Monday 4 November 2024

A Tin Soldier orc in a retro style


 Here's an orc from Tin Soldier painted in a somewhat retro style with heavy blacklining in ink. 

Although I had originally based many of them on pennies, I've decided to put all the 25mm RPG figures I've been hoarding on 20mm square MDF bases (if the figures are roughly human sized). That renders them more easily usable in wargames too, and means that groups of figures can be bluetacked neatly to larger bases for Hordes of the Things and Kings of War and the like: so six of these orcs could fill a 60 x 40mm base to be a 'horde' element. 

Having most figures based in the same way means more versatility and cross-compatability. So hobgoblins in 25mm can be mere goblins in 28mm, and brightly painted 25mm knights might serve as diminutive elf-knights in 28mm, and so on. I find square bases a bit more useful than round bases, all things considered. I can't think of any game system in which round bases are mechanically significant. The same's not true of squares.

I'm also increasingly interested in the idea of switching between RPG and wargame modes in the same campaign (using a 1:10 or 1:20 figure scale for the latter), something that square bases facilitate. So square MDF bases all round it is - with the exception of plastic rounds for 28mm sci-fi and plastic fantasy skirmish figures, and pennies for 15mm sci-fi.



Monday 28 October 2024

Gnolls!


 Here are a couple of gnolls: one originally by Rieder Design and now sold by Alternative Armies (as a "dog man") and the other by Essex. The latter (with the sword) may have a certain iconic status to readers of a certain age, as he was a regular feature of adverts in White Dwarf


Saturday 26 October 2024

Ratmen slingers

 


Here are a couple of ratmen slingers from Ral Partha Europe. They're tucked away at the end of the company's Chaos Imperium range, which consists chiefly of Bob Olley figures done for Ral Partha proper. But there are various slotta-based beastmen and the like at the end, which weren't part of the original range. I think they may have been designed by Tim Prow, though I'm not sure. 



These two are taller than classic Skaven and lack tails. But they're suitably ratty, and I'm always keen on chaos creatures being chaotic in appearance. So they'll fit in comfortably with the original Citadel metal Skaven. Slingers are always handy in Mordheim, too.

Sunday 6 October 2024

Blood for the Blood God!



Strange circumstances compel me to put together a Warhammer scenario, of all things, using second-edition rules. As I'm going for a low-level, low-points feel, I need low-end minions of chaos to go along with some beastmen. I thought this Copplestone half-orc and his fellows would make perfect chaos thugs, and here we are.







 

Monday 26 August 2024

Celtic Miniatures orc boar rider


 This chap's a 3D-printed miniature from Celtic Miniatures. I've painted very few 3D-printed figures, but this orc was an absolute pleasure to paint and - especially - prepare (almost no clean-up was needed).