Poll: Choose your favourite Dwarf army. There can be only one!

Where would you get your dwarf miniatures for a traditional fantasy dwarf army? Probably still GW? LotR are on the smaller scale. Scibor's are great but even more expensive. Mantics aren't bad, but not my first choice. I've actually struggled a little to find 3D printed dwarf armies. Anyway, I'd appreciate some suggestions.

There are several pages to this thread, so forgive me if this has been asked & answered already.

Thanks!

 

I certainly don't think this question has been posed before on this thread, but as a big Dwarf player myself I'd be happy to offer advice!

To start with, GW still sell Ironbreakers, Hammerers, Irondrakes, Longbeards, Gyrocopters and Gyrobombers, along with Fyreslayer Vulkites who can be used as Slayers (I painted a unit of them as my first entry in my Painting Blog and they fit on 20mm square bases OK providing you fit the models together in a unit as you glue them to their bases) so you're OK for elite infantry. The SC Greywater Fastness box is a decent starter which gives you King Belegar (who can be made into an ordinary Lord if you wish), Grimm Burloksson (who can be made into a Master Engineer), 10 Ironbreakers/Irondrakes and a Gyrobomber/Gyrocopter, so that will certainly fill out your character and elite slots for a small starter force. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for your Core choices (unless you field wall-to-wall Longbeards as your Core loadout which isn't a bad move but sacrifices potential shooting capabilities), as GW for some dumb reason scrapped the Dwarf Warrior and Thunderer/Quarreller kits, as well as the Cannon/Organ Gun kit, as part of their terrible Empire-and-Dark-Elf-Alliance Cities of Skubmar idea, meaning you're going to have to search elsewhere for those.

With regards to other manufacturers, Mantic's models have a very different aesthetic to the GW models, so you'd have to choose which aesthetic to go for, and personally I'm not keen on the broad, almost square, heads of the Mantic ones, but on the other hand they are affordable models with troop types to cover most of the army list.:
https://www.manticgames.com/games/kings-of-war/dwarfs/

Middle Earth Dwarves are a bit short and thin as you've said, and also don't have many of the options usable in Warhammer Fantasy, though Oathmark, despite having a similar aesthetic that would look significantly different to Warhammer Fantasy, is probably the only good potential source of Miners (which were kicked when AoS first emerged despite being a great plastic kit) out there with their new Dwarf Light Infantry box:


Avatars of War make plastic sets of Dwarf Warriors, Dwarf Rangers (who can also be used as Quarellers if suitably converted or mixed with the Warriors kit) and some alternative Hammerer and Slayer unit sets:
https://avatars-of-war.com/sh/en/97-plastic-regiments

Dragon's Lake Miniatures make some interesting sets that seem to be reasonably affordable, including a Cannon that can be made into one of two different configurations, as well as Warriors, Slayers, Gyrocopters, an Anvil of Doom, a Grudge Thrower and various character models, including Lords on an Oath Stone and Shieldbearers, and even a Throne of Power that could be used to proxy Thorgrim should you wish to take him.
https://dragonslakeminiaturas.com/categoria-producto/miniaturas/enanos/
They seem quite affordable, but the website's in Spanish, so unless you can understand Español, you might not be able to understand how to buy your Dwarfs in the first place.

And Fireforge Games are set to be releasing their own Dwarf range soon, that has aesthetics more in common with the Empire than proper Dwarfs, but has a set capable of making Quarrellers or Thunderers, as well as Hammerers. The models are currently in Kickstarter at the moment but will be starting shipping in February, meaning they will probably appear for sale on Fireforge's website at around March time:
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-multi-part-dwarves-in-28mm-scale/description

Hope those are helpful. Unfortunately it isn't the best time to start Dwarfs because GW were so stupid about getting rid of so many of their models for their feeble Cities of Sigmar army list (which really should have been divided into more factions with each of them getting some more models), but Dwarfs aren't too difficult to find on EBay or in shops that stock second-hand stuff and not as pricey as some of the other armies that are OOP, and maybe there will be a revival for either AoS or TOW when it arrives.

 

Thank you @Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl! These are all very helpful suggestions. I haven't heard of Dragon's Lake or Fireforge, so I look forward to checking them out.

 

I wouldn't say no. I've always liked traditional Dwarves and I assumed they would be easier to find. I know Lost Kingdoms has newer 3D Chaos Dwarves, but do other companies have nice models?

 

To be honest starting Chaos Dwarfs isn't particularly rosy at this time either, given the Forge World range was undersized, expensive and then executed, and other ranges of varying quality from different manufacturers exist but are not consistent in which units they make, and the eternal dilemma between using a just-about-official micro-list and more comprehensive but fan-made army books...

Besides, there are still options out there for ordinary Dwarfs as I've mentioned above, and the Ancestor Gods decree that a greater Dawi presence appear on Lustria to counter the rising threat of the Dawi Zharr, or else the grudges against them shall never be adequately settled!

 

Dragon's Lake I can understand, but not having heard of Fireforge is a surprise, as they are probably the go-to source of Bretonnian proxies right now with their collection of historical plastics. They also make Stark-style Northmen and their own Undead range for their own set of mass-battle rules, Forgotten World. They're certainly worth having a gander at.

 

@Just A Skink , as you said, Lost Kingdom Miniatures has a great line of minis. They are fantastic...
https://www.lostkingdomminiatures.com/en/24-infernal-dwarves-magmhorin

Additionally, you a have Russian Alternative, which is also pretty damn good..
https://russian-alternative.com/shop/fantasy/?filter[price][from]=0&filter[price][to]=45&filter[race][2]=Dwarves+of+Fire+Canyon/Berserkers/Infernal+Dwarves+(ID)

Mantic has their own line, but personally I'm not really a fan of their model line...
https://www.manticgames.com/games/kings-of-war/abyssal-dwarf/

Those are the big three alternatives that I can think of. I'm sure there are many other lesser known options out there, whether already available or in production...

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...fernal-chaos-dwarfs-and-hobgoblins-miniatures

Not a full line, but 8 80's style Chaos Dwarfs...
http://www.evillittlebuggers.com/


Even some bloodbowl stuff...
https://www.willyminiatures.com/product/chaos-dwarf-team/?v=bc78a8d162c6

https://goblinguildminiatures.com/en/19-grim-butchers

The vanilla Dawi don't got the numbers in terms of power and influence...

 

Not too expensive either. Join us brother!

 

You've missed out the fact that @Killer Angel is a Dwarf player and he has significantly greater power and influence than @Lizards of Renown (as much of a legend as you are buddy) and that's not even taking into account the fact he is a mod and could ban either of you (or even me) if he so wished

I thus believe the true Dawi still have the strength to pose a challenge, especially as they have won a landslide victory in the poll.

Baruk Khazad!

 

For now... but that gap is constantly shrinking. More importantly though, why would I pit the #1 Dwarf player against the #2 Chaos Dwarf player? That's not how things go; it's #1 vs. #1. Take likes for instance, the Chaos Dwarfs have Gold and Bronze, while the Dwarfs have Silver. You can't say that the Dwarfs come out on top in that scenario because Silver > Bronze.

However, if you don't believe me, we could play a game of numbers. Tally all the Chaos Dwarf and Dwarf players who occupy a position within the top 20 (Posts or Likes... or both), and see who comes out on top.

Numbers don't lie.

In the interim... sure. But without just cause, I think the man upstairs would quickly overturn that and a certain mod might be stripped of his powers for misusing them. The rules of the forum apply to all, even those that have been placed in a position to enforce them.

Also, there might be a certain Chaos Dwarf player who was offered those very same powers way back in the day, but had no interest in them. I won't say who though.

In total numbers... yes. In total power/influence... no.

38 votes = 38 members. Tally their numbers. I'll pit the 12 Chaos Dwarfs against them any day of the week.

There is no escape from Chaos, it marks us all

 

I was going through some storage boxes under the bed when I found this. I must have painted this some time in the 80's. My take on a small diorama:

 

Lol. Yeah, I guess I'm not very aware of several mini companies. I've been laser focused on Lizards since I got back into Warhammer, now Age of Fantasy.

 

This is an awesome idea and could be pretty well done!!
Bring (back) Chaos Dwarfs in to AoS, albeit just for @NIGHTBRINGER to start playing AoS

Grrr, Imrahil

 

Grrr, Imrahil