More Oldhammer Dwarves

More for Ashak Rise

With the Severed Hand Orcs painted (barring 6 hobhounds) I've been working on their opposition. I can use some of the dwarves I painted ages ago, but I need a few more.

These are a rag tag bunch of dwarves, drawn to Ashak Rise by the lure of gold. As such, there's no attempt at a uniform look for them. If I'm sticking to the Command Sheets, they should all be unshielded, and most of my dwarves do carry shields, unless they have crossbows or similar. I'm sure I can find enough though, and they should look suitably irregular*.

Four Dwarves

I began these four last year, but they kept getting put to one side. They were becoming what Orlyyg of Realm of Chaos 80s calls Moriarty Miniatures.

But with the end of the Paint What You Got Challenge, I set myself the task of doing some finishing off of part done minis. These dwarves seemed ideal.

I'll be honest, I struggled with these. I'm still not completely happy with them, but they are done now and bring me closer to having the dwarves I need for Ashak Rise. Just four more to go, and they are already primed and on painting handles.

Part of the issue was colour choice. There's a lot of leather and wood, both areas that I start from a base coat of Vallejo Game Color Scorched Brown, so for a long time they all looked very 'samey'. I'm not sure that off white is the right choice for the gambesons. They've been grey, bright white and in one case, blue and white before settling on this off white, and I'm still not completely happy with it. 

Three of them are Citadel Imperial Dwarves designed by the Perry Twins, the remaining one is a Ral Partha Dwarf Warrior (18007). 

L to R; Grimboar, Bardin, Hargir and Dwarf Warrior

D5 (16) Grimboar

Grimboar is, perhaps, the worst for the colour choices,  as they are all armour and equipment,  with just a little flesh showing.  I realised later that I could have added a bit of blue as piping around the armour (I might return to the mini and do this). I like to have some blue on all my dwarves,  and currently all they have are the fletchings on the ammunition. 

Random thought; it must get hot in that padded jacket. 

D5 (05) Bardin

Bardin has been in the wars (aka been rattling around in the bottom of a box for years).  Some of the detail has been lost, you can see the mail on his right arm is now worn smooth. The left tip of the crossbow is also deformed,  but it's not as obvious. 

Still, he's the dwarf I'm happiest with out of this lot.

C06 (ID-07) Hargir the Cautious 

Hargir is less prone to overheating, with their arms unprotected.  This gave me the opportunity to paint their tunic sleeves blue. 

Ral Partha Dwarf Warrior (18007)

The dwarf warrior is a nice, cleanly cast miniature.  I don't know who sculpted it, but it was originally for Das Schwarte Auge (Roleplaying game?). Detail is a little finer than the Citadel dwarves, and he's certainly more slender,  but I don't think he looks too out of place. 

Looking at him now, I could have made more of the canteen on his belt, maybe a nice red leather? Another thing to go back to.

So, four more dwarves ready to fight for that gold, or at least try and escape with it. 

The GW dwarves have a humour to them that I find lacking in the Ral Partha dwarf, particularly the gambeson wearing warriors with just their noses poking out. As they have no visible beards, perhaps they are female warriors?

*If we look at the card counters provided in the scenario pack (I talked about them back in November 2022), some of the dwarves do have shields.  It looks as if the dwarf counters provided are intended for use both at Ashak Rise, and at Orc's Drift.