George's Space Dwarfs, Month IV, Rank & File

The warriors of Grimshaft were proud dwarfs: strong, brave, stout, and slow. Very, very slow.

As they drove the orcs from the tunnels and shafts of their stronghold, their heroic warriors and their heavily armoured tanks struggled in pursuit of their sworn foe on open ground.

The scattered, battered orcs began to regroup. Their broken morale began to recover and they rallied, committing to another assault, determined to bring as much destruction as possible upon the dwarfs. To go down in a hail of bolter fire.

But just as the “WAAARGH” cry went up, a high pitched coughing sound boomed from the tunnels of grimshaft. There was some awkward laughter among the orcs and they took up the warcry again. Then a jetbike spluttered and swooped from the shafts, followed by a squadron of heavily armed bikes and trikes. Moving at speed, the bikers encircled the stupefied orcs with guns blazing.

The jetbike hurtled forwards, with the engineer guildmaster at the controls. He had recently emerged from the brewer’s guild and clasped a tankard of strong ale. As he flew over the panicking orcs he belched, squinted at the large button with “BOMBS” emblazoned upon it, and jabbed at it. A payload of high explosive ordnance detonated below. The guildmaster took another long drink of ale and swerved his jetbike around in a lap of honour. Then he belched loudly and turned back towards the brewers’ guild.

 

When I stumbled upon Macrocosm Miniatures and Ramshackle Games, I was delighted to see that they produce excellent ranges of dwarf bikes. I liked the original Citadel bikers, but they didn’t really fit the “imperial dwarf” vibe of this project.

I painted two trikes with rear gunners from Ramshackle. Curtis at Ramshackle provides a fantastic variety of heads and weapons, with some really nice options for my army. I also used an individual biker as the squadron leader (all painted in trusted Grimshaft colours of green, red and yellow!)

The bike and sidecar are from Macrocosm. These helmet head options are a great fit for imperial space dwarfs and it’s always reassuring to see a gunner chewing on a fat cigar!

Finally, I decided to have some fun. I had written the character of the guildmaster in some fluff back in February, and the Ramshackle dwarf jetbike provided the perfect opportunity to paint him up! Again, these models come with a huge variety of extra parts – I kept it simple with a bomb rack, and of course opted for the ale tankard arm option! The guildmaster is the one character in the army who doesn’t wear stronghold colours. His brain soaked in Bugman’s Extra Strong, I used orange, pinks, purples and blues to help him stand out. I wanted him to be a maverick, antagonising the formality of the stronghold, but possessing essential knowledge that makes him indispensable.

This has been such a fun month. I really enjoyed modelling and painting the bikes, and going off piste with the guildmaster. I’m really happy with how the army is shaping up. Bring on May!

 Points:

3 x trike/sidecar mounted support weapons @ 105 points each: 315 points

1 x jetbike with guildmaster: 125 points

1 x bike: 80 points

Total: 520 points

The guildmaster with jetbike, and trusty tankard!

The trikes follow their bike-mounted leader into battle!

The sidecar gunner enjoying his cigar!

The bike squadron speeds across the battlefield!

An orc's view of the bikes' rapid approach!

The Brotherhood so far!