KoW dwarf army
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About the Project
My challenge to paint up a Mantic Kings of War Dwarf Army
Related Game: Kings of War
Related Company: Mantic Games
Related Genre: Fantasy
This Project is Active
A Dwarf Is A Dwarf Is A Dwarf?
I was asked in a previous posts’ comment about the comparison between the three different Dwarf models I’m using for my army. There are Mantic models for Kings of War. There are some very old metal models from GW for WHFB, I’m going to guess they were cast in the mid nineties. Finally there are some models I got from Kickstarter, I believe they were cast by Ral Partha but I may be mistaken. Firstly there is a clear difference in height. The mantic dwarfs are the tallest with GW and Ral Partha much the same, as seen below.
From left to right: Mantic, GW and Ral ParthaMore subtle than that is a difference in proportion. The Mantic dwarfs are narrow at the bottom and wide at the top, the GW seem more circular and the Ral Partha are narrower at the top.
Finally there are differences in style. The GW weapons are much larger compared to the model, with Mantic being in the middle and Ral Partha being the most naturalistic. The heads for Mantic are also larger.
I’m hopeing that a unifying paint scheme will minimise the difference within my army.
Hopefully this is helpful.
What have I done
The magnitude of the painting task in front of me is starting to look a little daunting. Neither of the following two photos contain the entire force so far…
This one doesn't have the unit of old metal GW hammerers.
And this one is missing the unit of 20 rangers.So now they are all primed the next job is to start the painting. Wish me luck.
Going Old School
I dug around in all my old models, and things I’d bought and not painted, and came up with some stuff that could be added to my growing Dwarf Army. Proxying is fine in KoW so I put together two more units.
First up some Ral Partha models I got on Kickstarter. They're a right mixture so might work well as rangers.
These two are old GW slayer command models I believe. 
Which when added to 8 old GW metal hammerers I had lying around make a nice retro unit. These guys will probably be used as an elite troop.Reinforcements arrive
My 'free' unit of badger riders.
Two artillery pieces. I've gone for the cannon and the organ gun for some variety I've no idea which is best in game.It's all about the base
Most of the starter army plus a unit of badger riders builtI’ve decided to go for old fashioned PVA and sand for the bases. I might see how contrast paints work on bases as it might save on time when it comes to painting. As you can see in the photo above I started to prime them using the wraithbone spray from GW in preparation for painting with contrast paints.
I love the throwing mastiffs that you can include in the units.The mountain of men is growing
Nearly built the whole starter army.There’s a lot more to come. I found there was a missing part in my box of badger riders. When I contacted Mantic they said they would send it through straight away. What I didn’t expect to receive was a complete new kit. Amazing customer service and I’ve got a whole unit for free.
They're half the height but they still take just as long to build
A bit more progress on the construction front.Starting to build
Starting to build the army boxed set. One cannon, 20 ironwatch and some shieldbreakers. And so it begins
I’ve always wanted to paint up a whole rank and file army. My FLGS had a 50% off KoW deal so I bought some stumpy chaps and I’m going to try a paint them all.
I’m planning to play around with the new contrast paints to get a decent look as quickly as possible.
They’re going to be based in the old fashioned WFB style so they can be used for other systems if needed.
