It is the Space Year Twenty-Twenty-Six (or 1994 the XXXIIth), and it’s shaping up to be the biggest yet for the Space Dwarfs.
Exö-Squad Update
Production of Rökthane Hurtzr Wârnug and his Exö-Squad is powering ahead and is on schedule for the promised April deadline.
| The production castings (pictured above) are in from the casters and we’re gearing up for a global dispatch. I’ve just written a full update on the Gamefound with photos of the components. |
Röknaut Stock: Nought
Demand for Röknauts is SO HIGH right now that we’ve had to ringfence stock for the Gamefound and the upcoming trade shows. This means the website is currently out of stock of most items, but fear not! More are on the way from the casters as we speak. Keep an eye on our updates to find out when they’re back.
Thank you to everyone that has put in large orders recently, I cannot wait to see the armies that are amassing across the globe!
Vapnartak Attack!
The new trade show season is well and truly underway, with Vapnartak at York Racecourse hitting last month. The organisers let us keep the same top-of-the-stairs pitch (thanks, Adi!) as last year so everyone heading upwards could bask in the multi-coloured glow of the Ontos banners and cabinet lights.
It was mega to see so many of you there, and chat all things Space Dwarf. Interesting to get the same suggestions for specific new wargear options from several people – I’ve been sculpting away feverishly after all this inspiration. We had a great day, and I even managed to scamper off and get my hands on some exciting sci-fi minis from other cool indies like Crooked Dice and Void Scar.
CHILLCON Weekender 2026
Next up on the show calendar is the CHILLCON Weekender on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd 2026 in God’s own city of Sheffield.
CHILLCON is one of the new breed of gaming shows that’s shaking up the standard format with activities for the whole family such as PAINT & TAKE (with their awesome “Star Chip Trooper” mascot miniature), Bitz Blitz and a Board Games Library courtesy of Travelling Man. It’s over two days, so the relaxed pace might let me pop out the POG collection and challenge passers-by to slammin’ milkcap matches in the downtime.
Lead & Steel
Lead & Steel And then Ontos will be heading to Lead & Steel in Sheffield (yeah, Sheffield again!) on Saturday 4th April 2026. There will be a massive chaotic alien-blasting participation game of Far Corfe 2026 (you can find gang creation rules in the Lead & Steel Discord), plus pre-bookable gaming tables if you want to set up a game yourself. There’s also trader stands from cool folk such as Mammoth, Void Scar, em4, Culverin, Apocalypse, Fenris, 3D Kingdoms, Big Mister Tong and Die Hard.
There’s a painting competition with some Ontos minis in the prize pool. And (most excitingly) there’s a FREEEE goodie bag with all sorts of beautiful things in including the event miniature Tarktik – The Arctic Space Monkey, looking good on the dance floor in the flier above. Hope to see you there!
Salute 2026
And then it’s the biggest wargames show on the Whole Wide Earth the week after – South London Warlords’ Salute. On Saturday April 11th 2026. There’s well over a hundred games companies exhibiting, scores of participation and display games, a goodie bag with a hard plastic mounted Saladin, plus thousands and thousands of people.
You might think that Ontos having the same stand number (TA07) as last year means we’re in the same place as last year – BUT NO! The Salute map numbering system has gone a bit Fresh Prince and got twist-turned upside down. But so has the entrance. So, we’re close to the entrance again, but a different entrance, but the same amount of “close”. See you there!
Community Showcase
Miguel VT has painted up pair of Týrstorm Biker conversions in his now-signature orange and blue scheme, on what I can only describe as pink cyberlava bases. The “blue steel” effect on the armour and exhausts is making me pull a delighted Derek Zoolander face.
Miguel’s converted the fairings by elongating the forks, and mounting the twin Wyrmbytrs above the mudguard. I love the Biker-Mice-from-Mars attitude these exude. And these are joining the force previously featured on the newsletter.If you’ve got some Röknauts you want to show off, send in the photos! It gets me super excited seeing other people having fun with their painted toys, and I can put you in the hopper for these Community Showcases.
Harbinger of Resin
Ever since I sculpted the second Bedrök Trooper with Wyrmbytr I wanted to do weapon variants for these chunky little dudes. I’m a believer in multipart miniatures letting you do mix-and-match assemblies, so I’ve been working out how to put the Sunferno Rifle from the Exö-Squad Troopers on as an alternative component. Here’s a line drawing of how that looks. Maybe we’ll see him at a trade show before too long…
Thanks for reading! Looking forward to seeing you soon, and/or posting packets of toy soldiers your way.
Rök on!
Chris “Ontos” Webb
Space Dwarf Artificer-General