This blog is about the world of gaming miniatures, as seen from my perspective. I've been collecting and painting for over 30 years now, and while my primary focus is miniatures for D&D, I also enjoy many other games that use minis, so we'll be covering those as well. Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Chaos Dwarf Juggernaut!

OK, so you really have to hand it to the Games Workshop folks. In addition to all the mainstream armies for Warhammer Fantasy Battles, they decide to add Chaos Dwarfs to the mix, but they don't release a Chaos Dwarf codex (army rulebook for those not steeped in GW-speak). Instead, rules for Chaos Dwarf armies get tucked into other rulebooks like Ravening Hordes and Tamurkhan: the Throne of Chaos. You can find this info and a whole lot more over on the Chaos Dwarf Wiki.

To further complicate the lives of Chaos Dwarf players, they release models and decide against providing any rules or fluff (background info). Say what? In this case, I am talking about the Chaos Dwarf Juggernaut. It is a wheeled siege tower or weapons platform that is pushed into battle by a Boar Centaur. The model was sold with two levels that stack on top of the main body, but additional levels were available directly through GW at the time, so you could pretty much stack as many levels as you wished. Remember, there were no rules for it! This is what I speak of:


Orc/goblin archer included for scale reference.

At first I was surprised at how small this model is. I suppose I was expecting something big and bulky - but then again, we ARE talking about Dwarfs here. It is 3 inches long from cannon tip to rear spikes, 1.5 inches wide at the upper platforms, and 4 inches tall. It weighs in at 9 ounces, so still a hefty little chunk of metal. For the rest of the world, that would be about 8cm long, 4cm wide, 10cm high, and 250grams.


Something Juggernaut this way comes!


And this is what the poor Boar Centaur stares at all day.

One thing that struck me upon closer inspection was the fine detail. You get a better idea in the following pictures, but a lot of fine sculpting work went into this machine. There are two pegs for shields on each side of each upper level, and those are ornate little gargoyles/effigies instead of a simple plain peg. On the lower level, where the spikes come through, there are nasty-looking faces. And on the beams that support the upper levels you will find tiny chaos symbols and more Gothic-looking faces and bodies that add to the overall creepiness and chaos look of the Juggernaut.


Say hello to my leetle friend!


The devil is in the details...or something like that.

So there you have it. One of the true rares in both the Warhammer Fantasy and the miniatures world. Part of me wants to keep it, just because it is rare and kinda cool. But the reality is I will end up selling it, and use the proceeds to continue to fund my lead habit. If anyone has any additional Juggernaut information, lore, or stories they wish to share, please do so. Happy gaming!

No comments: