Happy New Year!!!

The Boys are all partied out!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I thought this old mug was lost years ago.  Until I just caught aunt Marry poring turkey drippings in it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Ol' Rusty Axe Gang Pt 2

I promised additional pictures of the Ol' Rusty Axe Gang and here they are, although one or two may have been left out.

The Ol' Rusty Axe Gang (also known as the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Ol' Rusty Axe) comprises the oldest Orcs of all Mordro valley and take their name from the Ol' Rusty Axe Lodge where they dwell.

In the center of the picture below we have Grognorc Face-Cleaver duly elected leader of the Ol' Rusty Axe Gang and prez'dent of the Lodge.  Like all the Orcs in the gang he's lived his fare share of adventures and misadventures over his enumerable years and claims to be the sole survivor of the Mighty Eeza Ugezod's ill fated waaagh so many eons ago.  And like the rest of the old Bo's in the gang he likes nothing better then sitting around the Lodge and re-telling of fortunes won and lost over a few tumblers fungus beer.

The standard bearer is Ludo da' Runt formerly of Clan Iron Belly.  Although considered a runt by other ogres and therefore a prospective meal, Ludo stands a head taller then most Orcs and commands do respect. Ludo is the acting bouncer at the Ol' Rusty Axe Lodge, making sure no Orc yoofs' or rascally Gobbo's manage through the front door. Ludo is well liked around Lodge and seems generally content to listen to all the old bo's repetitively incessant stories of the old days, or maybe he's just mastered the art of sleeping with his eyes open.

Sorry no fluff for the musician.  The Citadel aficionado's out there probably recognize that he is not of Citadel manufacture.  He's actually from Grenadier- Ogre of the Black River line.  He's migrated over the years to various units and after a recent re-paint I've settled him in with the Ol' Rusty Axe Gang.  I think the only pre-slotta base Orc standard and musicians made were for Harboth's RoR and I don't think I'll manage to pick them up on e-bay, the prices are too steep for me.  So an Ogre and Grenadier Orc/ogre will have to do and I think they settle in quite nicely.

Here's a nice example some old Boys of the Ol' Rusty Axe.  A bit of mixed bag some with exotic weapons and armor scavenged from far flung battlefields across the world while others wear little more then old dirty smocks, torn chainmail and are content with a rusty old blade.

Here's a few of the more ballistics inclined Boys.  Barco One-eye is in the center, legendary dart throwing champion of Mordro valley.

Ironically the guy on the left was the first miniature I painted when I moved to Colorado 13 years ago. The one on the right was the first miniature I painted when I moved back to California a couple years ago.

A few John Balanche designed Orcs sculpted by the Perry's

A few of the Boys showing off their favorite trophies.

Bye for now-

The Ol' Rusty Axe Gang

 I can't believe it but its taken me a year to get my unit of pre-slotta Orcs painted.  Long gone are the days of painting a unit a week...

Sadly as soon as I snapped a shot of them the camera battery died. Hopefully tomorrow, lighting permitting, I'll get some more pics up and some background fluff.

I think I finally figured out how to get photos onto the webs without them going all fuzzy so lets see if this works.

Savage Orc tests

My collection of Greenskins is short on Savage Orcs or at least not enough to make large 30+ man units.

So I ran a couple tests using on older plastics to see about cheaply expanding units.

One is an old plastic Orc from the Warhammer Fantasy Regiments set, the other is a 5th edition Lizardman.

I shaved off the right side of the Orcs chainmail and used Apoxie Sculpt to cover up the rest of the chainmail giving him what I hope looks like a caveman fur tunic and replaced his sword with a sculpted club.
The 'lizardman' had his head replaced and his scales shaved off.  Also sculpted a fur cape on his back to cover up the scales.

The lizardmen came out quite well I think.

Dedicating Orctober to the ladies…

 I just finished painting up a few of the old female Orcs from the villagers range and it got me thinking about how neglected Orc women folk have become in the past 15-20 years. There even seems to be the silly notion that Orc females don’t exist which is a bunch of malarkey. But for all the modern fluff's attempt to forget about Orc woman, once their caste in lead you can't erase them.

So here’s a few of my Orc ladies I’ve managed to assemble.

“Now Sista, you aint gonna make no husband outta dat Bo’ by batting him on the bean with that rolleen-peen…  that comes later.”

  -Old Orc matron to the young perspective Orc matron.

I suspect only very old Orcs ever find the urge to settle down and find a wife and the venture is usual short lived.  Gork and Mork only know the nuances of Orc courtship but I’m sure a fair few of the Boys don’t survive the endeavor.  

Although most Orcs are generally idlers and loafers, the cantankerous old gals incessant berating and a dozen or so dirty screaming whelps around the hut is usually enough for the old Bo’ to find the nearest waaagh (or start one) to escape the humdrum of domestic life.

Ol’ Bo Porgo Bucktooth dusted off his old crossbow and slipped out the front door mumbling something about hearing stunties in the garden.  He was never seen around this little village again.

 Here we have Olgra-go-Bash bringing home the bacon so to speak.  Probably going to whip up some Hair-foot-hoagies or Samwise Sammies’.

Can Orc women join in the fighting with the rest of the Boys?  I don’t see why not so long as she has a good right hook and can hold her own. 

(left)Everybody knew Dorra Skullcrusher had already maimed at least half a dozen luckless Bo’s back in her village. So nobody really complained when she attached herself to Boss Gorgat’s raiding party.  (right) Bertta Crotchity had reared dozens of whelps in her day. “fightin’ the waaagh was easier then fixin’ breakfast.”.

The assembled ladies

I saw six Bo’s kicking and punching me mudder-in-law the udder day.  Me gobo sez to me ‘Ain’t ya gonna help?’ I sez’ ‘Nah, six should be enough’

 -Warboss Arrkee Bunkhead

Goblinoids!

I was digging around my Photobucket account (boy did that place go to pot) and found this nice old photo of what I believe would have been referred to as "Goblinoids" back in the 3rd edition and what the kids now call Greenskins.  If I was to re-take this picture today I'd replace the 90's black Orc with an older Iron Claw Black Orc.

Snotlings, Lesser Goblin, Goblin, Half-Orc, Hobgoblin (three toed variety), Orc and Black Orc.

I'm only half dead!

Not much going on in hobby wise.  Everything has been put on hold for the next several months while I update my IT certs and work has been miserably busy.  So the poor old Orcs have been sitting in the same spot on the work bench for a few months now.

I did manage to setup a new display cabinet and grabbed a couple quick photos I felt the need to share.

M.U.S.C.L.E. (Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere)

Well it finally arrived earlier this week.  My Reaper Kickstarter! and as I opened the box and dumped the contents out on the living room floor I had one of those nostalgic deja vu moments going back to my 11 year old self circa 1986 dumping my box of M.U.S.C.L.E.s out on the patio and marveling over the zany uniqueness of each little guy.  Even the hard rubbery plastic they are made from feels similar.  All and all these Bones miniatures are pretty amazing a few noses and fingers seem to lack detail but still far superior in price and quality compared to GW's Finecrap (certainly no bubbles, holes or missing limbs to fill).

Anyways, lots of fun sorting through the little guys and the first thing I did was set aside all the Black Orcs and boxed them up with my growing unit of non-GW Black Orcs. I'm up to about 30 or so now of various manufactures and relegated to the back burner for now.  These Reaper Orcs are kind of pin-headed though, I'll have to make a few head swaps when I get around to them.
Hopefully some day soon work and real life will let up a bit so I can really start cranking on these guys.

Oh yeah and the Cthulhu figure is awesome! Especially as he was only 10 bucks.  If this was one of those resin kits, he'd easily go for a hundred bucks.

 

Bargain Boxes and the Citadel Troll

I was rummaging around my parents attic and found this little jem.  Yes its just an empty box.  But what caught my attention was prophetic yet ironic allegory on the back.

I picked up three or four of these boxes probably no later then 1990' so at the time the miniatures contained therein would not have been more then a few years old.  But I believe the little back story can be appreciated more so by today's collector.

In case you had trouble reading the fine yellow on read text:

As far as the eye could see, stretched dune-like landscape of 25mm figures. Something shifted. An arm appeared above the sea of metal, green and scabrous. Then a foot. Finally a head. At last, a severely bruised Citadel Troll pulled itself free.

‘Cor’,’ it mused, scratching one of its heads, ‘what `it me?’ It looked around cautiously.

Figures,’ said one head to the other. ‘ `Undreds and undreds of `em.’ It scooped up a handful and let them run through its fingers like sand.’

`Old, too’, said the other. ‘Rare. Be worth a fortune these days. Don’t make ‘em like this no more.’ Both heads nodded sagely….

`’Ere,’ said the first head. ‘Worth a fortune, eh? If nobody knows they’re `ere…’

`Only, them what’s under `em,’ put in the second head.

`Then maybe we could….’

‘You mean just us?’

‘Well, they do need shiftin’, an’ no mistake.’  Suddenly, the dark dungeon was flooded with a harsh multicoloured light.

The troll cowered in terror against one wall. ‘Cripse!’ said both heads, almost simultaneously. ‘It’s `im!’

 `So this is where the timewarp hit,’ said a harsh, echoing voice. ‘You!’ –the troll cringed- ‘Break out some Bargain Boxes and get this lot shifted!’

‘Well,’ said the one head as the troll began to shovel the ancient figures into boxes. ‘Just goes to show what a good idea it was if  `e `ad it at the same time.’ The other head glowered.

‘Shaddap an’ keep shovellin’,’ it snapped.

Oh what I would give to be a two headed troll buried in lead!

 

Ol’Lund Dartfinger and the Knuckledragger gang

I finally managed to get the Nick Lund Orcs updated and took some quick photos.  I'm also making an attempt tie them in with the ongoing fluff I have rolling around in my head, which is what I originally envisioned this blog for though its taken a few odd turns.  Maybe in a year or two I'll be able to re-organize this thing into different categories like I see in some of the fancier blogs out there.


Using the old Regiments of Renown format I present Ol'Lund Dartfinger and the Knuckledragger gang.

Cave Orcs-
The mountains surrounding Mordro Valley are filled with a particularly hardy breed of Orc often referred to as cave Orcs for their habit of residing in the shallow caves and abandoned Dwarf mines in the higher reaches of the mountains.

Years of cramped confinement through the harsh winter months of the high peaks, these cave Orcs have developed a more pronounced stooped stature with hands nearly reaching the ground. Its said they can bound down their low ceiling-ed corridors on all fours as fast as a man can sprint.

Ol’Lund Dartfinger and the Knuckledragger gang-

Having perfected the art of chopping Dwarf limbs with their great choppa’s, Ol’Lund and his Knuckledragger gang have made their way down to the greater valley to try their hand in the raiding and pillaging alongside rest of the boyz of the valley.  Though rumor has it they are actually fleeing the wrath of a young dwarf captain Baelrik Tillurideson and his avenging troop of warrior miners.

    Armament: In emulation of their leader most of the Knuckledraggers carry great two handed choppas and mix of crude bludgeoning weapons, axes and swords.

    Dress: A mix of dirty rags and furs to protect them from the cold mountain air.

   Battlecry: The usually cacophony of swearing, though when confronting stunties its usually a string of insults regarding the length of their mothers beards.

    

   Leader: Ol’Lund Dartfinger.  Ol’Lund is a master with the two handed Choppa and suffers no penalties for using a double-handed weopon.

    Deeds:   After several weeks of deadlocked siege during the battle of Leadrock Mine, Through the use of some colorful verbal abuse, Ol’Lund managed to persuade the Dwarf commander foremen Tilluride Forkbeard from his barricades to a challenge in single combat.  Ol’Lund duly split Tilluride in twain with his great two handed choppa.  The Knuckledragger gang made short work of flushing the now demoralized Dwarfs from their mine.

 A  few examples of minor conversion, mostly head gear, to help break up the monotony.

ol' Nick Lund Orcs WIP

The ol' Lunds are coming along nicely. Hopefully another week and they'll be done.

If you haven't noticed about half the unit is old grenadier models while the other half is Citadel (Eeza Ugezods Mother Crusher RoR troopers).  The old Ugezod troopers have pretty shoddy paint jobs so I'm doing a lot more work on them.  While I'm at it I also decided to try and break up the monotony of having so many with the same pose by adding different head gear to some, I'll do a few weapon swaps as well.

In my opinion no two Orcs should look the same so I always do my best mix as many models as possible and try and paint the duplicates differently to help break them up a little.

The original musician I had in the unit, although a grenadier model, was not a Nick Lund sculpt.  A lucky find on ebay has remedied that.

Revamping the ol' Nick Lunds

I'm having trouble finding the time to sit down finish painting the pre-slotta base Orcs and now my attention has been slightly averted to my old unit of Nick Lund Orcs.

The paint jobs are fine for the most part, despite having been painted 20 years ago or so, but their bases are in pretty bad shape.  So I've decided to give them a little update and revamp their bases and maybe do a little touch work here and there.

I know its never a good idea to have more then one project going on at a time but I just gotta do it.  Hopefully this will be something I can do in my spare time while at real work while continuing to work on the pre-slotta citadel boys after work.

Anywho, hopefully in a week or two I'll have a pic of the rebuilt Nick Lund unit posted up.  We'll see though, I'm also in desperate need of a new camera.

Hungry Troll and Gobbos.. ere we go er we go ...

I seem to have had a upsurge in followers today thanks to http://old-hammer.blogspot.co.uk

My current pre-slotta Orc unit is still in progress, about half way done.  Hopefully in the coming weeks I'll get the completed unit up.

But I did "find" some oldschool tunes for you all.  Enjoy a little GW goodness from the late 80's.

John Blanche did it

Ok as Im painting up these old Orcs I just couldn't get over the nagging feeling I'd seen them some place else.  That sent me routing around my old warhammer literature and I rediscovered my old copy of Heroes for Wargames by Stewart Parkinson (I actually have two copies).

Despite the generic title the book itself is a window into the machination of Games Workshop/Citadel miniatures circa 1986.  A must have for anybody into that nostalgic Golden age of Citadel miniatures.

But I digress.  Within its hallowed pages they have several concept drawings for miniatures... and there they are the Armoured Orcs by John Blanche.  No wonder these little guys have such a different feel to them.  This is one of the rare occasions were John's imagination actually made it past the concept board and allowed to live as something more then just a bizarre painting tucked in the footer of an Army Book.

John Blanche is a bit of anomaly for me, I can't quite grasp what he does at GW.  As far as I know he's been the head art guy down at GW since forever.  You would think more of his influences would be noticeable on the Warhammer world but yet I just can't think of much, at least not outside the 80's.  His art is chalk full of bizarre and exaggerated landscapes crazy and exotic looking peoples. He can leave nothing well enough alone, if you ask him to draw a Warhammer horse he'll turn out a steroid laced zebra breathing fire.  But yet at the end of the day after all the imagination spent the only thing that has trickled down from him to main stream Warhammer is the leering Evil Sun and the servo skull.  Its as if all his ideas are processed, scrubbed, neutered and made sanitary for public consumption. We only get the occasional glimpse of his mad artwork sprinkled in rulebooks and White Dwarf, presented as 'artwork' when it should be presented as the reality of the Warhammer world.

Oh dear I ranted I'm not sure where I was going with that.


Anyways at the end of the day all things warhammer were just so much cooler back in the 80's.

Here's a bit of John's concept art for the Armoured Orcs.