Horus Heresy Army Showcase: XIII Ultramarines

Take a look at the first episode in cinematic army showcases for War Head YouTube! The weary loyalists from the XIII Legion cross the Thracian countryside and seek shelter from a friendly farmstead. The host is led by the Lord of Ultramar himself - Primarch Roboute Guilliman. Hope you enjoy this cinematic look at the pride of Macragge!

Trench Crusade - Factory Fortress Display Minis

Trench Crusade is the cool new guy on the block and something we've been following closely from the early stages - it was actually our studio's Thracia Rex terrain that was used for the initial playtest rounds with the game's designer Tuomas Pirinen! The project has grown massively since those days, built a worldwide community and become this thrilling wargaming phenomenon - all accomplishments very much earned by its dedicated team. 

War Head and our partner Poromagia were fortunate to carry the official Trench Crusade merchandise selection in Ropecon this year, and we built a head-turning display alongside their event team. With banners, props and signed artwork already present, we printed, assembled and painted a set of Trench Crusade resin miniatures for a classic cabinet display. We tried to approach each subject like we'd do with our own projects, a bit of a personal take with a narrative touch, while still staying true to the wicked source material. The two full warbands were painted almost exclusively with Army Painter's John Blanche signature sets, providing a pleasing "limited palette" for a neat, uniform look within the forces.

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Stompa Boy Blightning

For the last couple of weeks we've been preparing a sponsorship effort for the Oh My Game Open: The Finnish Blood Bowl Nationals, held in Helsinki on the first of November. As long-time friends of OMG and their owner Supi, we're happy to make a contribution to one of their strongest tabletop gaming communities and the domestic Blood Bowl scene. We chose to paint up a Black Orc Blood Bowl team to be presented as an award in the Finnish Nationals, a brand new team for a distinguished coach to take home with them after the thrilling event.

We decided to work primarily with the new Army Painter Warpaints Fanatic range, something we've found is miles ahead of their old Warpaint products, especially in coverage. This was also our first time trying out their Speedpaints, where we found a couple of new favourites. The Speedpaint Medium was also used as a matte coat, reducing the shine of washes and the gloss varnish used in the previous stages. 

The orcs were a fun painting project and we challenged ourselves a bit with a limited palette, basing the entire scheme on the use of green and cold hues of grey. In addition to the obvious skin color, green was used as the armour and bone undertones, with moss deposits and green tufts in basing and Necrotic Flesh mixed in for leather and clothing highlight stages. Neon green eyes were the final touch, adding a contrasting spot colour that leaned on intensity rather than the effect of a complementary colour. 

The result we feel is a interesting take on the Blood Bowl orcs with a bit more "mature" and down-to-earth approach compared to what we usually witness on the pitches. The limited palette adds a sense of credibility and while the models are not exactly colourful, they remain readable due to value contrast and the combination of light and dark shades. The spots of snow are the icing to unify the schemes of bases and the models themselves!

We wish everyone competing at the Blood Bowl Nationals best of luck!

Back in time - War Head's Ropecon 2025

War Head’s annual army painting competition was held once again in Ropecon this year - in this video we leap back to Messukeskus in order to cover some of the event and other miniature program around us — including Horus Heresy and the Finnish launch of Trench Crusade by our friends from Factory Fortress! The official Show of Force results coverage can be found here.