Dwarfs!

Why Dwarfs?

I admit I have an affinity for dwarfs.  I’ve often told the story that it was my son who introduced me to the hobby of gaming with miniature figures.  But until now, I haven’t told you what my first figures were.  See, we started playing Warhammer 40K and later Warhammer.  My son collected Space Wolves and at this time, the only female sculpts were a few in the Eldar range.  There were no Sisters of Battle at this time.  So, I chose Squats!  And when it came time to start playing Warhammer, I chose Dwarfs!

But why, you may ask?  It’s because at the time, the Squats and Dwarfs had the most character followed closely by Goblins.  While the other races were sculpted in heroic and often stoic poses, the Dwarfs and Squats had pipes and beer steins.  Some had eye patches and peg legs.  Some were laughing (insanely laughing) and some were grim – a few were obviously drunk.  Today’s Games Workshop Dwarfs are a pale reminder of the Marauder and Citadel Dwarves of the 80s & early 90s.

The only figures I’ve ever regretted selling – although I got a great price for them – were my Squats.

In today’s post, I start cataloging my Dwarfs and I’m starting with a Dwarf army that won the best painted army prize at a Reaper Warlord tournament.  I got 3 really nice Kolinsky Sable brushes as the prize.  The army only won one game in the tournament (almost everyone else fielded an Undead army with lots of sucking vampires – it’s sometimes hard to win when everyone else sucks – blood that is.)

 

14433 Ursula, Dwarven Bear Rider Captain

Ursula Silverbraid, from Reaper’s Warlord line, mounted on a bear served as the warlord or general of my army.  It is a multipart model in that Ursula’s sword arm and the bear’s extended paw had to be pinned and glued into place.  On larger pieces, I use a paper clip to provide the pin and on the smaller pieces, I use floral wire that you can get at Michaels or any other craft store (including the one that I won’t name which steals artifacts from other countries & refuses to cover birth control in the healthcare it offers employees – yeah, that one).

03293 Ursula Silverbraid, Female Dwarf Warrior

Over in Reaper’s Dark Heaven Line, one finds the dismounted version of Ursula holding a rather menacing axe.  This is also a multipart model in that the shield comes separate, but I chose not to use the shield.  It was a large shield and I didn’t want to cover up that much of the armor, front or back.  I mixed a metallic brown for the armor, a color I’d seen on some Samurai armor.

03168 Vanja, Fire Giant Queen

The army list allowed for Skaldi, a Dwarf Goddess, as a monstrous type of warrior.  At the time, there was no sculpt available of Skaldi.  So, most of us players chose to use Vanja, the Fire Giant Queen, as our dwarf goddess.  I painted Vanja with the same flesh tones I use for all of my dwarfs, which was a mixture of Vallejo Game Color Dwarf Flesh and Ceramcoat Medium Flesh (nowadays, I use Reaper’s Rosy Flesh in place of the Medium Flesh).Vanja is also a multipart model.  The spear and hands had to be attached to the wrists and a ponytail had to be glued in the hair.  I really like this model.  It painted up very well.  Here is a comparison shot of a giant and a dwarf:I hope you don’t mind as I use this blog to catalog the miniatures I’ve collected over the years.  I promise there are many on the paint table nearing completion and I promise I’ll get back to playing games.