I've had a busy Christmas and New Year. Apart from working through most of it, I have spent a lot of time painting more Fantasy Tribes Orcs and basing them on the regiment sized bases. I even re-based and tinkered with the paintwork of the pre-slotta Harboth and the Black Mountain Boys Regiment of Renown which I painted some years ago. It appears I have accentually started painting up an army!
After my last blog post I discovered that the Mantic Games rules set Kings of War encourages the idea of regiment sized bases. In addition, many other people have adopted this idea, as well as basing their miniatures with a frontage of five miniatures and a depth of four. So I have adopted this look from the infantry regiments, although it might be disadvantageous for rank bonuses when playing Warhammer. I have retained a five by two base for some archer units, but these I can double up if necessary for other wargames rules. I have done this because I am planning to recreate some of the old armies from sample armies in 1st/2nd/3rd Edition, and some of those units were ten strong. So consequently I have re-based the regiment from the last blog post.
I have had a lot of fun painting these. It's nice to get back to painting some Goblinoids, and trying my hand at hand painting some banners (not my strong point). My aim is to paint most of the miniatures in this, and my other armies, to a good wargames table standard, with a little bit more care and attention taken with heroes, individual monsters, banners, and some of the random things I might end up painting. I want to make a concerted start on tackling my many fantasy armies, and so think this is the best approach. I'm a good table top standard painter, but not really Golden Demon or Cool Mini or Not level, and so I don't want to get too bogged down on hyper detailed painting miniatures which will largely be for the tabletop.
Enjoy :)
There are three Regiments of Orcs with Halberds, one regiment with hand weapons and shields, two crossbow regiments, Harboths regiment, and Notlobs Bolt Throwers, and an Orc Wizard.
For all three halberd regiments I have adopted a yellow colour for them so the tie in together. I have based the shield design, a yellow moon on a blue background, on the shield from the artwork on the cover of the Warhammer 2nd Edition Fantasy Battle box.
The above standard is a lose copy of one from the 1st Edition Fantasy Battle Forces of Fantasy set.
The standard is another copy from the Warhammer 2nd Edition Fantasy Battle box.
The standard is my own variation of a style of banner I have seen over the years, with a mix of random made and 1st Edition Fantasy Battle Forces of Fantasy ones.
To give a little variation I have painted these in brown/olive green flesh tone.
Although a little later than the Fantasy Tribes Orcs they are still of the same era and seemed to fit in well. I have based the whole bolt thrower team on a 60mm round base as I think that they look better in their mini dioramas. I have based Notlob separately to act as an independent hero to the Artillery battery. As a note, they are all the old Notlob era bolt throwers rather than the last 1980s one.
This miniature is actually Mormo Jabberbinder from the BC4 Mighty Ugezod's Death Commandos box set. The tip of his staff is missing, and he was languishing in a box for years looking for gainful employment, and thought he would work well here. The Fantasy Tribes range of orcs didn't have any orc wizards, so here he is. I wanted him to stand out without being too much, so opted for muted brown clothing with a bright red pointy hat, and re flowers on the base to balance the whole model.
Thank you Dave. I have always been apprehensive about painting banners, so I am starting off simple. You're right though, even after only four banners I am beginning to grow more confident with them.
ReplyDeleteThey are delightful. Period. I find them all truly fantastic, and the banners all a lot of charm. Fantastic project.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I wanted to go for that old school look, and so I am looking at some of the old 1st/2nd Edition Fantasy artwork for inspiration for the banners. It's been really fun to do.
DeleteFrom a distance they look very impressive.
ReplyDeleteThank you, that is the idea I am going for, more of an old school tabletop army rather than painted for close up.
DeleteThe last Christmas period was extremely profitable for you! It's always nice to see a refurbished army deployed on the table. It seems to us that you found your own balance between individual miniatures and game units, and in your paintjob between attention to the single piece and the need to paint a whole. The idea of a banner as a focal point and a colour for each unit also works well. We like the small dioramas you created for the bolt throwers, and we even take the liberty of suggesting that the new basing could allow for some additional scenic elements even in the regular troop bases. We have never seen orcs on such flying beasts and we can't wait to admire the fully painted squadron.
ReplyDeleteThank you, glad you like them.
DeleteI agree, I do seem to have found a balance between the whole regiment bases, the war machines, and the individually based miniatures. You're right in suggesting more scenic additions to the bases, I have seen some lovely examples on the internet. For now I am keeping it simple as I am going for an older look to these armies, but for others I will start to create more of a diorama for them.
Here is a link to the old Fantasy Tribes Orcs riding on Wyverns. They are simple sculpts, but full of charm:
http://solegends.com/citdragon/fto13wyvern/index.htm
I'm happy that I found your blog!
ReplyDeleteI love those old school miniatures, good work!
Coloured Dust
Thank you, glad you like them.
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