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"How do Denizen Dwarves Compare to EM4 Dwarves/WF Orcs?" Topic


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3,747 hits since 16 Apr 2012
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Oninotaki17 Apr 2012 9:17 p.m. PST

The question is in the title. A while back I made an army of dwarves from the EM4 plastics with the odd hasslefree dwarf character. To counter it I made an army of orcs from the Wargames Factory plastics.

Having just now discovered the Denizen Miniatures line (while hunting for colonial marines) I noticed their dwarf range has some sweet looking dwarves on the cheap and so I was wondering how they would compare.

SBminisguy18 Apr 2012 6:50 a.m. PST

Great question, I'd like to see that as well -- and also, how do the EM4 plastic dwarves compare in size to other 28mm dwarf figures? I love the (former) Vendel line, but they were a "large" 28mm and looked almost the same size when posed next to standard humans, so I prefer the smaller look of GW's LOTR dwarves, for example.

Lee Brilleaux Fezian18 Apr 2012 8:47 a.m. PST

They are lovely, but small. I got a couple as samples when I bought some Denizen SF stuff.

I think they might work with the LOTR dwarves, but not with any of the Warhammer sized and shape figures. I don't know about the Em4 dwarves, so I can't help there.

Pattus Magnus18 Apr 2012 11:37 a.m. PST

I have a bunch of the EM-4 dwarves and LOTR dwarvf rangers. Together they make up pretty well my whole dwarf force. They are similar in height. The EM-4 dwarves look a little bit bulkier, but they're in full armour, so that's pretty easy to hand-wave away, and their heads are NOT super-bulky/bulbous like WFB dwarves. I think they look quite good together as seperate units within the same army. I don't know how the armoured LOTR dwarf warriors would look next to the EM-4 figs – I specifically bought the rangers because they were going to represent light troops. The armour styles are different enough that I probably wouldn't mix them in units anyway.

I can't say how the EM-4 figs would look next to the Denizen figs, I've never seen any Denizen figs in the flesh. My guess is that they might be a bit small.

Hope the EM-4 to LOTR comparison is helpful.

SBminisguy18 Apr 2012 6:18 p.m. PST

Thanks!! Maybe EM4 is how I'll build my starter Dwarven army.

Oninotaki18 Apr 2012 8:05 p.m. PST

I bought 200 of the EM$ dwarves and used gw dwarf arms to do hand and weapon swaps. It turned out very well. Here are some pictures.

link

This pic has a wargames factory orc and a Zevezda orc in it for scale.

link

link

Crossbow turned into hand gun

link

link

Pattus Magnus19 Apr 2012 7:13 a.m. PST

Wow, those Zvezda orcs are enormous! Might make good ogres of something though!

Oninotaki

I completely agree that the EM-4 dwarves make a good base for conversions using GW parts, I did basically the same thing with my dwarves. Pics are here:

link

The orcs also make a good base for conversions, no pics yet, but I've done a lot of them.

Oninotaki19 Apr 2012 9:01 a.m. PST

@Pattus Magnus: Thats a brilliant pant job on those dwarves. Did you experiment with doing hand swaps or did you just do straight up weapon swaps? I started with weapon swaps but found hand swaps to be less fiddly.Can you post pics of your orc conversions? I wasn't sure what parts to mix with those EM4 orcs so I didnt order any(that was before the wargames factory orcs came out)

The Zevezda orcs are gigantic, I love using them for any sort of really tough/strong orcs I need to represent. Sadly they are a bit of a pain to work with and their poses are really limited for having so many parts.

I just broke down and ordered some denizen dwarves. Once I get them I will post pics of them with Hasslefree dwarves, EM4 dwarves, Wargames Factory Orcs, and Zevezda orcs. Between all of those I think people should be able to assemble fantastic orc vs dwarf battles on the cheap.

Pattus Magnus19 Apr 2012 1:12 p.m. PST

Onitonaki

Thanks for the compliments! I liked how the painting on the dwarves turned out.

I'm ashamed to say, it never even occurred to me to do hand swaps! I expect you're right about it being less fiddly, too. I'll give that a try on the next batch! All I really did for these was switch the weapon heads.

As for the orcs, I'll see if I can get some pics ssoon. It's one of the things that's been on my to-do list for about 6 months!

For weapons on the orcs, I mostly kit-bashed sword bladess and axe-heads from styrene bits. Later a buddy gave me a few sprues of plastic GW orcs and skaven. I found that the orc bits were mostly way too big, but the skaven weapons fit really well. He also gave me some plastic Bretonnian infantry and it turns out some of the pole-arm heads make quite good cleavers for the EM-4 orcs.

I found the orcs a lot of fun to do because I could get a bit creative with the mash-ups and use some of the trash from the bits box.

Kropotkin30319 Apr 2012 2:00 p.m. PST

I have several Denizan dwarves. They come with separate heads and arms so there are several variants. They are pretty much true 25mm so maybe not too compatible with 28mm figures, but they are lovely sculpts.

Oninotaki26 Apr 2012 6:16 a.m. PST

Ok so I finally got my hands on the Denizen Dwarves and they are fantastic sculpts if a bit small.

Here is a pic of them next to an EM4 dwarf and a Hasslefree Dwarf link

I do however think that they scale really well with the mantic elves and the wargames factory orcs as seen here link

To be honest, if there were just a few more options of each body type, I would much prefer these dwarves for making an army out of then any others I have run into since I do use mantic elves, wargames factory orcs, and perry humans for all my fantasy armies.

Pattus Magnus26 Apr 2012 11:24 a.m. PST

Oninotaki,

Thanks for the comparison pics, those are quite helpful.

I agree with you about the relative sizes/compatability, especially the Denizen dwarves and mantic elves (the orcs are a bit of an outlier, but then orcs are supposed to be twisted and chaotic anyway…).

IMO, the 3 dwarf ranges are close enough to compatible if the basing and paintjobs are consistent. For me the biggest thing is the faces/head proportions – they have to be close. The rest I can hand-wave a bit as different clothing, armour. Those 3 figs look like they're within the range of variation within a population. I might not mix them in a unit, but would have no problem seeing them in units next to each other.

I'm interested in seeing how your dwarf project moves along!

Oninotaki26 Apr 2012 2:17 p.m. PST

@Pattus Magnus I was thinking much the same thing regarding the scale. Now I am debating getting a bunch of them with bows and crossbows to build a ranger unit from. I have also found that the heads, hands, and shields from the mail wearing dwarves are easily swapped with the plate wearing dwarves helping to diversify the possibilities.

As for how my dwarf project progress, that all matters if I have to take any classes this summer or not ;)

Now before I go here is a couple of pics with them next to a whole bunch of humans.

link

ordinarybass01 May 2012 11:33 a.m. PST

Thanks for posting this. I really like the Denizen sci-fi figs, but was curious about the Dwarfs. Unfortunately they really look like hobbits next to the EM4 and hasslefree dwarves. However, not having the odd squatness of GW dwarves, they would make very nice looking hobbits.

Stewbags02 May 2012 3:31 a.m. PST

@ Oninotaki

the Asgard dwarves made now made by Viking Forge

link

would make for a good match with EM4 dwarves I think. They are VERY nice minis, my fave dwarves ever in fact.

Oninotaki09 May 2012 5:33 a.m. PST

@Stewbags thanks for bringing this manufacturer to my attention, the prices are great, and you are right there are some dwarves that look like they would go great with the em4 style.

Stewbags09 May 2012 6:16 a.m. PST

Glad to be of help.

Pattus Magnus23 May 2012 12:36 p.m. PST

@ Oninotaki:

I had my EM-4 Dwarves and Orcs out to a game at a buddy's place yesterday. He put a pic of a unit of my converted plastic orcs on his blog, here:

link

The slave driver in the first pic is based on an EM-4 orc, and most of the orcs in pic 9 are EM-4 plastics. There is also 1 metal EM-4 orc in that unit as the leader.

Oninotaki19 Jun 2012 9:25 a.m. PST

@Pattus Magnus

Thanks for the link those look great!

Pattus Magnus20 Jun 2012 5:36 a.m. PST

No problem! Thanks for the compliment!

Looking forward to seeing what you do with the Denizen Dwarves as your project goes forward…

Oninotaki26 Jun 2012 4:31 a.m. PST

@Pattus Magnus: Sadly it does not look like I am going to be able to finish the project. My roommate basically told me he will not be able to cover his half of the rent, so I have had to toss up all of my fantasy minis to try to cover it. I have them listed here TMP link

Pattus Magnus26 Jun 2012 6:51 a.m. PST

Oninotaki,

That's terrible having to put a collection like that up for sale! I hope your roommate is able to get his finances together and you won't be in a long term bind. It sucks when this sort of thing happens…

Oninotaki27 Jun 2012 9:08 a.m. PST

Yeah it really sucks, I was just getting ready to use my break between undergrad and grad school to paint the whole project up too.

It really is hard watching a vet(my roommate) struggle to get work to help cover his costs of returning to college to finish his chemical engineering degree. We have high hopes that the vets only job fair that he is going to today will pan out.

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