I've been busy painting again, making good progress with the old pre slotta fantasy Tribes Orcs, and also a few Dwarfs.
As I have mentioned previously on my blog I am basing the miniatures on regiment sized bases, and taking a more tabletop look to the painting (but still taking care), which I have found is helping with batch painting. Both of these things are quite enjoyable and also mean I am making a lot of progress. I already have another three Orc regiments nearly finished on the painting table, and there are some Goblins there too!
Anyway, I have painted two Fantasy Tribes Orc Wyverns. These were sculpted in the early 1980s by the Alan and Michael Perry. There is a useful link to the whole Fantasy tribes range here:
https://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/Orcs_-_FTO_Fantasy_Tribe_(solid_base)
I have two of the three version of the Wyvern, versions 1 and 3. As for the Orcs, like all of the Fantasy Tribes range there are a myriad of different versions of the the same basic body sculpts (something I quite like). I have versions 8 and 13 of the riders. I didn't have any of the spears which they were originally supplied with, so I used a pair of pole arms from by bits box.
In addition, I have painted a few Fantasy Tribes Dwarfs. I am basing their army on the 'Dwarfs of Horrorwell' army list from the 1st Edition Warhammer supplement 'Forces of Fantasy'. I have painted these as an aside to the Orcs for the time being, more as an experiment, but I shall be returning to the army soon.
Enjoy :)
I have been collecting enough Fantasy Tribes Dwarfs to complete this army, and I shall be painting some more of these as and when.
As I was reading the background to the whole Horrorwell army it stuck me that it kept referring to the Dwarfs as being conscripted into the army. This gave me the idea of the Dwarfs joining an army very much like a 20th Century or modern army, where the conscripts and recruits are supplied with standard uniform and equipment. To this end I have decided to paint most of the dwarfs with the same (army looking olive green) uniform. Only the shield colours are different, to designate different regiments.
Great work on all Lee, I'd completely forgotten about those old Wyverns, and only remembered the later versions, so thanks for the reminder. The dwarfs I do recall and they look great on their regiment bases.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dave. The Wyverns are not very common or known about, and aren't really present in many of the catalogues, artwork, or White Dwarf photographs. I only bought mine about ten years ago and I only knew anything about them via the internet.
DeleteThe Dwarfs were fun to do. The Fantasy tribes range has a lot of Dwarf sculpts which make a good shield wall or look good on the bigger bases. The crossbowmen always look a little apprehensive to me!
I find these minis super interesting, pretty nice job on all of them. I didin't know of this Wyvern model, I love it!
ReplyDeleteThank you Suber, I am having fun painting and basing them on the regimental bases. I think the Fantasy Tribes ranges are great ranges, full of character and they lent themselves to looking good in big regiments.
DeleteThe Wyverns are unusual. I'm not sure how common they were at the time, by the time I stated collecting in 1986 they were no longer around. I bought mine about ten years ago from e-bay. I hope the link about the Fantasy Tribes Orcs is helpful.
Beautiful work on the wyverns, which look more like pterodactyls than dragons like in the most recent versions of Citadel. So you did very well to paint them with a colour other than green, which also offers an excellent contrast with the orc skin.
ReplyDeleteWe are surprised by the information on conscripted dwarves, which seems to indicate a society very different from that described in the later editions of Warhammer. As you implied, perhaps it is more inspired by the historical past than by the lore created by Tolkien.
Sorry for the delay in replying. Thank you, I am glad you like the Orcs.
DeleteYou're correct, the very early background to the Dwarfs does suggest a different society to the later Warhammer versions. I think that this is because at this stage of development, Warhammer was open to a lot of different approaches to background, often inspired and conceived by gamers and designers themselves rather than centrally controlled, something mentioned in the preface to the 'Book of Battalions' supplement. The preface states that the army lists are derived from Warhammer players armies in and around the East Midlands area of England.
One of the entries for the Dwarfs concerning a Dwarf Wizard (something which was a part of 1st/2nd/3rd Edition armies) reads:
"Kester Earthwhite has been a practicing horse doctor for only 2 weeks and 3 days when he was rafted into the army as a Novice Wizard".
The was a lot more freedom and humour in the earlier edition of Warhammer.
Lovely work Lee! I'm not sure I've ever been aware of those Wyverns before either - they're really nice models! I'd forgotten about the sample armies in the Book of Battalions too and I agree that they make a great pairing with the Fantasy Tribes miniatures. Think I'll have to go refresh my memory!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteYou're right not to have been aware of the Wyverns as they were a short lived range in the very early 1980s. I only bought mine a few years ago, and was not really aware of them until the dawn of the internet and the opportunity to look at catalogues/flyers/advertisements which I have missed.
The Book of Battalions is great. I am currently finishing collecting enough miniatures for all of the armies. The Wyverns will end up in one of the armies.