Once again I have no idea what the hell a Villein Initiate is but I am hoping that they are the same as my Bretonnian Mounted Men at Arms. This is a Kings of War Regiment. The figures are old 5th Edition/6th Edition Mounted Squires. I added a few standards and the odd head swap with plastic Men-at-Arms miniatures.
I got these figures years ago in an internet trade. I am pretty sure I paid $20 for the lot (plus postage) which was about one tenth the cost of the same figures new in New Zealand at the time. I think the days of deals like that are long gone unfortunately.
I have seen a couple of other examples where people used this Papo Orc action figure as a giant and thought – why not? I came across one on Trademe (New Zealand’s version of eBay) and I got it for about NZ$10.00 which was a bargain in my opinion. He is made from a phthalate free PVC plastic but given that I am not intending to chew on him he could be made from lead for all I care. He is molded in the light green pvc plastic with the details painted on. He stand about 4.5″ high and just fits on a 50x50mm base.
First thing I did was try to orcify him up a bit. Changed his staff to an Orc Standard. Other people have converted the staff into another bloody great stone axe. I added a few shields as vambraces and changed his chest-plate into something more orcy than the poncy elvish looking sun-symbol on his chest. Also added an Orc chopper as a knife so he has something to pick his fangs with.
BFD was then spray painted black. The interesting thing is that he took best part of a week to stop feeling tacky. I actually got quite worried that perhaps the paint would start to dissolve the pvc plastic and perhaps I should have just brush undercoated him but he seemed to have survived.
Anyway, here is the finished model. He is based with a snotling/orcling – Wee Dave. I think he came out alright.
This is a regiment sized unit made up of old 5/6th ed plastic orcs (plus a metal black orc standard bearer). These came from a number of sources so are all second hand purchased 12-plus years ago. The painting was, well lets just say, variable. I can best describe them as block painted in a range of basic colours. I got these for next to nothing – a few bucks at most. I was thinking of just spraying over them and starting again but then thought – hang on – I might as well spend my painting time on a new unit.I am currently painting a unit of twenty Savage Orcs who will be a standard Axe regiment in my Kings of War army.
So, to tart these second hand figures up I doused them in black and brown inks and washes. I mean I sloshed it on. That was the sum total of my refurbishment work. Once they were based I think that they turned out pretty good – at least to a fair tabletop standard.
Today’s Orcy Update is Big Dave. For my purposes he will be a Kings of War Krudger (an Orc Champion). I have had the figure for a long time (like maybe ten years but I honestly cannot remember) and only painted him in the last few days. He comes from the Frothers Unite-UK range of sometimes available figures. He is a great sculpt and I am glad I brought him, whenever that was. He is, at least according to the FU!UK ‘store’ still available from Frothers for £4 including postage anywhere in the world which is a pretty good bargain.
He has the traditional Orcy look favoured by sculptors since the cartoony look was popularised by (and I am guessing here) Games Workshop back in the 90s. However, he has a more gritty visage than the GW variants and I would have loved to see the sculptor who made him actually do a range of orcs.
He was a two part figure. The humongous axe and hands were a separate piece to the rest of the mini. As I am wont to do I drilled and pinned his hands before gluing together. He is armoured in an impressive boiler-suit of armour that, as far as I can see, has no way into or out of it. That may be why Big Dave scowls so much.
Just a note to show what I am planning on painting this week.
First off the old Marauder Giant from 1990. Since this was taken he has been disassembled, paint stripped, epoxied back together and undercoated. I got this guy in my job lot of second hand Orcs back in about 2004-ish.
Next is a Papo toy Orc Warrior re-purposed as an Orc Giant, or is that a Giant Orc – not sure which. I saw a couple of versions of this model online and was really impressed with how he came out. He was also about $NZ12.00 which is a cheap Giant by any measure. He was carrying a staff in his left hand. The other versions I saw of him converted this staff to another giant stone axe. I decided to give him an Orc standard instead. A few other Orcy bits have been glued on as well as a couple of shield as vambraces. He is mounted on a 50×50 base and is now undercoated as well and first dabs of paint are going on him today.
Depending on the rule set I use this is either a command stand or just three characters. I used a wooden coaster and made three slots to take 25x25mm bases.
The Orc General is the classic Grimgor figure. This one my son and I painted together when he was eight or so. It does hold a special place in my heart to be honest – probably more important to me than any other miniature I have ever painted or am likely to ever paint. In Kings of War he is classed as a Krudger (Infantry Hero). He has Crushing Strength(2) and is Inspiring. With five attacks hitting on 3+ he is no slouch either. Some magic armour and he is one tough cookie.
The Shaman is the Games Workshop 6th Edition Orc Shaman – or at least one of them. He has that Orcy look down pat. In Kings of War he is a Godspeaker. In the version of the KoW rules I have he can throw Fireballs (9) and has Inspiring and Godspeaker. In other versions he seems to lose Fireball and gets Bane-Chant (3) which allows him to try to augment fighting and wounding abilities of friendly units. I suppose I should get the official 2nd Ed Rule Book.
Lastly there is the GW Black Orc Standard Bearer. As I understand it this was a special figure included in the Orc Army Box released in 2000. I have no idea about the special rules for this guy but he was incredibly unbalanced – more of that below. In Kings of War he is a Flagger (an Army standard bearer). He only has one attack but is Inspiring which allows him to force re-rolls of failed nerve tests to friendly units within his inspiring range.
Grimgor in two modes.
And finally.
The most unbalanced character ever created for the Warhammer Fantasy Game. Seriously – how this guy is meant to actually stand up on anything other than a perfectly flat surface I will never know. He is even worse than my Bretonnian Army Standard Bearer.
I have finished my first re-based Orc chariot regiment. These got some washes and a few dabs of paint and I replaced one crewman with an Orc archer for a bit of variety. Other than that just based on balsa bases and a movement tray to hold the lot of them. I have another chariot in pieces and one complete. Am looking for another one to make a second regiment (or Troop as the case may be).
I could not base them in close order with the scythes without making the bases a bit too deep so I removed them.
In Kings of War an Orc Chariot Troop of three is a fairly fast and hard hitting small unit but like most Orc units it is a pretty fragile one.
This is another batch of the old second hand figures re-based. The guy I brought these off used metal W40K Orcs and just attached fantasy heads and weapon arms. I did absolutely zero paint touch ups on these. I probably could have tarted them up a bit – the colours on the trousers and leather gear is plain with no shading or even washes – and in fact I still might on the easily visible bits. I also need to touch up a few visible paint chips here and there as well. I quite like how something as simple as re-basing can lift pretty average figures.
I am getting pretty close to running out of painted second hand figures – so will have to actually start painting Orcs pretty soon.
A long long time ago in a galaxy far away you used to be able to field Snotling armies in Warhammer. I never actually saw one but thought the idea was cute so started assembling a collection of Snotlings. Of course they sat boxed and in the case of the pump wagon, in pieces. I think I have one of the older Pump Wagons as well as another of the newer ones as well – I just couldn’t find them.
I have based these for Kings of War where they do duty as Orclings – a close relative of Snotlings but they branched off the orcish family tree when they cross-bred with an IP Lawyer.
First off a “regiment” sized unit – six 40mm square bases. All I did with these was black undercoat, a goblin green dry brush and some green ink – then picked out weapons and loin cloths. Didn’t bother with eyes or such.
The pictures were taken on the kitchen table because it was too damn cold to go over to the Woolshed with them. At least it wasn’t raining.
This “regiment” is based on a single base using an old GW Pump Wagon as a unit filler.
The Woolshed Wargamer 