I am new to this forum, although I have been lurking and learning from those here for some time. I am working on a Chaos Dwarf army, and I figured it would be a cool idea to contribute my work here since I have learned a lot and gained lots of inspiration from the Army Blogs and conversion guides here.
I used to play Chaos Dwarfs long ago, and as a foolish and impulsive youth I sold off the army for next to nothing to get some new shiny models. It has been the biggest regret of my hobby life, as shortly after GW stopped producing and selling the CDs.
Since then I have always wanted to go back and re-make the army, and while I considered it over the years it just never happened - largely because of the difficulty to convert (I actually love converting, but a whole army is a monster task), and the lack of available miniatures.
With companies like Russian Alternative and Titan Wargames, along with the miniatures and book from Forgeworld I am now in a place where I feel comfortable re-donning my tall hat - so here I am!
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I own a games and hobby shop in Hamilton, ON, Canada, and we are having an army-building contest - with a deadline. I am using this as motivation to get things going.
Chaos Dwarfs
For the Chaos Dwarfs I intend to use the miniatures from Russian Alternative mainly. I got some of the Titan Wargames ones, and liked them a lot, but I prefer the tall hats - an homage to my long lost army. Besides RA now has great-weapons, axe & shield, and Fireglaives. I plan to make some minor conversions, weapon swaps, and hat replacements to these units to personalize them a bit.
Hobgoblins
I definitely want to include Hobgoblins in the army. I always love fodder units, and one of my biggest regrets of the new Tamurkhan ruleset is that I can’t really include other greenskin slaves. Russian Alternative has some Hobgoblins, but there aren’t enough poses for me - and frankly with the amount of metal in the Chaos Dwarf units I really would prefer to work with some resin or plastic for converting. I watched the videos Xander made on converting night goblins into hobgoblins - and that interests me a bit - only I wouldn’t use the BFSP goblins - rather the normal box. I’ve tinkered with them, but I am also putting another iron into the fire as well.
I have ordered some of the new Mongol plastics from Fireforge Miniatures. I am hoping to use some creative head-swaps and other modifications to hobgoblify them
Warmachines
I love the warmachine options, but I haven’t yet put a lot of thought into them. I do know that I want to make them NOT on the train, so I will either get some Forgeworld ones and convert them to be carriageless, or I’ll make my own.
K’Daai
Not all that interested in these. I know they are great in the game, and a cool opportunity for converting. But, at the moment, my motivation stems from my nostalgia - so for now I will be focusing on remaking classic units.
Forgeworld
I really like some of the stuff Forgeworld has done. I won’t be using the units because I want hats. I will, however, be using their sweet Bull Centaurs, and likely a Taurus (although I may convery the Taurus into a Lamassu).
Let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions, and I will post something more exciting as I have it!
The Russian Alternative models are great looking I bought a box of great weapons and plan on getting more to add to my army since I’m doing an almost complete revamp of my army. I had custom made chaos dwarfs made from converted regular dwarfs. I liked the RA so much I am rebuilding the army from the ground up to have RA for my dwarfs.
As you can see I’m going to have to replace a lot!
Welcome aboard! Good choice of miniatures, as Yodrin says this look like a promising log. Will you include a Hellcannon?
See your old army like this: If you hadn’t sold it you wouldn’t have had to build an entirely new one with RA models. You might still want to hunt some 4th edition character models on Ebay, though. Your custom-built army was quite nice as well.
One you thing you might want to consider is keeping that unit of Titan Wargames Royal Guards to use fluffwise as Infernal Guard, since they’re the heavily armoured Slayers of the Chaos Dwarf world (the other infantry would fluffwise be CD warriors.) That way you maintain a link to your mask phase and also stamp the masks as a mark of shame in an army of big hats.
Anyhow, for Hobgoblins, how about having a few Russian Alternative ones mixed into hordes of conversions made from Fireforge Mongols and possibly the upcoming Scandinavian softhat heads (if we can get them cast)?
Since Bloodbeard will convert his Hobgoblins from those Mongols and our heads you could always wait a while with ordering anything and see how his conversions turn out. Updates about casting will be posted in his log.
One you thing you might want to consider is keeping that unit of Titan Wargames Royal Guards to use fluffwise as Infernal Guard, since they’re the heavily armoured Slayers of the Chaos Dwarf world (the other infantry would fluffwise be CD warriors.) That way you maintain a link to your mask phase and also stamp the masks as a mark of shame in an army of big hats.
Admiral
Very good point! I figure I’ll keep them around as an extra unit for bigger games, but for now I want to focus on the conversions and Russian Alternative stuff.
Anyhow, for Hobgoblins, how about having a few Russian Alternative ones mixed into hordes of conversions made from Fireforge Mongols and possibly the upcoming Scandinavian softhat heads (if we can get them cast)?
Admiral
Dude! Those heads are killer! Count me in 100% if you are interested in casting and selling them. Also, I have a relationship with a resin casting company that has done some great work for a miniatures company I am a part of. If you need any help on that end let me know, I’d be more than happy to hook you up. It wouldn’t be all that costly either. I’d estimate that a run of 30 of those heads would cost in the area of $4-$6 for each set of them including set-up. (So like maybe $200 or so for 30 of them including shipping). If you sold them for even as little as $12.99 or something you’d easily make a good profit. I’d pay more like $20 for a set of ten of those beauties.
You’re on the list of interested people for sure! I like the colour scheme a lot. The blueish beard goes well with the warm red colour, though how about varying the beard colours a bit? Some could have grey highlights and others blue-grey. A few could even have white, blonde, red or brown beards as a nod to their Worlds Edge Mountains ancestry, though if you do, then such colours should be in a clear minority to not distract too much from the black.
The red sleeve trims have a dag pattern. Shall you paint the dags in different colours, or keep them red? Either way will look good. Really promising colours on that tester!
I was definitely considering what do do with the dags. I’m battling my own desire to paint every single little detail perfectly, with my desire to get a paint scheme that I can replicate relatively quickly. I’m actually leaning towards keeping them red, but painting the edge the bone colour as a thin line.
Part of what I always loved about the Chaos Dwarfs when I did them years ago was the slaver-culture, and especially the dirty, rotten, hobgoblins.
Like most of us I am hoping for a good solution to Hobgoblins that won’t kill me in both time and money - after all, they are the closest thing we all have to a horde unit!
My first Hobgoblin conversion attempt didn’t pan out very well. I attempted Xander’s Night Goblin lengthening. While I am no stranger to sculpting or Green Stuff it did end up being a lot of work - more than I am interested in putting into a unit of thirty or more.
So here is my second attempt.
I used the Mongols from Fireforge Games for the body, and the hat. I cut part of the waist down to give him a hunch, and added some greenstuff to the back to cover up the gap.
I used the head of a Forest Goblin from the Arachnarok Spider as a test, but any of the current-sized goblin heads might work. I can’t wait to try this with Admiral’s Hobgoblin Heads - I just hope the scale works! For the head I cut off the top of the head, and cut into the Mongolian hat a bit to allow the ears some space.
For the arms I still had the Night Goblin box open from my first attempt, so I used the bow and arrow bit, one of the best parts of that kit in my opinion. That being said there are some great shields in the mogolian box that I may use.
So two questions for you:
#1: What do you think about this conversion? I see potential - especially if I try a bit with the greenstuff, for this one I just threw it together.
#2:What should I arm my Hobgoblins with!!! Bows and Arrows? Shield and hand weapons? I am not all that interested in Spears, but maybe I should be. What is the consensus on Hobgoblin units? I don’t want to convert too many guys only to find out they play better the other way…
Thank you, that is very kind of you! I’m not sure it’s THAT good, but I think the body is on the right path. It’s interesting that you posted that image with it because I was considering facial-hair…
@GDD
Thanks for the recommendation, I had seen that and really liked it! Not sure if I want a Lammasu or a Great Taurus first though.
@Yodrin
Yeah, it’s too bad I can’t use many more of these faces. I have a good supply of Forest Goblins from the Arachnarok Spiders, but they are for my Forest Goblin/Savage Orc army that is on hold. I like the idea having a few Mongolian-style hats in the unit, but I would prefer a bit more traditional look, like the ones Admiral is making.
Overall I think that the body and arms works really well, and if I get my hands of a reliable supply of good heads I’ll be golden!
Any thoughts on how to equip Hobgoblins? I’m leaning towards Bows & Arrows and making a bit of a shooty army, but I am open to the opinions of those that have played more than zero games with CD!
Just for interest I tried to add some facial hair to the Hobgoblin. I didn’t really like it so I canned it, but snapped a picture before it all got shaved off!
Nice to see the Fireforge Mongols work so well for hobgoblins. Havn’t had a chance to get mine yet, but knew they could work when I saw the first WIPs. Good stuff.
I think you should only have the mustache on him, the mutton chops makes his face too broad - removes the hobgoblin feel. In my humble opinion.
Like the colour scheme on the RA miniature. That unit will look really majestic.
That’s a good idea, I’ll try again at some point with just the fu-man-chu mustache.
Here is a second foray into using the Fireforge minis as a base. This time I took a Night Goblin head and cut the bottom to make it a hat instead of a hood, and I reshaped the top for more of a Hobgoblin lumpy top instead of the pointy top of the Night Goblins. I also replaced the Fireforge feet with Goblin Wolf Rider feet so they could be bare.
Even though the Fireforge models aren’t quite to scale, I feel that adding the slightly larger head, hands, and now feet, it switches what is otherwise a very realistic model to a cartoony GW-style goblinoid. I like the change to the feet, I think I’ll continue that. Still not in love with the head options I’ve tried yet.
For anyone considering using the Fireforge Mongols I highly recommend giving them a hunch at the waist, otherwise their posture is just WAY too good
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