News: Warhammer Forge #7

Hello all, Slick here. The latest Warhammer Forge newsletter brings a whole lot of Chaos Dwarf goodness! The Iron Daemon looks vicious!

"Hi there,
This week’s newsletter contains a veritable feast of new releases, so without further ado we bring you the first of our eagerly awaited Chaos Dwarf kits!

Chaos Dwarf Iron Daemon

The Chaos Dwarfs possess a mastery of steam technology that would make the Engineers of the Empire baulk in awe. The Chaos Dwarfs fuel these war machines with the resources of their cruel land. Primarily this is a form of coal which is ensorcelled to burn hotter and more constantly than would naturally be possible, but lesser materials such as wood can be pressed into service if needs be, and rumours abound of infernal devices that run on blood, ground bones and screaming souls.

The Iron Daemon is a compact, steam-driven armoured traction engine. Its boilers allow it to haul smaller war machines and munitions to the battlefield, and simultaneously operates pressure-fed cannonades. This means that the Iron Daemon is a powerful war machine, a fully mobile artillery piece capable of smashing down fortifications and hacking apart ranks of soldiers with murderous ease.

The Chaos Dwarf Iron Daemon, designed by Tim Adcock, is a complete resin kit supplied with three detailed crew, sculpted by Thais Mariblanca Lopez. It is available to pre-order now for despatch in the week commencing 23rd May.Experimental rules for this deadly war machine, taken from the forthcoming Warhammer Forge book Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos, are available to download now from the Forge World website.

Chaos Dwarf Infernal Guard
The Infernal Guard defend the Black Fortress to the death against any who would assail it, and carry out the will of their lord without question. Their ranks are made up of Chaos Dwarfs to which some stain of failure or dishonour has befallen, and in the eyes of the cruel and unforgiving Chaos Dwarf society such a taint can stem from merely possessing blood ties to a failed battle commander, knowing defeat beneath the gaze of a Sorcerer or presiding over slaves who revolt.

Whatever the cause of such dishonour, the Infernal Guard offer the solace of Hashut’s grace in death and anonymity in life. Upon taking the cult’s oath, names and past kinship are shorn away and their faces are sealed beneath hot iron and bronze masks which sear into their flesh. Only if they achieve great glory are the masks removed, exposing the warrior’s scarred face to the world once more.

Drilled mercilessly by their Castellans and barracked in the burning deeps beneath the Black Fortress, only the strongest survive within the ranks of the Infernal Guard and few can withstand them in battle. Fewer yet can hope to break their line so great is their martial skill.
Alan Bligh's Experimental rules for these fell warriors, taken from the forthcoming book Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos, are available to download now from the Forge World website.

Infernal Guard

The Infernal Guard, sculpted by Edgar Skomorowski, is a detailed resin kit comprising ten Infernal Guard armed with hand weapons and shields. The kit contains ten differently detailed heads, two different styles of body and five individual designs of weapons, each festooned with the brutal detail of the Dawi Zharr. This kit is available to pre-order now for despatch in the week commencing 23rd May.

Infernal Guard with Fireglaives
The Fireglaive is a compact repeating handgun that also incorporates a single-edged blade that can be wielded much like a halberd. The Fireglaive is a complicated weapon to manufacture, and a difficult one to master, so their use is largely confined to the elite and to the Chaos Dwarf Daemonsmiths that fashion them.

The Infernal Guard with Fireglaives, sculpted by Edgar Skomorowski, is a detailed full resin kit comprising ten Chaos Dwarf Infernal Guard armed with these deadly firearms. The kit contains ten individually detailed helmets, two differently detailed and posed bodies and two different Fireglaives, allowing for a great deal of modelling potential. This kit is available to pre-order now for despatch in the week commencing 23rd May.

Infernal Guard Command Group
Commanded by a Castellan, himself a once-shamed member of the Infernal Guard who has since won glory in battle and earned the right to bear his face to the world again, the Infernal Guard march beneath the cruel iron visage of Hashut, the fell daemon-god of their dark race. The clamour of their iron-shod strides are accompanied by the dolorous pounding of cruel drums.

Sculpted by Edgar Skomorowski, the Infernal Guard Command Group comprises three full resin figures: a Castellan, Standard Bearer and a Musician. The set also contains weapon options for the Castellan which allow the Command Group to be used with both of the Infernal Guard kits released in this newsletter. It is available to pre-order now for despatch in the week commencing 23rd May."

News: Mantic's Abyssal Dwarfs

Hello all, Slick here. Back again after some vacation time. Mantic has been up to some good stuff and now they are releasing Abyssal (Chaos) Dwarfs. With the dearth of 8th ed Fantasy releases since the rulebook came out. Mantic is releasing these and filling Fantasy's Dark Eldar (Chaos Dwarfs have been ignored for well over a decade now). It is also good that they are getting these out before Warhammer Forge starts putting out their Chaos Dwarfs. The Warhammer Forge ones will easily be more detailed but the fact that Mantic's armies are so affordable you may just want to build up your army solely from Mantic's offerings. In either case, kudos to Mantic for giving fantasy players a long missing army and one-upping GW in the process. What do you guys think?

The Abyssal Gates Open......

Well, they may have gone insane in the process and are now sporting all manner of wild and wacky headgear but the guys from Golem Painting Studio have been splashing the paint around and, hands hurting (ever tried wielding a paintbrush covered in thorns? Darn that dark magic), have produced some fantastic paintjobs for our excellent Abyssal Dwarf miniatures! And what better way to start the show than with the staple unit in any Abyssal Dwarf Army; the Black Souls!

These guys are the mainstay of any Abyssal Dwarf army; more numerous that their Immortal Guard brethren, and better armoured that the Decimators, whose use of the lethal blunderbuss restrict the amount of armour they can carry.

Speaking of Decimators:

Abyssal Dwarf Decimators carry lethal blunderbusses that blast forth huge gouts of fire, creating a wall of flames for enemy troops to battle through before they can even reach the twisted Dwarf that wields it. Abyssal Dwarfs use these weapons to engulf there enemies in flames, searing flesh and armour, laughing maniacally as their enemies scream in pain.

Backing up the Decimators we have the Katsuchan Rocket Launcher:

The Katsuchan Rocket Launcher is a nightmarish machine that fires devastating rockets into the enemy ranks. Hated and feared in equal measure, armies fighting against the Abyssal Dwarfs know they must silence these arcane warmachines as quickly as possible, before their fiery barrages decimate their numbers.

Finally we have the Immortal Guard:

Bitter and twisted warriors slaughtering their way through decades of war and mayhem, these individuals are the elite of the Abyssal Dwarfs, few enemies can stand before these nightmares without meeting a very bloody and gruesome end.

If you would like to see more pictures of any of these menacing units just click here.

The Abyssal Gates are opening, and the wrath of the fallen is decending upon us...................

.............The 25th of February is when the mayhem begins............."

Warhammer Fantasy: New Chaos Dwarf Book (unofficial) Available (free pdf)!

For all you Chaos Dwarf players out there, here is the next best thing to GW actually redoing your army (in some ways better). Look at the cover, one would think it's a GW production. That would also be completely wrong. This book is the culmination of a lot of effort by a dedicated group of people. The quality is definitely at GW level in all aspects, in short this is a professionally done army book. The book is available as a free PDF, just click HERE or the picture. At some point I will have to read through this thing to get an opinion of the rules. If they're anything like the visuals, it should be a fantastic addition to the Warhammer Fantasy world. Comments welcome!