Orcs of the Black Mountains: Harboth's and Notlob's Regiments of Renown.

Carrying on with my Goblin Wars theme, I have verted slightly into another two of the non-Goblin Regiments of Renown who are said to have taken part: Harboth's Black Mountain Boys, and Notlob's Orc Artillery.

Both Regiments are part of the first release of Citadel's Regiments of Renown series, 1984 amd 1985 respectively, and are both regiments of Orcs.

This is the first incarnation of Harboth's Regiment of Renown, being later re-sculpted as slotta based Orcs  armed with bows, and then being released in 1987. All of the miniatures are pre-slotta, with the exception of the Champion which was a later addition to the set, something which happened to several of the first sets of Regiments of Renown.

Catalogue page of Harboth's Black Mountain Boys. 

...and a link to the background:

 http://www.solegends.com/citrr/rr05harboth.htm

Notlob's Artillery on the other hand are all slotta based. The regiment was a lot smaller than the other Regiments of Renown, consisting of just four Orcs, and two Bolt Throwers. 

The bolt throwers are what seems to be the original sculpt used as the basis for the later Orc and Dwarf  bolt throwers. The main differance of the later bolt throwers is that the base has an added spare bolt, and the top 'bow' part has a different spear head, bow arm and body details, and an added lever. 

One of the Orcs (the one second from right below) ended up as a general release Orc crew member for the later Orc bolt thrower. 

 Catalogue page for Notlob's Regiment of Renown. 

The name Notlob is taken from a Monty Python sketch about 'The Gangs of Bolton'. 

...and another link to the background (Notlob's, not Monty Pythons!): 

 http://www.solegends.com/citrr/rr14notlobs.htm

Both sets of regiments are great and full of character. Harboths's have very varied and interesting command group, and nicely sculpted Trooper miniatures armed with the delightfully named 'Dwarf Tickler', a form of cleaver. They were fun to paint, and quite straight forward. I painted the Orcs skin tone slightly darker than the later 3rd Edition shades as I wanted a more 'realistic' and grubby looking feel to them. I kept the eyes red, but added a pupil.

Background wise (taken from the background stories from both Regiments) , both Harboth and Notlob's Regiments spent most of the Goblin Wars based in the Black Mountains, living in a squalid town around Black Fire Pass on the border of the Dwarf Realms. They spent their time bored, drinking in the saloon, running a toll booth, occsionally killing (and no doubt eating) unwary passing travellers, and generally raiding and making a nuisance of themselves. The whole thing has a slightly 'Wild West' feel to it to me.

When, towards then end of the Goblin Wars, the Dwarves decided to 'clean up' the area they attacked the Black Mountains and attempted to size the Pass. By this time Harboth's Orcs had been joined by Notlob's Orcs, and both sides fought a series of battles, forcing both Harboth and Notlob to eventually
flee tactically relocate. 

Personally, I think this sounds like the basis for a great little skirmish campaign. 

I painted both regiments because I wanted to paint up another Regiment of Renown after painting Bugman's Dwarf Rangers last week, and I did'nt want to paint up Grom's Goblin Guard yet. From the background I see both regiments as very closely linked, and so it made sense to me to paint them together, especially as Notlob's are a small regiment.

AI also wanted to paint up some Orcs for the Goblin Wars. I don't want to paint up a lot of Orcs for the Goblin Wars, I want to keep the Goblin vibe to it all, but I thought that as these Regiments of Renown are directly mentioned and involved in the Goblin Wars, they would be good to do. 

Enjoy :)

 The Orcs of the Black Mountains!

As both Regiments of Renown are based in the Black Mountsins, I decided to base the Orcs differently from the other Goblin Wars miniatures I have painted recently. I wanted to convey a dark and rocky feel to the bases suggesting the terrain of the Black Mountains.

 Haboth's Black Mountain Boys.

 Harboth, leader of the Black Mountain Boys.

I really like this miniature. He has that sense of confidence and casual arrogance gained from being in charge of a whole bunch of Orcs and a town atop of a mountain. 

He is quite a big Orc for the time, and his solid base was too large to place inside the dip of the lipped base or trim down.So I built up the base a little to suggest he is stand on top of mound, making sure everything is done his way.

 Yaskin Forit, the Champion of Harboth's regiment. 

Yaskin is slotta based miniature, who also required a plastic shield for his back.

He is armed with an unusual looking double handed weapon, which I painted up to look like the teeth of some big monster. 

The name Yaskin Forit is of course a play on the phrase "You asking for it?", as occsiaonally prelude to physical violence.

 Rear views of Harboth and Yaskin. 

I like the bottles hanging off of Harboth's bandolier (reminding me of the 'apostles' of a matchlock armed soldier of the 16/17th Century).

Yaskin's shield has 'Yaskin' painted on it in dwarf runes.

Standard Bearer and Musican.
I like the howling Standard bearer, with a standard made up no doubt of the skulls of poor unfortunate travellers who strayed too close to the Black Mountain, or perhaps did'nt have enough change for the toll at Black Fire Pass?
The Musican is wearing the fur of some creature, not sure what, might be a type of bear or lioness.

Rear view.
The Musican has drums made of what look like Ogre Skulls!

Troopers, front and rear.
They are armed with the infamous 'Dwarf Tickler' and wooden shield. 
The background suggests that the Black Mountain Boys wear a collection of cast-offs and clothes. However I wanted to give them a more unified regimental feel, especially as they are to have a mix of shields. So I painted them to suggest they are all wearing black leather jackets, reminiscent of a bikers, 1950's hoodlums, or  heavy metallers.
I was going to paint them with heavy metal band names and album covers on the back, but after a couple of attempts I decided it was too fiddly.

 There were a couple of C-series Orcs based on the body of the Trooper miniature. So I added a few of them to add a little variety.
The Orc on the left, with the halberd is pre-slotta, the Orc on the right an early slotta based one.

 Rear view, showing the extra different added details.

Some of the mix of shields.
The background states that the the Orcs have a mix of shield designs, so I have painted up a mix of designs.
Here, left to right, checkerboard; Moon (based on a design from the 3rd Editon Orc artwork in Warhammer Armies); and quartered.

Another crescent Moon device; Goblin/pumpkin face; and a gaping maw face which was based on 'Fizzgig' from 'The Dark Crystal'. 

Stylised face; a shield with 'Zog off' written in Dwarf rune; and an eye. 

Green Man; 'Orc' written in Dark Elvish (from a list written in the 1st Edition Forces of Fantasy supplement; and a stylised sun.

Finally, another check pattern, this time black and red. 

The Orc with a spear is a repaired version of  another pole-armed Orc from earlier.

 Notlob's Orc Artillery.
Four Orcs and two Bolt Throwers.

Notlob (left) and an Orc crew member.

 Rear view.

 Two more crew.
The one on the left became a wider released Orc crew member.
I like the Orc on the right, testing the sharpness of the bolt.

 Rear view.

The Bolt Throwers.

As mentioned earlier they are similar to the later 1980's Bolt Throwers used by the Orcs and Dwarves.

The background stated that Notlob's Orc scrawled graffiti on the Bolt Throwers and Bolts, but I decided to keep them plain as I thought it might look too much. 

Next update will be the couple of Trolls I am currently finishing off painting, and some Goblins, as I want to get back to painting some more Goblins. :)

RR1 Bugman's Dwarf Rangers (Version 1) Regiment of Renown.

As a change from painting Goblins, but in keeping with my 'Goblin Wars' project, I decided to paint some Dwarves. And not just any Dwarves, but the first version of the Regiment of Renown, Bugman's Dwarf Rangers.

During the 'Goblin Wars' Joseph Bugman ran a famous brewery, supplying beer to both Goblins and Dwarves. This was fine until Goblins killed his son Bono Bugman. In true 'not to be messed with' Dwarf style, Joseph gathered together a collection of his workers and went off after Goblins in search of venegance. So Bugman's Dwarf Rangers were formed.

This went fine for a while until they returned home to Bugman's Brewery exhausted from campaigning. It was at this point that they were attacked Goblins, who overran the Brewery, killing everyone, as Goblins are occsionally want to do! Joseph Bugman's body was never found  (at least until late 2nd Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle, but that's another story, and set of miniatures!).


Here is a link to the background of the first version of Bugman's, and the miniatures:

http://www.solegends.com/citrr/rr01bugman.htm

Concerning the miniatures, I have been looking forward to painting them for sometime. They are all one-piece solid based/pre-slotta models produced in 1984, although the first version Champion is a slotta based model, and like many of the other Regiments Champions was added later. I never bought them at the time, but picked up the models in dribs and drabs over the 1990's and 2000's, but had never got around to painting them.
In the end I managed to collect a unit of 20, including the three orginal command miniatures, but alas not the very rare champion, Jorj Ruddle. If I ever get him, I'll probably expand the Regiment with a few more Troopers as well.

Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed with them when I came to paint them. Bugman and the Command models were fine, but the Troopers were terrible to paint. I found the sculpts a little flat and dull, and although the quality of the sculpts were fine, they did'nt seem fun or inspiring to paint. The paint kept chipping or rubbing off whilst handling. Additonally the eyes were very tricky to paint on the Troopers, being very deep set, and I had to repair several of the crossbow arms which seemed to be miscast. It might just be that I was unlucky with a couple of the castings, but I much prefer the Fantasy Tribes Dwarves I have for the 'Goblin Wars' project, or the later 1980's Dwarves.

However, depsite my misgivings, I am pleased with how they look on the gaming table.  I based them the same as the other of my 'Goblin Wars' miniatures, and painted them according to the uniform description given in the first version of the background. There was no infomation on the shield colour, so I painted them blue, the same as the second version, and to give the models a dash of colour from all the drab buff and browns.

Gaming wise they are a formidable foe. They look like they are wearing heavy armour (heavy Buff coats and Chanmail), with a shield. They are armed with hand weapon (axe), additional hand weapon (short sword),  double handed weapon (axe), and of course the crossbow. This makes them well equiped, armoured, and with a full command unit.

Enjoy :) 

20 Bugman's Dwarf Rangers.

 Battle line.

Joseph Bugman and Muscian. 

I quite like the Joesph Bugman miniature. Like a lot of the leader miniatures of the first versions of the Regiments of Renown, he is striking a standing pose, almost posing for a photograph. 

The horn player is a great dynamic posed miniatures.

Rear view showing the shields.

Standard bearer.
There was no design for the standard, so I painted the beer mug from the shield. I also painted in Dwarvish Runes (from the Lord of the Rings appendix)  the Bugman's warcry "Mhinz Abeir", which I assume the open mouthed Standard Bearer is yelling, expecting the reponse "Z'yor Rond" from the rest of the regiment!

Rear veiw of the standard.

Bugman's regiment Trooper, front and rear. 

To be fair, the Troopers do look mean and weather-beaten veterans. 

The rear shows the double handed axe and cloak. 

I painted the Double handed axe shaft green to add a little more colour and suggest their Ranger role.

Side views, showing the crossbow and short sword.

Line of Troopers with a mix of beard colours.

Bono Bugman! 

Well, not quite. 

However this Citadel C-Series Dwarf miniature is converted from the 'Trooper' miniature, and you could even see wear they had scrapped of the beer mug icon from the shield! So I thought it would be fun to paint him up in the same colours scheme as the rest of the Bugman's regiment, although I have'nt included him with the other 20 Bugman's. 

Next update will probably be more Goblins of the 'Goblin Wars' as I have a wish to paint more Goblins. I am also painting up a couple of Trolls, so they should be ready too! :)

Citadel Lesser Goblins, Great Goblins, Bugbear, Trollhound, and a Red Orc Tusker.

Continuing with my painting of early 1980's solid based miniatures, this week I have been painting Lesser Goblins, as well as Great Goblins/Gnolls, and a few unusual odds and ends from the smae time period.

I have had some Lesser Goblins sitting in a box for years and years but had never got around to painting them. However with my current project focusing on older solid based Goblins, I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally paint them.

The Citadel Lesser Goblins were part of the C14 Lesser Goblins range in the early 1980's, but I am unsure of their exact release date. I have read it could be from 1979 to 1983. There were two types, the Night Goblins, who wore hoods and had wickerwork looking shields (and I understand were originally part of the Fantasy Tribes range as Gnomes), and the 'ordinary' Lesser Goblins, largley  armed with clubs and wearing fur loin cloths. Whilst I have several, but all,  of both types, I chose to paint the 'Ordinary' Lesser Goblins first.

These Goblins are tiny!
I was'nt sure whether to put them on the 30mm lipped bases as they were so tiny, but in the end decided to as I have a lot of the bases, and to save spending out on suprisingly expensive 25mm lipped bases. Painting wise I have gone for a simlilar, if slightly lighter, flesh tone to the Greater Goblins/Gnolls. This is because in the 1st Edition Warhammer background (in the Forces of Fantasy supplement) they are often associated with Great Goblins/Gnolls, being part of their armies and included in an army list.  They also look like tiny Great Gobilins, having beards and the same looking facial features.
They were fun to paint, and very quick to paint, but a pain to photograph!

Apart from the Lesser Goblins, I went further back in time the the late 1970's, to 1979, to paint a Red Orc Tusker. This is something I have wanted to paint up for some time. I have another to paint, and one from e-bay now in the post.
In addition I also painted a Ral Partha Troll Hound, and Grenadier Bugbear, from the same era (about 1978 to 1980). I painted them for no other reason than for the fun of it, and that they fit in with my current painting project.
Oh, and there are some Goblins too, because I am Goblinlee, and that's what I do! :)
Enjoy. :)

 Small groups of Lesser Goblins (not sure of the collective noun for Goblins, but I assume it's a mischief of Goblins, as it seems to be quite apt).

Most of the Goblins are from the Citadel C14 Lesser Goblin range, but as noted before, although a couple of them aren't.

They all have a great feel for Russ Nicholson's artwork.

Considering the size and age of them, I think that these Goblins are excellently sculpted, full of detail and character, with remarkably expressive faces.

Lesser Goblin Command. 

These two fellows originally came attached to each other on a joined solid base. I however seperated them and based them individually.

They are very characterful, the one on the left seemingly to be a  older, wiser adviser (or wizard) with a long beard. The one on the right is more of a leader type, with a look of consideration on his face.

 Lesser Goblins, with club, and mace.

 Two different models of the same Lesser Goblin miniature from both sides.

 Another mace and clud duo. 

The one on the left seemed to have a look of consideration mixed with suprise on his face for some reason.

 On the left is a broken mace miniature, and on the right a club wielding Lesser Goblin, poking his tongue out!

Two more club armed Lesser Goblins.

 A mace armed Lesser Goblin. 

As with all of the Lesser Goblins I have been using a mix of the basing materials I had, and those from 'Forged in Blood'. 

Ral Partha  RP2 Small Humanoids, also listed as Kobolds, although I understand that they have been listed as Goblin Imp's as well.

Red Orc Tusker. 

The Red Orcs were a slightly unusual looking looking range, with their domed heads and long-ish looking bodies. I quite like them, and love the 'Tusker' model. 

The original Tusker model, with a Red Orc in armour rider, was part of the first Citadel releases back in 1979 as part of the 'Molten Magic' range. I am unsure when the less armoured version above was sculpted, probably about the same time. He is listed in the Citadel Fiend Factory range as 'FF27-1 Red Orc with Spear mounted on Giant Tusker, in 1982. 

I have both versions of the rider (the Tusker is the same), and will paint him up soon as well.

Note, the spear is not the orginal spear, but a replacement version from my bits box.

 Left hand view.

I am very happy with how he turned out. 

The Tusker is based on a 50mm round base as I thought it would give it more on a War Beast feel to the model, rather than just cavalry. 

The Tusker reminds me of something ridden by Stormtroopers in 'Star Wars' on Tattooine.

 Close up of the rider.

 Grenadier miniatures Bugbear: D&D range 102 Bugbears pack (there were orginally two diffeent miniatures in the pack, but alas I only have this one). 

I have had this miniature for years and never painted him or thought much of him. It was only when I painted him that I really started to like him.

Rear view.

 Ral Partha RP5 Monsters: Troll Hound. 

I love this miniature, full of character, looking like a cross between a worried Staffordshire Bull Terrier and a Troll.

 I especially like the sculpting of the musculature and ribs, and of course those big mournful eyes.

 Great Goblins/Gnolls.

Great Goblin/Gnoll with bow.

As note previously I am painting the Great Goblin/Gnoll archers bows in snake patterns. This pattern is a from a type of American Ground Snake, although it does look a little like a Tiger striping.

FTG5 Great Goblin/GnollStandard Bearer/Musican. 

In the 1st Edition you could have a combined Standard Bearer/Muscian in an army. 

I painted his cheeks pinker to simulate the blowing of the horn.

FTG3 Great Goblin/Gnoll standing with hand weapon.

FTG2  Great Goblin/Gnoll attacking with hand weapon.

 Two more Great Goblins/Gnolls, standing with hand Weapons. 

Close up of the shields.

The symbols on the left sheild are from the 1st Edition supplement 'Book of Battalions' section on Great Goblins. 

I am not very good at painting shields or standards yet, but I am working on this range of miniatures and the old source material to create shields and banners that fit in well with them. 

Next update will probably be more Goblins, although I have been working on a 'History' of the Goblin Wars as described in the 1st/2nd Edition Warhammer era. So I might update on that, with an inclusion of the description of the different forces involved.