The Oldhammer Dwarf Army - Part 2 (Duregar's Tigers)

Do yourself a favour and go and read about "Night of The Living Lead" as described in epic detail by my mate Steve. He's a pro at this stuff, and yeah...he gets it's Gary Chalk. When you get back, let's talk about Duregar's Tigers. My dwarf Zouave unit.

"Heaven help friend or enemy if they cannot tell the difference between a Bretonnian kepi and a Ramalian forage cap"  

It's no great secret that aside from Oldhammer, my "other" wargaming obsession is the American Civil War (known in the USA as THE Civil War).

When I first got back into gaming I had not yet stumbled on the Oldhammer Community and thought that if my fledgling dwarf army was ever going to fight then I'd have to conform to whatever the current version of WFB was. I owned all of the Marauder Thunderers, plus a few of the "multi-weapon plug-in" chaps with handguns. 

As spears and pikes had (strangely for a race that you'd expect to be vulnerable to cavalry) seemed to disappear from the rules I decided to make a unit of Thunderers which tipped the hat to the ACW where I could convert some pikes to handguns. Several of the figures already had baggy pants and turbans and fez-like headgear - as such I planned a unit of dwarf Zouaves! Duregar's Tigers were born.

The original plan was to do the stripey pants, but as I worked on the first few it wasn't working. So I ended up just doing plain white pantaloons as you can see.

I believe I started work on these in March 2015 and blooded them at "Lead of Winter" 2016. "The Second Battle of Far Corfe." So what was afoot at Far Corfe? I'll let Orlygg explain... 

"Far Corfe was once a thriving economic centre with a wealthy and tasteful artisan class keen to patronise the arts. The key to their success? The humble wool trade. The lolling, grassy hills that surrounded the town could easily sustain thousands of sheep, and the countryside was once awash with numerous little farmsteads specialising in fleeces. The town's location, built on a crossroads to Altdorf, Erzstadt and Middenheim, also helped, as it was easy to transport goods to and from the rivers that were the pathways of the Empire.

But the town has been in decline for over eighty years. New markets and cheaper produce from Kislev reduced the profitability of wool and though still viable, the industry is not what it was. Nowadays, if you ask the average peasant in the street across the Old World about Far Corfe, they would probably speak about the 'Grand Recreation' rather than its former role as the hub of the wool trade.

Some two hundred years ago, the chief of the Airyaxe Wound tribe, Todge-Dropper the Terrible, unleashed a swarm of orc and goblin raiders against the defences of Far Corfe. Legend said that the previous winter had been so harsh in their mountain fastness, that even the warmest undergarments could do little to ward off the evils of frostbite. Swearing appalling oaths of violence on the altar of Mork, Todge-Dropper set out to destroy Far Corfe and claim their enormous stores of warm, fluffy wool for himself. He swore that warm underdrawers would be the spoils of a successful war and all of those who followed him could return home with as many pairs as he wished.

As all schoolboy students of history can tell you, Todge-Dropper was defeated and Far Corfe was saved in one of the most remarkable battles in history. Due to a series of remarkable coincidences, field armies of men, dwarfs, gnomes, halflings, wood, sea and high elves were all in the immediate area when Todge-Dropper launched his poorly timed assault.

Dick FitzInwell, leader of the Far Corfe militia, couldn't believe his eyes when rank after rank of elite fighting men marched up the road towards the town walls within hours of him sending out the call to arms. Bjorn Whiffabigun, the dwarf mercenary captain was the first to arrive. Swiftly followed by a combined elvish force lead by the sorceress Pyria Sweetcherry. Their timely arrival meant that Todge-Dropper's vanguard were beaten back and Far Corfe was able to re-enforce itself considerably. Eventually, Todge-Dropper's forces were crushed on the wooden walls of the town, though the orc leader's body was never found.

So remarkable was the victory, that the nations of those involved continued to celebrate it years after the final survivor had died. Every ten years, hundreds of warriors would arrive in the town, from all over the Old World, for a week long festival of feasting and re-enactment. Local tribesmen were employed to dress up as Todge-Dropper's legions and a 'Grand Recreation' was fought (using safety weapons) to the delight of the adoring crowds.

Since the town's decline, the Recreation has become less and less well attended. Though all of the nations involved still send token units of troops. Interest in the spectacle is waning. Mayor Haywood Jablomi, the current ruler of the town, is now faced with being the last leader to organise the event. This year's low key celebration will be the last of the 'Recreations'.

But unbeknown to Jablomi, or the crowds that are forming inside the town, this year's event is soon to spiral out of control. For the winter has been long and harsh....

And something is coming..."

Duregar's Tigers - Their Story

FitzHugh is an uncommon name for a dwarf. 200 years ago, his father Thorobin Koch was barely 65 years old (so still not an Adult by dwarf reckoning) when he left the run-down fortress of Kazad-Kro with 600 Youngbeards in search of the adventure that mining near-exhausted seams of the south-Western corners of the Middle Mountains could not bring them.

Thorobin was a Captain in one of six companies of Durregar’s Tigers, a unit of dwarf mercenaries who were soon to achieve fame, fortune and ale endorsements across Estalia, Tilea, Araby, Lustria and the New World. But the Tigers first cut their teeth in battle while marching towards “Orktobberfest” in Altdorf where (like all 60-year-old Youngbeards like to do) they planned to celebrate a long-since forgotten victory over a long-forgotten Orc Tribe by drinking, arguing and fighting.

However, en route – they became caught up in what became the very nearly famous battle of Far Corfe, where the Tigers and a few other dwarfs totally and utterly, famously and definitely, definitely did - save a town of humans and some Elf stragglers from hundreds of thousands of Orcs from the Airyax Wound Tribe.

After the battle (and after approximately 30 days of eating cheese, cold meats and drinking ale) the Tigers set off on their “Orcing all over the world” tour where they became legendary across four continents for their marksmanship and their drinking.

When they returned (some of them by now not just Fullbeards but Longbeards) to Kazad Kro half a century later, they found the beleaguered fortress had been overrun by Orcs and their dwarf kin living in small scattered communities in the foothills of the mountains, eking out a living panning for precious metals in streams and creeks, or selling metalwork goods and blacksmith services in Middenheim and the surrounding settlements.

The Tigers settled down, had families of their own, and passed on their marksmanship skills learned from the experience of 150 battles to their Beardlings. Thorobin Koch’s son was named “Fitzhugh” after the one human on the battlefield who had acted with any kind of bravery and had kind of, sort of saved Thorobin’s life.

For the next 150 (ish) years the Tigers and then their sons participated in the grand “recreations” that took place in Far Corfe, celebrating the old battle by showing up in the famously colourful uniforms the Tigers had adopted in their first major campaign in Araby. 

The Tigers’ contribution to the recreations were basically firing big muskets and getting drunk and eating. This “meet” is threatening to be the last the town will hold, and only FitzHugh Jeffingkoch has managed to muster a company for the celebration. However – they plan to enjoy themselves immensely. By drinking, pretending to eat authentic food while secretly eating rehydrated noodles, and most importantly…criticising the accuracy of the uniforms of other “recreators”.

Using a Troiani study of a Zouave I'd done (now in the possession of Airbornegrove26) I used a bit of photoshop magic to make a dwarf Zouave for my playsheet! 

Back to the minis...

The command (plus 1). I had a spare bunch of figs from the legendary Marauder pike unit. I've used the captain for Fitzhugh Jeffingkoch, and left the "sergeant" with his pike to make him a Colour Sergeant. The standard bearer and musician are from the pike unit and the 5th chap is a standard Marauder thunderer.

A rear view showing some of the detail on these great figures.

A rather unforgiving view of the flag.

The flag is obviously free-handed again. I was unsure how to tackle this as the flagpole on this mini is very short. It's obviously at a really difficult angle from which to realistically represent a flag. I therefore modelled it falling back behind the bearers head, which unfortunately means it's not visible from the front. The design is a take on the first Confederate National Flag (I couldn't be bothered with all those US stripes!) with a mountain occupying the blue field. I may add some stars in the future but an early attempt started to look like the Paramount Pictures logo.

The figure that probably leaps out from this grouping is the MM15/2 (Dwarf with arquebus). He's such a great model that my choice of a rather dull black hat might strike some as a little conservative. I think that along with the blue uniform it works quite well, especially as there's quite a bit of red on this unit. 

I really love these five models, bags of character and some lovely detailing as well as a variety of weapons and equipment. A few too many games mean they need the odd touch-up and a bit of Dullcote.

As you can see this group has two of the regiment expansion troops with plug in handguns. I'm regretting now (since this pic) not drilling out the barrel on the guy in the middle. When I've got a bit more time on my hands I'll probably do so.

It doesn't come across very well in the photos but the "pantaloons" are painted white whereas the pouches and straps are actually painted an ivory colour like unbleached linen.

This last group contains one guy with a plug-in weapon and the other 4 are slightly converted pikes from the Marauder regiment set. I cut down the pikes as close to the hand as possible and took some handguns from my bitz box (these are all Essex Miniatures weapons). They have less of a comic-style proportion so they need a bit of spreading through the regiment so they don't stick out.

Some more unforgiving close-ups showing the Essex handguns and matchlocks rather badly modelled onto the pikemen. They look better on the battlefield I tell myself!

So that's the Tigers for you. Next up the Raven Company.

Roll high.

As a post script - here are the just for fun special rules the regiment played under at Far Corfe!

Special Rules for the battle of Far Corfe – If at any point in the battle the unit fires a volley and all firing troopers miss the target throw a D6. 1-3 No effect; 4 The Unit halts for a turn and may not fire while they discuss the accuracy of the tactics in context of the original battle of Far Corfe; 5 The unit takes umbrage to the nearest unit for not having accurate enough equipment and the next time they are able, will on them fire regardless if they are friend or foe; 6 Sod this for a game of toy soldiers – the Tigers disobey all orders and (providing they are not within charge reach of an enemy unit) march immediately at the double in the direction of the nearest beer cart. If they reach a beer cart the unit spends the next turn getting refreshed and is subject to stupidity for the remainder of the game. If they do not reach a beer cart, roll again at the beginning of the next turn on this table, a 1-3 result returns them to normal.