We knew there was going to be a Blood Bowl reveal at the Nova Open, one of Warhammer’s primary events of the calendar year, but I would never have guessed that Games Workshop would have resurrected the Chaos Dwarfs, a faction that hasn’t been seen on shelves since 2011’s Legion of Azgorh.

My sensible head wondered if Khemri would return to the fantasy football setting to introduce some brand synergy alongside The Old World. My heart would have loved Slann, but I knew deep down that was unrealistic, and how would GW beat the excellent Greebo range? If I’d been forced to write a top five list of most likely factions, I’d have added High Elves, Kislev (another wishlist choice that Workshop seems to be avoiding in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine), and then maybe Chaos Dwarfs. Maybe.

Chaos Dwarfs, known to fans as Chorfs, have long been controversial miniatures. The range of small-statured firebreathers have historically played into antisemitic tropes. Large, hooked noses, hair worn in ringlets, and a smattering of symbols taken from ancient Mesopotamian cultures are all uncomfortable design choices when viewed in 2024.

This has been a problem with fantasy dwarfs since JRR Tolkien wrote The Hobbit. The master of fantasy built his mythical races from the languages up. The Elves (mostly) speak Sindarin, a language he built on the basic tenets of ancient Welsh. The dwarves, while also defying standard plurality conventions, spoke an approximation of a fantasy semitic language. This wouldn’t be a problem in itself, but combined with descriptions of, again, large-nosed creatures, an obsession with gold, and a people roaming Middle-earth without a home, a Jewish stereotype emerges.

I’m not trying to accuse Tolkien or anyone at Games Workshop of consciously being antisemitic, but these descriptions and design choices don’t hold up to the scrutiny of 2024 sensibilities. We as a society have thankfully mostly moved past perpetuating harmful stereotypes, and have a greater awareness of it now than in the past, allowing the fantasy genre to move out of the shadow of these stereotypes.

Games Workshop seemed to acknowledge the Chaos Dwarfs’ problematic design choices when it released new models on Warhammer Forge in 2011. These devotees of Hashut gave up the classic designs in favour of heavy armour and enormous metal shields. They looked kinda cool, but they didn’t feel like Chaos Dwarfs. Fans were ravenous for any Chorfy crumbs, but players in my community felt disappointed by the release.

After this release, relegated to the fantasy equivalent of Forgeworld and cast in its inordinately expensive resin, it seemed the Chorf dream was dead. Until now.

The new Blood Bowl team harkens back to the classic Chaos Dwarf design aesthetic with some key changes. Check out the noses, for starters. If you compare the old miniatures to the new ones, the noses are much smaller, more accurately proportioned, and leave less room for offensive interpretations. They even look a little like snouts, which befits creatures who count Bull Centaurs among their number and grants the miniature line with a satisfying cohesion.

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However, they still look like Chaos Dwarfs. The beards remain, the armour is unchanged from the classic look instead of following in the footsteps of the 2011 reimagining, and the original Chaos Dwarf feel is kept intact while avoiding caricatures.

The new additions to the roster also help this. Instead of focusing on the ‘capricious slave-owner’ lore that accompanied the earliest Chorfs, Games Workshop is embracing the Hashut fanaticism. The minor Chaos God has a love for all things flammable, as represented on the pitch by Flamesmiths. A brand new unit for Chaos Dwarfs, these sorcerers are mobile flamethrowers, prepared to douse their opponents in unholy fire at a moment’s notice.

Chaos Dwarf players will likely feel a little dismayed that their Blockers have lost Tackle. The replacement, Iron Hard Skin, feels situational at best, and reduces the utility of your regular dwarfs in favour of making them hardier. Maybe I don’t play against many hard-hitting teams (Elves everywhere in my leagues), but Iron Hard Skin will be redundant in a lot of matchups. Another downside is that the Bull Centaurs must be purchased separately to the rest of the team, something which flies in the face of Games Workshop’s recent philosophy with Blood Bowl releases (Gnomes excluded).

That said, Chaos Dwarf players will likely just be happy that they’ve got new models. I can’t wait to see these teams on the tabletop, and I’m certain some hardcore Chorf lovers will convert multiple boxes to use as entire armies of counts-as Duardin in Age of Sigmar. While the rest of the reveals at Nova Open were underwhelming, Games Workshop knocked it out of the park with the Chaos Dwarf Blood Bowl team, and it deserves plaudits for that at least.

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