Forthammer Clan Throng - Irondrakes (Painted)

The Irondrakes were a fun experiment in converting and painting. I really liked the dark copper metal look of the drakeguns. I also really like the exposed beards, which with this head variant you are supposed to use them on Ironbreakers. Being able to carry other items in the off-hand does add some personality to the minis as a whole and gives more variety to posing than the static ones of the rank-and-file old warhammer design.

Here is a view of the backs of the Ironwarden with the cannon round pack, and the one with the fuel keg on his back. The refill station for the unit.

Forthammer Clan Throng - Cannon and Organ Gun crew (Painted)

My list includes both an Organ Gun and Cannon, and so far I have just the crew painted. I decided to paint all units before characters to give me more practice with the color scheme. Next on the painting table are the Irondrakes.

Cannon crew. The guy on the left is holding a lever which snaps on the cannon itself for setup on display. I love the one on the right, bravely defending the war machine with his custom cog-shield and heavy wrench.

Organ Gun crew. Repainted from my really old organ conversion I did a LONG time ago. That gun will get repainted too.

Forthammer Clan Throng - Longbeards (Painted)

Left to right: Longbeard, Drummer, Old Guard, Standard Bearer, Longbeard

It took me the longest time to decide on a paint scheme for my Duardin army, knowing I wanted some shade of blue or green. I saw briefly somewhere a mini painted in jade armor, and loved the notion. I didn't know what paints to buy until I found this gem of a resource, opting for the one that starts with Stegadon Scale Green and highlights with Temple Guard Blue. Maybe not exactly a jade color, but I like the tone nonetheless. So that takes care of the armor along with the usual silvers and golds, then I decided that one step above that scale would work great for the cloth and leather. Starts with The Fang and highlights with Fenrisian Grey.

The color combination will be more apparent on the Irondrakes when I paint them, I feel.

Forthammer Clan Throng - Warden King in Steamsuit

Just as the Lord-celestant is the centerpiece for my Forgesworn Eternals army, this will be the centerpiece of my Duardin army.

Now this was a really ambitious project that I worked on for quite some time, and a bunch of trials and error. I love the idea of representing the Dwarf Lord on Shieldbearers (page 7) warscroll with a steamsuit. It fits the engineer's guild theme of my army. I have been using a 3rd party mini to represent that, as shown here, but 3rd party minis are not allowed at the LVO because GW is running the AoS tournament. It's sort of a bummer, but it gives me an opportunity to flex my conversion muscles and make a new one entirely out of GW parts.

I have always liked the look of the Gyrocopter kit, feeling there was some conversion potential there, but not sure what. Basically I wanted to use the Gyrocpter for something other than the Gyrocopter. Since I imagine a dwarf mech to be bulky and short, I realized I could use the main body of the Gyrocpter as the base and torso of my Steamsuit.

The torso conversion of course was easy. The Gyrocopter build remained relatively unchanged, with some shifting of some parts around, and removal of any wings and rotors. The pilot inside is still the pilot mini, but instead using one of the bearded Ironbreaker heads, and the top crest from the Warden King kit to give him some more of a kingly feel, and of course the banner is from that same kit. The legs and arms were definitely a challenge. I realized the Meganob legs (kindly donated by my brother, Jarom) were just about the right size, explaining the model's 4" movement. I used some plasticard to cover up the ork pants and removed some of the spiky bits. The arms are mostly scratch built, except the hands, which are from the Kastelan Robots kit I got off of a bits site. I reposed some of the digits to grip the hammer and his pointing finger, similar to how I did it here.

25mm base present for scale.

The hammer itself took quite some time to figure out. I love the look of the original steam hammer on the old dwarf engineer (see below), so I wanted to replicate that somewhat on a larger scale. This was a hodge-podge of bits I had in all of my bins, primarily Gyrocopter bits, and the hammer head's structure is constructed of plasticard and sides of the Warden King's oathstone bit.

Overall I am very proud of the project and it definitely acts as the centerpiece for my Duardin. Now I have all of my Duardin built, and I just need to get them painted!

This is just to show the size compared to how big the original dwarf lord on shieldbearers would look (the 3 Irondrakes stacked on the left). As you can see the size is much bigger and bulkier, but at least the head heights are the same. I am also seriously considering moving to a 50mm base instead of the 40mm shown. There is no defined base size for the old dwarf lord on shieldbearers, so I think I should be ok, even if the LVO does base-to-base measuring for everything.

Forthammer Clan Throng - Irondrakes WIP

Part of the range firepower for my Duardin are the Irondrakes. I think this may be my favorite Duardin warscroll. Their weapon is formidable and they are tough (ignoring rend -1).

Second from the right is the Icon Bearer.

Far left is the Ironwarden (unit leader). I gave him the trollhammer torpedo weapon, but I went with a different style. I used leftover bits from the Cannon kit so it appears that he has a shoulder-cannon, shooting large shells. The gun barrel is a little bigger than the Drakegun barrel, coming from the Gyrocopter kit. Inside is one of the Cannon shells, he is holding another in his hand, and slung on his back is a rack holding 2 more. To his right is the drummer (opting that type of musician over the derpy looking horn/gun), then one toting the keg. It has no game effect, but he will be the one that refuels the unit.

I wanted to go with a unique pose for Irondrakes. Instead of having their guns slung in front of them, I wanted to go with a shoulder mount type pose. Just cutting the gun bits up and rearranging them creates this effect. This freed their left hands to hold things, like melee weapons or other bits, to give the unit some personality. One thing you may notice is the heads. These are normally used for the Ironbreaker variant, as the Irondrake heads are beardless. However all my Forgesworn Eternals use Irondrake heads, so I wanted these guys to look different enough from them. Besides I like it when a Dwarf shows off his glorious beard.

Forthammer Clan Throng - Longbeards WIP

The Duardin for my LVO list will be somewhat modest. I have more points in the Stormcast Eternals. These guys are meant to provide the ranged support. However I did need another battleline unit, so there really is no better battleline (in my opinion) than Duardin Longbeards. They are decently tough for single wound models and also buff other Dispossessed units. Not a bad choice.

Far left is the Old Guard (unit leader). His arms are from the Cogsmith kit, and his left arm will be holding a shield to the ground. Next is the standard bearer, using an older Warriors kit standard. The Longbeards kit standard is being used for my army standard bearer model. Next is the drummer.

I recycled some old axe bits from the old Warriors kit. You may recognize the axe-head on the far right as coming from my Unforged conversion.

They are all equipped with great weapons and shields, and I tried to model them as such, deviating from the they-all-look-the-same-rank-and-file style of build they were designed for. I wanted each mini to have some personality. It makes sense that each weapon will be unique because in Dwarf lore, each warrior's weapons and sometimes their armor are passed down through generations with lots of history tied to each.