OWAC IV Mercenary Dwarfs

All right. After the doomed crusade of Pieter the Pious in 2020, I needed to paint some winners in 2021. Yeah, you named them: Dwarves! And to be more specific: the Marauder Miniatures landksnechts.

Illustration by Paul Bonner

To prepare the 4th edition of the Old World Army Challenge (OWAC), I have carefuly read Stuart Mulligan's wise advice on the Painting Landsknechts blog and of course, studied Nico's splendid Dwarf army, as his conversions solved the other issue I have with the Marauder Miniatures: the range is unfortunately incomplete (missing some standard bearers and musicians), and sometimes tends towards Middle-Age rather than Renaissance in terms of clothing. Well, I'll see what I can do...

The army is mainly composed of young dwarfs leaving the Grey Mountains and their impoverished clans to seek fortune in the Empire. They band together in free companies, elect their captain, and offer themselves for hire. Some still carry the colors of their native hold or clan: the black boar of the Frostpeak hold, the crosier of the IronBones clan or the double-key of the SureFoots. 

The current employer of the army is the honourable Guild of Goldsmiths and Jewellers in Altdorf: its dwarf masters are more comfortable contracting mercenaries of their kind, either to escort convoys, protect trading posts, or claim distant lands with high mineral potential. As trust does not exclude control, it is not rare seeing the mercenary captain Borin Steelfist receiving direct orders from representatives of the Guild. In these occasions, the latters are flanked by hardened veterans, handsomely paid to protect the guildmasters with their lives.

Illustration by Dave Andrews (Warhammer Armies)

A few pictures of the preparation phase:

Characters

Halberdiers

Hammerers

Pikemen

Quarellers

Thunderers

I'm still waiting for a few models, and some conversions are not totally finalized... and last but not least... 50 bases to prepare 😣

Marauder halberdiers

And that's two additional retinues for the City Watch: references F29 and F5 of the MM60 fighters range. Second time I paint these models, can be boring... 

I've been lazy with the shield, and used one of these old Marauder plastic shields to spare me an uninspired freehand.

In theory, I still have two halberdiers to paint to complete the Guild of the Lamplighters and Watchmen. I'll do my best to finish it by the end of the year, but the perspective of preparing dwarves for the next OWAC is much more inspiring :p We'll see!

Empire halberdier

I'm still trying to paint all my Citadel fighters... this halberdier will also join the Guild of Watchmen and Lamplighters.

And the last 4 minis painted for the city watch:

The next step is still unclear. One additional set of halberdiers, or complementing the train baggage, or... preparing the OWAC IV!

The Royal Guard

 Another F2 Fighter, the Royal Guard, joining the watch of Pfeildorf:

With his famous brother:

 

The Cute Spearman

Alderhorst being the richest district of Pfeildorf, the watchmen patrolling in its streets have often fancy clothes more fit for parade than for actual war. 

This model is on of the references of the MM61 Fighter Command group. 

The Nuln Spearman

... finally settled in Pfeildorf :)

What can I say? I was lucky to get this rare model a few years ago, and given the crazy price I paid, I had to include it in my imperial army, as a member of the Guild of Lamplighters and Watchmen.

Empire standard bearer

Third standard bearer for the Guild of Lamplighters and Watchmen, this model is based on a MM60 fighter. The "A" letter stands for Alderhorst, the oldest district and the most affluent of Pfeildorf. 

The banner is a Dark Elf bit, topped by a burning skull borrowed to imperial flagellants.

And here are the banners for 3 districts of the free city: Mórrsfeld, Alderhorst and Söllhafen.

Empire handgunners: conclusion

Group shots:

Well, I can't say all went well for this regiment. Still on the bench and for a while: mantlets and an ogre with an arquebus. And I'm still undecided about the addition of a standard bearer. 

We'll see if the painting mojo comes back!