The toy soldiers don’t actually do the saving, but the existence of these particular toy soldiers will certainly help lives across the world. Recently, a group of hobbyists got together to embark on a mission to give something back to the world through their favorite hobby: table top war games.

Communicating via internet, Mik of Mik’s Mini Blog, approached several other hobbyists with an intriguing idea: to build a miniature army for use in Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 (games-workshop.com). The miniature army would be based on the not-yet-released game Deathwatch, and then raffled off with the proceeds donated to a charity foundation.

The project would ultimately involve eight hobbyists and over a dozen other groups making donations. Each of the eight hobbyists would donate time and materials to the effort, with each person responsible for building and painting a particular part of the army. The army, when completed, would be gathered together and raffled off to a winner. The proceeds would be given to Doctors without Borders (doctorswithoutborders.org).

The group approached Fantasy Flight Games (fantasyflightgames.com), a leading publisher of table top games, to inquire about using characters from one of their games as the basis for the army. Fantasy Flight was currently developing a role play game based in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The game, Death Watch, included a new Space Marine army that was perfect for their setup. Turns out, Fantasy Flight was only too open to the idea. In support of the project, Fantasy Flight even supplied sample and unreleased images to the group.

During the course of the project, the team approached several online stores to ask about possibly receiving additional materials for the project. Chessex Online provided a set of custom dice, incorporating the Storm Warden coat of arms. Gale Force Nine supplied a series of custom game tools that likewise utilized the Storm Wardens logo. Silver Compass Designs donated a set of custom markers used to mark damaged vehicles in the game itself. Secret Weapon Miniatures donated a full series of custom cast resin bases for the models. As an added bonus, Battle Foam supplied a custom foam carry case for the army.

The group accrued over $800 worth of models and materials to facilitate the construction of the Storm Wardens army. John built and painted the Space Marine Captain, Apothecary, Veteran Brother Gaither, a 10-man Heavy Weapons squad, a massive armored war machine known as a Dreadnought, five-member bike squad, a Space Marine hover craft known as a Land Speeder and a transport vehicle called a Razor Back. Dave Taylor, a hobbyist in Baltimore, Md., who runs his own blog at davetaylorminiatures.blogspot.com, built and painted the 10-man veteran squad and the two orbital transport drop pod models. Ron Saikowski, a fire fighter from Northern Virginia and author of the “From the Warp” Warhammer blog, was charged with the production of the army’s Standard Bearer and the heavy hitting Assault Terminator Squad.

Brien Dulaney, of Dulanis Miniatures fame, took charge of crafting the army’s psychic master fighter known as the Librarian, and the army’s chaplain. A member of the Jawaballs online group took the initiative to create the Company Champion, a 10-man tactical squad, and the Rhino armor personnel transport. Mik, (Mik’s Minis blog) crafted another member of the army’s command squad, Veteran Brother Landes. Senji Studios’ Pat built and painted the second tactical squad. Lastly, Fantasy Flight Games’ Ross Watson and Mack Martin took part in the building of the army and contributed a captain with a supporting combat squad.

Many of the respective models are individualized to some degree to bring more character to them. Each of the war hammers — carried by the Assault Terminators — have been rebuilt to look more like small anvils, while the commander of the squad has a tattoo of the Storm Warden’s lightning bolt icon painted across his right eye. Veteran Brother Landes utilizes parts from at least four different kits.

The Dreadnought is not the standard plastic model offered by Games Workshop, but rather the high quality, high detailed resin version offered by Games Workshop’s sister company, Forge World.

With hundreds of dollars spent in materials and kits, and hundreds more in man hours, one would have to wonder how much they were able to donate. Did they actually make enough to break even? Upon totaling the amount, they were shocked to discover they could donate over $16,100. The winner was presented with the miniature army at GamesDay, Games Workshop’s annual gaming convention held in Baltimore. The group found the charity event so successful that they are exploring the possibility of making the charity raffle a regular project.

By: Michael Cividanes

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