Convincing dwarfs (or dwarves, if you prefer)

[Hobgoblin]

Looking at sukhe_bator's interesting thread about EM4 dwarves, I was reminded of a thought I've harboured for a while: there's a case to be made that Nick Lund - and by extension whoever mimicked his style for the Fantasy Warriors/EM4 dwarves - is the only sculptor to create plausible Tolkien-style dwarves.

Here's the thing: dwarfs in myths, legends and folk-tales tend to be weaker than humans - they're ugly, stunted creatures that don't have the physical might to stand up to bigger, taller, stronger humans. What they do sometimes have is magical weaponry, magical devices or just magic in general.

But then Tolkien draws on Norse myth to create his dwarves [sic]. And he makes them fairly formidable fighters, as in his description of Dain's dwarf warriors in The Hobbit:

"Dain had come. He had hurried on through the night, and so had come upon them sooner than they had expected. Each one of his folk was clad in a hauberk of steel mail that hung to his knees, and his legs were covered with hose of a fine and flexible metal mesh, the secret of whose making was possessed by Dain’s people. The dwarves are exceedingly strong for their height, but most of these were strong even for dwarves. In battle they wielded heavy two-handed mattocks; but each of them had also a short broad sword at his side and a roundshield slung at his back. Their beards were forked and plaited and thrust into their belts. Their caps were of iron and they were shod with iron, and their faces were grim."

So, dwarves go from the weak creatures of folklore and legend to doughty, tough warriors. And this is continued in The Lord of the Rings through Gimli (who, nevertheless, prefers fighting the Uruk-hai to fighting humans, because the Uruks are shorter - more his size, one can reasonably infer).

And this, of course, is what's carried into RPGs and tabletop wargames: dwarves are tough and strong. Crossbows crept into the mix, somehow.

But there's a problem: most miniatures struggle to convey the supposed hardiness of dwarf warriors. They have stumpy little legs and arms, and don't look like they should pose a physical challenge for humans. The usual way of resolving this is just throwing on vast amounts of muscle, which rarely adds to the quality of the miniatures.

The person who does get it right, I think, is Nick Lund, in the former Grenadier/now Mirliton range. His sculpting's not to everyone's taste, but I think his vision of dwarves works far better than most. These creatures have long arms, genuinely non-human proportions and a convincingly formidable aspect. And, while one might quibble at the size of some of the weapons, at least these dwarves look like they could actually wield a two-handed axe:


http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/?title=Battle_Lords_Box_Sets#1603

http://www.mirliton.it/index.php?cName=fantasy-2528mm-dwarfs

[Cubs]

I like the Otherworld Miniatures Dwarves. They seem to have a similar aesthetic, with study (bot not bloated) trunks, short necks and long arms.

[Hobgoblin]

I like the Otherworld Miniatures Dwarves. They seem to have a similar aesthetic, with study (bot not bloated) trunks, short necks and long arms.

I hadn't seen those - yes, those are tremendous. It looks as if the arms would reach to the knees if hanging straight, which helps to make them both non-human and plausible as fighters.

[Andrew May]

Denizen?

[sukhe_bator]

Yep, Otherworld get my vote as well, its kind of why I want to use Em4 supplemented by Mirliton metals Nick Lund/Mark Copplestone sculpts, since apart from the GW LoTR dwarves, I've seen nothing really that matches my mind's eye of Tolkien's creations. As for the Snow White-esque rejects of the late 1980s, the least said about them the better... 

[Hobgoblin]

Ah, now the Denizen dwarves are great figures - no doubt about that at all. It's aeons since I saw one in the "flesh", though I may have one - or bits of one - kicking around somewhere.

But I think they illustrate one of my points - they don't look like they should be formidable fighters. They look like they'd be physically inferior to humans (especially, perhaps the ones in full armour, where the stumpy limbs are all too clear).

Given that, I think they'd be really good as the kind of dwarfs you get in some medieval German epics - frail and cowardly - especially once the human hero has divested them of their magical weapons and forced them to do his will.

One of the armoured ones would make a very good Tyrion Lannister, I think.

[Conquistador]

Perhaps but, since I still use my 1970s/1980s figures, I still like these (yes, you have to scroll down!) dwarf figures:

http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Wizards%2C_Warriors_and_Warlocks  http://www.stunties.com/wiki/index.php/Wizards,_Warriors,_%26_Warlocks

http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Fantasy_Collector_Series http://www.stunties.com/wiki/index.php/02-000_-_Early_Series

Admittedly, http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Der_Kriegspielers_Fantastiques_%281000%29#1040  are my emotional/nostalgia favorites since they were my first.

Honorable mention:

Asgard (1980s!  Not 1970s!)  http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Dwarf_Warriors_%28Asgard%29

[JollyBob]

I've just been finishing off a few more of my ongoing Hasslefree dwarf collection - IMO they are exactly right for the look you want. Short, powerful and business like without being cartoony and round.

I'm at work now so can't provide the link, but if you search the Fantasy board you can find some of my previous painted examples under Feudal or Hospitaler Dwarves.

Or check out the multipacks of dwarves with spears, hand weapons and crossbows (and some single minis) here:

http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?category=fantasy-%26%0D%0Asteampunk~fantasy-dwarves

[Lowtardog]

Now I like the westwind dwarf wars range, admittedly chunky chaps but in a good way

[Brandlin]

Looking at sukhe_bator's interesting thread about EM4 dwarves, I was reminded of a thought I've harboured for a while: there's a case to be made that Nick Lund - and by extension whoever mimicked his style for the Fantasy Warriors/EM4 dwarves - is the only sculptor to create plausible Tolkien-style dwarves.

Correct. No more words needed. Close this thread.

[Brandlin]

Correct. No more words needed. Close this thread.

Ok ok, I agree, Asgard were great. I loved their arquebusier (even though bringing gunpowder into fantasy never sat right with me). And I agree Kev White sculpts some brilliant Norman dwarfs (mainly because he can do the poses in a mirror).

Ok.

Now the conversation is over.

Dwarfs are grim, dour, hard, practical, fearless.

They are not mad, sporting red Mohicans, riding trikes or kneeless. Nor do the believe that a two ton lump of rock on a stick is a war hammer.

[kaiser]

I really like these. They look like, they mean business. 

[Cubs]

They're lovely. Who are they by?

[Brandlin]

They're lovely. Who are they by?

Red box games http://red-box-games.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=16

Hasslefree also have some of them http://hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=norse-dwarves-megapack-%287%29~hfdmp1&category=fantasy-%26%0D%0Asteampunk~fantasy-dwarves

[Hawkeye]

Cubs, I think they're Red Box Games. I was going to add them to the list of dwarf miniatures that capture a sense of strength and physical toughness, but Kaiser beat me to it. Hasslefree Dwarfs, of any stripe, are also excellent for the same reason - strong and tough-looking, with a sense of physical capability to them, even when they're in repose (something Kev White is excellent at, I think).

[EDIT]: And Brandlin beat me to it too!