These are the first figures for a Mordheim orc warband, for an all-day campaign next weekend. The crossbowman is the 'boss', an old Citadel C15 armoured orc tooled up with some extra armaments and a quiver of bolts for his crossbow. He's not the biggest or meanest of the C15 orcs, but he's one of the ugliest, which must count for something!
The smaller fellow is a Marauder orc. The first wave of Marauder orcs are pleasingly short and squat, which means that older Citadel orcs work well as leader types alongside them. Despite his short stature, this chap might see service as a 'big un', given his melee-focused gear and high-end armour.
I'm painting this warband in a D&D or Gamorrean scheme: essentially the same thing. Citadel orcs were originally D&D orcs (and possibly even closer to Gary Gygax's vision than the Monster Manual illustration; Gygax said at one point that he'd envisaged upturned snouts rather than full-on pig heads), so it seems appropriate. I'm painting the orcs a variety of greens, greenish-blues and browns, with the pink snouts and ears the unifying constant.
I haven't seen Mr C15 since last century, what a wonderful figure!!
ReplyDeleteVery orcish looking orcs! Would look right at home in any of Sauron's hordes. Nice paint jobs as well.
ReplyDeleteFantastic minis and your painting scheme fits them nicely.
ReplyDeleteWonderful old school foray into Mordheim! We really like how you fleshed out the first orc's equipment and the skintone of both - juxtaposing different orc skintones in the same unit is much more appealing in our opinion. We also fully appreciate the idea of a D&D reference in the pink snout!
ReplyDeletePerhaps these old orcs will seem a little undersized compared to the scale of the official Mordheim miniatures (32 mm to be honest...), but this gives room for imagination. In fact, only a band of small and agile orcs can move successfully among the ruins of the city, rather than two-meter beasts that proceed with the noise of tanks... and what it lacks in stature you can make up for with a huge weapon, as your big 'un learned. The fact that in a city of the damned the leader is the ugliest and not the biggest is perfectly coherent, right?
Now your warband is missing a name: we are curious to know what the orcs will decide to call themselves - obviously after a healthy and democratic orc-style brawl!
I know you're a bit of an Asgard man, but for me the C15 orcs hit the sweet spot for best old school orcs. Wonderful skin tones on these, as ever. I love the high contrast green and pink.
ReplyDelete