For the Ginger Dwarf: A Charity Painting Project in the 41st Millenium

Gamers are a lovely bunch of coconuts and the internet has made finding them easier. Some years ago, back when Dust was still called Tactics and actually had an active community in the UK, I had the pleasure of being part of a group of people promoting the game for fun in the four nations. Through that group I met a lovely soul who goes online by the name Voodoo Bob. Bob and I have never met but over the last few years we’ve had some good banter, especially on his Twitch streams. He is, I believe the expression is, good people.

Bob and his partner, Ginger Dwarf, have had a rough few years as she has been battling cancer. Over the time they’ve received a lot of support from Macmillan and last year Bob did two 24 hour streams to raise money for them. He recently announced that he is doing another one in a few weeks and will be playing Minecraft the whole time. They are using the stream as a chance to build a mega base as a monument to Ginger.

I knew I would be there in his chat and in the background mining for them but I wanted to find a way to do a little more. Like many people, I don’t have a lot to donate in terms of money but I can donate my time so I began sneaking.

I went to some wargaming communities I am part of and I floated the idea of a charity auction. Bob is a 40k man so I figured I would paint up a wee force and try to get some extra money donated for him and draw attention to his stream for extra on the day support. I also wanted to do it without Bob and Ginger knowing because surprising people is fun. Especially when they are many hours into a 24 hour slog and need a wee pick me up.

Two things happened. Firstly, someone on the Top Table Gaming Facebook group suggested a raffle instead of an auction so more people could afford to chip in. This is an idea I love as I never even look at auctions because I know I won’t have the money for it. A raffle just seems like a more inclusive way to go about things.

Secondly, Andy from Blackjack Legacy and Dominik, a member of the BJL Discord offered to donate models for the cause. Andy had already painted the space marine half of the Indomitus box saving me time as well as money. Dominik offered some extra marines and an impulsor tank. I don’t play 40k but he assured me they pair nicely with the Indomitus force.

Fantastic, now I just have to paint them to match Andy’s work…