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.

Tin Soldier orcs

 Here's a small band of orcs from the Tin Soldier. They must be around the cheapest 28mm fantasy miniatures around, at a quid a pop. The company also offers staggeringly good customer service. I got mine the next working day after ordering them, with postage coming in at £3. The Tin Soldier hydra is a brilliant old-school miniature and costs all of £4. The orcs are really nice figures that fit in quite well with Citadel's Fantasy Tribe range.

I've got another seven to paint up, which completes this particular range; Tin Soldier also offers some other orcs done in a very different style. I picked up some of the goblins, which match that style, and will finish them off soon. 

To me, these are just about perfect as D&D-style orcs: nasty-looking, but also scrawny (and hungry?), and just right for one-hit-die creatures. The fellow with the mace and the snakes would make a good tribal cleric. 

Rather charmingly, the chap in the horned helmet (above, centre) has a leather knapsack - for carrying off plunder and small morsels, presumably. The faces remind me of the troll in Jim Henson's The Storyteller. 

I'm painting up a lot of the Fantasy Tribe orcs in a similar style, and these will mix in nicely.