Grimgore and Da Immortulz.

 

I've managed to complete a large unit of Black Orcs along with a Black Orc Boss and Grimgore Ironhide himself, for the upcoming games of Warhammer the Old World. The models are all metal models, from back in the mid 2000s, and I've had them for over ten years now. Finally painted them, and I had a lot of fun getting them ready for the table top.

Grimgore Ironhide.

His weapon Gitsnik.

I started off by basing them with sand and throwing a smooth coat of Chaos Black Spray. I then used the Citadel Dry Necron Compound to drybrush the model entirely. This step was a quick shortcut to get the silver done on the models, as most of it is plate mail.

First step.

I then messed around with the green, settling on Vallejo Deep Green as the base coat for the flesh, but afterwards trying out various combinations of washes and contrast paints to try and get the right tone of the darker skin of the Black Orcs. In the end, I settled with a wash of Nuln Oil and a second wash of Biel Tan Green.

Experimentations.

The result felt too dark.

Reworking of the skin afterwards.

Second wash.

I then worked on separating the steel plates by making some of them black, and using Contrast Black Templar, it worked really well, and applied really easily. It is easily one of my favourite Contrast paints. Once that was done, it was time to do all the straps, horns, teeth and gold pieces with Vallejo Beige Brown. During this stage, I changed my mind with the skin and redid it to what I eventually settled on, seeing it look too dark with the black plates along side it. A bit of red to put into the character models mouth was used, but that was all that was needed until later on when I used it for the banner that would come in later on.

Dark skin and dark plates made them look too dark.

Chevron work on the armour.

The chevrons were done with Vallejo Off White and Cold White, both of which required two bases to cover well enough. Then a bit of black to help repair the lines and clean up any mistakes make. This was fairly difficult to make look neat, but I managed it enough to look good enough.

Bit of wear and tear.

Vallejo Oily Steel is used to create chipping and wear on the black plates, and to clean up any mistakes on the armour from the other colours. During this time, I also decided to mix up a small container of Dryad Bark, and I managed to figure out the formula for it the second time I made it. Dryad Bark is used to basecoat the base and is a colour I am always using. I've gone through at least 3 pots so far, and instead of buying some more, I thought I would try mixing up my own.

2 parts dark brown
1 part grey
1 part black.

During this stage, my second set of ten black orcs came in with the command models, and so had to start working on them while the first ten were still in the painting process. However this made it easier to work on the second ten, since I've managed to get the process refined well enough that I wasn't guessing anymore, and kept me interested in the paint job as I also worked on completing the first ten, trying out what needed doing on them.

More Black Orcs!

Another way I was also keeping myself motivated with the hobby was by working on some of the new movement trays I had got specifically for the old world. These movement trays are adapted for the old world, but fit the smaller bases of older editions of Warhammer. I decided that it was high time I also painted the movement trays going forward, to make the models look nicer when slotted in.

20 Orcs with two hand weapons.

Dem Feet.

New and Old.

Difference in size. They fit together too!

Big unit of Night Goblins with BSB and Shaman.

7 wide by 6 deep.

Smaller Archer unit with fanatics.

Savage Orc Boar Boyz.

Orc Boar Boyz.

It wasn't long before I was finishing off the first ten Black Orcs, and of course I forgot to take anymore pictures of it, but it wasn't much more left to go on them anyway, so I will summarise. Firstly I painted Vallejo Ivory on any of the bones and horns and teeth, and the washed them with Citadel Seraphim Sepia. This gave them all a yellowish tinge while shading them. Any of the straps and bronze was washed Agarax Earthshade. The bases were dry brushed Citadel Dry Eldar Flesh and a bit of grass was added to them, with the rim done in the usual Steel Legion Drab.

Games Day Black Orc.

Big Choppa!

Front Rank!

Second Rank!

Third Rank!

Fourth Rank!

On the march.

Something the enemy will never see!

Waaaggh!

I've still got some more models I'm planning to add to this regiment, Borgut Facebeater is an old model from around the same time these models, and I plan to use him as the unit champion. Another three models I plan to add are still in the mail, but they are the same type of models from the same time period, but they are equipped with great weapons instead of two weapons. I plan to use them in the front rank whenever I want to use them with great weapons in the game. All up it will be a large unit of twenty-four with two character models that I can use as champions depending on the loadout, and Grimgore himself as a warlord/big boss proxy for the old world, or as himself in previous editions.

Until next time!

Small Update, Bigger Teeth?

Warboss and his bodyguard.

I've been working on a large unit of black orcs this last month, and while working on them I also worked on a Night Goblin Warboss on Giant Squig. I've had this model for ages, and never used it in a single game of Warhammer, but that will soon change.

Snotling buddy.

I painted him exactly the same way as the Squig Hoppers before him, but he comes with some extras, like a shield and sword, and he has armoured greaves and boots too. This Warboss is quite well off, and in the Old World, he'll be sporting light armour and a shield along with some Troll Trousers, to give him a 3+ armour save and 5+ regeneration save. If points persist, he might even be sporting a magical weapon, but otherwise he'll be used primarily to hunt down smaller units and add some punch where needed.

Powerful legs.

His random movement will make it a gamble to use him, but with that come some trade offs, primarily being that enemies wont be able to make a charge reaction to him. At 3D6 movement, he will on average move around at 11 inches, and if lucky, can be very annoying. His skirmishing ability means he'll be far less restricted than other monstrous mounts, able to move around 360 degree around.

Knightly Goblin.

His only real downside, other than the unreliable movement, is his poor leadership. At leadership 6, he wont be passing any failed break tests if he ever needs to take them. Luckily he isn't that pricey, with him at 55 points, along with 5 points for light armour and shield, and the giant squig 25 points. 85 point melee lord on a mount is quite good. Adding the Troll Trousers for a +1 armour and 5+ regen save for 40 points makes him that much more survivable.

Charge!

I can't wait to try him in The Old World, Orcs and Goblins seem to be in a good place for this edition, and am working away at my unit of Black Orcs. They will be a large unit of 24, with 20 of them already coming along very nicely. Four more Black Orc models are in the post, 3 with great weapons, and one named character which will act as the unit champion in this edition.

Zagrot will be his name!

Until next time!

A Horde of Teeth!

 

Finally finished!

In this update, I'm going to show off my completed horde of Night Goblin Squigs I used to use back in eighth edition Warhammer, but now can use in Warhammer Armies Project and in the future The Old World Warhammer. Along with the horde, there are two units of Night Goblin Squig Hoppers as well, ready to pounce on some unlucky chaff or some out of the way war machine.

Mad Lunatics.

All these models are metal, and they all were bought off eBay a long time ago, second hand. As such some of the bases they came with aren't original, and are instead weird magnetic bases used by the previous owner. This caused quite some problems since these bases were slightly larger than the normal bases, and when ranked up, they wouldn't fit onto a movement tray, especially at such a large amount. Thus it was required to cut up some of these magnetic bases, making them look worse for it. Thankfully in a horde like this, they really don't stand out.

Some Bases are weird. Can you tell?

There are thirty-two Squigs, with a single 40x40 base with two squigs on it counting as four, kind of a small unit filler. There are six different varieties of squig models, which means there are multiples of each model. If you pay close attention, you can see six of the tongue squigs along. The red on them is simply Army Painter Spray Dragon Red, and then dry brushed Pure Red, followed by Lava Orange. Quite easy and effective, and for many years afterwards, they remained like that.

Madder Lunatics?

It wasn't until recently, where I began using them in units of twenty in Warhammer Armies Project, that I decided to finish painting them, alongside some trolls in a previous post. This time I finished the entirety of the unit from years ago that I started, and I'm quite pleased with how well they look. I even ended up buying one more hopper to round out the ten that I now have.

Variety of handlers.

More Handlers.

Handlers and unit filler.

The handlers were easy enough to paint, much like the usual Night Goblins, but they have a variety of weapons to break them up in terms of colours needed. Some have cymbals, others have tridents or spears. One variety even has bagpipes, looking like they are in lock step while making as much racket as a little goblin can.

Twenty model configuration.

Another twenty models.

In eighth edition Warhammer, I used them as a large horde of squigs, with it primarily holding the centre of my force, a literal wall of teeth. But in Armies Project, I split them down into two blocks of twenty, using them more like hit squads, dealing what damage they could before they exploded when they failed a break test. I was happy enough with their performance that I had to complete them finally. Looking forward, The Old World has these guys at 10 points per squig, and 3 points per handler. They essentially work the same way as in previous editions, but I'm not convinced they will be any good. Will have to wait and see when the rules finally release, but I expect they wont be as good as in eighth edition.

Two Units of Twenty.

Ten Hoppers and Extras.

With these complete, I'm already working on my next project for my Orcs and Goblins. Some Black Orcs!

Double Update! Stinky Trolls and Unruly Squigs!

 

Unleash the beasts of war!

Today I managed to knock off some trolls that have been sitting on my painting table for far too long, and with them some squigs were also finished off. Both these set of miniatures have been semi painted, never being finished simply due to laziness. But no more! Well, at least the River Trolls, there are still plenty of squigs to go.

Some were complete, others not.

I started with the River Trolls, trying to match the scheme and techniques from the previous three. The first original troll was painted with a different green, and so he looks lighter than the rest. He will simply act as a leader model for the troop. The trolls are quite easy to paint, with two different greens as the base colours for it, Army Painter Greenskin, which was applied by spray can, then Army Painter Dark Angels Green for the scales.

The original lighter troll. He's the leader.

I took out my collection of Army Painter paint bottles, and begun replicating the original scheme, which worked out quite easily, with the weapons painted Monster Brown and the straps painted Leather Brown. The teeth, spikes, and claws were undercoated brown, and then painted Skeleton Bone. The barnacles on some of the troll, and some pimples, were also painted Skeleton Bone, and were all washed Light Tone.

Three new trolls join the troop.

The troll vomit is a mix of colour already on the pallet, washed with a contrast paint of greenish yellow and Light Tone. The stone axe head is Uniform Grey with a diluted Light Tone. The bases are my traditional recipe of Citadel Dryad Bark dry brushed Dry Eldar Flesh, with Steel Legion Drab on the rim, topped off with some Citadel Grass.

Vomiting on hopefully some knights.

Smashing time!

"I go' da biggest wan!"

Troll booty Bilbo and Gandalf would rather not find.

With these guys complete, now I'll be more inclined to run them as a group of six, with my recent games I've been running them as single models for disruption. A big group of six would be good to attack with, as their unit size is small for quite a lot of attacks, great speed and regeneration to mitigate serious damage. Their downside is stupidity, having to test every turn on low leadership without a general nearby, and at 45 points per model, they can be quite expensive. I'm going to try using them defensively, holding the line and protecting artillery.

They look menacing in their movement tray.

Mean and green! Stinky too!

Hot acid or a giant fish hook?

Loony Night Goblins on Squigs!

The Squigs are also another unit that had a few completed models, but many many more which were half complete. There are still more that are incomplete, but at least there are now some more which join the ranks of the painted.

Three Brothers.

Twins with one Goblin riding backwards!

I started on the Squig Hoppers, which I have yet to use in a single game of Warhammer, at least I cannot remember ever using them. They are fun looking models, but writing this right now, I realise that I only have three different models with repeat models in my collection. I'm going to have to look into getting some other sculpts for a bit more variety.

Is he riding backwards or hopping backwards?

Yes, they are all hopping the same way.

The skin of the Squigs was done a long time ago, and from what I can remember, it was sprayed Army Painter Dragon Red, the dry brushed Army Painter Pure Red and a light dry brush of Army Painter Lava Orange. The Night Goblins were painted as usual, and the Squig claws and teeth were done in the typical method of brown base and Skeleton Bone highlight, but his time I used Citadel Agarax Earthshade wash on it.

Squigs on the loose!

Big mouths and big teeth!

Some squigs are unicorns?

Hoppity hop.

These are all metal and they seem to chip quite easily, the bases are also wonky. As these were bought off eBay a long time ago, the original owner had them on custom magnetic bases, and they really didn't rank up nicely because of these bases. Trimming the bases helped a lot, but they look weird individually, but once ranked up, they look great.

Hungry Hungry Squigy!

Squigs being herded by some hoppers!

That's it for this update! I have more squigs to paint, and they also need some handlers, so expect some more of these guys and their handlers in the future!