Some miniatures for Song of Blades and Heroes (Frostgrave undead and construct)

[Hobgoblin]

And here are some ogres (not quite finished). These are Magister Militum/Blood Dawn 15mm great orcs - some of which I've been painting for RPG use in that scale. Based in pairs like this, they make good 10mm ogres (I'm not the first person to have noticed, as a quick Google search reveals).

I'm going to paint up a few more bases of these. Magister Militum sell the orcs in "double" packs, in that they typically have two poses and a minimum of four in a pack. So I'm planning to order some different ones and base up half for 10mm and half individually for 15mm, splitting the doubles. In 15mm Dragon Rampant, three strips of two will give me a unit of elite foot, and then the individually based ones can be used to track casualties when need be. As my 15s are based on pennies (20mm diameter), they fit nicely into the spaces left by two offset 40 x 20 bases.

These might just be my most scale-versatile models, in that they'd work in 28mm DR as small but fierce orcs. The fact that some are staring upwards helps here - they can either be huge blood-crazed brutes (in 10mm or 15mm) or diminutive creatures staring up defiantly at human adversaries.

[DivisMal]

Awesome painting, sir! I love the use of 15mm Orcs as 10mm Ogres!

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks!

Here are the ogres in isolation:

[beefcake]

Very nice work. I love what you are doing with these.

[jambo1]

Superb work once again, the orcs make great ogres, really well done.

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, both!

I've ordered a few more 15mm orcs from Magister Militum. I think the "normal" Blood Dawn orcs are slightly smaller than these fellows, but they should still make respectable ogres. I'm hoping I can fit three of the smaller ones to a base, to allow for less regular-looking units (e.g. with one two-strong base and one three-strong one). Those will also facilitate casualty removal in 15mm DR.

[Hobgoblin]

I'm soon going to be rebasing these trolls and adding a few more of their ilk. Not sure whether to put them two to a base or three; they will go three to a stand, but it'll probably be a bit cramped. On the other hand, as with the ogres, two to a base can make the unit look overly regimented.

[Hobgoblin]

And while all the various residents of Jotunheim are under consideration, I've finally hit on a use for these old Asgard half-trolls - great figures, but awkward to base, given their length. There are three of them (apart from the marvellous half-troll chief; I had one, but gave him away painted to a friend a quarter of a century ago ...), and I was considering basing them up as a 28mm HotT warband element. But it occurred to me tonight that they'll make perfect 10mm giants (of a decidedly nasty sort).

A quandary for basing 10mm monsters is whether to go for 40mm (Mayhem) or 20mm (Warmaster, Sword & Spear) frontages. But these half-trolls solve the problem. They all fit nicely onto 20 x 40 bases, and the two stooping ones work really well together as a single 40 x 40 element for Mayhem (each is naturally angled towards a different side). At first, I thought the archer wouldn't really fit in, but giants have ranged attacks in Mayhem, so why not?

The three of them will be pretty multifunctional: huge giants in 10mm; reasonable-sized ones in 15mm, where they'll be a good RPG encounter and a Dragon Rampant unit or three; and ogre-sized adversaries in 28mm skirmish. And, happily, their bases will form up to make a perfectly legal HotT warband unit in 28mm.

[Hobgoblin]

Here are the first reptilian cavalry in 10mm. No bases as yet, as I'm awaiting a consignment, but these two will go on one 20 x 40mm stand.

[Hobgoblin]

And perhaps a more flattering angle ...

[jambo1]

The reptilian cavalry look great, really nice.

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks! They're very nice miniatures - from Eureka and firmly in the "so well sculpted that they paint themselves" camp.

Here's a second batch of orc infantry: unbiased as yet, as I'm waiting for some new bases to arrive. They take my little uruks to a full Mayhem element (a 40 x 40 square).

[jambo1]

Ooh they are very nice, the shields are brilliant!!

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks!

Here's a quick experiment. I've been looking at 28s to see which would fit nicely onto a 20 x 40 or 40 x 40 base as giants or huge demons or whatever in 10mm. It occurred to me that this old plastic beastman might work on a 20 x 40 (for Warmaster or Sword and Spear), as he's quite 'flat'. I want to do a Moorcockian chaos horde in 10mm, and he looks like the sort of huge monstrosity that might accompany one.

My bases should arrive tomorrow, so I'll have him properly based shortly. This was very much a speed-painting job, as the figure itself is quite crude and blocky; I didn't even bother with pre-shading. I might put a 10mm figure or two on his base for scale; on the other hand, he'd work quite well in 15mm as a demonic guardian before a sorcerer's gate or something. And of course, without any scale 'tell', he'll still be viable in 28mm.

[killshot]

They're looking good, the beastman looks the part.