Hobby Update: Free Dwarf Crossbowmen

...And wrapping up the call to arms for Core units (for now) are some more Ironwatch Crossbowmen for the Free Dwarfs!

More Ironwatch Crossbowmen.

These were not originally planned for in the latest painting push, but are a happy addition. I had grassed up an older three-notch base, but it ended up being my last one, and I was struggling to figure out what to put on it. I realized that the other Crossbowmen in the demo list were on one as well, so ta-da, here we go, and now we have some matching bases for a horde. I apparently still have another regiment's worth of Crossbowmen minis around, and can always paint those up for the demo list instead if the mood strikes, or if I find that I really want more Crossbowmen.

We're still taking baby steps with the Dwarfs, and the Ironwatch Rifles have done ok so far. With Piercing 2 and Elite from supporting Warsmiths, they are really able to lay the hurt on opposing units from afar. However, they do have Reload, making them rather static, and quite dependent on good deployment, good positioning, and lots of planning ahead. They can work, but a horde is a big investment.

I can see the Crossbowmen approximating the Rifles in a list, but allowing for some more tactical flexibility. A horde could function similarly, but with slightly worse damage output, or they might work as regiments in an MMU approach, with units providing bounding overwatch as the Dwarfs look to take the fight to the enemy. 

Many more games will be needed before I find my footing with the Dwarfs, and I am excited to have these done, and ready to assist! The collection has jumped to over 1k points of Core stuffs now, and about 6k points overall, though with slots now, this is unfortunatle no longer a viable gigantic force like in pervious editions. 

List building is still a gripe of mine for 4E. Yeah, you could run some dumb stuff, but the slots make everything messy to the point where you now need the App to check things (especially now where a choice might swap only a single unit to a different slot), and the approach seems to be forcing spammy lists since a unit is trying to fill multiple criteria now.

Rant over 6k is the bulk of my collection, with only a handful of other units on the horizon right now. I had planned on taking these to Best of the Rest, but real life dissuaded me. I am still working on their grassy display board though, and am just about ready to go back and touch everything up with more flowers and such. It's been a busy couple of months for the Dwarfs, but we've accomplished a lot! More to come from them soon!