Thursday, July 26, 2018

Blast from the Past: Warhammer Fantasy Samurai Dwarves


EDIT: This army has been SOLD.

This was my first army, painted nearly 20 years ago, so bear with me if the painting's a little spare. Quite honestly, I can't believe I never shot and posted them before. They're based on the sculpts from company called Old Glory. At the time I had a few fantasy dwarf models from D&D, but wanted something a bit different for the battlefield. Samurai are always cool, so, upon seeing these models in the local (now shuttered, sadly) game store, I seized on the idea of making an army out of them. My one regret was never finding suitably asian cannons for them, though.


Because the sculpts were limited, I had to improvise with what was available for characters and commanders. The Five Sages represented each element (air, water, void, earth, and fire, respectively). My favorite has to be the ice-themed water sage with his snowy base and greenstuff-sculpted beard. 


These ronin could fill in any number of roles, from a small independent unit to more character models. Not everyone is an immortal sage, after all. 


Despite their slow speed and somewhat limited charge range, dwarven warriors were (at the time) some of the best infantry in the game. A solid block of 25 warriors was nothing to sneeze at. 


Likewise, a block of 25 hammerers offers a lot of staying power and could flatten whatever it was pointed at. Sharp eyes will notice some Rackham sculpts at the bottom. Because there were, of course, no hammers in the Old Glory range, I was forced to kitbash their weapons. 


The dwarven army list had no ninjas, but it did have miners that could arrive from underground and chuck blasting charges, which struck me as a very ninja-like thing to do. They could easily bolster their numbers with the ronin sculpts above, as well.


Long range firepower came in the form of a unit of crossbowmen. above, and the below handgunners, whose ranks I never quite filled out. I wish I'd been able to find a set of dragon-mouthed cannons to add some long-range punch, but alas, I haven't played WHF in years, so it's an addition that may never be completed. 



This post is also for archival purposes, as I'll be putting this army up for sale on eBay soon. It kills me to do so, but quite frankly, times are tough and I need the money more than the dwarves.

Edit: On sale now. EBAY LINK HERE