The Oldhammer Dwarf Army Part III - The Raven Company

The Raven Company have long travelled the Old World and the shores, mountains and marshes of  both Albion and Little Albion, in search of fame and fortune (mainly fortune actually) prospecting long disused mines and panning mountain streams in the most isolated and dangerous places. 

In times of need these hardy dwarfs are willing to fight in dwarf armies in return for cheese and ale, cheesy ale and cider-soaked pipeweed, and as such are rugged, grumbling veterans of many battles. The colours of the unit are red and gold and most members of the Raven Company display these colours in some way, whether they be personally wealthy enough to afford a full surcoat or just on a shield or sash. The red represents the blood of fallen comrades and the gold represents the elusive fortune they seek.

The leader of the Raven Company is one-eyed, one-legged "Lucky" Longjonnsen Syllvar.

Longjonnsen lost his left leg when he was attacked in his bed by a jealous love rival who mistook his leg for his legendarily proportioned "Long Johnson".  His adversary severed his leg with an axe. 

The ensuing single combat was not witnessed by any dwarf, but according to Syllvar he was unarmed and beat his axe-wielding assailant to death with his Long Johnson before using it to fix a tourniquet around his thigh to prevent death by blood-loss from his severed leg.

"Lucky Longjonnsen" claims he lost his eye in a fist-fight with a giant, but rumours abound that he was hit in the eye by a troll's toenail clipping while he was hiding in a cave.

The ravages of time have not been kind to Longjonnsen, it is said that even before age and facial battle-scars took their toll, that Syllvar already had a face that looked like two-old hands wringing out a damp cloth. In tribute to their very-nearly, almost legendary leader - many troopers choose to paint or sculpt their shields with grotesque faces. This had led to them being occasionally known as "The Ugly- Faced Boys."

The more observant of you will have noticed something about the stats on the playsheet above. Give yourself a second or two and I'll see you in the next paragraph.

Yep - you've got it. I twatted up the Strength and Initiative stats which should read "3" and "2" respectively. The playsheet itself is in Excel so I had the worksheets set up so that I could pull through the stats from a master sheet just by specifying "warrior"; "+2 shock elite"; "Lvl 10 hero" etc. and the card would pull through the points value based on the number of troops in the unit, the equipment and the champion value.

Unfortuantely, while rushing to get these ready for BOYL 2017 I seem to have used a function not normally used in Excel called a "V-COCKUP". Several of my playsheets (seemingly the ones for ordinary warriors) are incorrect. I seem to have mislaid the file in my laptop but I promise to find and correct these as soon as I can. Yes. I am a colossal pillock.

 

Unit shot(s) of the Raven Company 

I know that people get annoyed when I complain about the quality of my own painting, but in the case of these chaps I was somewhat rushing to get these done for my first game of third in a long time back in maybe 2015 or 2016. As such many of them are somewhat rushed and as I photographed them I notice little unfinished bits and pieces on them which annoy me. I just haven't brought myself to sacrifice otherwise scant hobby time to spend a few hours finishing these up.

These first five include the command and two troopers. Longjonssen Syllvar is obviously "Owd" Tom Thyksson from the Bugman's Rangers Regiments of Renown box. I have a spare of this guy and haven't decided yet whether to add Owd Tom to my Rangers which are currently half-completed on my workbench. The banner is a decal applied to tomato paste tube. This one has been cut from a larger Little Big Men Studios banner and then painted over using the raven decal as a guide. The bearer is a marauder spearman that I had a double (or triple) of which I have added in an extension to the spear to allow a larger banner. The musician is one of my favourite models and I may move him into another regiment as I added him to the Raven Company just because I wanted to paint him. I have a hornblower (not pictured) who bears the red and gold of the regiment who I will draft in once this chap has a unit of this own. The other two models are a slayer ("berserker") in chainmail and a converted adventurer. The lantern this chap came with was damaged so I replaced it with the head of a 15mm "Hordes of Things" ogre or giant.

A rear view showing the shields. Longjonssen has an old Citadel metal shield; the adventurer with goblin head has a shield from Bood Miniatures; the standard bearer has a more modern plastic shield that fitted in with the narrative of "The Ugly-Faced Boys"

The next five are from the Perrys' adventurers and imperial dwarf ranges with the chap in the middle being an alternative model from the ME33 LOTR range.

 

The shields are left to right: another Citadel "ugly-face", a "paintbrush-enhanced" LBM decal on a classic Citadel plastic shield. I cut the boss off an Essex metal shield to cover the hole. The ME33 has a simple design painted on an Essex metal shield. The next complex design is another LBM decal applied to another Essex metal shield. The observant will notice that he has a replacement axe. This is from my bitz box and probably Essex again. I got this mini for abouot £0.70 because it was damaged. The last chap is again carrying an Essex metal shield, the kite design I use quite a lot. The design is a LBM decal.

Four more Perrys and one Marauder. Part of the narrative of this unit is that they are part-time warriors and part-time prospectors and miners - hence I have tried to get at least half of them lugging their adventurers packs around and am happy to have a few troopers rocking weapons like this chap with the grappling hook!

 

I'm not one-hundred percent sure but I think the shield on the far left came from the dwarf in Advanced Heroquest. I remember having the model but sold him because he was plastic and probably kept the shield. The next chap has another Citadel "ugly-face" shield. It's not to everyone's taste but when I first got fantasy minis in 1986 and was painting them with my dad he was not constrained by fluff that suggested that dwarfs had to have a certain kind of shield. I wanted to reflect that unconstrained fantasy philosophy in one unit of my army and this is why its part of this regiment's story. The two shields on the right are yet another Essex kite with a simple, free-handed design and what I think is a Marauder plastic shield.

Some of the last five are to some extent slightly unfinished. They still look fine in the regiment but I will get around to finishing things like the guy on the far left's axe and backpacks.

The middle shield is I think from the Warhammer Regiments plastics box and the shield either side is another Essex metal. I think these came with javelins which I removed with cutters.

I love the fact that this guy is missing the ring-finger on his right hand. In this unit this berserker has probably bitten off his own finger to remove a wedding ring due to some unbroken vow!

That's all for the Raven Company. Next up we'll probably take a look at the Artillery and some of the baggage train.

Cheers x

   

Lost Dogs - Warning, this interlude may contain traces of plastic.

It just so happens that the other day I was smiling to myself that my youthful attempt at painting an ogre was on Stuff of Legends alongside some much better ogres painted by buddy Darkblade.

As I mentioned in a previous post, a few years ago I decided to sell off most of my (non-dwarf) collection of Oldhammer goodness. I had a rifle through some old, backed-up files on a hard-drive and found some of the pics I used to sell some items on Ebay.

It was kind of nice to look at these and had a little "seller's regret" - I make myself feel better by hoping that these guys have found an owner that games them more than I used to, even if they are stripped now. Maybe someone that owns one of these models is reading this or is on the Oldhammer group!

Five "Brets" - by Essex Miniatures

These were a combined effort between me and the old man. He used to own a beautiful medieval army by Essex which has "disappeared" - which probably means they've been thrown away to make room for more model trains. I found these guys which he'd done in enamels and rebased them and highlighted with acrylics. I think they came out ok. Dad free-handed all the heraldry around 30 years ago.

 

Dad was decent at doing the patterns and spirals on the lances. Was never good at that myself!

Another Bret, this time a Citadel one! I must have painted this around 20 years ago as I recognise the Humbrol colours!

Some wardancers, again painted probably 20-years ago from the Humbrol colours.

 This ogre is one I wished I hadn't sold. Lovely Jes Goodwin sculpt and I was quite happy with the paint job. Paint was touched-up a little before I sold him.

"Maggott from Ruglud's Armoured Orcs (The Spike Can Commandos). Not sure why but I painted this regiment in "Orc brown". Was quite refreshing to have a yellow/brown orc, but I suspect he's been repainted now wherever he and his comrades are now!

Not my finest moment but a nice, green Zoat! I know from experience that this has been washed with Windsor and Newton ink. Either the one with the apple or the frog on the bottle! The metallic paint on the axe is the absolutely dreadful original Citadel "Chainmail". I often think that people that reminisce  fondly about the original Citadel paint just don't remember how awful it was.

Ridiculously I gave away a crate of RT stuff to a friend for his gaming club. I didn't paint many Marines, Guard, Eldar or Space Orks - and here is the only one I have a photo of (I think).

I had a lot of dwarf pike dudes, so I sold these six. Complete with obligatory late 80s Streety STAREY eyes.

A frankly dreadful Skarloc. Possibly the first miniature I did in Citadel paints with an old fashioned miliput base!

PLASTIC WARNING:

I didn't ask for it but after I gave a shit-load of RT stuff to my friend they gave me the contents of two boxes of one the newer WFB box sets (Battle of Skull Pass maybe??)

Plastic is for the most part no good to me so I sold it on. However I did paint and sell this as I had a plastic base that it fitted on OK. It was fairly good practice for painting models with little detail on, and no...there really was no getting rid of those mould lines.

What No ACW?

Don't be silly. Amongst the lost dogs I found these pics of my first ever wargames soldiers. Tabletop Miniatures now available from Alternative Armies

They have that old Minifigs old-fashioned style and these will always have a special place in my old wargaming heart!

 Well a fairly self-indulgent trip down memory lane. Thanks for putting up with it. Back to the dwarf army in the next post I promise.

"I have been chosen! Farewell my friends, I go on to a better place!"

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.