Convincing dwarfs (or dwarves, if you prefer)

[rob_the_robgoblin]

I like all manner of different Dwarf figures.

Hasslefree's Dwarves are believable, they suit gritty and dark fantasy - same for Red Box Games.

Marauder miniatures made the very best, in terms of character and they were excellent sculpts. Stumpy, but for all the right reasons.

Rackham were a bit over the top. I like them, but they were soooo stocky!

With Panzerfäuste, I have tried to get somewhere in-between Marauder and Hasslefree...

Nick Lund's Dwarves are excellent too, as are the GW LotR ones.

[Hawkeye]

I should add that there are a few Reaper Miniatures dwarfs that really capture the idea of them as a strong, tough, physically capable race.

https://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/dwarf/latest/06188 These guys, for example, are great.

https://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/dwarf/latest/06196 These guys are great too.

https://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/dwarf/latest/14422 And finally this guy is very cool too.

There are others in the range that capture the essence of the dwarf being discussed on this thread - good proportions (they have knees!), they don't look like bowling balls in armour, and they have a lot of character. Not much more you can ask for, I think.

[Reed]

Black Chapel miniatures (Spain). Dwarves that don't look like blocks with feet (they even have knees !)

[Conquistador]

With respect for my Little People co-workers - we have several that work in the wing  - if you want realism in dwarf size than there is this to consider.  From http://www.lpaonline.org/faq-

Q: What is the definition of dwarfism?

A: Little People of America (LPA) defines dwarfism as a medical or genetic condition that usually results in an adult height of 4'10" or shorter, among both men and women, although in some cases a person with a dwarfing condition may be slightly taller than that.The average height of an adult with dwarfism is 4’0, but typical heights range from 2’8 to 4’8.

So if you (to pick a number) assume an average * "Human" is from 5' 10" to 6' tall, then (in game terms) a 30 mm human might be accompanied by a 20 to 25mm tall "Dwarf."  There is more on the above web site about arm/leg length but since "this is fantasy" I would suggest that limbs should not be too disproportionate but YMMV.

* Sadly, I am no where near 5' 10"

[Duncan McDane]

I love Nick Lund ( his miniatures, at least   ), but the best Dwarfs I've ever seen are the Kev Adams Harlequin and Heartbreaker ones. But of course they're not the Tolkien-inspired ones...

[Brandlin]

Black Chapel miniatures (Spain). Dwarves that don't look like blocks with feet (they even have knees !)

I couldn't disagree more!

Blatant GW aesthetic rip off, right down to the red hair, bare torso twin axes, berserker nonsense. And a nipple ring??? Really?

This is practically the exact opposite of what we have been discussing!

Conquistador - I have no issue with your definition as to dwarfs and dwarfism in reality. However we are discussing Dwarfs (a fantasy race, a different species) and our understanding of what we like and don't like in the miniature representations of them. I think your post is as relevant to the discussion as the definition of a crocodile would be to a debate on troglodytes.

[Reed]

I couldn't disagree more!

Blatant GW aesthetic rip off, right down to the red hair, bare torso twin axes, berserker nonsense. And a nipple ring??? Really?

This is practically the exact opposite of what we have been discussing!

Letting aside the berserker thing (THAT it's a ripoff from GW style, I admit it), but I think you've missed my point: At least it isn't a bulky torso or a belly attached to a pair of feet and all vaguely covered with a beard, like many dwarf sculptures out there.

[Brandlin]

Letting aside the berserker thing (THAT it's a ripoff from GW style, I admit it), but I think you've missed my point: At least it isn't a bulky torso or a belly attached to a pair of feet and all vaguely covered with a beard, like many dwarf sculptures out there.

No, I understand. I just disagree.

That possesses none of the grim, dour, practical, stubbornness that I associate with dwarfs. I also don't believe it matches the comments made in the original post by Hobgoblin.

Personally I think it's an appalling cartoon rendition of a comic childish idea.

But that's only my opinion. Yours may vary.

[nic-e]

I always imagine dwarves as being akin to wolverine from the x-men.
He's 5"3'(a rare case where i am taller than a character from anything)  but bulky, which makes him seem shorter and stockier compared to the taller characters around him ,despite him generally just being a normally proportioned man. knock 3 inches off him and he's fundamentally the same, but squatter and bulkier in appearance in relation to his height.

I think hasslefree do the best job of getting that sort of dwarfish image right, especially with their more recent figures such as borax.

[Cubs]

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

Cubs, I think they're Red Box Games.

Thanks both. I thought they had Tre's style about them in some ways, but they also looked a little different somehow. Perhaps it was the larger heads than human subjects that threw me.

[Cubs]

With respect for my Little People co-workers - we have several that work in the wing  - if you want realism in dwarf size than there is this to consider.  From http://www.lpaonline.org/faq-

Q: What is the definition of dwarfism?

A: Little People of America (LPA) defines dwarfism as a medical or genetic condition that usually results in an adult height of 4'10" or shorter, among both men and women, although in some cases a person with a dwarfing condition may be slightly taller than that.The average height of an adult with dwarfism is 4’0, but typical heights range from 2’8 to 4’8.

So if you (to pick a number) assume an average * "Human" is from 5' 10" to 6' tall, then (in game terms) a 30 mm human might be accompanied by a 20 to 25mm tall "Dwarf."  There is more on the above web site about arm/leg length but since "this is fantasy" I would suggest that limbs should not be too disproportionate but YMMV.

* Sadly, I am no where near 5' 10"

But in fairness, you're describing a Human with dwarfism, not a fantasy race Dwarf. I understand there is obviously going to be an element of crossover, but I don't know how much we can rely on the one to describe the other. What about beards for a start?

PS. I can just about claim 5'10" in thick socks.

[Hobgoblin]

But in fairness, you're describing a Human with dwarfism, not a fantasy race Dwarf. I understand there is obviously going to be an element of crossover, but I don't know how much we can rely on the one to describe the other. What about beards for a start?

There is, I understand, an ongoing debate in Germanic philological and mythological academic circles as to whether the Norse dvergrwere even meant to be smaller than human size. In the Edda, they seem to be characterised by ugliness, lust, greed, craftsmanship and magical power rather than by anything else. And of course they were born as maggots in the flesh of Ymir.

The shrinkage that dwarfs seem to have experienced in later tales may be the same thing that we see in stories of elves and fairies, who start off human-sized in Norse and Celtic myth, but end up becoming tiny creatures (often with wings).

[Cubs]

It's going to mean different things to different people, in different settings innit?

Think about the word Elf for example. I this a willowy winsome Cate Blanchette figure? Or a hugely powerful, almost demi-God? A grotesque little sprite? Or something from Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom with a penchant for blowing horns?*


*"Because we're Elves - BA-DAAAAR!"

[Hobgoblin]

Yes, that's exactly it - and it supports your point about human dwarfs being a very poor guide to the dwarfs of myth, folklore and fantasy.

One of the legacies that Tolkien has bequeathed to gaming is a rigid distinction between different classes of supernatural being. Those distinctions are almost entirely absent in folklore and blurry in mythology. For example, the dwarfs of the Edda seem to be identical to the black elves, who may (or may not) be the same as the dark elves (there's lots of academic debate about that).

And the Edda's famous list of dwarfs includes Gandalfr ("Wand-elf"). That, apparently, was one of the starting points for JRRT in The Hobbit: "What is this Wand-elf doing in a list of dwarf names?" The medieval Norse may not have recognised the distinction as clearly as Tolkien did.

Later on, there's virtually no distinction between dwarfs, kobolds, knockers, goblins and whatnot - all are (or can be) supernatural creatures that haunt mines and hills.

[Conquistador]

Okay, there is a distinction between Human Dwarf and Fantasy (which Fantasy? For our discussion LOTR writings) Dwarf but I do think noticeably disproportionate limbs such as  "no knees,"  excessive beach ball gut girth, and that whole Celtic/Viking Berserker thing do seem out of place with a JRRT Dwarf.

While I find the whole Dwarf as Clown thing in the movies grating there are some good scenes in the movie of "Dwarf Behavior" such as joy of battle/martial expertise against forces of darkness on the walls of Helm's Deep, unshakeable loyalty to goals/values (whether slaying dragons, striving to rescue companions captured buy Orcs, Honor driven opposition to Sauron on a superficially crazy hopeless quest,) and unyielding responsibility to friends, battle companions, or even hirelings (which is where Bilbo starts out.)

Edit:  And some of my favorite dwarf figures for gaming are distinctly non-JRRT though his writings obviously have had an effect (multiple personality viewpoints perhaps) but I think many of those values (practical, grim, powerful) are more or at least as much a matter of perception and how the player (battle, skirmish or RPG) has the Dwarf character/Dwarven unit behave.  I doubt you can show "practical" as an overt trait in a sculpt that well though impractical can be very clearly shown, such as multiple spikes on the armor that would impede movement or catch on objects.