Merry Christmas Old Skoolers...

Seasons Greetings to all Ye Olde Skool Warhammer fans...

Dwarf Santa (Citadel Miniatures)

Wolf Rider Blood Eye Tribe...

The second C21 Goblin Wolf Rider regiment - the Blood Eye Tribe...

I added banners to both units made from tomato puree tube foil. Designs have been kept very simple as previously discussed.

Wolf Rider Dead Skull Tribe...

Not one, but two new regiments today, both C21 Goblin Wolf Riders (1985 vintage). First off the Dead Skull Tribe...

I bought the figures back in 1985 and painted up one regiment of 16 at the time, but not the other.

To maintain a consistent look (and hide my horrid youthful painting) I repainted the 16 at the same time as the unpainted ones.

I went for a rough look, wetbrushing a dark brown over a black undercoat, then layering colours on the goblins themselves. The wolves are just drybrushed greys and browns over a black undercoat.

Unfortunately I found I was missing two of the original Gobin riders so have drafted in a couple of converted plastic Moria Goblins. Hopefully I can replace them if I can find the originals or replace them...

Red Orc Blood Moon Tribe...

Plans for some concentrated Orc painting in September evaporated as the real world intruded but I have now managed to finish my first regiment of Red Orcs. The models are all Nick Lund sculpted Grenadier UK models.

Given the clear differences between the Perry Twins/Kev Adams Orcs and the ones Nick sculpted, I have decided that the Nick Lund ones (Chronicle, Grenadier) will be a different Orc race with "red" skin as opposed to the more common "green".

I've always liked Nick's style of Orc and even have some of his original pre-GW Chronicle Miniatures which wll be repainted as part of this exercise, even if the original early eighties Orcs are now so small that they will probably now have to downgraded to Red Goblin status!

I picked up most of the miniatures whilst Grenadier UK was still operating but between Mirliton and em-4 I think most are still available.

Finishing these off reminded me I have a pile of the plastic Grendier Orcs that were included in their Fantasy Warriors boxed game (and are still available from em-4 for as little as 15p each if bought in packs of 50). I've not done anything with these yet but as can be seen from these posts at Combat Zone Chronicles, they have great potential...

Orc Red Skull Tribe...

The latest Orc regiment is definitely old skool and rather obscure...

Back in 1991 Scottish company Fantasy Forge released a box of resin Orcs scuplted by Kev Adams which have unfortunately sat in the attic for two decades.

They have now been rescued and painted up as part of my Olde Skool Warhammer project (though I want to do a little more shading on the banner...).

The box only contained twelve miniatures, two basic poses with head variants. Detail was very good and the casting quality top notch with none of the problems that seem to afflict GW's Finecast.

To beef the unit up I added four old Heartbreaker Orcs (also scuplted by Kev Adams in the nineties) and painted up one of GW's original movement trays for them.

Working on finishing a Red Orc infantry regiment and some 1985 Kev Adams Goblin Wolf Riders next...

Barking Mad...

Unfortunately my WHFB2 project hit a bit of a brick wall over the summer (if we can call what we had a summer here in the UK) but I am dedicating most of this month to cracking on with the Orcs and Goblins so hopefully this blog will seem some more regular posting!

Dipping my toe back into the fantasy water I finished painting an old Citadel C27 Hobhounds and Hobgoblin Master set that I've had sat around since the mid-eighties (along with a regiment of Hobgoblins).

I pondered on how to mount the figures as I liked the idea of the Hobhounds being unleashed to attack enemy units and in the end adopted a similar approach to the Dwarf Rocketeers by building a sabot base for the miniatures. I added foil leads, I'm not 100% convinced this works but it looks better with them than it does without.

Back to the Red Orcs next I think...

Flight of the Walküre...

Progress of the Red Orcs has been steady but slow this week with 'Real World' work impacting time available to paint, however this does give me the opportunity to show off something I finished off earlier this year for the Dwarf army.

I've never been a great fan of GW's Dwarf mythos, for a race that worship tradition and abhor change they sure seem to develop some technological marvels! Top of my hate list is the gyrocopter. I don't know why, I just don't like the concept or the models GW have released over the years.

With this in mind it is somewhat hypocritical of me to replace the gyrocopter with Dwarf rocketeers but I tell myself that for an army with gunpowder, rockets are a much smaller tech leap than a steam-powered helicopter! :-)

Whatever, the models are conversions of the old Dwarf plastics, which whilst not as good as the current ones do have loads more conversion potential. The rocket packs are dragon-head standards from the set, winged helmets used to allow for changes of direction, the only new bits added being some sticks of dynamite from the Miners box set.

The idea was pinched from the excellent Dwarf forum Bugman's Brewery and whilst the models are individually based on 20mm x 20mm bases I have made a 40mm square sabot base for the two rocketeers so they can be used as a gyrocopter proxy by Saul if he fancies using his Dwarves down the local GW.

Painting Conundrums...

I hit a bit of a painting conundrum recently with regards to my Orcs. Back in the Eighties I painted the Citadel/GW Orcs and Goblins green. Not the luminous Goblin Green from GW but Humbrol French Artillery Green, a more olive green colour that looked more natural. However for the Nick Lund Chronicle Orcs I went with a terracotta flesh washed with sepia brown oil.

The problems in trying to recreate the particular looks has proven varied to say the least. I thought the French Artillery Green would be the most problematical until I discovered how Napoleon's artillery crews made it in the field (mix yellow and black and et voila!). The Chronicle brown though has been a problem.

I've tried a few experiments over the last couple of weeks and settled on a slightly darker and redder look than previous, but one I like and has a link to the old Red Goblins that existed in early Warhammer lore before being erased from history by the GW Design Studio.

The three Orcs here (all Grenadier IIRC) are painted slightly differently (Vallejo Red Black, Burnt Cad. Red and Flat Brown over a black undercoat) but the end result is similar enough and one I am pleased with so it's now full steam ahead on a unit of 21 Nick Lund Red Orcs.

Wagons Ho!

Whilst I continue my experiments on what colour to paint the Nick Lund Orcs I dug out these photos of the Dwarves Mining Wagons which have been painted up to use in a Wagon Train/Ambush game.

They are variants of the model that came with the 7th Edition Skull Pass set which I believe are found in the current Dwarf Miners box (I'm not 100% sure as Saul won the sprues in a luck dip at the local GW a few years back).

I made some slight tweaks to the models to ensure they weren't all identical, the major addition being the inclusion of contents in the wagons. I dropped a small piece of plastic card in them and piled some wall filler on top before adding some sand and small rocks which I painted to represent unrefined gold ore (I have no idea what gold ore is supposed to look like so drybrushed black over gold which allowed for flecks of gold to shine out).

I love the little Goblin prisoner in the cage, a wonderful little touch amongst the plethora of extra odds and sods on the sprues. GW may do many things wrong these days, but sometimes they still get it right... :-)

Black Orc Chopped Skull Tribe

Whilst the main focus of my army will be old Citadel and Chronicle metal I am not averse to using more recent releases and consequently have dragooned this unit of current plastic GW Black Orcs into the fold.

This unit was constructed and painted by Saul and myself a couple of years back but I wasn't overly keen on the plate armour look (the models would be sooo much better with some fur as a contrast), however drawing on the rusting techniques used on the Harlequin Great Orcs I am much happier with them now.

I also took the opportunity to replace the standard that came with the figures with one made from the foil from a tube of tomato puree. The design is similar to one I found on the web. To my mind Orcs are not the worlds greatest artists and the John Blanche designs of yore that many paint seem somewhat ridiculous to my eye, so all the banners and shields in the army will have a simple and rough look to them (the only exception possibly being the Hobgoblins when I get around to them).

Turning Nipponese...

This cursed unseasonal warm weather has seen 'She Who Must be Obeyed' cracking the whip and forcing me into the garden on various horticultural duties. This has had a negative impact pretty much any painting though I have discovered a unit of GW plastic Black Orcs that Saul and I painted up a couple of years back. I must confess I didn't like them, too much silver armour so I am taking the opportunity to rust it up and they are looking much better and I need to finish off the tomato puree to purloin the foil tube to make a standard! :-)

Wargames Factory Samurai (photo Wargames Factory)

In the meantime my mind has been pondering other armies and despite a lifetime fear of painting samurai I have become increasing intrigued with the idea of a small Nipponese army based on the Imperial Cathan list in WHFB2 and bits from the Warhammer Armies project Nippon sourcebook. The idea of Samurai, Ninja and Vimto Warior Monks on the tabletop does have a certain appeal and to this end I did a little ebaying, picking up a box of the new(ish) Wargames Factory plastic Samurai and a couple of boxes of their Ashigaru for £13 a box, slightly over 50p a figure which is pretty good value.

Wargames Factory Ashigaru with spear (photo Wargames Factory)

Whilst painting efforts will have to concentrate on the Goblinoids for the planned summer gaming project, planning out both the Undead and Nipponese for later in the year will, I hope, provide encouragement if I start to flag and suffer from Orc fatigue!

Round And Round And Round And...

I've dug out three of my old Eighties Goblin Fanatics which I repainted a couple of years ago to use with the Night Goblins that came with the Skull Pass set. They have been rebased on the smaller 25mm round bases used in WHFB7 having previously been on larger bases which, IIRC, acted as the template for models in contact with the fanatic.

C13 - C27 Goblin Fanatics (1983 - 87)

The fanatics demonstrate the sheer pointlessness of the Warhammer points system and trying to create balanced armies given the unpredictability of the models who are as much a danger to your army as they are to the enemy. How do you points cost something like that? Whatever, they are completely bonkers and a lot of fun to use if you have a sense of humour...

C13 Goblin Fanatic swinging ball and chain (later C27 Dugga) (1983)

C27 Slotta-based Fanatic (1987?)

C27 Kang (1985)

Karkolg's Ogre Mercenary Slayers

Whilst work continues on the Goblinoid army I thought I'd fill the gaps on the blog with some photos of units from the OPFOR, Saul's Dwarf army of Karak-Zaul, kicking off with something a little bit unusual. a unit of Ogre Mercenary Slayers...

Their gaming origin echoes back to when Saul's Dwarf army got its butt royally kicked by an Ogre Kingdoms army a few years ago at the local GW. As part of the usual 'arms race' mentality of the young he started to badger me to get him an Ogre army. I did manage to resist this, a compromise reached upon reading the army lists to discover Ogres could be a mercenary ally choice...

Yuzgrot the Scavenger

Not one to make things up as per the box and liking to put my own stamp on things, having just read the first couple of Gotrek and Felix books I came up with the idea of a small unit of Ogres who had embraced the Slayer concept and with a bit of Green Stuff, some Black Orc axes (with orc iconography removed) and Dwarf shields for belly plates we ended up with this fun unit.

Gorgann Nailhead

One of the Ogres has nails driven into his skull in homage to Snorri from the books. This was an easy thing to do with three dress making pins liberated from the wife! :-)

Thugorgl Belchfist

Despite, to my mind, looking really cool and kick ass, unfortunately their battlefield history is one of glorious failure, normally outstripping the slow moving Dwarves, they ended up in their first battle against Lizardmen, surrounded, outnumbered and quickly dead! Still that's what being a Slayer is all about isn't it?

Karkolg the Flatulant

Names inspired by the Ogre name generator, found here.