perjantai 1. tammikuuta 2016

Spanish Block of Iron

Happy new year, everyone!
In celebration of the start of a whole new year I took the effort to optimize ExtraBushyBeards to make it easier and more pleasant to read and follow. Here's what I did:

- the width of my posts was modified so that I can now add even larger photos to your enjoyment without them overlapping awkwardly
- a nice mountain background was added to enhance the overall dwarfy feel of the blog
- an email subscription feature was added, so you can now easily follow my posts by entering your email address on the right-hand sided column
- the blog now shows you the most popular posts from the past 30 days on the side column
- all my Narrative Battle Reports can be found in the very same side column under "My Narrative Battle Reports" in chronological order (oldest on the bottom, newest on top)

Today I'm also happy to announce that the first 10 models of my Ironbreaker alternatives are finally finished!



Here they are! After spending months trying to figure out whether or not to buy the GW Ironbreakers (10models/40€) I luckily found a solution. A company named "Momminiaturas" in Spain had these Dwarf Warrior models for an astonishing price (20models/20€) and I just couldn't resist. The cost was so low I didn't even care if I was just wasting my money on some crap!
So I ordered a box of these (there were also models for other AoS armies, such as Chaos mortals, Orcs, Elves...) from their website which was of course all in Spanish... Luckily Google Translate helped me through the payment and shipping options! The mailing took quite a while, but when it finally arrived I was over-excited.


The miniatures arrived in a plastic bag like this. Holy Sigmar, was there mold remains and crap on these models! I spent no less than an hour cleaning up the pieces with nail clippers, Exacto knife and a file, but in the end the models were clean enough.
Sadly some of the shields and weapons broke when I cut off the mold remains, but there were plenty of extra bits on the box to make up for it (there were 20 Dwarves, 25 shields and 28 weapons in the box, along with 20 pieces of 20mm square bases).
The models smelt strongly of some odd chemical, so I used the next hour washing them with warm water and a toothbrush. After that I started painting!


The models have some great detail, but they're also quite "jagged" in some places as you can clearly see on the pics above. Oh well, one can't expect to get GW quality models when they only cost 1€/piece!
Very ugly models in comparison to the real Ironbreakers, but while covering behind their HUGE shields they look just fine on the table... if you look at them from very far away... in the dark.

The poses of the models are of two type: "covering behind the shield" and "swinging a weapon", but one curious thing I noticed was that every model had their left leg put out in front with the toes in the air, to support the shield! A nice touch considering that they're standing in a shield wall.
There is some nice variation in their beards, helmets, shoulder guards and such. They only carry three kinds of weapons though: a hammer, an axe with holes in it and an axe without holes in it.



This is the "swinging a weapon" -pose I was talking about. I'll convert one of these to become the unit champion, as there is no command group in the box. I'm also considering adding a standard bearer and a musician, but we'll see what I can come up with.
Despite all the jaggedness an everything, they're quite Ironbreaker-ish after all, aren't they? The HUGE shield, the all-enclosing armour and impressive helmets really make them look more heavily armoured than an average Dwarf Warrior.
"What about the scale?" you're asking. Well, let me show you!


Momminiaturas website informs that they are 28mm scale, just like GW models. However, there is a slight difference when you compare them in real life. The Games Workshop Dwarf Warrior on the left is from the starter box "Battle for Skull Pass".
The Spanish model is slightly taller, but they're of roughly equal width. The weapons are quite the same scale, while the beards are of almost equal bushiness.

I played a game today where I tested my new Ironbreakers. I have to admit, I didn't even notice the small scale difference these two types of models had, they both looked very dwarfy on the field.

All in all I'm very satisfied with this purchase, I got myself 20 Ironbreakers for 20€, while the same amount of GW models would've cost me a whopping 80€!
I saved 60€ by just sitting down for an hour and doing some extra clean-up... and by tolerating some jagged edges on the models.

May your brushes be swift and the dice favor you in the year to come!

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