Huzzah! Up now are some Rangers, which I hope will be a staple in the Specialist slot for my new Free Dwarf-styled army.
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| Two regiments of Rangers. |
The models are mostly Mantic. The bodies and armaments are all from Mantic Dwarfs. The backpacks are sourced from Mantic's Northern Alliance Tribesmen. The fun bits of flare are the numerous antlers from the Wargames Atlantic Dead Animal Bits. Like the ram horns for the Shieldbreakers, unfortunately many of the antlers were too big to use here, though by buying two boxes to start we did end up with enough for two regiments of assorted smaller stag horns, like with the ram horns.
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| It's a good sprue! |
Hobby-wise, they got highlights and everything all the other Free Dwarf units are getting, namely two-to-three shades of each color for just about everything so I can practice some sloppy highlights.
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| The Golden Crowns regiment. |
I had two regiments' worth of guys, but as I started hobbying on them, I realized that I needed to do some actual unit planning. The shooter sprues are weird, with one aiming model, and one extra guy. I couldn't have a unit full of people aiming; I needed to split up the shooters; the models with backpacks; and I needed to arrange for varying beard coloration. With two piles, I realized I also wanted to color their helmets differently, just in case one ended up with an item or upgrade down the road. For now, we'll call one the "Platinum Pointers" and the other the "Golden Crowns", but since these names were my first ideas, and the units have yet to see the table, we'll definitely reserve the right to change things up in the future, based om exploits or more-clever alliterations or wordplay.
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| The Platinum Pointers. |
On the table, I really want them to be good, but I am a little worried. The small Scout move should be amazing for securing Round 1 shots, but they are very expensive, and Pathfinder is much weirder than it used to be. I think the Rangers likely want to hide in terrain for cover, but need the foresight enough to not be hindered themselves if melee combat approaches. Feint looks like it might help there, but we’ll see. Suffice it to say for now, they seem like a very high-skill unit, and it will likely take a good while for my own skills to catch up and be able to use them well and wisely.