Ruglud's Armoured Orcs - Spike-Can Commandos

Finally got around to finishing Ruglud's Armoured Orcs. The story on the back of the box describes how Ruglud came across a huge room filled with dead Dwarfs. "Spiky Stunties an' reg'lar ones... wiped each uvver out...". In other words, Dwarfs were fighting Chaos Dwarfs and the Orcs loot the Chaos Dwarf armour. So I decided to paint the armour in the style of Chaos Warriors of Tzeentch. I didn't go with black as I have a lot of Orc units in that colour already and wanted to go with a colour that I hadn't used before. 
Not sure I like the final result though (there's an old saying about blue and green colours clashing - blue and green shouldn't be seen) and might repaint them some day.

It's a confusingly named regiment being named after the champion Ruglud, he's the one with the two handed sword. However, the story on the back of the box describes how Ruglud got his head stuck in a helmet which is why it's all squashed up with eyes squeezed together.

"The tribe feasted upon Goblin-flesh long into the night - all except for Ruglud, who couldn't get his helmet off, and was reduced to sucking broth through a straw."

The banner is made from a Dwarf banner and a Chaos banner stitched together. I figured the Orcs would not only loot the armour but also loot any standards that are left over. There's also some goblin trophies as the back of the box states they were fighting mountain goblins.

Savage Orcs!

  

Finally managed to finish some Savage Orcs that had been sitting on the painting bench for ages. Every time I thought I had finished there was always one more thing to do!

These are Oldhammer metal savage orcs made for warhammer fantasy battle 3rd edition. They will join my Orc and Goblin army. 

First up is an Orc hero. I feel like he should a tribal chief name, something like Stranger Come Knocking, or Tul Duru Thunderhead. 

He is armed with a stone headed axe and a boomerang. I love the details on this model, he is covered in bones, teeth, feathers, bird skulls, bone through his nose and you can even see the stitching and fur of the hides that make up his clothes.

Next up is Groldog, not sure if he is a shaman, champion or hero. He is armed with a bone spear, has 3 severed heads on his belt although they are very small so they either the heads of children or perhaps shrunken heads. Like the savage orc above he is covered in bones, bird skulls and you can even see the stitching and fur of the hides that make up his clothes.

The whole Savage Orc unit. All Savage Orcs wear war paint, it even protects them in battle. So I decided to paint them with native American war paint as this seemed more dramatic, and was thankfully easier to paint!

 

I tried to avoid any metal weapons and armour and tried to keep their weapons and equipment very tribal and naturalistic. Some of them are carrying swords and hand scythes, I did think about replacing their weapons with something more stone age, something non-metal like spears. But I didn't want to convert them too much, so bronze age weapons seemed a good compromise.

I imagine that these Orcs live in a mountain region so remote that they are still living in the past. They also have Zulu style hide shields as these seemed to fit the tribal look I was going for. Again avoiding metal rimmed shields. And even the banner is made up of natural, organic trophies- no chains or spikes for these guys!

Lastly is Gutbag, an old , smelly, and likely incontinent, Orc Shaman. I tried to make his skin look wrinkled and  wizened. He is from the orc war wyvern box and previously had a knife in his left hand which I removed and gave him a tambourine type of thing (I had seen a Mongol shaman holding something similar). 

Orc wolf rider hero

This old Nick Lund model used to be my Orc general. I remember buying him when I was a kid and that it came in a yellow coloured blister packet. For a time he had to ride a boar, because Orcs in warhammer can only ride boars. But I wanted to return him to his original glory. I love old Nick Lund models, so full of character and detail.

The Mighty Ugezod's Death Commandos

This is the completed unit of The Mighty Ugezod's Death Commandos. Some Orc big 'uns thrown in to make it a proper sized unit. This is a unit of elite Orc characters in a classic fantasy style.

The original box art. I wanted the shield and banner to look like the one in the image above.

The original art by John Blanche. Note that the box art was actually flipped so that Ugezod was carrying his axe in his left hand. In the original he is right handed. Also note that the Orcs are not green skinned but yellow which I quite like. In fact in makes look like hobgoblins.

The back of the Box.

The back of the box has all the characters names. And the lower image from the compendium has their race and class. Gnar is a mutant goblin, although I read somewhere he is probably meant to be a Kobold, GW probably changed it for copyright reasons. 

The Mighty Ugezod

Here's the big man himself. Crook-backed and long arms a bit like a gorilla. I tried to make the shield look like the one from the box art. The photo's bleach out some details

Mormo Jabberbinder
Orc Shaman

Although the back of the box says Mormo is an Orc Shaman I think he looks more like a Hobgoblin. I quite like his ripped robes and the expression on his face as he points his staff at his victims. I had lost the top of his staff and replaced it with this skull thing I found in my bits box.

Guzrog Dogchild
Giant black Orc

The way he was carrying his shield made me think that he was sheltering from arrows. I had to find something suitably large, so he is carrying a coffin lid. He had lost his original axe so I found a replacement. In fact many of them had lost their original weapons, I probably  swapped them for boltguns in the distant past, which wasn't such a bad thing as they tended to be low in detail and bit small or rounded.

Shylob Carcassbreath
Hobgoblin Berzerker

Berzerker with a Z. I opted for yellowish skin tones for my Hobgoblins. Gave him cat like eyes and a small buckler like shield. I like the eastern influence of this model.

Kudra Stuntysmasher
Goblin Hero
Kudra is a bit big and hairy for a goblin so I use him as a Hobgoblin instead. I really like the dynamic posing.

Sileth Frothlip
Hobgoblin Warrior

 I think Sileth should be a berserker and Shylob should be the warrior, I wonder if they got these the wrong way round? Another enigmatic name! You can imagine a berserker to be frothing at the lips! Armed with a two-handed mace and not much more!

Ushtug the Gut
Pot  Belly Orc
There's something about old Ushtug that I really like. Orcs today look like they spend their lives in the gym, or worse, have inflatable cartoon muscles. So I like the idea of an Orc that's fat, clothed in smelly rotten furs, with an old leathery face. A face like a bulldog chewing a wasp.

Ushtug always reminded me of Bolg, an Orc Marauder that appeared in an old White Dwarf under an article for wfrp. Another great illustration by Paul Bonner- just how I imagine my Orcs!

Saggrob Spikesticker
Orc Standard Bearer

This Orc model was originally just an Orc champion. It felt like heresy to cut off his spear, but I wanted a great looking model to be in the front rank carrying the banner. He is wearing a skinned goblin on his head! The banner was inspired by Nico Realms' work. The skull is water colour as I couldn't blend acrylics the way I wanted to and they were coming out too shiny. The photo is bleaching it out.

The Orc commandos or Orc Big Uns. These models are so full of character and details like things they have looted, mismatched armour and weapons, and trophies.

Orctober-work in progress

 Bratt's Boar Boyz

Orcs were the first army I truly collected so they hold a special place in my heart. When I think of Orcs I think Paul Bonner's versions, maybe crossed with Tolkien's (from the books, not the movies so much).

Here are my work in progress Orc Boar Boyz:

One of my favourite Orc units was my boar boys. They used to strike fear in my opponents as they were so hard to kill. But the models were never that impressive. The marauder orc models I had at the time didn't seem to represent the weapons and armour I had paid points for. Few of them had spears and some didn't even have armour or even clothes!

I was inspired by one of the Regiments of the Renown called Bratt's Boar Boyz (back in WD 106). I always hoped GW or someone would bring out models like these. This is how I imagined Orc boar riders to be. This story really brings Orcs to life, places them in what feels like an actual society full of character, unlike the new crap they churn out which is more about how many times the author can fit Waaaaaghh in a paragraph. A unit of Orc ferocity, bristling with spears and barely controlled boar mounts. 

    

So here they are, work in progress. Twenty Orc Grunta's and Snorta's!

The majority have spears and the majority have armour of some sort.  The size of the boars varies, maybe one day I will acquire boars all the same size, preferably boars that look like they are charging!

Now I just need to add shields, an impressive banner, and finish painting them!

And Man Mangler the Orc mangonel catapult. Love the carved face on the front of this. Painted it orange to contrast with all the green skin and drab clothes. It looks a bit like a pumpkin, which may or may not be a bad thing. Added puddles using varnish.

Orc with flag

I'm not a fan of the newer Orc models, they are too cartoony with ridiculous muscles that look like inflated balloons. Plus their heads seem too stretched, like something that has melted in the sun. Prefer my Orcs to be bandy legged, crook-backed evil creatures.

This guy:

And a sad troll. I don't know why he is so sad looking!