This is an old Citadel Fantasy Tribes orc from the early 80s. I've painted loads of these fellows before, chiefly in a 'fish-white' scheme in a nod to Alan Garner's svart-alfar.
But, as we're playing a lot of D&D at the moment (in the house and over Zoom), I thought I might try some with square bases (for Book of War and MicroHotT) and a more Gygaxian colour scheme ("brown or brownish-green" with "pinkish snout and ears" - I didn't bother with the "bluish sheen" prescribed by the Monster Manual as well).
This guy's a test. I'm quite happy with him, though I can't seem to get a terribly good photo.
The Fantasy Tribe orcs predate Warhammer and were, presumably, designed with D&D in mind. They're certainly not Tolkienesque, like some of the slottabased C15 orcs, which had long arms, bow legs and short stature. Those were produced around the time that Citadel obtained a licence for official Lord of the Rings miniatures; some may have been trial runs for that range. But the Fantasy Tribe lot were taller, ganglier and armed, inter alia, with crossbows and polearms - the quintessential weapons of the D&D orc.
The range was huge, thanks to the practice of swapping a dozen or more heads between a dozen or more bodies. I used a similar - though bluer - scheme on some other orcs a few years back, and also on a Fimir; I was planning to use the lot of them together as a Fomorian warband for Of Gods and Mortals. I may yet do so.
Here's the new fellow with his predecessor:
For the shields, I was aiming for something that looked primitive enough for an orc to draw itself. The older shield works a bit better, but I like the idea of having some in black and some in white. I based the design on the figurehead of a Viking longship. The two bluish orcs on the right of the photo with the Fimir might end up being rebased to work with this lot. Then again, I have plenty more ...
Great work as always. I remember when this range was released I was horrified to see their cartoonish tusks and protruding jaws. Having painted up some in the last few years I have warmed to them slightly, but did prefer the FT gnolls.
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DeleteMy first-ever miniature purchase included a Fantasy Tribes orc - but one of the more restrained ones (helmeted head, small upward-pointing tusks), which fitted in well enough with the first Harboth's Black Mountain Boys - the miniatures that really established the 'classic' Citadel orc look, I think.
And yes, the wilder Fantasy Tribes orcs did look a bit over the top compared with Harboth's and the C15 armoured orcs and C16 orcs; only the more restrained heads survived into those ranges. But I've come to love all those bizarre dental arrangements. They're certainly not at all Tolkienesque, but they work well for D&D, I think.
The FT gnolls/great goblins are terrific. I have loads of half-finished ones; I can never settle on a colour scheme for them, so will probably end up completing them in a bizarre motley of skin shades.
Wow - love him, dental work and all! That's quite the striking colour scheme and being pretty unfamiliar with most things D&D, very new to me - I love it! The shield designs old and new are brilliant but I think the new one really pops - even if it is a bit advanced for an Orc to paint. Mind you, I've always felt they've been wrongly slighted about their artistic abilities ;)
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ReplyDeleteYes, it's always a big decision with orc shields: go with something plausibly daubed by the creatures themselves or go a bit 'meta' with an elaborate design.
And yes, the more elaborately crafted armour and weapons on certain orc miniatures suggests a largely untapped reservoir of talent!
I love the skin colour and the shields!
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