One fortunate thing about Fantasy games though is that there are a lot of companies out there that produce fantasy figures at a much reduced price compared to GWs. GW (in my view) kind of has the futuristic grimdark setting monopoly (no other company could produce space marine like figures without getting a lot of legal flak) but in the fantasy realm they don't (a dwarf is a dwarf whether it is a GW dwarf or a non-GW dwarf). So I've decided to build a Dogs of War/Empire army using figures from other companies.
It's going to be much cheaper and hopefully after a coat of paint look just as good. I decided not to do a dwarf army (see previous post about Mantic Dwarves) as I really don't like their playstyle and besides, I can always fit dwarves into a Dogs of War army if I decide to buy some Mantic Dwarves in the future.
I already have a bunch of knights, heroes and wizards from Bretonnia that could easily fit in with any DoW/Empire army so part of the army is already made. I just need infantry and I think I'll take those from Wargames Factory.
I could use their Samurai Warriors to represent swordsmen/greatswords/paymaster bodyguard (armed with katana), the Ashigaru Yari Troops as pikemen/spearmen, the Ashigaru Missile Troops as crossbowmen/handgunners and their Viking Huscarls to represent norse marauders/flagellants.
As an Empire army using the vastly different styles of models might be awkward but for a Dogs of War army not so much I think. After all the Dogs of War are mercenaries from all over the world. I just hope the local gamer folk don't mind me using alternate figures to play Warhammer Fantasy. Admittedly I could just try and get ancients/historical gaming going but that I think is going to be harder as it requires investment from more people.