Building a Chaos Warrior warband with the classic Oldhammer vibe has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while now.
What finally spurred me into action was publishing a roundup of Oldhammer-style miniature companies. After spending a bit of time browsing all these sites, a purchase or two was inevitable. And so, the Dark Gods came calling (for my wallet).
The first port of call was a company I already know and love – Knightmare Miniatures. This was either my second or third bulky order from them. I picked up a lot of other stuff too, which I’ll be writing about in a future post.
The hulking giant in the gang is Knightmare’s Jötum Icemane (though he’s more of a Redmane for me). There’s a bit of a scale difference between him and some of the miniatures from other companies. This is inevitable when buying from various companies – especially when it comes to the more retro-looking metal stuff.
They could easily pass for Icemane’s sons, proudly dressed up for their first day of Chaos Warrior school.
Back to Knightmare, here’s Mallüs Bloodaxe. I still consider myself a very limited and early-stage painter, but I’m quite happy with these guys. I got a lot of great painting tips in the Oldhammer Community and managed to try out a few new techniques.
The final finished miniature, for now, is Knightmare’s superbly named “Chaos Warrior 14”. A name that strikers fear into hearts, from Albion to Far Cathay.
Most recently completed and added to the fray, are these 5 Chaos Foot Knights from Mirliton, bought via Campaign Game Miniatures.
They are quite small miniatures, but mounting them on the plastic bases raised their height a bit.
On hindsight, I’ll actually be puling Jötum Icemane out the regiment to use him as an individual Hero or Champion instead. He’s just a bit too big (and slightly different) than the rest. I’ve replaced him with an old Citadel purchase off Ebay.
I’ve talked a bit on here before about playing in pre-created storyworlds versus building your own. This time around, I’d like to dip into something I’ve been working on in the sci-fi genre.
Grimdark fantasy will always be my favourite sandbox to game in. But as a 90s GW kid, I do have a lot of fascination with the 40k universe. That said, I’ve really no interest in collecting a 40k army (or, playing 40k, for that matter).
In order to get my own sci-fi wargaming fix, I decided to start tentatively developing my own storyworld. I’m a big fan of using whatever miniatures appeal to me, rather than sticking to the collection of a particular manufacturer or game. I recently did a roundup of miniature agnostic games that let you use any minis. For sci-fi stuff, I really like Rogue Planet and Mutants & Death Ray Guns. Check out the link there for more on those.
So in my own fledgling sci-fi universe, I’m imagining a world ruled by a corrupt corporate dictatorship, facing down a long-running workers revolt. Cliché? Probably. But it’s a setting with lots of tension and conflict opportunities – as well as opportunities to use some really cool looking miniatures.
The main rank and file troops are made up of iconic Terminator endoskeletons from River Horse Games, and Soviet Heavy Infantry from Warlord Games’ Konflikt ’47. The former representing the cold mechanical killers of the state, the latter being the rebellious worker’s movement known as The Rhizome.
Some of my original 90s miniatures have been pulled into this storyworld. Pious 40k loudmouth Redemptor Kyrinov has been primed to become leader of the state’s terror-inducing Inquisition. He’s backed up by two Practicals (yup, I read a lot of Joe Abercrombie) who were originally Warmonger Miniatures’ Plague Apothecaries.
Another old 90s piece was this Imperial Assassin. A great miniature with a lot of character. I figured he could join the side of the rebels. Sidenote – I always wondered just how much time it takes him to make a kill, given that the skin has already rotted from the bones of his last one. Unless he carries that skull around with him to use as a little stool?
I originally bought a box of plastic Necrons from GW to play the role of the robotic state killers. However, I thought they were absolutely horrendous to assemble, and looked a bit goofy, too. I then discovered the endoskeleton miniatures from Terminator Genesys and thought they were perfect for the job. These were tricky to purchase, but I got lucky on Ebay. I promptly moved those ridiculous Necrons on whilst I was at it, too.
Finally (for now), here’s another fellow from the mid 90s. He’s a Space Marine Captain who looks like he’s lived a hard life, and he’ll be representing the state.
Overall, it’s a small collection at this stage, but there’s already the scope for an entertaining skirmish game. I’ll continue to add to both factions over time, as and when I see things that I like. I’m particularly interested in miniatures with an ‘oldhammer’ aesthetic.
I know there’s a lot of debate around the question “what is Oldhammer?“. I personally feel that it’s just one of those things where you know it when you see it. To me, it’s a certain aesthetic that reminds me of leafing through the pages of White Dwarf as a kid.
In fact, my first point of contact with the hobby back in the day was Citadel Combat Cards. The miniatures on those cards really captivated me. They had bags of character, and a subtle sense of humour. I don’t deny that modern-day GW miniatures are excellent from a technical point of view, but aesthetically, they do nothing for me.
Fortunately, there are more miniature companies out there these days than I’ll ever know of. Many of them create miniatures in what I’d consider as the “Oldhammer aesthetic”. Some even utilise the talents of some of the legendary sculptors who created old school Citadel Miniatures many moons ago.
My Favourite Oldhammer Miniature Companies
One of the first ones I discovered following my return to the hobby after a long exile, was Knightmare Miniatures.
Knightmare have 3 main ranges – Pantheon of Chaos, Green Skin Wars, and Space Raiders. Many of their miniatures are created by legendary sculptors like Kev “The Goblin King” Adams, and Tim Prow. I challenge you to browse their website and not rack up a shopping list in your head that runs into the 3 figures.
Another company I’ve bought a lot of miniatures from these past couple of years is Midlam.
There’s a diverse range of medieval and fantasy-style miniatures available on Midlam’s website. They too have a range of greenskins by Kev Adams, and I love the stuff created by Josef Ochmann too. The villagers and townsfolk really capture “the pathetic aesthetic” that’s often talked about with fondness in Oldhammer circles.
Mushrooms are on the menu at CP Models. There’s loads of great stuff available there.
Warmonger Miniatures and The Wargames Foundry are two sister companies I’ll frequently buy from, too. They have a wide scope of figures available, including an ex-Citadel range featuring miniatures previously produced by… well, Citadel, naturally.
I, like every other mortal, have a very finite amount of money and painting time available. I’m well aware that the Oldhammer miniature companies I’ve mentioned here are only the tip of a very large iceberg.
I’ve been asking around for other recommendations so that I can try to list them all in one place. Here’s what’s come up so far. Obviously, I can’t vouch for anyone I haven’t bought from. But there’s a lot of fantastic looking miniatures here and it’s likely all of them will receive my custom at some point in the future.
Painting motivation. Even the most enthusiastic hobbyist goes through stages where they’d rather do anything other than pick up the paintbrush.
The ebb and flow of motivation is all part of human nature. There’s a quote I’ve heard often in the creative world though. I had to look it up, and it’s attributed to photographer Chuck Close.
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.”
So “just sit down and do it” is a tip that we can’t ignore. But are there other things you can do to make the process more desirable? I certainly think so. That’s why I’ve put together these 8 tips to rekindle your miniature painting motivation.
Consume Content About Painting
Whether you’re an avid YouTube watcher, podcast listener, or blog reader, consuming some hobby-related content can help shift your brain back into its motivated state. I’m a big fan of the Paint All The Minis podcast, and there’s never an episode I listen to that doesn’t get me up for cracking on with my to-do pile. The good thing about podcasts, too, is that you can actually keep them on whilst you’re painting.
YouTube tutorials can be really helpful for painting motivation too. Just seeing someone applying a splash of paint and making a good job of it makes your brain think “Okay, my turn”. You might even find blogs like this one useful. I mean, that literally is the point of this post, so I’d hope so!
Be Like Hemingway
I don’t know if Hemingway ever picked up a miniature, but he sure knew a lot about getting stuff done. One famous piece of advice he gave to fellow writers was to finish a session mid-sentence, when you know exactly what comes next. That means it’s much easier to sit down the following day and get started.
This can easily translate to painting miniatures. End the previous day knowing that there’s a nice big simple bit to do next. That way, it’s going to be much easier to feel motivated than if you were sitting down and thinking “well, I suppose it’s time for the iris on this Epic 40k snotling”.
Get Nostalgic
There’s a hobby origin story in all of us, and whether that dates back to the 1960s, or last week, is irrelevant. The point is, there was something that initially stoked a fire in you to get started in the collecting and painting of miniatures. You can lean into this when your painting motivation is low, and you’ll be surprised at how much it helps.
For myself, I have an old dog eared pile of White Dwarf mags from the mid 90s near my painting table. A quick leaf through one of those never fails to capture the imagination. The goblin green bases, the red spear shafts, the photos of staffers with dodgy haircuts. All combine to have me reaching for the paintbrush in no time.
Minimise the Barriers
There’s nothing new or groundbreaking about this tip, but it’s an important one. If a painting session for you means clearing the dining table, putting some newspaper down, finding the shed key, going out to the shed, retrieving your paint box, going upstairs, finding the miniatures you want to paint… alright, you get the picture.
Not everyone has the luxury of a permanent painting area, which obviously solves all of this. But think to yourself “how can I minimise the barriers to getting started?”. What’s the minimum amount of steps you can be set up and painting in? This will be unique to your own situation, but the chances are, you can make it a bit easier than it currently is.
Be Accountable
Accountability is incredibly useful for some miniature painters. You might choose to do this on social media, or in an online community. You might also run a blog like this one and do monthly hobby updates. The point is, even if no one is really paying attention, you know that you’ve come out and declared that you plan to get this next thing done. That can give you the motivation towards actually doing it.
There are loads of painting communities and miniature painting challenges online. Or, you might look into the possibility of joining or creating a ‘real-life’ painting club. When you’re working on your stuff alongside others who’re in the same boat, it can give you that extra nudge through those inevitable periods of flatness.
Have Clear Goals
If you know you’re testing out that new game with your pal in 2 weeks, and you need to have this warband finished for it – then that’s painting motivation.
The alternative is staring at your huge pile of plastic and thinking “okay, what next?” Here, there’s no real end in sight, so your brain will convince you that it’s really not worth the bother at all.
Take stock of every unpainted miniature you own. Group them into categories, considering things like “why do I own this?”, “what’s it for?”, “when does it need to be finished by?”. If there’s stuff on there that you can’t really answer these questions about, don’t be afraid to cut your losses and stick it on Ebay.
This not only helps with painting motivation, it also comes in handy next time you’re about to buy a new horde of minis on impulse.
Block Out Time & Have Painting Cues
I’ve mentioned the writing world already, and the miniature painting world is very similar in the oft repeated advice of “you should paint every day”.
If you genuinely can’t paint every day, don’t feel guilty about that. Instead, pick out some slots in the week where you have a free hour or so, and block them out. Book a date with your paintbrush, and let nothing stand in the way of showing up. Also, leaning back on some of our other tips, know exactly what needs done, and why.
If you’re in the position where you can paint on a daily basis, but you often don’t due to lack of motivation, then you need to create a cue.
This simply means “when I do this, then I paint”. So, “I do the washing up, then I paint”, or “I have a shower, then I paint”. Take the decision out of the equation and make it automatic. If you miss the odd day due to some anomaly or emergency then that’s absolutely fine. But make this your default routine.
Treat Yo Self
There’s nothing quite like a well-earned reward. Set up some for yourself to keep your painting motivation high as you work towards your goals.
Again, this builds on the previous tips where we know what needs done, why it needs done, and when it needs done by. Make sure your targets are realistic, and perhaps even start this strategy with the bar set low. You want easy quick wins to get you into the grove, then you can begin to step things up over time.
Set a reward in advance of each month. That could be anything from going out for a meal, to buying yourself a new crate of minis (careful now!). Whatever your reward is, hit your target and you can enjoy it guilt-free, and with a feeling of accomplishment.
What Are Your Own Painting Motivation Tips?
I’m writing here as if I’ve got this stuff mastered, but I can assure you that’s far from the truth. I’m always keen to learn about how others stay on track and get their work done. I enjoy reading the comments on these posts, so be sure to leave your own in the section below!
Now I’m down to the miscellaneous bits and pieces. But there were still a few nostalgic finds…
There was a page in White Dwarf with all the different Space Marine legions and their paintjobs. I was always fascinated with The Legion of the Damned. I had no way of finding out anything else about them at the time. Here was my (somewhat rustic) attempt at creating my own.
This Beast of Nurgle was re-painted and re-based multiple times, from what I can remember. I also made this “terrain piece” from the classic plastic Chaos Warrior. He was glued to a bottle top along with some skulls, and painted gold.
How many childhood “to-do” lists were dominated by these guys in the early-mid 90s? To be honest, I never enjoyed trying to paint the High Elves. The Gretchen (and Orks) were a little more fun, until you got to about your 600th one.
The guy on the left is a mystery to me. I don’t think he’s anything to do with GW. He was originally on a hexagonal base. We’ve also got a one-armed Chaos Space Marine, and a Necromunda gangster who came free with an issue of White Dwarf. Evidently, tanning salons are a big thing in Hive Worlds.
The mounted Chaos Warrior here is from Battlemasters. I plan to relaunch his career as a harbinger of death and misery, and he’s now enjoying life on his very own base. Krell too, will be getting a makeover. He’s not actually painted badly at all, but I like the miniature and will enjoy painting it again.
An eclectic trio here. A Space Marine with a bald head and an artificial leg puts a brave face on his misfortune. A Valhallan Ice Warrior keeps his coat on no matter where in the universe he’s fighting. And, by contrast, the Vindicare Imperial Assasin wears only his Lycra. Apparently, “it feels like he’s wearing nothing at all.”
Stupid sexy Assassin.
A selection of Battlemasters veterans. Up close, they’re not the most detailed on minis compared to what’s on offer today. But what they lack in detail, they certainly make up for in nostalgia points.
The Battlemasters cannon was one of the first old minis I found after my return to the hobby. I’ve already given it a bit of a makeover.
“A box full of miscellaneous”, as they say on Storage Wars. I’ll be sticking this up on Ebay soon. I’ve no use for them myself, and there’s no point in them staying there until I die.
A few little pieces from Space Marine. Never had a clue how to play this, to be honest. But still had a bash at moving troops through that big cardboard city.
There were a lot of miniatures in the Space Marine box, from what I remember. I was obviously feeling so flush with them, that I attempted to make a diorama.
I still have some of the tiny Space Marine sprues too. I probably never got round to them because of those bloody High Elves.
Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed this whirlwind tour of some eclectic old minis. And if you haven’t checked out the other finds yet, here they are…
It’s almost literally “ghosts in the attic” this time around, as I pull an old undead warband out of a dusty box. Except I never actually had any ghost miniatures. Plenty of skeletons, though!
The undead warband was led by Krell. His is actually not a bad paintjob for the standard I seemed to be at back then. Some of the others are very rough. The vampire and the skeleton champion look like they’ve maybe seen a few coats.
It looks like Krell once had a home-made banner on his back. I wonder if it was as hilariously bad as the one you’ll see I made for the zombies.
This is an all-metal regiment, expensive to put together as a kid because they came in blister packs. The zombie on the front left was a “doubler”, and I’ve seemingly tried to make him different by adjusting the position of his club, and painting him like a smurf.
The banner was a simple “paper, painted black, with some transfers on it” job.
The leader of this skeleton regiment was an attempt at a convert. The body is that of a Battlemasters Man-at-Arms.
It’s funny looking back on the obsession with red, back in then. This would’ve been subconsciously copied from all the images I’d see over the years in White Dwarf.
These days, an undead warband or army will have a lot more of a rag-tag, rustic look. Like they’ve just climbed out the ground still holding the weapons they died with.
In the early-mid 90s, Necromancers were obviously very attentive, kitting out their troops with freshly painted matching weapons and spears. Halcyon days indeed.
I remember buying this chariot on a trip to Games Workshop for my birthday. I’d saved up for months and turned up with a huge shopping list, all worked out to the penny via the catalogue pages in White Dwarf. One of the staff members was trying to advise me on what to get, and I was basically like “Bro, chill. I’ve got this!”.
The undead warband was probably my first ever fully painted Warhammer “army”. It took a few years to put together.
Undoubtedly the paint job is a bit rough at times, but I must’ve been putting the work in. I don’t know that I ever managed to play a game with them though, sadly!
I still think of the Lizardmen as “the new Warhammer army”, though ironically, the lore paints them as the oldest race in the Warhammer world. I’ll admit, I didn’t know anything about the old Slann armies, prior to Warhammer 5th edition’s release in 1996.
Back in the mid 90s, a friend of a friend had picked up 5th edition and I was fascinated with these “new guys”. I was a big Orc/Ork fan back then too. I obviously had a bit of a thing for green skin. I swiftly drew up plans to start collecting my own Lizardmen army.
This force was pulled out of a box in the attic recently, along with my Warhammer 40k Space Wolves. It took a good few years to build it, from what I can remember. One thing that sticks in my mind is how much fun I had painting them. Above is a Salamander and his ‘keepers’. I still love this mini.
The Lizardmen Saurus regiment were mainly made up of the plastic minis you got in 5th edition. I bought a box or two of them over time, and added in the metal command figures. It always used to frustrate me that command figures would sit more diagonally on the bases, like they were heading in a different direction from the rest of the gang.
Two or three of the plastic troops are missing their shields. Life’s tough in the attic.
The Kroxigors were two other minis I relished painting. I spent a bit of time on the bases, too. I used a varnish designed for Fimo clay, which made minis very shiny. But I figured this worked well on Lizardmen anyway. It certainly saved them from chipping when they spent a good couple of decades piled into a box.
This Lizardman Champion was a little damaged when I found the army. He had a snapped off arm (which I found, and fixed), and his base was missing too.
The Temple Guard were minis I enjoyed back in the day. These metal regiments you had to assemble by buying 2-3 in blister packs at a time were incredibly expensive to build. That’s probably why there’s only 8 of them here.
More of the Kroxigors, with some skink archers skulking in the background.
The bases were some form of clay (potentially Fimo, but possibly even window putty) with pieces of roughcasting stones pressed into them. I used to pick the stones off the wall of the house and get in trouble for it. What a bloody martyr.
These skink archers had a metal command group. The standard bearer is very top heavy. I never considered putting weights in the bases back then. He always fell over back then, and it turns out, he still does.
More Temple Guard. Looks like I used to enjoy painting colourful feathers.
Another fully metal regiment, Lizardmen skink javelin throwers. I painted the hero as an albino because I saw a few in White Dwarf. It probably could’ve gone another coat or three. The standard bearer here is one of the casualties of life in a box. His little standard is broken off and missing. At least it stops him falling over.
The Lizardmen army in all its glory – complete with one of the original pieces of terrain I made for them, courtesy of my Monster in My Pocket collection.
Lots of fond memories here, and the army is bigger than I remembered. I must give a respectful nod to childhood me for another fully painted force. The trade-off was an abject performance at school, but who needs school when you can play fully painted?
Despite this being an enjoyable trip down memory lane, much of this Lizardmen army was surplus to requirements. I stuck the majority of it on Ebay, and it looks like they’ve found a loving new general who’ll get them back on the battlefield!
Nothing quite defeats the purpose of an attic clearout than a return to collecting and painting miniatures. I’d completely forgot about my old Space Wolves army until I unearthed them in a box beside some Commodore 64 games, and a bunch of Monster in My Pocket figures. Surely the most 90s find of all time!
These Space Wolves never got much game time back in the day, from what I can remember. As armies go, it’s more of a skirmish level force. But proudly fully painted, and all patiently bought with birthday and Christmas money over the span of a few years.
The paint job was a bit rough and ready, but worked fine enough when they were all lined up together, and not viewed too closely. Though they fought few battles, these Space Wolves sport one or two injuries from years of living in a box. A few weapons have been snapped off, and the banner pole of one of the Captains is broken too.
I used Space Wolves Grey for the coats on the marines themselves. The two Rhino tanks were done with a spray paint my friends dad had lying around. It saved precious paint, as well as time. Well done, childhood me!
I attempted some light kitbashing with the Rhinos, adding a skeleton on the front of one, and a wolves head on the front of the other. I’m not sure where I got the wolves head, but it was potentially one of my old Battlemasters miniatures.
I built the Rhinos a little wonky. The tracks on either side aren’t quite flush on the ground, so they rock a little. Almost like there’s a couple of Space Wolves having sex inside. You’d never catch the Ultramarines behaving in such a degenerate manner.
The Space Wolves “command” are an eclectic bunch. The Redemptor Kyrinov guy was a late edition to the force, if I remember correctly. The big terminator with the prosthetic leg, and the marine in very retro armour were mail order purchases from the back pages of White Dwarf.
As nostalgic a find as they were, these Space Wolves have now been moved on to pastures new. I stuck them up on Ebay and I was glad to see them find a new home for themselves. I’m sure they’re thirsty for battle after a long period cooling their heels in a dusty box!
I “played” Warhammer 4th edition as a kid. The one with the High Elf and Goblin armies. The box provided enough miniatures to form up several units, and I’m sure there were a few plastic green movement trays that came with it too.
For some reason though, we never seemed to use them. I’d play on my pal’s bedroom floor, and we’d move units one miniature at a time. I think the reason was essentially that we’d created loads of very small units in order to make the game seem “bigger”. Or for the armies to look like they had a bit more variety.
Both take place in a medieval/fantasy setting, but one is a small scale skirmish, whilst the other is a grand, sweeping ‘rank and flank’ experience. KoW has all the elements that attracted me to Warhammer Fantasy Battles, back in the day.
I’ve been keen to base the figures I’ll use in Open Combat on round bases (I simply think it looks better, when viewed in isolation). However, I wanted to form up these same units into regiments, for Kings of War. The bottom line? I needed movement trays.
I thought I’d have a bash at making my own movement trays, because the regiments I wanted to form were all different shapes and sizes. To do this, I took a thick piece of card, some little wooden dowels cut to size, and (randomly), some wall filler to stick them down with. Use whatever you have to-hand, right?
I ended up making quite a few of these over the past few months.
I’ll then paint them green as a base layer, then coat with sand, then paint a second coat of green.
Some movement trays I’ve coated with flock, but the flock tends to be a bit messy and sheds like a permanently moulting dog.
These minis are far from finished, but here’s one of my movement trays, with the sand-based coating.
I did actually base a lot of miniatures on square bases before I got into Open Combat. The above units (GW chaos warriors, and Perry Miniatures knights) I glued down permanently onto these movement trays.
I did the same with these Perry Miniatures crossbowmen. You might see that I’ve filled them out a little too, using the wooden stake pieces from the box on every second base. On hindsight, I could’ve gone without the individual bases all together and just created a mini diorama on the movement tray.
So I tried it with these bowmen…
I was quite pleased with the result here.
However, I recently discovered that the simplest solution to getting movement trays of any shape or size was right here on my doorstep the whole time.
Warbases are a company who’re located very local to me, and I was fortunate to be invited over for a look round after reaching out to them.
There’s nothing movement tray-related that they don’t seem to do. The above photo shows five of their trays (all in various stages of completion), alongside my own home-made effort on the front right.
The ‘Infamy Mob’ one on the left is great for less organised regiments, like goblins, or zombies. The single line movement tray with the bowmen on it is perfect for archers of any type too.
The large tray at the back can be used to house square-based miniatures, or you could just chuck a load of round-based troops on there to create a mass mob.
Warbases movement trays are excellent, and ultra-cheap. The prices for these trays are all in the single figures.
They just need a lick of paint, and some sort of base (sand or flock), and they are table ready.
I’m happy enough with the movement trays I made myself, but to be honest, it simply isn’t worth my time, when you look at the cost and quality of the Warbases stuff. I’d much rather focus on painting miniatures, and actually getting a game in now and then!
September 2020 Update: Warbases Movement Trays
I’ve been working on my latest batch of Infamy Mob movement trays and wanted to share a few pictures.
The above shows 2 movement trays in different stages of completion.
Here’s one of my village militia units.
And here’s the other village militia.
I’m also using an Infamy Mob movement tray for Krell and some modern GW skeletons.
And for a gang of GW Chaos Marauders.
Next up, snotlings!
More snotlings, with a few goblins thrown in for good measure.
As I said before, the Infamy Mob movement trays are perfect for units that wouldn’t look right being formed up into neat and organised rows. You can pick them up from Warbases. If you do – tell them Bedroom Battlefields sent you!*
So that’s my chat on movement trays, for the time being. Feel free to drop your own hot takes into the comments section, below.
*No affiliation at all here, incidentally. I just really like their stuff!
Oathsworn Miniatures are a company who produce wonderful anthropomorphic animal characters. These are sculpted predominantly for their flagship game Burrows & Badgers, but they fit nicely into any game with a fantasy setting. The miniatures work particularly well for skirmish games – I’m currently painting up a rabbit and hare warband for Open Combat.
In my post about recently returning to the tabletop miniature hobby, I talked about only being aware of Citadel Miniatures back in the day. And as much as I’m still fond of the Games Workshop range, it’s been a joy to discover companies like Oathsworn.
There’s a real charm to these little creatures. They have everything from Raven Mages and Shrew Pirates, to Mouse Burglars and Wildcat Hustlers.
As a kid, I was a massive fan of Brian Jacques’ Redwall novels, and the Oathsworn range reminds me a lot of that legendary series.
The company also has a great looking range of buildings and scenery available on their site. I’m a lover of tabletop terrain, and will definitely be looking to pick up some of this kit myself.
Furry Fanbase
Oathsworn Miniatures is based in the North East of England, and was started in 2013 by professional sculptors Michael and Jo Lovejoy. They initially launched the Burrows & Badgers range via Kickstarter in 2015. Recently, they returned to the platform securing over £36,000 to fund a new range of miniatures, including mice, cats, hares, ferrets, dogs.
The latest Kickstarter had 559 backers, and the Oathsworn Miniatures Facebook page has over 3000 fans. It’s clear to see that they’ve build a dedicated and enthusiastic fanbase around their beautiful sculpts. That’s not at all surprising, and I expect they’ll continue to grow from strength to strength.
Oathsworn Miniatures
I’ve not had the opportunity to dive into the ruleset of Burrows & Badgers yet, but it’s definitely on my radar.
As I’ve said already though, the miniatures can work in virtually any fantasy game setting. And building a warband of little animalfolk is a lot of fun.
If you’re purely into the painting and collecting too, then I’d urge you to treat yourself to a handful of Oathsworn miniatures. I’m not a confident or experienced painter, but I’ve been happy with what I’ve achieved so far with my hare and rabbit warriors. They’re extremely satisfying to paint, and I’ll certainly be getting more in the near future!