The Dawi-des of March

What player of Warhammer of a certain age has never aspired to having a Chaos Dwarf army?

The Dawi Zharr, as the fluff renames them, have a great look in Warhammer. Ridiculous Babylonian helmets, spikes, crazy artillery, big cool lava monsters - there's plenty to like. It's the price that puts most people off, I reckon, on account of how it's all Forge World these days. 

All? Not all - Mantic have a range of Abyssal Dwarves, a few of whom I picked up with my Dungeon Saga haul. And here they are, scratching a long-itchy place in my collection. Ten isn't really enough to be more than a guest detachment, really, but it'll do for now. 

 Not bad models, I think - nice detail, but a bit repetetive. I broke it up by using Chaos Warrior parts, otherwise you basically have ten variations on the first two models above. Odd-looking axes, although not terrible, and the shields are very flat even if they have a nice shape. There are three different heads, at least, and they have very good helmets.

The paintjob, blue and orange, is garish. Tzeentchian, perhaps? Fire and sorcery feels appropriate for these guys, anyway. And I felt tired of reds and blacks after all those Space Marines, so it was about time for something different!

I'm quite pleased by the freehand on the flat shields, the grinning faces pop reasonably well.

The champion has a lead head and sword taken from another Mantic Abyssal Dwarf kit (more of which later, when it's done), and his armour is a bit more orange than the others. Or at least he's wearing orange gloves and boots, the clear mark of a leader.

 A violent colour scheme for a violent unit! Too small to be effective and it could do with a banner, so I'll keep an eye on eBay in the future perhaps. But I'm very pleased with them for now, especially as it marks a return to Fantasy units. I've missed them!

I also finished the Obsidian Golems that came with the same order. This one is a traditional lava beast, burning from within in the time-honoured and predictable manner. Still came out well!

Useless as a unit, of course - the models poses are totally antithetical to ranking up. Put them together and they look more like they're trying to do a badly-rehearsed curtain call.

Thank you! We'll be here all week!