ERM Dwarves

• ERM Dwarves

ERM Dwarves — archers, a cleric, and two elements of blade.

I’ve done a number of posts on dwarves, but it’s been a long time since I’ve painted any. Finally, here are some of the East Riding Miniatures (ERM) dwarves that I got last year. As I said in the previous post, they actually scale quite nicely with some of the Splintered Light (SL) dwarves. As I found with other ERM figures, they don’t always look that promising in raw metal, but paint up very well. They are particularly good for using washes on.

The elements of blade, one is a command element.

Another angle.

From the rear.

Again.

These figures are from FT51, FT53, FT61 and FT62. On two of the shields I used a VVV transfer for hoplites of a boar’s head. It wasn’t very distinct. I think basic dark age patterns would be better. I will look to mix some of the figures I have from FT53 with my SL figures. I’ll do the same with the figures from FT61 and FT62 (as well as FT60), but only those that are armoured. I don’t see much use for unarmoured dwarves.

A SoBH cleric and some Shooters.

Another angle.

These are figures from FT52, FT56 and FT60. I like the cleric, and will probably use another of them in a HoTT Cleric element.

I’m not sure when I’ll get back to finishing a HoTT dwarf army; there are so many other projects at different stages, that it might be a while. Then again, it may jump to the head of the queue!

• Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Years back, when I placed my first SL order, I found a pair of figures in it that I hadn’t ordered. I didn’t realize that these were a bonus if your order was large enough. The figures are in the Archer Collection. Anyway, when I based the skeletons and zombies I had two bases left and put their ‘Northern Warrior and Thief Companion’ on them. They proved quick to paint, and were finished along with the dwarves. They’re a clear reference to the Fritz Leiber series of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser that I spent a bit of time rereading last year. I’m sure they’ll find their way into some SoBH warband at some stage.

From the side.

• South Welsh Allies

Welsh Cavalry.

For DBA 3.0 the Northern Welsh army (III/19c) have the option of a South Welsh ally. As they would otherwise have ten 3Pk, this seems very necessary. For this ally they must have a 3Cv element as the leader of these allies. I started painting these figures quite a while ago and am pleased that this is one of the many projects I have begun that is now finished.

I can’t help but feel that two 3Cv in one Welsh army, though useful, is too many, but unless the South Welsh army came with the option of a foot general, those are the rules. I’m sure it will be used as part of any Dark Age Celtic HoTT army that may one day see the light of day.

Another angle.

From the rear.

These are Feudal Casting figures, originally Irish or Picts. I’ve given them Essex shields and shortened the spears of some. I’ve got a lot more experienced at this, as I remember the first element I did years ago was a real trial!

• Painting progress

Otherwise, I’ve got the four elements of 4Pk a little closer to completion; they’re very close actually, and the four elements of Norman 3Kn are also pretty close. I’ve also added some more paint to a number of Tabletop Fantasy adventurers that I got last year. They’re also not far off from being finished. It’ll be good to get some more old projects finished before starting on any new ones!

Dwarf quest

Last month I posted a comparison of 15mm dwarves. After that I spent some time researching figures, and decided to order some dwarves from Splintered Light. They proved to be the answer, being the right size to scale with my humans and even to mix with some of my other dwarves. Despite this, it’s taken me a while to post anything about them. Yesterday, I prepped them, so now I can post a few comparisons. Here’s a rogues gallery of all the manufacturers I have (thought the Peter Pig ones got forgotten):

Dwarves from left to right: Blood Dawn, Eureka, Copplestone (x2), Black Raven (x2), Grenadier (x2), Feudal casting (human), Essex (human), Splintered Light (x2), East Riding Miniatures (x2), Chariot (x3, 3rd = halfling).

All the figures to the left of the two humans are bigger than them, and I’ll be selling those figures soon. Those to the right are Splintered Light (SL), East Riding Miniatures (ERM) and Chariot. The SL figures vary a little in size from figure to figure. This allows them to scale with both the ERM and the Chariot figures. Here’s a selection of these three manufacturers:

From left to right: first six = SL, next six = ERM, last three = Chariot.

Most of the SL figures would mix well with the ERM ones, as shown here:

Scaling SL and ERM.

The one on the right is very small and wouldn’t mix well. However, it’s one of the best for scaling with the Chariot figures:

Scaling SL and Chariot.

I’m in the process of painting some of the ERM figures. These comparisons have reinvigorated my interest in getting them finished. If you compare some of these figures with the pictures on the manufacturers’ websites, you might notice that I’ve made the axes smaller; in particular, I’ve chopped off one head of the double-headed ones.

Well, that’s where I’m at with my dwarves. After a lot of searching I finally have the figures I want. These are the ‘Angry Viking’ style dwarves, not the Leonardo Da Vinci ones. I’m not sure what Peter Jackson thought he was doing with his in the last instalment of the travesty that has been misnamed The Hobbit. There is a clear description of Dain’s dwarves, one he ignored, but then he ignored most of the book anyway, and loaded the film with ludicrous kung fu special effects and silly story lines. But I’ll restrain myself from saying more.

Dwarves again

I’m still trying to get dwarves for my HotT armies. I have Chariot dwarves, and I like some of them, but as I said earlier, some are more suited to Snow White. One virtue of the Chariot dwarves is that they scale with my Chariot, Feudal Castings and Essex humans. I now have bought figures from Peter Pig, Copplestone, East Riding Miniatures (ERM) and Grenadier (Mirliton) to use; none of them are ideal. Partly it is that the Chariot figures have very short legs; the Peter Pig figures might mix, though they are somewhat renaissance in their dress, particularly with the puffy pants. The ERM figures are the right height, but too bulky to mix, whereas the superb looking Copplestone and Grenadier figures are bigger than the humans of my armies. This is a shame, as the Grenadier figures especially I’d really like to use. Here’s a picture to illustrate scale that might be useful.

From left to right: Copplestone, Chariot [human], Grenadier, Essex [human], ERM, Peter Pig, Chariot, Chariot [halfling]

So what will I do next? I think I’ll paint a few ERM figures and see how they look on their own (I’d hoped to mix them with the Chariot figures). I’ll also paint my Peter Pig catapult and see how they look. I may then buy a few Peter Pig figures to mix with the Chariot ones, though if I like how the ERM paint up, I may go with them; either way the ERM and Chariot figures wouldn’t work on the same base. Longer term I reckon I’ll be looking to sell the Copplestone and Grenadier figures.

 

Dwarves

One of my recent purchases were some Copplstone Casting dwarves. They have proven too big to mix either with my 15mm humans (at least not as dwarves!) nor with my dwarves. I’m now in search of more dwarves to complement my Chariot ones. I like the Chariot dwarves, it’s just that some of them are wearing Noddy hats and belong with Snow White. I want mine with chainmail and helmets. I like the Grenadier dwarves that Mirliton sell, but I think they are too big (I researched this on TMP here).

I now think that I will try some of the East Riding Miniatures dwarves. I got some samples from ERM a few years back and they painted up really nicely.

ERM figures from the character pack FT40, a vampire, two wizards and a barbarian.

I painted these years ago when I first started painting again.

This post here has me fairly confident that the ERM dwarves are small enough to scale with the Chariot ones. Here are some pictures of 15mm dwarves I have bought.

Left to right: three Irregular (halfling and two dwarves), two Chariot, one Eureka and one Copplestone.

Left to right: Feudal Casting human, Copplestone dwarf, Tabletop human, Copplestone dwarf, Chariot dwarves.

The Copplestone figures are lovely, but too big to go with my ‘true 15mm’ humans and dwarves.

Dragons and other flyers

A menacing dragon.

With my dark age figures having been rebased, I’ve started to work on HoTT versions of these armies, or HoTT opponents of them.

A not so menacing dragon.

There are (or will be) fantasy versions of my Dark Age Celts, my Vikings and my Feudal Europeans. Currently, these are light on fantasy elements, but I will work on making them soon. You can see some progress to date on these armies on My Armies above.

Valkyrie allies of the fantasy Vikings.

Then there are the straight fantasy armies, Goblins (the only one ready for the table, though still without rebased hordes), Elves and Dwarves. The Elves and Dwarves have their allies ready, and I have the figures to paint, but they are not ready otherwise. You can see progress on these armies on their pages at My Armies above.

Centaur allies of the Dwarves.

On the Painting table

When I last wrote, I said the next project would be to paint seven 4Pk for my successor armies. Well, they’re over half done, but others have jumped the cue.

• Rebasing

The biggest project has been to rebase all my old armies. I had started this before I went to Adelaide, and a lot of my HoTT elements were all but done, just waiting for the flock. The impetus to restart this project was a desire to see how knights and spears compared under DBA 3.0. This got me redoing my first two armies, the Normans and Anglo-Danish. I also flocked the HoTT elements while I was at it.

Next, I rebased the Welsh, Irish and Vikings. This has taken quite a while, and is now almost completed. I’ve innovated by using No More Gaps to hide the bases. It adds more time to the job, but is worth it.

In the process of rebasing I got enthused with my Dark Age armies and the potential to use them for HoTT. I’ve now got the Scots Isles and Highland army complete again (it was demobbed for SBH figures. This started with the plan to create a Thegn general for the Prefeudal Scots so that they could have a 4Wb general with rear rank support and flanked by pike, something that’s likely to tear holes in most lines of foot. When I learned that the Scots Isles and Highland army is going to have a lot more choice in DBA 3.0, I decided to paint up the four elements of 4Bd I needed to get this back on the table. I’ve also painted a few more archers in mail to make their 3Bw more imposing. I also repainted the 5Hd.

So that’s some of what’s been jumping the cue for painting. I’ve also done a few HoTT elements, some Prefeudal Scots and Irish Lurkers — skirmishers on a 40×30 base along with a dog each. Finally I did a Cleric element — three medieval monks. Magicians and Heroes will follow.

• Song of Blades and Heroes

I’ve also been painting a few figures for SBH, actually quite a few. I’ve now finished thirty foot, and three mounted knights and a Hippogriff rider are close to being done. Most of these are Essex early medieval figures, dismounted Norman knights and Norman spearmen and archers. This adds some useful variety to my SBH range, but also is a way of getting started on painting some of these figures for an Essex Norman army. The rest are six halflings, two mailed Highland archers and a Druid from the Tabletop range. I’ve got more figures from Tabletop’s fantasy range. They’re a little larger than most of my figures and are very much ‘adventurers’, as they all have backpacks and other equipment. The wizards won’t quite look right in HoTT, but will be useful for SBH.

A halfling crossing the new bridge over the new stream with some of the assorted terrain additions doted around.

The other big activity for SBH is making terrain. I made a river (or a stream) using No More Gaps on a T-shirt. I rounded this out with a small bridge and then added a few tokens for treasure — chests, barrels, etc. I’ve done a tent and a small hut. And I’ve also made some hedges using Scotch Brite on iceblock sticks. The next stage for SBH is really dungeon tiles when I get a chance.

Another angle.

He hasn’t seen the two dragons, though!

Really just seeing if the timer makes a difference with the camera. I think it does.

 

 

• Plans

Those seven elements of pike should be finished next. Then I suspect I’ll be working on HoTT stuff: heroes, wizards, but also a dwarf and an elf army. More fantasy SBH figures may get done as well. I’ve started putting together a 3Cv for my Welsh; the North Welsh can have a South Welsh ally, who has to include the general element. I find this a bit odd — Welsh with two 3Cv seems too much. I might also work on the Normans, but I reckon the elves and dwarves will be more attractive.

The encounter in the Tall Timbers

Last night Beli’s Band met the Knights of George St. in a couple of encounters at John’s place. Despite promises, Keith never showed, so what was to be a three-way encounter was just between the two of us. There was a ‘treasure’ in the centre of the field, which was worth VP for the one that opened it. Surprisingly, despite short moves, I got there first (John had trouble with activation rolls). John also didn’t have much luck in combat, as Woodsman William was killed by Lhadr, when he was in combat with both Flakki and Bofor as well. Then Snorri and Holgar defeated Sergeant Bob, who had fallen, so his armour did not protect him in a close fight. Lhadr took on Sir Cumference ably supported by Gramr (I think Flakki or Bofor may have shot at him first); anyway, it was a gruesome sight, and the rest of Sir Cumference’s band did not stick around.

The scene of the carnage; the dwarves get massed around three corpses, while the remains of Sir Cumference's command are about to flee on their second morale check).

Gramr and Lhadr (both Greedy) prepare to despoit sir Cumference's corpse while the rest of the band look on.

Squire Robert, Woodsman Wayne, Squire Geoffrey and Squire Micheal beating a hasty retreat.

In the second encounter we sought magical treasure. The terrain was similar to the last encounter, but moved a little more centrally. We placed three corpses to indicate the possible location of the treasure. Two were in a central wood and one was atop the crag on the side. I went after the two in the wood, reaching one with Lhadr (his greed seemed to get him to these things quickly!) and one with Gifr. Both proved elusive, and it was left to Squire Geoffrey to climb the crag and find a ring (I think) of regeneration. Given he’s already tough, this seemed less useful. Anyway, he was soon shot at by the two crossbow armed dwarves and took a kip (fell and never stood) for the remainder of the encounter.

The real action was between Woodsman Wayne and most of the dwarves, who went after him with a will, but despite the numbers, couldn’t beat him. Holgar was in the thick of it, and Gramr went in to provide first support. Wayne despatched Gramr messily, causing his handler, Bofor, to retire a little, but the rest were unmoved (actually, I forgot that Holgar was not Fearless, so he didn’t take a morale check as he should have. At one stage Wayne was surrounded by Holgar, Snorri, Lhadr and Nar (he’d forced Grifr to retire (lucky dog!)); at odds of 3-1 or 4-1 he won each encounter until finally Snorri, I think, proved too much for him. Certainly, it was the last of the four combats; a very valiant fight; he was spurred on, no doubt, by the rude gibes of the dwarves, ‘Pick on someone your own size’ and so forth.

With Wayne down, Sir Cumference, who’d been trying to direct an encircling attack, found himself isolated. Beli attacked him, supported, I think, by Gifr, and he went down in a gruesome mess—again! At this point resistance collapsed, although Woodsman William was not routed, but chose to retire, as he had no support.

This was the first time we ventured into difficult terrain (because of the treasures), which was hard work for the dwarves, and created command and control issues for the leaders.

• Review:

The dwarves proved a tough warband (though good dice helped them); the short move was not much of a problem, as their warriors had high qualities and could usually make two moves. The high combat scores made them pretty tough as well. The dogs did well, though they didn’t succeed in killing anyone while he was down (they got at least one attack like this). They did get to add numbers to others’ attacks, though they are very vulnerable if the enemy gets to hit back.

This is a fun warband and I’m keen to use it again, though next week I’ll probably try out a mounted one to see how it works. I’ve got a few Byzantines I’ll use for this. John, after having Sir Cumference die horribly in each encounter, is planning to revamp his warband’s stats. Wayne’s valiant performance has got him thinking of a promotion (assuming the dwarves gave him a restorative brandy and bandaged his wounds).

We’ve now played three games of SBH and are starting to get the hang of the rules. What slows us down is the search for clarification in the FAQ that are scattered around the rules and the Free Hacks. Anyway, we’re getting faster and starting to see different tactics.

Beli’s Band, a SBH Warband

I’ve made a SBH warband out of the three elements of dwarves that I’d got done for HOTT. I’d like to get a HOTT dwarf army done, but I reckon I won’t have much time for painting in the next while as I get ready for a trip to Europe. I’ve spent a bit of time naming and describing the figures in this warband, and I’ve even made cards for them, a novelty that might wear off:

The figures are all 15mm Chariot apart from the dogs which are Peter Pig (Gifr) and Irregular (Gramr). The cards were prepared using CCG Maker, which is fairly flaky to be honest. The novelty of it may wear off. I should get to try this warband out tomorrow with John and Keith.

A HOTT Friday (Goblins v. Elves)

Last Friday I caught up with a friend for a spot of HOTT. There’s a group of guys playing HOTT with GW figures on 80mm wide bases. I took my figures anyway for a bit of show-and-tell. As it turned out there were only three of us and my figures were the most finished (the other two had 28mm armies still being painted, so we got out my Goblins and had a 36 point HOTT game with them. I was the Goblin chief with: 2xWb (1=cmd), 8xHd, 2xBh (Trolls and Ogres), 1xDr (the new Green one), 1xFl (Bats), 2xRd (wolf riders), 2xLu (Spiders), 1xSh, 1xBs (Wolves). Facing them were a coalition of all that is good and decent led by Keith and John. They had: 1xAHr (=cmd) (Hippogriff rider), 2xBh (Walking Tree and Giant), 2xHd (Human peasants), 1xSp (Wood Elves), 2xSh (Rangers and Wood Elves), 2xRd (Centaurs), 1xSh (Dwarves), 2xBd (Dwarves), 2xBs (Bears).

I was the attacker and faced the enemy across an open plain flanked by craggy hills and towering trees (28mm scale!); unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures. On their left flank they had the peasants next to the Elven spear and the walking tree with the rangers and Elven archers in the woods guarding the flank. The General was in reserve. On the other flank they had the bears guarding the flank on the hill and the dwarves and giant in a line in the open. To face this I arrayed the general facing the Elves, flanked by his hordes and with the archers and wolves on the far flank. On the other flank I had the Troll and Ogres flanked by wolf riders. The bats were in reserve.

I got off to a great start, rolling a 6 and having the dragon arrive straight away (actually I think the spiders must have arrived on the first turn against the bears, but were chased off). Old Greeny pinned the bears while my mounted went against the Dwarves and destroyed the Giant ally. I had very much the better of the PIPs, but the battle was in the balance when the Aerial Hero started to turn the flank of my mounted. At this point my hordes had already started to get into action, without being impressive (no surprises there!). I had the option of pouring my PIPs into the combat with the hordes, with little chance of anything decisive, or gambling on the dragon attacking the aerial hero with the bats flanking it to prevent recoil. This brought the game down to, in effect, a coin toss, as the odds were 6-6. However, if I won the enemy broke; if I lost the dragon fled and I could carry on, though very exposed to their general. As it turned out, that dragon was a mean old bugger, and he minced the aerial hero and gave me the game. He’s showing real promise (unlike the red dragon that notoriously refused to show up in his early games). He’s given the Goblins their first victory ever!

HOTT Fridays may become a regular event for me, though I’m reluctant to commit to a 28mm army. Keith was very interested in the 15mm fantasy I had, though I doubt I’ll convince them all to go 15mm.

Another dragon

Sinister Green Dragon.

Well, inspired by a game of HOTT the other day and a chance comment on Fanaticus about my present dragon, I decided to paint the Splintered Light dragon that I got last year. I’m pleased with how it’s come out. It was a bit of a hassle gluing on the wings, as I soon found that superglue was not strong enough. I drilled out the wings and the shoulders and joined them with wire and Araldite two-part epoxy. They weren’t totally correctly lined up, but after I undercoated them you’d hardly know, and I was likely to make a bigger mess with green stuff trying to fix it.

I decided to make it green to fit in with his goblin buddies. I used a base coat of ‘Snot Green’ mixed with Silver and then did the scales ‘Scaly Green’ (what else!) mixed with ‘Boltgun Metal’ and the spine and wing bones ‘Dark Angel Green’ mixed with Gold. I finished it with a black Klear wash.

The other side.

It could possibly do with a deeper base, as its head extends out from the front somewhat. However, attacks from the sides and behind could also get problematic with the tail sticking out and the wings being very wide. You can see how big it is when it’s next to my other dragon (who looks very cuddly by comparison!).

The Green Dragon meets the cute Red one (oops, lost his tail!).

I’m planning to do some more HOTT figures. I’m going to paint two elements of beasts (giant boars). These will be part of a Dwarven army that I’ll aim to finish next: I need to do a hero and two more elements of blades; otherwise I’m planning some halfling allies (one element each of shooters and lurkers) and some artillery. The final army will be:

4xBd (1=cmd)
1xHr
2xSh
1xArt
1xLu
0-2xFl (eagles)
0-2xBs (boars)

I’ve got more blades and shooters I could paint, but this would be enough for a bare minimum, and it wouldn’t take too much work. I quite like the idea of having one element of boars and the halfling lurkers to anchor one flank in bad going and having one element of eagles as a mobile reserve. It’d be good to have an army to face the goblins that wasn’t a composite of various humans (part of the problem is that I’m light on mounted to make most of my human armies interesting).

The dragon against his goblin allies for comparison of scale.

Anyway, I’ve finally finished an element this year (I should get those Ancient Britons done any time soon!).