These are some Games Workshop Dwarf Villagers, first released in 1987, but probably purchased by my a couple of years later.
I've no idea why I bought them, but given that I'd enjoyed painting some nostalgic Ratskins, my mind turned to other ancient metal miniatures I had lurking in my backlog.
These appealed because they are really simple sculpts, as can be seen by the labourer and the peasant, and I've generally kept to simple earthy colours to reflect the fact that they are just villagers.
They are a nice reminder of the charm of the Warhammer Old World; most people aren't mighty heroes or eldritch horrors, they're just ordinary folk trying to get on with their jobs.
The models have bags of character, from the closed eyes and buck teeth of the drunkard to the comb-over and innane grin of the town crier.
The drunkard's chainmail means I could probably sneak him into a unit of Dwarfs (if I had one). I went with bright red and yellow for the town crier as a nod to the ornate dress of ceremonial town criers that still exist.
The faces amuse me as some of them remind me of famous people, and I've leant into that in my colour choices.
The thinker has more than a little Billy Connolly about him, whereas for the lady I can't shake the idea that she sits somewhere between Eddie Izzard and 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair, with a torch of Warwick Davies thrown in.
Sadly, I have two copies of the jailer, one of the issues with random blister packs, and both of them have the same weird hand, suggesting that it's not a miscast, just bad.
Obviously I need to explain this as I've cunningly hidden their similarity through the ingenious use of different colours.
I have no idea what I will use these for, they were clearly designed with the more roleplay element of early editions in mind and really don't fit on the battlefield, although I could conceivably stand a couple of them (the drunkard, the labourer and a jailer) next to a Dwarven war machine and get away with it.
I do really like them, so I will find a use for them. I'm also going to explore more of my oldest miniatures as I'm really enjoying painting these older models.
Acquired: 10
Painted: 236
Lead Mountain: 829
They look splendid, and a great blast from the past. I often wish many of today's figures were a bit less detailed, and as straightforward to paint as these appear. I can see why you pottered through them as they're very different from many modern sculpts. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I just found myself smiling whilst painting them as there's a real charm to them.
DeleteExcellent a small memento of the past
ReplyDeleteThere's more like this to come. I'm on a roll of nostalgia.
DeleteAwesome work on the characterful sculpts, as for a use, you could always battle through a dwarven village, with these either running for cover, or attacking interlopers to the village.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking of reworking a couple of the old scenarios. There's no reason the villagers in the Terror of the Lichemaster can't be Dwarfs.
DeleteIndeed and great idea.
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