Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Imperial Army of Salsburg, Dwarf Corps, Pikes

Hi all,

Up next in our look at the Dwarf portion of the Grand Army of Slasburg is a unit that is something special...at least to me.

Seeing this advertisement in White Dwarf in 1991 was a pivotal moment in my hobby career...




I had already been playing Warhammer Fantasy Battles for a number of years and had started to collect a dwarf army...which consisted of 3 principal units 1. Bugmans Rangers 2. Ulther's Dragon 3. a large regiment of the plastic dwarfs from the Warhammer Regiments box.

But it was these Marauder Dwarf Pikes that cemented my interest in going all in on a Dwarf army.  I remember the excitement (and frustration) of trying to open the Blister Box that this unit came in ...and it was quickly painted and fielded...in fact one of the only completely painted units that I had completed in my youth.

Here they are in all their 1990s glory!

 
**Shudder** those green bases are shocking to me now...


Well...here is the updated unit with new paint and a few changes in personnel...:)




As you will see I continued with my affection of the red and blue color scheme...but in its current iteration I have included more white components than I did with the old...a color triad is always better IMO.

Here, finally, we have the unit I dreamed of having in my youth...and in fact I have an entire army of similarly styled and painted figures...Amazing!  It only took 30ish years! :)

You can see that I have kept, but updated, the old Banner design (again incorporating white).  I have swapped out musicians though.  The original fife playing dwarf that came with this regiment was recently transferred to the Guard Crossbow unit and he was replaced with the MM15 Dwarf Warrior Drummer.  I also added the MM15 Dwarf Warrior attacking with pike to the front rank as well as three of the modular dwarfs with plug in pikes.



If we look at the second rank you will also notice some other additional recruits to the original pike unit.


Here in the second rank we have a couple of conversions of the crew from the MM13 Dwarf Siege Gun as well as another of the MM15 Dwarf Warriors...the wounded chap withe the Sword...he fits well behind that large banner.  All of these help to reduce the number of repeat figures as much as possible.

Finally...the third rank...

This rank contains another copy of the converted swabber from the cannon crew (this time based on an angle) and well as yet another MM15 Dwarf Warrior...specifically the Halberd wielding guy on the left that is acting as unit Sargent and helping to keep the ranks tidy and moving forward.


I actually have another 7 figures that I could add to this unit bringing it to 28 in size...but they are still painted my late teenage paint jobs and I don't have the heart to strip them right now.  I may attempt to "enhance" their existing paint with some washes etc and just leave them in the back rank...but that is for a future project.


Cheers for now!

Blue

14 comments:

  1. Awesome work as ever. We still need to do a Dwarf team up , on one side of the pond or the other!

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  2. Absolutely wonderful. I almost want you to start writing a series on the comings and goings of the units day to day life. Like the musician getting transferred and such.

    Really hope you are bringing these to Cold Wars too. We need to get a one on one game in.

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    1. I've been thinking about that...fluff writing takes me a lot of time though...maybe it will trickle out. Phase one is coming up with names for lots of these dudes..

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    2. Yus you need to get some names before cold Wars. ;)

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  3. Really cool to see your painting progress between the 1990s and today. I really wish I had more pictures of models I painted in my youth

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    1. yeah its cool to have...and a little bit cringy as well...:)

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  4. Yep great unit of Renaissance Dwarves. The conversion of the (canon) gunners in Pikemen Dwarves is a classic but very effective. Bravo :)

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  5. They look excellent. Love the colour scheme, and how you have painted the pikes. I like the conversion in the second regiment.
    Glad you have been able to build the regiments you've always wanted.

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    1. thanks Lee...I'm excited to get them into combat soon!

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  6. It's always a treat to see these pike-dwarfs, Blue! I especially like seeing how you've updated (and largely retained) your 1990s paint scheme.

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  7. This is such a lovely reworking of the minis. I love reading about your personal experience with the miniatures first time round, really grounds the love you've poured into them.

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  8. These look superb, a great repaint if that is the correct word? I had these figures when I was about 13 or 14 and painted them terribly!

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