Some miniatures for Song of Blades and Heroes (Rust Monster face reveal)

[FreakyFenton]

They've come out great!

[Old Hob]

Excellent faces on them orcses. I very much like the shield designs too. Lovely stuff.

[Pattus Magnus]

I agree with the earlier comments, those orcs look great!

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, all!

Suitable as man-orcs for some LotR skirmishes perhaps?

Yes, indeed (I would have gone with White Hands on the shields were it not for the spikes!). Oddly enough, I've got a few underway for use as half-orcs as Mordheim. They mix perfectly well with the classic Aly Morrison half-orcs from the 80s.

I have a vague plan to create some Uruks using these orcs' heads and arms on the Oathmark goblin bodies.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Looking good mate! ✋

[dadlamassu]

I like the way you have painted them.  I recently painted up some GW Uruk-Hai with bright shields and heraldry with the help of our grandchildren.  They look smart and warlike.

We had decided that there is no reason why the warrior caste orc/ goblin (or any other race) have to ragged and dull. A major of war is morale and smart uniforms is part of this  - makes the troops feel better especially if the other side is a rabble.

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, both!

I like the way you have painted them.  I recently painted up some GW Uruk-Hai with bright shields and heraldry with the help of our grandchildren.  They look smart and warlike.

We had decided that there is no reason why the warrior caste orc/ goblin (or any other race) have to ragged and dull. A major of war is morale and smart uniforms is part of this  - makes the troops feel better especially if the other side is a rabble.

Yes - and Tolkien's orcs do seem to go in for a lot of artistic flourishes (replacement statue heads, ornate dagger hilts, White Hand sculptures, inventive heraldry). They've got a decidedly 20th-century flavour in LotR ("name and number"), so a bit of spit and polish isn't necessarily misplaced.

Also, I think there's another consideration with miniatures: do you want them to look like images from a film or like illustrations from a book? I'm very much in the latter camp!

Here's another shot that shows more of the faces. Some of the heads would be great for Mordheim dregs and the like.

[Sunjester]

A superb job! I assume they are too big to use as Tolkien orcs/uruks?

[Hobgoblin]

A superb job! I assume they are too big to use as Tolkien orcs/uruks?

If you're picky (as I am)! They're already 'man-high' compared with 28mm historicals (Perry, Warlord Games, etc.), so more like half-orcs. But they'd work fine as big orcs with 32mm figures (Reaper or that sort of thing).

There's probably a lot of good kitbashing to be done by using the heads and arms on Oathmark dwarf bodies for properly "squat and broad" Uruks.

That said, the Oathmark orcs are great in their own right - very nicely understated and plausible!

[Old Hob]

Yes, indeed (I would have gone with White Hands on the shields were it not for the spikes!). Oddly enough, I've got a few underway for use as half-orcs as Mordheim. They mix perfectly well with the classic Aly Morrison half-orcs from the 80s.

Now that you mention it, they do remind me of that Southerner at Bree; only he was not so obviously orc-like.

I've been meaning to pick up a sprue or two of these for a bit of a play for a while now, but thought they might be too tall for what I had in mind. 'Man-orc' could well be the way to go, though.

[Hobgoblin]

Now that you mention it, they do remind me of that Southerner at Bree; only he was not so obviously orc-like.

Exactly!

I'd say they're the same size as most 28mm human historicals.

At some point, I'm going to make some uruks from Oathmark goblins and dwarves with Oathmark orc heads; the new goblin slaves look about right as snaga-types (perhaps with goblin-warrior arms for bows, etc.).

(From the text of LotR, I don't think the difference between snaga and Uruk types was huge: there are indications in the book that it might be similar to the difference between a hobbit and a dwarf.)

[Hobgoblin]

Here's a Bob Olley orc from the Folio Works Fantasy Warlord range (bought from SHQ, though I gather the range is on the move again). I'm going to use him as a black-orc hired sword for Mordheim (counting his scimitar and cleaver as "two axes" is about as far as I'm willing to stray from WYSIWYG for that project!). He's quite a big lad - he's on a 30mm base - so he should overshadow even the Mordheim-era plastic orcs.

I couldn't get a great photo of him today as the light was fading by the time I finished him, but I tried to follow what I can remember of the black orc shown in WFRP and (I think) Warhammer Armies: black/grey rather than green.

[DivisMal]

Here's a Bob Olley orc from the Folio Works Fantasy Warlord range (bought from SHQ, though I gather the range is on the move again). I'm going to use him as a black-orc hired sword for Mordheim (counting his scimitar and cleaver as "two axes" is about as far as I'm willing to stray from WYSIWYG for that project!). He's quite a big lad - he's on a 30mm base - so he should overshadow even the Mordheim-era plastic orcs.

I couldn't get a great photo of him today as the light was fading by the time I finished him, but I tried to follow what I can remember of the black orc shown in WFRP and (I think) Warhammer Armies: black/grey rather than green.

A really nasty looking dude. I like that he’s kinda scary - even though I am otherwise a fan of the cartoonish GW orcs.

[Pattus Magnus]

Nice job! I like the Olley orc sculpts a lot and your painting works great on them. He’s not the sort of guy you want to come across in some dimly lit part of Mordhiem, unless you have a few crossbowmen backing you up.

[hubbabubba]

Thanks, both!

Here are some Oathmark orcs. They're not quite finished - I'm going to add some (gasp!) static grass to the bases and maybe weather/dull down the shields a bit more.

Those are absolute beauts.

That Jes Goodwin skaven is lovely too.

Most excellent