much of it yet- this will help motivate me. V nice colour scheme.

[Bassman]

It seems an army full of character! Good

[Reaver]

Awesome take on a limited palette scheme! Looking forward to seeing what you do with more OSM goodies. Zodd roped me into the realm of helm as well. Keep up the great work!

[Kharrdruk_Oathbroken]

@Zoddtheimmortal Thanks for the support! The kickstarter was fantastic, I’ve backed the latest one from OS minis offering the Lammasu and can’t wait to get my hands on it.

@Bassman cheers! I loved the named units and armies that would appear in all of the old white dwarf battle reports and though I’d have a crack at doing the same with this army. It helps to give every unit a bit of flavour outside of just it’s appearance

@Reaver Long live the helm! Cheers I was trying to go for a muted palette that would pop with the foeshtones and warm autumnal basing. I was split for a while on whether to go old school and do every individual guy a different colour but ultimately I chose to try and get that individual character for each guy through their face shield

I’ll be giving some updates on progress with some more pics soon, currently on the highlighting stage for the second half of the shattered Anvil so hopefully will have them done by the end of the day tomorrow

[Bassman]

@Kharrdruk_Oathbroken I second you. I give all my units and characters a lilttle background story. It’s so fun!

[harvestmouse]

Oh this is the range I was asking about! The pictures on their site aren’t that clear (for the rank and file). I’m very interested in their progress and I like your choice of colours!

[MetalMatt]

These look really awesome, excited to see more

[Kharrdruk_Oathbroken]

Verse 1 - Lost Now Found

Hello again folks, after a long haitus from posting I’ve eventually returned to share some updates on The Oathbreaker’s Dirge. Despite my lack of posts I’ve been hard at work getting a bunch of my chaos dwarfs painted up and ready for the tabletop. I’ll be sharing these updates over a few posts so that this blog doesn’t have another long stint of no posts.

The Shattered Anvil

Behold, The Shattered Anvil in their fully painted glory!

This was the first unit that I fully completed for the army outside of individual character miniatures and really helped me to picture how the army as a whole will look once it’s been fully assembled and painted.

This was also the first time that I’ve ever made a paper banner and attempted to freehand it. I’m pretty pleased with the result even though it’s nothing crazy and will hopefully prove to be the first of many that this army will have.

Hammerfall

Next up we have the first of my warmachines, after all you couldn’t have a chaos dwarf army without some artillery firing over their shorter-than-average heads.

Unlike the infantry unit, these guys are original citadel sculpts and were an absolute treat to paint up. I tried to keep things simple with it and to not make the red on th erockets pop too much against the muted warmth of the basing. If you haven’t had the chance to paint up one of these bad boys yourself I’d highly recommend getting your hands on one!

A Sneak Peak

As a final update on this post here’s a quick peak at whats sitting on my work table at the moment:

These guys are in very early days at the moment but hopefully I’ll have a bit of time soon after my work stops for a break until we begin again in the new year. Already these guys have been oozing character and will no doubt be a joy to paint once my washes are complete and I can really start to play highlighting everything up.

There’ll be some more posts coming in the future showing some more of the bits and pieces that I’ve completed since my last post so keep an eye out if you’re interested in the army.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy!

[Zoddtheimmortal]

I love this blog. How are you doing the corrosion on the armour?

[Bassman]

I love the banner of the Shattered Anvil unit!

[Kharrdruk_Oathbroken]

@Zoddtheimmortal Thanks, glad you’re enjoying it! The corrosion/damage to the armour itself is pretty simple, i just use a sponge with some black paint to stipple on some dark spots once the initial armour highlight is done after the wash. Then i just use the same blend as the edge highlights to add in little spots to add some edges to the dark spots. Its nice and simple but i think it helps to add some nice texture and flavour to the minis. The corrosion on the bronze is done by using typhon corrosion over the bronze base and then haphazardly highlighting with the broze base again so its a nice and quick effect to get done on a lot of guys.

@Bassman Cheers! I was nervous about having a go at doing freehand as i’ve never really done it before so thought i’d just stick with something simple design wise as a practice. Hoping to try something more complicated for the next one…

[MetalMatt]

These are great, I love the color scheme. Very bleak and really evokes the feeling of fantasy in the 80’s.

[Kharrdruk_Oathbroken]

Man Mulchers of Mourn

After a long spell on a job which meant I had very little time for hobbying I’ve eventually had the opportunity to sit down and continue cracking on with this project!

Glad to have finally finished this unit of blunderbusses, they proved their worth in the few games I’ve managed to get in by eviscerating blocks of enemy infantry. I’d say they’ve well and truly earned their name! Once again these were a joy to paint up like the rest of John Pickford’s Old School Miniature range, if you’re ever in the market for helms then they’re the best option around.

What’s Next?

I’ve wasted no time in gettinb started on my next unit of Chaos Dwarfs, this time a regiment of 15 with great weapons. I’ve purchased a few of the Assault Group imperial dwarfs, also sculpted by John Pickford, to use as characters. One of these is in the front rank and I think he’ll blend very nicely with the chaos miniatures once he’s fully painted. The completed unit champion is a great sculpt from Knightmare Miniatures, another fountain for fantastic old school sculpts.

Finally I have a few additional chaos dwarf units that I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into once I’ve finished this last block of Chaos Dwarf infantry.

This is a superb sculpt that will serve as the master of this host. It’s absolutely dripping with character and I can’t wait to see it fully completed.

The classic bull and boar centaur styles don’t really feel as if they’d suit the aesthetics of this army, so instead I’ve decided to use the classic metal dragon ogres as my Bull Centaurs in 8th edition games. I’ve always wanted to use these sculpts so i jumped at the excuse to include them in a project.

Hopefully I’ll have more updates soon with the painted great weapons unit, and when I do I look forward to revealing my ideas for hobgoblins in this army.

[Zoddtheimmortal]

What an update! Looks amazing. We are treading the same path in terms of models we are selecting.

I have that lammasu but im worried about pinning the wings. If i get the angles wrong it will be bad…

Dont forget about giant bear riders or juggernaut riders as centaurs too? Lots of great proxies out there

[Kharrdruk_Oathbroken]

VERSE 2 - SOMETHING DARK FESTERS IN THE NORTH

KHARRDRUK HAS RETURNED! THE DIRGE RISES IN THE WASTES! BEHOLD HOW MORTALS WEEP AT OUR COMING!

The Oathbreaker’s Dirge has quietly been expanding over the course of spring and (after a lengthy break from them to get an Emperors Children army painted for Heresy) I’m eager to give an update on the army and to get stuck back into the community!

Kharrdruk Oathbroken. High Thane of The Dirge Host.

The man, the myth, the weird man myth monster thing he rides on… That’s right! Its none other than the big man himself, Kharrdruk Oathbroken!

I’ve absolutely loved painting this miniature, at first I was doing my best to put off actually getting him started as I’ve never painted a large monster before. After a lot of loitering at my painting desk I eventually threw caution to the wind and just started him. Im super happy with how he’s turned out and I really love how the face on the Lammansu has turned out. I really recommend checking this sculpt out of you’re in the market for something that isn’t in the big hat aesthetic.

Larrikson’s Lobotomisers

These rough and rowdy group of great weapon wielding chorfs got teased in my last post on here and I’m glad to say they’re done and no longer in the pile of shame purgatory!

Once again a really characterful bunch to paint up, John Pickford has really knocked it of the park when he sculpted these kits up. The fact that theyre multipart makes them so diverse and really helps to keep a nice bit of variation in the ranks.

Olthrum Mute-Helm

Another one of the imperial dwarf line available via Assault Group miniatures, this happy little chap is the BSB for my army. Although it’s become difficult for his comrades to tell if he’s happy or not as the warping powers of Chaos have robbed him of his voice.

I’ll be honest, this was about the 4th banner design I tried and I’m not 100% sure on if it works or not. Please let me know your thoughts on it if you have any, a bit of external C&C could really help me out with this guy.

As yet unnamed Iron Daemon

Now this guy was a lot of fun to try and make. The idea was that with the theme of this army I want to try and avoid the explicity highly advanced steam engines that the Forgeworld miniatures embraced. This is a great miniature available from the goblin master himself, Kev Adams. Its originally crewed by goblins but I swapped them out for some chorfs and attached a few face shields onto the wooden chassis and boom - a wooden daemon for my army! Theres even a little swivel gun operator with a shortened dwarf flame cannon to represent the steam cannonade as well.

I’d love to get some more angles on this guy but he was a nightmare to try and take pictures of with my current setup as I normally light from above and the roof just cast a big shadow on the crew. If anyone wants to see more detail shots let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

AND NOW ONTO THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN PAINTED BUT WON’T BE JOINING THE ARMY

Over the few months that have passed since the last update the direction of the army has changed a bit. Here’s a few units that have been painted up but will now not be included in the final army.

The dragon ogre bull centaur proxy idea was great at first but ultimately I’ve had an idea on how to make something more unique and thematic to the army. These were great fun to do and they’re a sculpt I’ve always wanted to paint so I’m glad I had the opportunity to get them glammed up. I’ve decided to convert up some more appropriate minis though using bits from a few different ranges but I’ll say no more until I have a test mini made.

Here’s a weird one… So this was my attempt to make a quake cannon and it’s definitely something I like it a lot as some weird cannon on spider human arms but it doesn’t feel like it does the heavy duty mortar justice. I’ve decided to take the crew from this and add them to a hellcannon I’m currently painting up so they won’t go to waste!

THE ROAD AHEAD

I’ve been busy, I swear! First and foremost on the chopping block is this previously mentioned Hellcannon. It’s still early days but I should be able to bash it out fairly quickly when I actually get time to sit down and paint.

The big exciting part of the project after that though is all the goodies in these bags. Across them there are 20 forgeworld fireglaives, 6 forgeworld bull centaurs and Shar’Torr all ready and waiting to be tinkered with to get them into the same aesthetic as the rest of the army. They’ll either turn out looking fantastic or it’ll be a complete disaster, nothing like a high stakes conversion to get the blood pumping!

Anyway stay tuned for my next update which will likely be in early 2025 based on how regularly I’ve done the previous ones!

[Zoddtheimmortal]

What a brilliant update!
Its all excellent but the pumpwagon turned into an iron demon is the highlight for me. Its so much bigger than the original snotling pump wagon and allows for way more stuff. How does it generate power to move forward? Are the chained dwarfs doing something?

[MetalMatt]

Wow, incredible stuff. I really like the color scheme and overall aesthetic of your army. The mounted general looks great, I love the character of that model and the paint scheme really makes him seem ominous. Can’t wait to see the next update!

[Kharrdruk_Oathbroken]

@Zoddtheimmortal Thanks! Its difficult to see in those pictures but the chained dwarfs are running on a barrel thats got bike chains linked to the wheels. More prodding means more momentum!

@MetalMatt Cheers! I had a lot of debate between an old school multi coloured army or something more unified and decided on the dirty beige that I’m using now. I really recommend that Lammansu sculpt it was a lot of fun to get painted up and I believe theres plans for a big hat rider if thats you aesthetic as well.

As a cheeky little update as well I had the time to tinker on a fireglaive unit and came up with these angry lads.

Its difficult to see but I’ve clipped off the original beards and greenstuffed on some new ones to suit the hair aesthetic of the rest of the army. A couple of head swaps in there as well to help tie them to the rest of the army and I think they’ll look great once they’ve got a lick of paint on them