Oldhammer In Moria - A Party Of Special Magnificence

Thus, did Bugman's Beer Cart make its way past Warg infested forests and Troll haunted hills.  Until the day came, when at last on a warm summer afternoon, the Cart and its defenders entered the legendary gates of Moria to the cheer of thirsty dwarves!  Hello readers!  In this post, we have partying dwarves from Citadel, Bob Olley, Stone Haven. Also, King Kazador and his personal House Guard.  Lastly, we focus on some fluff with the 6 major leaders of the dwarves that currently inhabit my Moria Reclamation Project.

Unloading the Beer Cart for the party.  Or is it "refilling our empty kegs from the Beer Cart?"  There must be some enchantment or Rune of Holding on that Cart Keg.  That must be it!  The Cart Keg has magical properties that allows beer to enter a pocket dimension that is larger than it seems from the outside.  That Bugman is a smart fellow, instead of sending out a hundred barrel wagons, he sends one magical one.  Ok, in the pic above, on the far left we have a fur hat wearing dwarf from Armorcast's Bob Olley Dwarf World, which I must warn anyone buying...  is a large sized line of dwarves.  I actually cut off his feet to make him fit in with the rest of my stunties.  Next to him is a bald dwarf Brewmaster from Stonehaven Minis. Then a drunk dwarf from Citadel and beside him, a keg carrying dwarf who is actually a cannon crew loader (or perhaps an organ gun). At any rate he has now been requisitioned for beer duty instead.

Ah, the Dwarf Barmaid is bringing drinks around.  Someone yells "Mhinz Abeir", and everyone else yells "Zyor Rond".  The barmaid is another large Armorcast dwarf who has had foot surgery to mix in nicely with everyone else. I believe the fellow flagging her down for a drink is another artillery crew member, perhaps the Marauder siege gun?

Word has gotten around that the Beer party is here!  Some civilians are filing in, taking an early day off work to celebrate.  Dwarf (formerly known as Prince) says: "Dwarves can party like its 1999!"

Ahh, look its the woodcutter, the engineer, the young Blacksmith-tress, a happy cheering dwarf, stuntie on stilts (handy for when a dwarf needs that jar on the top cupboard), and the rat-catcher (another very important dwarf to be in Moria, wouldnt want the colony to be knee deep in vermin, would we?)  The lady blacksmith is from Stonehaven, woodcutter from Armorcast, the rest are Citadel.

Late to the party, is the woodcutters assistant, and the dwarven Ninja. Doesnt every self respecting dwarf colony have one?  Ninja stars and smoke bombs, helpful in a tight spot.

Cheery dwarf: "Barmaid, service please!"

The dwarves lead the Cart deeper into the Mines towards the "safe zone" where the bulk of the colony reside.

What a merry gathering of dwarves. A veritable conga line of mirth.  Some dwarves prefer to stay behind at the pond to continue their pool party.

All this time, the party-goers have been protected by the watchful eye of the Gold-Shields...

King Kazador and his House Guard!  I have modified him to carry a shield and done away with his horn.  I think he looks far more business now. Definitely ready to start hammering some greenskins!

His companions are of the most dangerous sort.

Each one a hero in their own right.

While the dwarves have their party below, above them on a ledge, it actually is time for business... a gathering of the clan elders!  From left to right: King Kazador, Gimli, Prince Ulther, Prince Helfast, Chief Ratnik, and Baron Hawk. 

King Kazador outranks the others and is declared the leader of the Moria colony.  The dwarves still only hold the smallest portion (2 levels out of hundreds) in Khazad-Dum, and are still in danger if ever a serious attack is made upon them.  Yet, Gimli asks that he be sent to explore the lower depths of Moria to search for his cousin Balin (the Lord Of Moria).  Kazador agrees, but only a small portion of warriors can be deployed for such a mission, at this time.  Baron Hawk of Clan Reaper stands up and volunteers to accompany Gimli's force into the deeper levels.  So be it, says King Kazador, Gimli and Baron Hawk will take their troops (a sixth of the total dwarves) and lead a recon in force to ascertain if Balin yet lives.  In the meantime, Kazador, Ulther, Helfast and Ratnik will continue to build up and fortify the defenses around the Eastern Gate, while waiting for more dwarves to arrive.

Gimli, Gloin, and Nindalf are off to plan for the adventure ahead.  They have maps and books to help them plot a course of action.

Baron Hawk tells his second in command, Captain Drogo about their mission.  Let their men enjoy one more night of festivities, but on the morrow... onwards to danger and glory!

So there you have it!  A party, some planning, and a hint of dangers looming in the near future.
Until next post... Zyor Round!

Cheers,
Mar

Oldhammer - 80's Citadel Middle Earth, Dwarf Fighters, & Slayers

Lots of 80's metal goodies today! I just finished painting up 3 groups of dwarfs from these ranges: Citadel Lord of the Rings dwarves, Citadel dwarf fighters/adventurers, and Marauder Slayers. I really enjoyed painting these retro stunties.

I use this site to find out what Im looking/hunting for:
http://solegends.com/citadel/index.htm
Its probably best to go through the catalogues by year here:
http://solegends.com/citadel/catindex.htm

And boy, I gotta tell ya, there are a lot more Oldhammer miniatures than I remember.  Add in the fact that Im also collecting newer companies that have that retro feel.  Meaning...?  This blog will be around for quite a while. There will be dwarves a-plenty around every corner to rustle up, paint, and send into the Moria Reclamation Project! Sigh, and then at some point, theres a whole mineful of Orcs to get to...

Onwards to pics and descriptions...

First off, we have Gimli and some old school Middle Earth dwarves

I really like this Gimli, much more than the modern movie version.  He just seems... stalwart?  Is it just a case of rose colored glasses?  Then again, I am biased, as I used to have this fella back in the actual 80s.

This figure is supposed to be armored Gimli and has a mounted version in the blister (which I dont have).  But instead, I am going to use him as Gloin, Gimli's dad.  So father and son are now in Moria searching for their cousin Balin.  And just you wait til you see my Chamber of Mazarbul coming up!  Will my version of Moria have Balin, Lord of Moria deceased?  Or is he yet somewhere deep below fortifying crumbling chambers against hordes of greenskins!  Ah, Im getting ahead of my narrative.   That is still several posts away. ;p

These three Lord of the Rings dwarves are blister pack ME-33.  I have painted their shields with the Lonely Mountain heraldry.  Not sure what the 3 stars are, but stars are sparkly, so there.

And here are 5 Marauder Slayers,  In my opinion, much better than the 90's versions.  And far superior to the 00's.  The regimented look of modern Warhammer figures just feels so cold.

I debated giving them the bright orange dyed hair and flip flopped, several times.  In the end, orange hair screams dwarf slayer to me.  I did give them the celtic striped pants and blue face paint as well.

Look at how characterful these guys are!  Each sculpt is an individual, not like modern sculpts.

Alrighty, these are a mix of Citadel fighters and adventurers.  Maybe some northern dwarfs as well?

Im calling the Dwarf wizard - Nindalf.  Yup, the only apprentice to Gandalf the grey, he also got a Palantir Seeing-Stone as well.  I didnt photograph this too well, but the crystal ball has a numeral 8 on it...  Magic 8 Ball!  Will I ever finish this Moria Project?  "Dont count on it"   Hmm, thats a little ominous, isnt it?  Answer courtesy of "Ask the 8 Ball" at http://www.indra.com/8ball/front.html

This dwarf is either carrying a map or a really large "fortune cookie" fortune.

That dwarf with a hammer is definitely Grumpy.

A group shot of the latest additions to Moria

From the other angle...

And finally a comparison shot (from L to R): Citadel Gimli, Alternative Armies, Reaper, Ratnik
Interesting, that the Alternative Armies dwarf matches well with Oldhammer.  Which means the tunnel fighters are back to being Dwarves after all!  Congrats lil fellas, you have graduated to full time Dwarf status.  Now, as for those old school Ral Partha's.... well... you will see in a post or two.


So what next?  We still have to resolve the Beer Cart adventure, dont we? and we will do so... in style!

Until next post, this is Mar signing off.

Heartbreaker Dwarves - Tale Of The Evil Eye

Welcome dear readers to another episode of the Moria Reclamation Project.  In this tale of bravery and probable woe, we introduce dwarves sculpted by Kev Adams back in the day for Heartbreaker Miniatures.  While Kev is universally known for his Orcs and Goblins, I have to say, these characterful dwarves are full of everything that is dwarfy and good!  Pics and words follow, on to the adventure!

 Twenty doughty warriors from the Heartbreaker Clan

 The pointing fella is Prince Helfast of the Heartbreak Hills, and behind him is his perpetually pipeweed smoking counsellor, Thadar the Wise.

 The other pointy fellow here, is scout Garric the Ham-fisted.

Scout Garric:  "Prince Helfast, Moria is thataways!  The clans have taken level 1 and 2.  They report little resistance, but have sighted greenskins and night elves watching them as they build their colony."

Prince Helfast: "Thadar, assemble the troops and prepare to march to Moria!"

Counsellor Thadar: "Time for roll call!"

Counsellor Thadar:  All right, heartbreakers, you're a team and there's nothin' to worry about. We come here, and we gonna conquer, and we gonna kick some, is that understood?

 That's what we gonna do, sweethearts, we are going to go and get some. All right, people, on the ready line! Are ya lean?

 Get on the ready line, Marines, get some today! Get on the ready line! Move it out! Move it out, goddammit! Get hot! One, two, three, four! Get out, get out, get out! Move it out, move it out, move it out! Move it out, move it out, move it out! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven! Yeah, absolutely badass! Let's pack 'em in! Get in there!

 What's this?  Its Prince Ulther with a very precious shipment of beer.  And not just any beer, its Bugmans Beer!  The dwarves greet each other warmly! 

 With such a mighty escort of warriors, surely the Beer Cart will make it to the Mines of Moria!

 But wait, what is the monstrosity ahead!  Alarms!  Fear, Fire, Foe!

 Its a Beholder!  A dreaded Eye Tyrant, an aberration from another dimension.

Prince Helfast orders some brave troops forward.  The Eye Tyrant uses each eye to cast devastating spell powers.  Some dwarves are disintegrated, while others are turned to stone!

 Prince Helfast:  "Prince Ulther, your mission is more important.  We Heartbreakers will remain behind and hold the creature here in this narrow pass, while you escort the Cart!  Tell them at Moria, of our deeds here, in defense of beer!"

Prince Ulther :  "No, I will do no such thing, gallant friend!  We will kill this beast together!  Let us surround it!"

 And so they fled before the beast, until they reached a cliff side where both clans could strike at the Beholder in unison!  But will their combined attack succeed against such reckless hate?

 Prince Ulther leads the charge!  From their highground, the Heartbreakers pepper the Eye Tyrant with crossbow bolts, spears, and rocks.

 The Beholder is slain!  Prince Ulther's and Prince Helfast's combined forces drive the beast over the edge of the ravine.  Onwards to Moria, we must seek Floi and tell him our story... another page to add to the book of Mazarbul.

Next post, rumors of Gimli heading towards Moria with some vintage 80s citadel Lord of the Rings dwarves.

Cheers,
Mar

Bugman's Beer Cart and Prince Ulther's Imperial Dwarfs

Morale is about to be boosted in Moria...  the beer cart has arrived!  Dwarves take their beer seriously and this shipment is guarded by none other than Prince Ulther's Imperial Dwarfs.   Hmm... maybe I should have read the fluff before assembling them.  Apparently, they are also known as the Dragon Company, but I didnt get any shields with these guys in a trade.  So, I scoured my bits box and found these lion shields that are for older Empire spearmen (5th edition box set, maybe?)  I like them, so now they are called Prince Ulther's Lion Company.  Im still missing the banner bearer, musician, and the 2nd in command figure. Im waiting for a reasonable price on ebay for those.

 Here they are on the road to Moria

 Bugman's Beer Cart in all its hop-tastic glory

 Possible enemy sighted, form ranks!

I think the lion shields look great on these lil fellas

 Close up view of the dwarves.  They kinda look apprehensive.  Perhaps they are not happy with their deployment orders to the dreaded Mines Of Moria.

 Another close up.  I like the helmet with the visor down.

 Prince Ulther himself, not a dwarf who should be trifled with.

 Side view of the Beer Cart.  I think I need to make some reins.

So off they go on the road to Moria...  will they make it without mishap?  Tune in next post!