Warcrow's newest army, the stout-hearted dwarves of Mounthaven, are available for pre-order now. How fast they grow up! It feels like it was only yesterday that Warcrow was a baby miniature wargame, with only a couple of factions and some classic fantasy archetypes missing from the line-up. The new Mounthaven action pack starter set, and accompanying Hearthguard soldiers expansion, brings the total number of armies up to five - and the miniatures are gorgeous.
Corvus Belli has been drip-feeding pictures of the new Mounthaven minis for a little while, and the aesthetic is a mixture of classic dwarven tropes with some interesting inspirations. So yes, they're short, stocky, heavily armored, and favor angular shapes in their art, as you'd expect from any fantasy wargame. But they've also got a slight far-Eastern inspiration, with magical origami and a seer dressed in robes inspired by Chinese court dress.
I think it's a pretty shrewd spin on the dwarves. Mounthaven is an extremely ancient civilization that has been geographically isolated from the European-coded parts of the world (admittedly, because it's underground) - and they've got extremely advanced technology, including gunpowder. Those are classic fantasy dwarf tropes that map equally well onto European perceptions of historical China.
The new Mounthaven action pack contains 10 resin miniatures that will form the core of an army. The force is led by Olga, Princess of Mounthaven, a rallying point who can increase the speed of the stumpy-legged dwarves and keep them in the fight.
All the Mounthaven troops are slow, durable, and fairly hard hitting. They're dwarves! It goes with the territory. But alternate ways to close the maneuverability gap are everywhere. At its most basic, all your troops have Preferred terrain (Rugged), as you would expect from folks at home in mines and mountains.
It's more obvious in Hrodreiks, Thirteenth Executor of the Master Plan's abilities. This character lets you regain the momentum after an allied unit is destroyed by removing stress from another ally and allowing them to make an assault, charge, or attack at the end of the turn. And he punishes sneaky enemy Scouts and Ambushers by giving them the Disarmed state if they try to deploy outside their deployment zone.
There are some very strong support units as well. The Keeper of the Sacred Flame can heal troops, and lets units without any stress on them use their attacker or defense modifiers without paying the normal cost in stress - he's going to be a magnet for enemy assassins.
Then there's the Folder magic user, who can attach a magical origami bear or owl to a friendly unit, buffing them with extra strength or flight, and letting transfer her actions over to them on her turn.
There are basic troops in the box too, four extremely sturdy Militia, and two ranged Raiders who are equipped with rocket boots. Rocket boots!
The Mounthaven action pack costs $116 / €100 / £87 and is available to pre-order now from the Corvus Belli webstore. There's also a bundle deal which adds in the Hearthguard unit and an exclusive version of the War Augur support hero, for $168 / £126 / €145.00.
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