When the new army book for Dwarfs came out, I really wasn’t going to do an army of them. I was going to just have a quick flick through, then put it on my shelf as a reference for if my Orcs or High Elves ever had to face them. Simple.
Yeah, that didn’t work…
My problem was, on paging through, I saw that Longbeards were Core choices so you could, if you wished, have an army of them. They were 50% more in points than standard Clan Dwarfs but, for that, you got troops with Strength 4, Weapon Skill 5, could carry Runic Standards, and were Immune to Psychology.
Interesting.
Some quick calculations in my head led me to the idea of a 2,000 point force with three blocks of 20 Longbeards (two with shields, one with great weapons), with 2 Cannon, 2 Organ Guns and 2 leaders (one a Warlord, one a Battle Standard Bearer). Hmm, not many miniatures to paint there.
Then I had the idea of a bunch of old warriors, eschewing new-fangled devices such as gyrocopters, stuck in a remote outpost, forgotten, with no idea their main fortress has already fallen to undead and/or skaven. One day they hear the bad news and come down from the mountain to sort out a few grudges.
Then the local shop got the Longbeards in, and it was all over.
This is very much a slow-burner project and I am doing ten Dwarfs a time in-between other armies – no rush here at all (much like a real Dwarf). Having had a few more games of WFB since I started this force, I also have a few doubts as to their viability – I think they can take a lot of incoming attacks, but actually reaching out and getting to grips with the enemy, that will be a bit tougher.
For this army, I used a base coat of Vampire Red (from Coat D’Arms), outlined with their Shining Gold, beards done with Bleached Bone (which I have now run out of and so need to find an equivalent), and then the whole lot is subjected to the Magic Goop. Very quick to paint, overall.
Just need one more unit of Longbeards, then the artillery and Battle Standard Bearer, and then the 2,000 point force is done!
This lady I picked up a few years ago for our Warhammer Quest games (hence the different base, which I need to get round to changing). I was figuring I might use her as a Bugman’s stand in, as it is fairly obvious what she is in the army for!
Anyway, a slow burner as I said, and I haven’t really fiddled around with Rune combinations yet (though +1 to hit and re-rolling artillery dice on the Organ Guns sounds good!). This force may get finished this year, but it is not a priority – really just doing it because it seemed like a good idea at the time!
A Tabletop Gamer's Diary 