It’s been a long time since I spent time thinking about Warhammer Fantasy. At the end of things, when the End Times were upon us, our lives were changed forever as Games-Workshop announced the end of Warhammer Fantasy. When I set up my new game room I was able to put out the army on display (for the first time ever). It made me excited to think about getting the army back on the table.
A Walk Down Memory Lane
The Dwarf army was the very first army I ever thought about collecting when I originally purchased the Warhammer Fantasy 5th Edition starter set. Yes, I was enamored with the valiant Brettonian Knights and the watery Lizardmen of that set. Indeed, even my first games were with those two armies. There was that glint of gold in my eye though as I dreamed of building that first dwarf army.
First Models In Hand
Of course, when I started collecting the dwarfs had almost no plastic kits and there was stirrings of a new edition coming on. Still, I worked on trying to get my hands on some models, eventually picking up a blister of slayers. My first Dwarfs were in hand.
It didn’t take long though to pick up my first hammerer models. These classic sculpts are still some of my favorite models that Games-Workshop ever put out. With care I thought about the red of the gloves that they would have so that their bloody work with their hammers would not show up on their clothes.
Things that Go Boom
It wasn’t long into building the army that I realized that if I had any chance of winning I needed to put some artillery on the board. Organ Guns for their 5 canon shots at 65 points were simply too good to pass up.
There is something about the classic metal war machines of the dwarfs that I always loved. As they changed over the years and released new war machines they just were never as cool as those ones I first picked up. I guess that is something with the dwarfs is you just can’t trust that new fangled gadgetry!
The Core Years
As the editions changed, Warhammer added a new way to construct lists. In all honesty, this was a vast improvement to the hero and cannon hammer that the game was in fifth. This concept stayed with the game through to it’s final eight edition of the game.
Quarrelers
With core meant that there were new plastic sets of dwarf warriors/quarrelers. I had to immediately buy those up and add bulk out the quarreler units that I had all ready picked up metal models for. This mix of some of those classic metal sculpts with the newer plastic sculpts gave this unit such character that when it came time to repaint the army in it’s current scheme they had to come along for the ride. Many of them retaining their original paint schemes in fact!
Dwarf Warriors
The dwarf warrior is the staple, or at least should be, of any dwarf army. I have always had a block of dwarf warriors on the table. Even when they were pretty rubbish in the game. When they updated the plastic kit I committed to building a unit of those fine lads. Overall, I wasn’t really happy with the quality of the plastic models, but painted up as a block they look very impressive!
My dwarf warriors armed with their great axes are quite responsible for chopping down many the enemy. Their mighty strength five was good to chop through most unit’s toughest models. With the dwarf toughness of four they would give challenges to most things in the game to be able to do damage to them.
Old Times and Possibilities Again
While Warhammer Fantasy has been gone for quite some time, the rumors of new Old World gaming from Games-Workshop stirs. On top of that, there are plenty of opportunities to field the army in Mantic’s Kings of War game or in The Ninth Age Fantasy Battles game. This old dwarf longs for the good old days of Oldhammer though. Perhaps I will get the army out one day for a battle of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
- What was your favorite edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles?
- What army was your favorite army to play in Warhammer?
- What were your first miniatures for Warhammer Fantasy Battles?
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