Painted Dwarves at Ashak Rise

I've finished the last four dwarves for the Ashak Rise scenario, and here they are.  

Borinn, Snorinn and two followers

Borinn* Fimbul

Dwarf Veteran is the recommended mini for Borinn, but I don't have him, and he's a bit on the expensive side on evilbay at the moment, due to his association with Orc's Drift.

I do have a Ghost Miniatures halberd armed dwarf who long ago lost his halberd. He's wearing a cloak and has a similar passive pose. I replaced his halberd staff with an axe (actually, I tried just adding a plastic axe head first, but it didn't look right) and added a pipe made from a bent piece of wire and a blob of superglue with baking soda added. Bending the wire reminded me of helping my dad make crooks for large recorders, which was a nice moment.

This is what I was trying to match. Gary Chalk's lovely illustration, and yes, I did spill tea over it long ago.

I used the card counter as a guide for Borinn's colour scheme. It's certainly not a perfect copy of the recommended mini, but I hope it's got the same feeling; hooded and cloaked,  axe at rest and with a pipe.

Snorinn* Fimbul 

This is the authentic mini, I mentioned getting him, under his original name, a few weeks ago.

Again, I used the card counter as inspiration for his painting, though frustratingly, the counter doesn't show his shield design, so I've made something up. The visible shield designs show axes, so I went with a red axe.  I'm not happy with this, so may repaint it some time.

Other Ranks

The other two dwarves are MM 10 Marauder Miniatures, from the haul of Old School goodies I recently got. These two are unshielded, and look like they could have just turned up with their hammers, following rumours of gold.

DW18, Dwarf with hammer 

Another gambeson, but simply giving it blue piping has made a difference. I'm aware that the canvas cover could be dyed, but I painted the first one with memories of the ones on display in the archer's barracks in Bolton Castle, North Yorkshire, and once I'd done one like that, changing them would have looked odd.

Otherwise, I think he looks quite dashing with his blond locks.

DW07 Dwarf with hammer and hat 

This chap fits well with a lot of the 'Swiss style' Marauder dwarves, albeit not as fancy. I think it's the scalloped collar. I like the style, and there were quite a few in my haul of dwarves. Marauder did it whole regiment of 'slash and puff' dwarves with long spears, and they are lovely. More recently, manufacturers such as The Assault Group have continued the theme.

I like my fantasy earlier, more High Medieval in style, but I'm starting to appreciate this style more. Certainly this chap fits right in.

I really enjoyed these, They might not be my best painting, but I'm really proud of them.  They took a long time to do, partly because I've been very busy, but also because I didn't want to finish them, they were so much fun to do.  Contrast this with the previous batch that just seemed to drag on.  Ah well.

The Dwarves At Ashak Rise

And here they all are; Borinn and Snorrin Fimbul and the eleven dwarves who followed them. I like their fairly random look.  these aren't a military unit, they are a group of deserters brought together out of greed.

All done?

Actually, if I'm using Warlords of Erehwon, I'll need at least one more dwarf to stick to the rules; faction leaders are accompanied by at least two bodyguards. The rules don't allow characters to join up with units, and the attack economy makes individuals somewhat vulnerable to multiple units. I'll probably take another mini from my already painted dwarves.

I still need to finish the mules who help carry the gold, I've got some minis ready, but they needed a bit of conversion and repair work before painting.

* The named dwarves are pronounced Boring and Snoring. An example of the type of puns with which Orc's Drift is rife. I've no idea why these dwarves are particularly tedious,  it could be a studio in joke? If anyone knows,  please leave a comment.