Pig-faced orcs!

 This weekend is going to be dominated by that toad. But I managed to kitbash these D&D-style pig-faced orcs before knuckling down. I've given them all Monster Manual-compliant gear. 

These are made largely from Frostgrave cultists and cultist knights, with heads from Wargames Atlantic and shields from Victrix.

Kitbashed EM4 space orcs - and orkish work in progress

A couple of months ago, I kitbashed some EM4 Fantasy Warriors orcs into space orcs through the tried-and-tested route of "stick a gun on a fantasy figure and call it a spaceman". I painted these up for a game in June but forgot to record them. There are many more to come. 

Since playing One Page Rules: Grimdark Future then, I've been putting together some multi-based orks for that game and similar sci-fi ones (e.g. Xenos Rampant). I like the 3/2/1 basing system that some people use for the Rampant games, and I've realised that it would work just fine in Grimdark Future. Here are some WIP bases, both for primitive orks ("berserkers" in GF) and more tech-savvy ones:

I really like this style of basing and might extend it to include some 4s and 5s. For games that involve large groups of figures, it makes movement so much easier and avoids the unsightly spectacle of lots of individually based figures crammed together and falling over each other on the table. 

Edit: a size comparison with first-edition 40K and Gorkamorka orks:

 

A whole lot more orks ,,,

Here's another batch of space orcs - most of them old Citadel from the 80s, along with a Mantic marauder and a more recent GW ork with a bit of kitbashing. 

 I added a little bit of an homage to the late John Blanche: a titan of illustration and miniature painting, who will be very much missed. RIP.

Another space orc!

 

Here's another space orc - this one a conversion of a Battle Masters orc. 

Veteran space orcs

Here's a unit of "orc veterans" for Grimdark Future (and doubtless other games). They're a mix of orks and fantasy orcs and black orcs. 

The two black orcs have simply been equipped with pistols to give them sci-fi credentials.

The orc on the left is a Warhammer fantasy orc with an ork head and left arm.

 

Yet more space orcs!

 There's an old John Blanche illustration from White Dwarf that I like, which I think may have been recycled into the third edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. It was used to illustrate an article entitled The Naked Orc, and it shows a group of orcs that vary massively in stature and proportions. 

I'm going for something of the same effect with these space orcs: a diverse bunch of creatures that are united only by a few specific characteristics. These are the latest two: a Mantic marauder and a kitbashed Warhammer Fantasy orc. Many more to come ...

Flying space gnolls!

One of the unit types in Grimdark Future's "jackals" army list is vultures - canine beastmen equipped with jump packs. Gnolls, of course, are feliform rather than canine, but they have impeccable scavenger credentials. 

 I used space-marine backpacks with space-marine shoulder pads over the exhausts to create the appearance of mobile-jointed jets. The weapon arms come from all over the place.

Kitbashed space orcs!

A friend of mine who used to play a lot of 40K suggest that we give One Page Rules' Grimdark Future game a tryout in the summer, so that he can use some of his exquisitely painted armies. I haven't played 40K since the first edition, but the OPR rules look nice and streamlined: a bit of Song of Blades and Heroes (with the Quality stat); a bit FUBAR (with the alternating activations); and a bit Kings of War (the general streamlining): all good things, and the rules and list-builder are free to boot.

I was planning to paint up a lot of first-edition 40K space orks for the summer session, but I'm aware that time and work commitments may limit what I can do (and I don't want to rush those old treasures). But I have no qualms about speed-painting kitbashed EM4 plastic orcs (wonderfully cheap and readily convertible). I converted one to sci-fi a while back, along with an associated metal Nick Lund Grenadier orc, so I thought I'd convert a few more. 

One welcome discovery has been that the new Frostgrave cultists have bulky arms and gloved hands that work nicely with the EM4 orc torsos. The arms (and chainsaw) of the figures in the first photo come from that kit. Stargrave scavenger arms and various other sci-fi bits make up the rest. 

As far as I can see from the Grimdark Future rules, the orc profile is all about aggression rather than toughness (as in the original 40K, where T4 was an ork's main advantage). So these smaller, rather simian orcs should look the part so long as they're armed to the teeth. 

 

A kitbashed chaos warrior

 

Here's a quickly kitbashed chaos warrior with a similarly rapid paintjob (lots of wetbrushing all over with a reddish brown to start with). I put a few of these rogues together the other night to use up various bits and pieces from the bits box. 

I much prefer Citadel's original chaos warriors, with their weird variety and Moorcockian vibe, to the later almost uniform armoured behemoths. So this fellow's a bit of a callback to that sort of thing.

A great big goblin

 This is a very simple conversion of a Reaper Bones orc, with the original small head replaced by a much larger GW goblin one and a bowstring added with thread. 

He's quite a sizeable fellow - that's a 30mm base - so he'll make a good leader or enforcer for the goblin band I've been working on. 

Ghosts and goblins

 Here's the latest member of my growing troupe of night goblins. With these creatures, I'm aiming for a folkloric approach: eerie creatures of the Otherworld rather than mundane subterranean soldiers. 

In light with that approach, I kitbashed a leader for the goblins from a Games Workshop ghost and some night-goblin parts. In folklore, the distinction between ghosts and goblins isn't necessarily clear, so I thought a sinister fairy might benefit from appearing rather ethereal. 

I've got a few other conversions and kitbashes awaiting paint; some of these have tails or animal heads. I'm also planning a few larger bases of two or three figures for use in "large skirmish" games. 

A kitbashed orc wizard for Frostgrave

 

Here's a kitbashed wizard to replace the orc leader from my previous post for Frostgrave. This fellow is almost a straight build from a GW orc sprue, with a spearhead replaced with a skull and some Frostgrave cultist bits and bobs on his belt (round the back), along with a Skaven plague-monk scroll. 

His fellows are a repainted metal orc from the 80s and a marksman ktibashed from Frostgrave demon and Mantic goblin parts.

A wizard and his warband

 

Ahead of some games of Frostgrave this weekend, I painted up this wizard and his entourage for a friend: bold colours and some heavy if unfashionable blacklining with acrylic ink. 

Moorcockian chaos horde 2

 Here's the second chaos horde element for HOTT/DBF. They're all kitbashes to some extent, barring the skeletal dog. 

The bits come from Oathmark, GW, Mantic, RDG, Shieldwolf and Wargames Atlantic sprues.

One of the things I like about the DBA/HOTT/DBF family of games is that you can include as many banners as you want - which helps to create a mass effect from relatively few figures. I've got at least one more banner among the kitbashes awaiting painting and will look to add a few more.

It's a little tricky to photograph these elements, given the variety of focal points ...

... but I'll aim to sharpen my skills in that regard as the series continues. There are still another ten elements to go, with two more nearing completion.

Moorcockian chaos horde 1

 

This is the first of many Moorcockian chaos horde elements for Hordes of the Things and DBF. I've kitbashed a dozen of these elements; this is the first one I've finished. 

Each of them has, typically, five beastmen, which gives me about 60 to paint for just half of a HOTT army. 

Very few of the beastmen aren't kitbashed (I think there may be about five among the five dozen that are straight builds or unconverted metal figures). So there won't be many other armies that look too similar. 

Atavist or ancestor?

 Here's a wee conversion I did a few years ago - just got round to finishing off the paintwork.

I'll probably make a few more of these: enough for a little skirmish band. 

But what are they? Primitive ancestor types? Or mysteriously devolved creatures of a familiar type?

Caravan guards

 My first completed miniatures of the new year - some sci-fi caravan guards for a desert scenario. Kitbashed from Victrix Napoleonics and Oathmark goblins and orcs.

The Cult of the Possessed returns!

 

My favourite gaming project of 2024 was my minimalist Cult of the Possessed for Mordheim (and other skirmish games). They're among the quickest miniatures I've ever painted, with speed achieved principally through a complete abandonment of realism. The figures are quickly drybrushed a couple of shades, then their heads are painted red and their weapons and eyes green. The final highlights are added in yellow and white acrylic ink. 

Around the time I put the first warband together, I started kitbashing and painting others - chiefly beastmen. My aim was to put together an allied warband of beastmen that could support the Cult in multiplayer games. Yesterday and today, I finished a few of those off. I also have another Possessed to add, who needs only his yellow-ink highlights. And I have more kitbashed beastmen and mutants to paint up in 2025, to which I'll add a minotaur and centaur.

Of the new lot, my favourite is the beastman chieftain, who's based on a RGD satyr. The RGD satyr kit is great apart from one thing: the satyrs - satyrs! - appear to lack any genitalia (not a mistake Tom Meier would ever have made at Ral Partha ...). With this fellow, I put that right by drawing on medieval and Renaissance depictions of demons, using a spare GW beastman head:

The shaman is a mix of parts from GW beastmen, Wargames Atlantic ogres and Frostgrave snakemen. Why are the severed heads red too? Just because ...

The third new beastman is a snakeman with a RGD satyr head. He's more unassuming than the other two, perhaps, but I rather like him.

Here are the three new boys:

Have a great Hogmanay and a very happy new year!