Saturday 25 March 2023

Rank and file dwarf army

Recent quietness is simply that. Quiet. Work has been time consuming, as have a number of real life activities. While I've been working on projects, there isn't anything finished to share yet. But in the spirit of posting something so I don't forget ... I've started a dwarf army for Kings of War. The system appealed to me for a few reasons:

  • I had a hankering for a rank and file army, and with no Warhammer Fantasy system available at the moment, this came to the fore.
  • The rule set is well regarded for pick up and play - it's one rulebook for everything.
  • The units' damage isn't measured by removing models, so every unit can be its own diorama! How exciting.
  • Last point is worth reiterating again. Every unit can be a fun story.

This is the progress to-date of the unit bases (and spares) and the scenic bases they'll all sit on when not in play. It's going to be a ruined dwarf town. Here's my work in progress in reverse order and you may wish to scroll to the bottom and walk up to the latest.


Bottom left corner is my test piece that's usally a step or two ahead of the rest to try out ideas before committing them to the rest of the pieces.

Browns on the earth. There'll be a lot of static grass added later, but it still needs colour underneath that.

Zenithal priming just to help with tonal variation.

I love the Rubble City basing from Fenris Games, but wanted to add a little more detail on steps and around bases to make it feel integrated. Lot of cork, gravel and sand thrown on over PVA and superglue.

With the display bases done, onto the unit bases. Also a few spares made up.


There's a simply joy to priming everything and unifying the materials. Also helps to bind the finer textures together.



Keep adding PVA and sand until happy. With hindsight I went a little OTT here, so a lesson for future display boards.




Can't have too much PVA!

More texture with cork and gravel to hide the flagstone edges.


Texture and different surfaces is important, so I used a patterned roller to add flagstones.


Found some nice civilian fantasy village terrain pieces which will make an appearance on the board when everything's finished.

Balsa wood edging around the tiles to keep them in one piece. 123 blocks just to get nice neat edges. You can see me testing a couple of the unit base sizes to ensure they'll fit properly.


PVA the whole surface then glue the resin scenery on top and leave overnight to stick properly.

Basic foam squares of 24x24cm contstructed. Three will fit in a nice row on a double-width bookshelf.