Diablo Jon's Geriatric Orcs and Goblins - now with 1980s vintage Orc archers

[Diablo Jon]

Very possibly!

I have a pet theory that the new sculpts in that first slottabase range were prototypes for the Citadel Lord of the Rings range in the 80s. A lot of the new ones are much more Tolkien-esque than the preceding armoured orcs; they're bow-legged, long-armed, squat and fit in well with the Orcs of the Red Eye, etc., that came after.

The one called Shock Troop or Gashcog is the best example - he's a perfect fit with the Orcs of the Red Eye. But the long arms and shorter stature of many of the others, along with the number with bows, make me think that the Perrys were more influenced by Tolkien here than they had been previously.

The earlier Fantasy Tribe orcs were very clearly influenced by D&D's Monster Manual, and these seem to be more influenced by Tolkien, which puts the solid-based C15 and C16 ranges somewhere in between.

All sounds very plausible to me. Interestingly I'm painting the orginal solid based Harboth's Black Mountain Boys. They have similar proportions to  the fantasy tribes orcs but the dialed back the jaws, teeth and tusks to make the heads look a lot more like the early slotta base orcs. Harboth's were of course released specifically for Warhammer so maybe these guys are the evolutionary link between the FT and first slotta based orcs?

[Hobgoblin]

All sounds very plausible to me. Interestingly I'm painting the orginal solid based Harboth's Black Mountain Boys. They have similar proportions to  the fantasy tribes orcs but the dialed back the jaws, teeth and tusks to make the heads look a lot more like the early slotta base orcs. Harboth's were of course released specifically for Warhammer so maybe these guys are the evolutionary link between the FT and first slotta based orcs?

Yes, I think that's right. The Harboth's troopers are kind of the template for the more standardised orcs that followed: no more walrus-orcs! And they have the bandy legs whereas Fantasy Tribe orcs were more upright. And like many of those early Regiments of Renown, the whole Harboth's set bridges the preslotta/slotta divide with the slottabased champion.

[Diablo Jon]

My third (but not my last) Regiment of Renown for my 2nd edition WFB Orc and Goblin army. I love the old Regiments of Renown and luckily for me there were several goblinoid one. For anyone who doesn’t know who Harboth and his boys were or thought Harboth’s boys were Archers this is the original 1984 solid based regiment. Harboths Orc Archers were the second incarnation of the unit that came later in 1987. Here is the stuff of Legends entry for the original Harboth’s Black Mountain Boys

http://www.solegends.com/citrr/1rr05harboth/index.htm
 

There are 25 orcs including the original command. Sadly I haven’t been able to source Yaskin Forit the champion. This because Citadel only added champions to the early solid based Regiments of Renown years later. Creating several champion miniatures, for various regiments, that weirdly by this time were on slotta bases. These champions were pretty limited in number and when they do pop up on the second hand markets tend to get pricey.

Painting wise I struggled a bit with this unit. The miniatures are cool, nicely sculpted and don’t have to many details making them easy to paint but painting 22 identical miniatures can become a bit of a chore so my enthusiasm waned a bit towards the end with a consequent drop in the quality of the paint job. I batch painted the miniatures in fives and gave each five different skin tones to match the rest of my orc army. I also gave every unit member a unique shield pattern to fit the description in the regiments background

Shield – Assorted emblems prevail – often of an offensive or insulting nature. Harboth and his troops prefer to individualise their shields by scrawling offensive pictures or slogans on them

[Cubs]

Yes man, yes!

Proper toys that is.

[Diablo Jon]

Yes man, yes!

Proper toys that is.

Thanks.... but toys .....you sound like my wife 

[Diablo Jon]

Finally after what seems to have been a never ending painting marathon I have painted up all the orc warriors with melee weapons for my my Oldhammer Orc army. As well as Harboth’s Black mountain boys I have three more regiments of Orcs with melee weapons. This is the first Regiment which I’ve named the Headtakers. They like to mount the heads, of defeated, enemies on a pole to act as their Standard. This unit is 20 strong and all the miniatures are Citadel Fantasy Tribe or early C series Orcs. In 2nd edition WFB terms they armed with hand weapons and have chainmail (light armour in 3rd edition) and Shield. They should be solid if unspectacular in battle.

I’ve posted up pictures of most of the orcs in this unit already so I’ll just show a few pictures of a group shot and the last few orcs I painted to finish the unit off.

[Pattus Magnus]

They look great, especially the shields! Always fun to see those classic figures with paint on them.

[DivisMal]

That last update was grandiose! I love the details on the shields. Yes, pulp the stunties, lads!

[Diablo Jon]

That last update was grandiose! I love the details on the shields. Yes, pulp the stunties, lads!

They look great, especially the shields! Always fun to see those classic figures with paint on them.

Thanks chaps.

[Diablo Jon]

I finally got my hands on this classic model, the 1983 TA4 Orc War Machine, at a reasonable price. This was one of those models I saw, as a kid, advertised in early Citadel catalogues and dreamed of owning, Its only taken 35+ years but now it will grace my 2nd edition WFB Orc army.

This miniature was part of the TA (Tony Ackland) series that included, among others, the classic orc on a Wyvern and several fantastic demons. Here is the stuff of legends entry for it

http://www.solegends.com/citta/ta4orcwarmachine/index.htm

I was in two minds about basing the crew separately or on one base. From a rules point of view having the crew, and the machine, on their own bases makes more sense in Warhammer. Aesthetically though I prefer my artillery on diorama style bases. In the end that’s what I’ve gone for but I left two holes for holding D6 dice which I can use to record damage to the machine and crew causalities.

The crew are painted the same way as the rest of my Oldhammer orcs but I gave my airbrush a go for the machine itself . I have had the airbrush since Christmas and its pretty low end. I’m not that great with it (lots more practice needed yet) but it certainly speeds up painting a big lump of lead like this.

[Cubs]

Bang, get in! Same story with me and this model, but I haven't painted mine yet.

[DivisMal]

Awesome. I’ve also been amazed by that one since a similar long time. Brillant colors on those orcs.

[Elk101]

Very cool to see that old set get some love.

[Diablo Jon]

Awesome. I’ve also been amazed by that one since a similar long time. Brillant colors on those orcs.

Very cool to see that old set get some love.

Bang, get in! Same story with me and this model, but I haven't painted mine yet.

Thanks chaps glad to see I'm not the only fan of this old kit even at 38 years old I think it holds up really well.

[Diablo Jon]

Another classic I managed to get my hands on this time by mistake. I bought a job lot of old goblin chariots, off eBay, as I had identified them as the old Kev Adams Goblin Chariots set. When they came in the post, and I sorted through the jumble of bits, it turns out I got the Kev Adams Chariots and this little cracker to.

The Goblin Kings Chariot could well be a the most insane unit in 2nd edition WFB. In a time before Herohammer he is very Herohammer topping out 1358 points for this one model. Why I hear you ask… or maybe not…Well because the chariot and the boar are actually an imprisoned demon called Ulrista who is not only very tough but a level 4 wizard to boot (yes a magic using boar). On top of that the Goblin King Sourgutt carries a magic weapon, magic armour and a magic standard that flings fireballs. The only guy on the whole model that is vaguely normal is the driver who apparently isn’t even need to steer the sentient chariot.

Here is the Stuff of Legends page on the model

http://solegends.com/citmd/md1gkc/index.htm
 
 
My miniature isn’t quite original for some reason a previous owner cut off the blades running along the yoke…No idea why. Oddly the rules also stated the chariot had scythes on the wheels despite the fact the model never did.