The Dwarf faction did not factor into the Advent of Decay assortment too heavily, and that’s understandable. T4H had a lot of newcomers to deal with and were also introducing females into the some of the existing factions. But this newest assortment did give us the Dwarven King, Bromdenn Ironjaw, and that’s pretty damn special. And to make things even more intriguing, we get a lot of backstory about the state of Dwarven politics, thanks to his bio. Apparently King Ironjaw has not only made a lucrative alliance with the Goblin Kingdom, but he’s also leaning toward allying himself with the dreaded Gorgo Aetherblade! I’m not usually all that big into these bios, but this slice of politics in the Realm of Mythoss is pretty cool. And it seems like when it comes to politics, the Dwarves of Mythoss don’t f’ck around!

And damn, King Ironjaw does indeed look like a tough customer. As far as the body goes, there isn’t a whole lot new here. With the exception of the shoulders, the King uses the same body as his namesake, Thord Ironjaw. But it’s hard to tell much about his armor from a casual glance, because ause of all the other stuff going on here. For starters, Ironjaw has both a flowing red cape and a black hair-sash (sorry, don’t know what else to call it!) over his shoulders. Between those and his monumental beard, a lot of his armor is covered up. But fear not, we’ll see more of it in a little bit. What we can see suggests a full suit of black plate armor with gold and brown accents. This is the first time I’m seeing the line use hair as a garment. It’s a cool little addition of mixed media and it looks damn good on him. Advent of Decay uses this new addition to Mythoss fashion sparingly, but we will see it again!

And as good as the costuming is, it’s the head sculpt that really takes this figure above and beyond, at least for me. Sure, the face sculpt itself isn’t terribly different from previous Dwarves. I think they’re still working a bit of that John Rhyes Davies likeness and a little Gimli resemblance ain’t a bad thing. Still, it’s the majestic beard that stands out the most here. This copious coif of red whiskers is twisted into a series of heavy braids down his front, and some are “secured” with sculpted gold rings. It’s a veritable wall of beard and it covers the entire front of his torso. It’s matched by a pair of dominant eyebrows over his piercing gaze and somewhat bulbous nose. And then there’s the crown, which features a gold and ebony deco and a brilliant design. It’s shape and scroll-work patterns reminds me a bit of the Dwarf art and architecture from the Elder Scrolls games. And even better…

It is indeed removable! I was not expecting that when I got the figure, but it’s a wonderful option to have him standing with his crown in hand and to be able to check out his bald head. There’s another head included in the package, but let’s save that for a bit and look at the weapons instead. The Dwarves of Mythoss are accomplished weapon-smiths, so it’s only right that King Ironjaw should come with some very special weapons. None of what’s included here has turned up in any of my previously opened figures, so they’re all new to me, but it is worth mentioning that these have been included as part of a Dwarf Weapons Pack.

First off, he comes with this mighty hammer that basically doubles as a kingly scepter. This piece is painted gold and features twin cylindrical hammer heads with segmented rings and silver medallions. The butt of the shaft is fitted out with five silver tipped spikes, and if you want, you can actually remove the hammer head altogether, turn the shaft upside down for more of a scepter look. Not too shabby. Despite being taller than the King himself, I have no doubt that he could wield this thing pretty well in battle.

Next up is this gold-bladed broadsword with a stocky ebony hilt and an angular cross-guard. The gold finish on the blade is brushed over an emerald blade to give it a rather interesting finish. It has an extended grip for two hands, and it looks like the perfect weapon for a Dwarven King.

Equally impressive is his shield. Indeed, this is easily the most distinctive shield out of all the ones I’ve seen so far. It has a bearded face sculpted into the center of the ebony face with a gold border around the edges and silver bolts “securing” it. You get some geometric patterns sculpted into the face as well. Like the crown, I get a strong Elder Scrolls vibe off this piece and I love it. It looks particularly nice when accompanied by the sword. I could easily see this piece hung proudly above Ironjaw’s throne.

And finally, King Ironjaw comes with an axe. It’s relatively demure when compared to the sword and hammer, but I believe that it may be the most attractive weapon of the three. It features the same striking black and gold deco with a turned grip and a spiked butt cap. The axe head itself has a brilliant finish and I love the textured black inlay. It’s such a beautiful and deadly looking weapon! And that brings us back to the other head.

Ironjaw comes with this rather smart looking helmeted head. It’s the classic knight helmet sculpt that we’ve seen more than a few times before, only here it’s painted with the same black and gold deco as Ironjaw’s armor and it features a winged dragon motif on the top. I love the way this thing looks, but I cannot in any way believe that it’s Ironjaw wearing it. Where does his beard go? Is it some kind of Dwarven magic? Does he stuff it all in his mouth? Does he wrap it around his head to form helmet padding? It just doesn’t work. But… if I take off the hair sash…

Now we have a damn fine looking Dwarven Knight! It also gives us that much better look at Ironjaw’s armor that I promised earlier. I won’t spend a lot of time gushing over the armored sculpt, because we’ve seen it all before and I’ve done my gushing many times over. But damn, that deco is gorgeous and this guy looks so good! Am I ever going to display the figure like this? Nope. Never. And what a shame, because now I really wish I had the budget to pick up a couple more Ironjaws back when the pre-orders were going on. It would have been cool to turn a pair of these into the King’s personal bodyguard. Ironjaw would look pretty damn rad with a pair of these guys flanking his throne or preventing the Heavenbrands from approaching to protest the King’s impending pact with their sworn enemy, Gorgo Aetherblade.

And so what we have here is another great looking figure with lots of options for display. No, I’m not really still kicking myself for not having bought more Ironjaws. It’s tough enough to find room to display all the other figures in this rapidly growing line. I can easily let something like that go. But if you were keen on troop building the hell out of some of these guys, I think a bunch of Ironjaws kitted out with the helmets would look great as the King’s Royal Guard. Or just peppered into a display with a bunch of the Dwarf Legion Builders. As things are, though, I’m happy to have him as the King. Now, that’s not to say I wouldn’t mind The Four Horsemen cooking up a throne for him. Maybe bundle it with another Dwarf weapons pack? That would make me plunk down some serious mythril.