Conqueror Models: Dark Age Dwarf Spearmen Reviewed!

Today we will take a closer look at the brand new 28mm Dark Age Dwarf Spearmen by Conqueror Models. These models were released earlier this month and were sculpted by the talented Colin Patten, the sculptor behind the excellent Fantasy Vendel Miniature range.

Conqueror Models is a new company founded by Andy Cummings featuring an eclectic collection of miniature ranges around the three main wargame genres - Fantasy, Science Fiction and Historical. The company was founded with the purpose of filling in gaps in existing miniature ranges for games that the owner plays. The company currently sells 15-18mm Science Fiction Miniatures, 28mm Indian Mutiny Miniatures, 28mm Napoleonic Miniatures, 10-12mm Buildings, 15mm World War Two Miniatures and last but certainly not least the 28mm Fantasy Miniatures. The miniatures sold by Conqueror Models are either 3d designed and printed by the owner and/or commissioned with (organic) 3d sculptors or traditional sculptors to do. The fantasy Dwarves are as mentionned sculpted by Colin Patten, the experienced sculptor behind the magnificient Vendel Fantasy Miniature Range.

The Dark Age Dwarf Spearmen Miniatures

Today we will check the freshly released Dark Age Dwarf Spearmen which were recently released as the start and backbone of the new fantasy Dwarf miniature range. The miniatures are designed and sculpted by Colin Patten in a Dark Age appearance with chainmail, round shields and lovely ornated helmets.

The Spearmen miniatures are sold in eight different packs, each containing four unique miniatures. As you can calculate the number of unique spearmen in the range is currently at 32 miniatures with a Command pack, a pack of Hearthguard, Dwarves swinging Dane Axe, Musket armed Dwarfs, Crossbow armed Dwarfs, War Engines and Characters coming in the future. The miniatures supplied are cast in metal and are scaled 28mm. The shields and spears are supplied separate and are also cast in metal. For the review I have received four different packs of Dwarfs in various poses easily allowing you to recreate a stout Dwarf Shieldwall at The Battle of The Five Armies. 

The Assemby

If you have already assembled metal miniatures before you will find the assembly quite straight forward as the parts fit well and the amount of flash is minimal. For beginning wargamers I will quickly set out the different steps I have undertaken while assembling these fine fellows. The first step is the cleaning step in which you remove flash and other small unwanted pieces  from the models using either metal viles or hobby knives. 

These small unwanted pieces are left overs of the casting process and are common on metal, plastic and resin miniatures. If you desire you can also remove the mouldlines with a sharp hobby knife but in most cases if these aren't too bad I leave them on the miniatures. This of course depends on your personal preference in preparing miniatures. The miniatures had minimal flash and the only areas that needed some minor work were the elbows, shields, spears and bases. Luckily all of these parts were easy to reach and clean so no real hassle at all.

After the cleaning step you then dry-fit the parts in the desired pose and make sure that everything fits fine. When the parts are prepared, you then glue the parts in this case the spears and shields on the miniatures. Note that it can be useful to check the poses on the website of the manufacturer as I have managed to glue four spears with the points up but they needed to be glued on with the spearpoints down. That said the parts luckily still fitted and the poses allowed the different assembly. In the pictures below you can see the four packs assembled and as you can see these miniatures are really lovely and I'm sure many readers will agree on this. 

The Scale Comparison

As these miniatures are most likely to be used with miniatures from other wargame companies. I have added the obligatory scale comparison pictures with a large amount of miniatures from other popular fantasy miniature lines. As you can see in the pictures these miniatures will certainly fit the upcoming plastic Northstar Miniatures dwarfs of which you can find a review here

Northstar Dwarf - Conqueror Dwarf - Northstar Dwarf - Conqueror Dwarf

Games Workshop Gimli - Conqueror Dwarf - Games Workshop Orc - Conqueror Dwarf

Games Workshop Elendil - Conqueror Dwarf - Games Workshop Goblin - Conqueror Dwarf

Northstar Frostgrave Apprentic - Conqueror Dwarf - Shieldwolf Shieldmaiden - Conqueror Dwarf

Games Workshop Spearman - Conqueror Dwarf - Mantic Games Orc - Conqueror Dwarf

The Conclusion

The miniatures are among my favorite dwarf miniatures if not my new favorites. The quality of the casting and sculpting is superb and the design finds it origin in the great fantasy works such as Lord of The Rings and are clearly Folkloristic and Tolkienesque in appearance. This new fantasy range is clearly going to be well supported with new releases already been mentionned. by the owner and even should these be delayed you already have 32 unique sculpts available for purchases easily allowing you to field either small warbands or full-blown miniature armies while recreating your favorite fantasy battles and skirmishes.

The new miniatures and the other packs can now be bought through the Conqueror Models webstore here for £1.50 if you buy four miniature sized packs or cheaper when buying the bulk deals. These miniatures are not only lovely but also very affordable so certainly worth buying. Thanks for reading this review and visiting Wargame News and Terrain, the daily wargame news blog. Make sure to bookmark our homepage and follow our Twitter and Facebook accounts!

Disclaimer - We received these miniatures for reviewing purposes from Andy at Conqueror Models. Please note that this doesn't influence our review as we always strive to supply you with our own independent and honest opinion about the wargame products reviewed.

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