Welcome to a showcase of the starts of a Squats army in the form of five heavy weapon soldiers whose pictures suffers from poor camera syndrome. The idea is to use them as Devastators in a counts-as Space Marine army. Their weapons are on the small side, but we can’t have gun gigantism in a Space Dwarf army because standard-sized heavy bolters and plasma cannons would drown the miniatures. Dwarf weaponry must be superior to manling dito anyway, everyone worth his beard knows that. The miniatures are from Mantic’s Forgefather range, just as the standard infantry, artilley and walker vehicles will be. Next up will probably be large drill APCs from Ramshackle games for counts-as Drop Pods. All models will receive some conversions, just as these heavy weapon carriers have received runes, signal lamps, antennae and beard rebreathers:
The borrowed camera’s quality isn’t on the high side, but hopefully the conversions might be of inspirational use for someone.
Great color scheme on the armor and I love the bronze mustache heads with the red eyes. Looks great man, would love to see this army on a table in its entirety.
Thank you both for the kind words! I have quite some plans for an entire army decked out in that style, but a side project will involve a small force which I’ll convert for my brother. Proceeding to said side project…
"I’ll cut ye down to proper size, tally!"
It’s fun enough to convert Mantic Forgefathers into Squats, so I figured it would be even better to convert a Rogue Trader-ish Squat and present it as a gift to my brother. Space Dwarfs back then had great style, style it would be worth recapturing. Everything bar the weapon and the basic 6th edition Dwarf body and right arm are sculpted on the miniature. Notice the kill count and shoulder plate scribble.
Looking awesome and damnit, now I want to get some Forgefather pieces… My wallet hates you
Hashut’s Blessing
Hnah, Mantic is quite cheap. I recently bought a bit more than all the infantry and thudd guns needed for a 1500 pts army of Squattish “Space Marines” for a little lower than 100£, including postage. They actually cost less than the Thermite boring machines (drop pods) from Ramshackle Games did.
Compared to this, the relatively decently priced GW Stormtalon Gunship is the the most expensive unit in the army. When put in perspective you can amass a sufficient collection for decisively less than what it would cost to buy it from Games Workshop.
If you’re only out for some few squads or pieces for skirmish scenarios it’ll be even cheaper.
“Incoming fire!”
Progress have happened for my brother’s band of mercenary Squats. Except for weapons and one piece of 5th edition Dwarf body the space Dwarfs are sculpted. The aim is to capture the wacky Rogue Trader atmosphere, since it reminds us so much of Starcraft I. They might receive snow bases in the future.
The drunkard’s left shoulder pad reads “DIE”, the grenade launcherman’s left shoulder plate have “KILL”, whilst the sniper’s have the text “HIT!” in the hope of good tabletop performance. The sharpshooter also have some kill count lines on his rifle and two skulls painted on the helmet.
"The stronghold oldsters back at home might not have approved, but around these parts there aren’t any stronghold or oldsters. Or home, for that matter. Chap, in the Biker ‘guilds’ you’ll be your own man, with your own ride far away from safety and responsibilities. Us outriders have our own customs, so thus you’ll have me with this spiky, radical beard style, see? At least I didn’t tint it teal."
A two dimensional update this time. Just some Squat faces I painted whilst sick at home. How do you like it?
“Life is a trampler. I like to keep a rug of a beard around to better receive life as it is in the hallway.”
“Pal, come now. Really? If you think I look weird now you should’ve seen me before the flamethrower accident.”
I had always wondered why there was no adaptation of dwarves in 40k… As I was looking through warhammer wiki or whatever it’s called I found out there was … Awesome models … Very interesting to see
@Xx9millxX: Thank you! I often wondered the same thing before I stumbled across Rogue Trader Squats on Warseer when I first discovered a picture of a Demiurg bust.
@Herby: Thanks a lot! He is indeed a tough one. Inspired by Starcraft Firebats, too. A one or two year pause or something like that means nothing to my projects. They move with the same slow speed as the armies I collect do.
@Bloodbeard: Thank you very much! Squats were before my time as well, but when I discovered them over on Warseer some years ago I knew I’d eventually have to collect a force of them. I liked the looks of them too much to want to resist.
@Yodrin: He is, and that means heresy! He’s however full of confidence for fending off any Imperial Commissars with that little flamer of his. Thanks!
I’ll be proccupied with WHFB in preparation for a tournament in May, but after that I’ll return to Squats.
In the meanwhile here’s a taste of the least WIP Squattish model. Or rather, terrain. Its name goes along the lines of “Mining operations network (MON) Omnibeacon” and I’ll explain my thoughts about it once it’s finally painted and photographed with something better than my backwards cellphone.
It is entirely built out of plastic caps, plasticard, some “pins” of various shaped, small nails, super glue and a little greenstuff. It was a Christmas scratchbuild. Of course, like an iceberg it’s supposed to be 9/10 under ground, since it’s a Space Dwarf construction.
Here are some WIP pictures, the tip of the iceberg.
I won’t have time to work on the Squats for several months to come, but let’s have a look at these since a guy on Warseer asked for more.
As you might spot I thought the Space Marine Storm Talon was the perfect model for a Squat Iron Eagle aircraft. Its shape is spot-on, so I’ll just add details.
Nice work - especially on the Celtic/Nordic knots :hat off
Dînadan
Thank you very much! I just did the pattern on random and hoped for the best. Good that it seem to work! :cheers
Let this be our parting picture for some time in this log, since it will be some time before I return to the space stunties. With camera at hand I might as well take an army shot. ;)
Note double skull kill markings on the marksman's helmet.
Badoom! Broadbeard, a loudmouth one-Dwarf illegal radio station sending live from his heists and battles. My character in a Kill Team-RPG campaign. More here:
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