Kevin C.

December 2025

So, this article came out a LOT later than I had hoped for. This is mostly because my work location (and my job) has changed, and so I am now always in the office. The commuting and the additional parenting duties has cut significantly into my hobby time. Despite this, I was able to finish a few projects this year, and get two more armies complete for the year of 2025.

For Rohan!

I had mostly finished my Rohirrim army earlier this year, but I was able to pick up one last miniature – (Hotboots) Hera. I really like this miniature, and I am glad I was able to use a different color palette with her – more blues and whites, rather than the greens and browns I used for the rest of the army.

On the one hand, she does not fit in with the rest of the army, even with her brothers Haleth and Hama, but she does decidedly stand out, as characters should. I’m content to call the Rohirrim army done, and I am glad that I learned so many good techniques for painting horses, which will be useful for when I paint my beloved Bretonnians.

For the Empire (Part Zwei)!

First, I have to give a MASSIVE shoutout to my boy Jerry for his fantastic work with my militia and flagellants. He did a great job with these, and they work well with the rest of the army. I may even use some of the Free Company miniatures in a Mordheim game… if I can ever get enough time for a Mordheim game.

Okay, so onto my own work, I had one last miniature that I purchased personally this year – the War Wagon. All of my other miniatures in my Empire army were either bought all the way back in 2012, or were gifted to me through offloading. This project was half completed on my table for a LONG time (three months), but I made a commitment to myself to finally finish my Empire army this year, so I buckled down this holiday and got it done.

The wagon was the easiest bit, mostly due to the large blocks of color. I painted the wood with a Wyldwood Contrast à Steel Legion Drab heavy drybrush à Screaming Skull light drybrush. With the horses, I used some of my techniques I learned from the Rohirrim horses (see above), thanks to the eternally useful Duncan Rhodes.

With the crew, I spent a lot of time on them, which seems like a bit of a waste of time, since about 75% of their bodies are hidden due to the tight packing inside the wagon. I did want to add some detail to the slitted sleeves, a la Landsknecht that they are clearly based on, so I put in some white in the gaps of their sleeves to make them stand out compared to the regular state troops.

And with the War Wagon complete, here is the full army in its glory. I am going to declare it done for now, though I may go back and add a character miniature or two in the future.

Future Plans

I still need to figure out what I am going to paint in 2026. I realize that I cannot afford to be as ambitious as I was in previous years, so I will have toi be choosy with what to paint. Here is what I have on my docket, all assembled and primed:

·         Trench Crusade (Red Brigade from Westphalia Miniatures)

·         Sister of Battle Army

·         Two Kill Teams (Ork Kommandos and Phobos Scout Marines)

·         My remaining Bretonnians (Questing and Grail Knights, Mounted Yeomen, Squires, Trebuchet, Grail Reliquae and Pilgrims, and some characters)

Also, at some point I am going to want to assemble and paint all of the Mk IV marines I have for Horus Heresy to have the Alpha Legion army I always longed for. These are not assembled or primed, but someday perhaps.

Thank you for reading, and I wish everyone a safe and happy new year, and a calm and serene 2026. Cheers!