I have a War Wagon!

As someone who grew up playing Warhammer in 4th and 5th edition, I find nostalgia for that period to be very strong. I read every battle report and article in White Dwarf, and pored over the pictures. Every time I pick up an old model to paint it, I am conflicted about whether to paint it in a (rather dull) manner that is coherent with my existing forces, or to surrender to my baser urges and paint it exactly as it appeared in those magazines...

I didn't play Empire back in those days, but I have since accumulated enough of the older models that I have this same issue when I'm painting them. I find myself wishing that my stuff looked like the old studio armies, so that I could properly recreate the vibe of that era. I haven't given in yet, but the urge is there. In a similar vein, it has bothered me for years that I didn't have a War Wagon. They were a fixture in the Empire army photos of the time, and it always felt like a gap. This is of course rather silly of me - there haven't been rules for a War Wagon in an Empire book since the 4th/5th edition one. So it's not like I had a functional gap in any list I cared to make. But that didn't stop me really wanting one. And any time I saw one for sale online, they went for an eye-watering amount of money. I have a stupid amount of stuff, but I still don't really see myself as a collector, and hence I have issues with paying what can only be considered collector-level prices.

Well, in recent times I have finally had the means to do something about my terrible need for useless War Wagons! In actual fact, I've done a couple of things. First there was a Norba kickstarter with some suitably retro-looking War Wagons that I backed. With the last year being what it has been, I'm not entirely sure when those models will arrive. And then along came another option, in the form of 3d printable files from Magori Miniatures. This would mean I could print unlimited War Wagons!! So I could really double down on my largely unusable models. This was perfect. I had to do it. And so I did. I became a patron, and I printed 2 War Wagons. Just the 2, so far. But I can always make more...

Of course, I say I printed 2, but so far I have only painted 1 of them. The other awaits assembly. And there are some learnings from this one that may or may not be acted upon.

A War Wagon by Magori Miniatures, with traditional GW barded warhorses. At the time, the wagon only came with unbarded horses and that didn't fit the traditional vibe I was going for. So I stole the horses from elsewhere. There is muttering coming from one of my bags of unassembled knights, I think... Amusingly, the designer added some barded horses maybe one day after I stuck this all together.

Oh yeah, and apparently my phone updated the camera app and turned on the watermark by default. Thanks, phone. Of course I want to brand every photo I take... I noticed this too late, and am too lazy to go back and re-take the photos. I have turned off the watermark in the settings now, though.

I actually considered painting the thing exactly as it appeared in the old studio army, but it wouldn't have matched my existing stuff and I eventually overcame the urge and stuck with something that matched my Ostland scheme. I wasn't sure whether to do the chassis black or as brown wood like most of my other machines, but in the end I decided it would look odd in brown. I can experiment when I paint another one.

This photo and the next will highlight a mistake I made during printing. I elected to tilt the upper structure 45 degrees on its side during printing, which means half the supports were coming from the underside, and half were attached to the lower-leaning wall. As a rule it's a sound practice, but the lower facings with the supports always suffer a little, and it shows. This is the good side (how it's meant to look)...

...and this is the bad side that was covered in supports and got a little over-exposed. It's not horrific - not bad enough that I discarded it and tried again. And I had printed the second one before I realised what had happened. If I print a third, I will probably try a different orientation.

Most of the crew are just the 3d printed ones provided with the wagon, but a couple got head swaps. I think I lost a head or two. I am taking bets on how long it will be before that morning star snaps off. Actually, no I'm not. I don't want to think about it...

A couple of these guys are real show offs, wearing only one puffy sleeve so everyone can see them flex their other arm.

It really is very congested in there. It would be a real nightmare to be fighting so close together, especially when half of you are firing blackpowder weapons and one of you has a massive idiot flail...

It's so silly. I'm so glad I have one now.

Another lesson learnt. A friend printed me the base on an FDM printer, and it would appear that I left it too long in the sun when the undercoat was drying. It warped heavily.

I tried to heat it and bend it back with a hairdryer, but with limited success. Everything was stuck down by then, and it restricted what I could do without breaking the lot. I'll be more careful with the next one.

So there you have it, I now own a War Wagon. This is very exciting. Now we will see if I ever find a way to use it!