Some miniatures for Song of Blades and Heroes (undead warband for Mordheim)

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

That is great painting, Hobgoblin.  The size comparison photo is helpful as I am thinking og getting some Asgard/Viking Forge orcs.
Not a green orc in sight!

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks!

On a different note, here are some "red orcs" - not Middle Earth-appropriate at all, but part of a Dragon Rampant unit/SoBH warband that I've had on the go for a while. They'll be some evil wizard's guards, I suspect.

These are super-quick, rough and ready paint jobs; I have the whole twelve (Offensive Heavy Foot) close to completion. Two of them have featured before, barring some touch-ups; I did the chap with the scimitar in an hour flat tonight from undercoat. The idea is that they'll look sufficiently vivid on the tabletop, with their scarlet hides and yellow and black livery, to mask their speedy completion.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

"here are some "red orcs" - not Middle Earth-appropriate at all"
Don't orcs get sun burnt, then?

[Hawkeye]

Love the old-school orcs/goblins - fantastic painting, and a consistent vision. Both are important, of course!

I  have a quick question. A guy in our gaming group (and we're talking here about the mid to late eighties) had a lot of these orcs, goblins, uruks, and  so on. Well,  in the nineties some time, he threw them all into Nitromors to strip them so that they could be repainted. That never happened. I inherited them (as the only one of the group in the oughties who was painting anything, albeit infrequently), but most of them had been ruined by the Nitromors, of course - terribly corroded. I miss the miniatures, of course, so here's my question - do you know (or does anybody reading the thread know) the best way to get these old school orcs/goblins? Or perhaps to get modern orcs/goblins that resemble the old-school ones that have been corroded beyond salvation? For example, there are some lovely Bob Olley Reaper ones that I imagine I'll pick up, but what about other ranges, or sources? Okay, so maybe it wasn't such a quick question, but I'm hoping you'll forgive me!

Have been enjoying the thread for a few weeks now, even though it took me a while to comment!

[LeadAsbestos]

Mirilton does a ton of old orcs,  BTD does a nice line, the Ral Partha KS just did a bunch, the lovely Renegade Orcs... So much to choose from.
I went for Foundry War Orcs: big, bulky, easy to paint, and full of character.

Spoiled for choice!

[Hawkeye]

Thanks LeadAsbestos - I'll look into all of those! And apologies, Hobgoblin, for the slight thread derailing....

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks LeadAsbestos - I'll look into all of those! And apologies, Hobgoblin, for the slight thread derailing....

No problem at all!

As LeadAsbestos said, you can get some old Nick Lund ones from Mirliton. The red orc with the scimitar is one (I got him when he was released by Grenadier in the 80s). I think the ex-Grenadier ones aren't quite so good as the old Chronicle/Citadel black orcs (such as the other two red orcs above), but those crop up on eBay quite a bit.

The really old (pre-slotta) Citadel orcs and goblins are often available at similar prices to new modern miniatures (or sometimes much less) on eBay.

Viking Forge do the old Asgard range: probably the best orcs ever made, give or take the Tom Meier Ral Partha ones  - and certainly the most Tolkienesque)

[Hobgoblin]

Here's the Chaos Wars kickstarter from Iron Wind. It's funded, and I think these will soon be on sale in their store.

The store has various old gems scattered around in it at the moment; Bob Olley goblins and ogres, and so on, and much else besides.

[Vermis]

Viking Forge do the old Asgard range: probably the best orcs ever made, give or take the Tom Meier Ral Partha ones  - and certainly the most Tolkienesque)

I have to admire, in some small way, how the sculptor got round the problem of bendy metal spears with most of those.

Here's the Chaos Wars kickstarter from Iron Wind. It's funded, and I think these will soon be on sale in their store.

And some of those orcs and elves are far too tempting.

Oh, nice red orcs too. It's a good skintone for orcs, IMO, despite the non-Tolkienishness.

[Hobgoblin]

I have to admire, in some small way, how the sculptor got round the problem of bendy metal spears with most of those.

It was Jez Goodwin. And yes, it's the kind of "necessity is the mother of invention" thing that you get with some old miniatures - the poses are all the more orcish because of it. A lot of those form the basis for some of the classic John Blanche and Kev Adams conversions.

Oh, nice red orcs too. It's a good skintone for orcs, IMO, despite the non-Tolkienishness.

Cheers! They're not very Tolkienish figures in any case: too big and too crude/impressionistic: the smaller, older Chronicle ones (like the standard bearer and swordsman I did recently) have much more detailed, naturalistic faces. But the big ones are great playing pieces, like the Chronicle hobgoblins and ogres: real heft and plenty of bulk and verve on the tabletop.

As far as the red goes, I'm thinking of using them as a warband led by a sorcerer who also has red-skinned demonic servants - flying, horned things - thus suggesting that the red orcs are in some way connected to diabolic powers ...

[Hawkeye]

Thanks, Hobgoblin - some of those Viking Forge ones are wonderful! I particularly like the Black Orcs. Some excellent choice here - I think I'm going to enjoy recouping some of the lost miniatures of my youth!

[Hobgoblin]

Here's one more red orc - an old Mothercrusher.

[DeafNala]

The Red Fellows look WONDERFUL...OUTSTANDING WORK!

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, DeafNala. Here's one more (the hero from the Chronicle Black Orc blister-pack range of yore):

[Hobgoblin]

And one more, to show his beady eye and stubbly jaw.