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

[Vladimir Raukov]

Yikes, I'm sure I couldn't paint to that quality day after day! Lovely work, as always.

[Ockman]

Awesome Orks, friend!

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, all!

Here are some slightly smaller orcs (not quite finished - they need a bit of work around the eyes and maybe a few more highlights; also, I'm out of the green I use for clumps of grass on these bases). These are Caesar 1/72 - "Orc Warriors 2". They're great little figures that would work well as Middle Earth orcs in 28mm. Also, they're made of a nice, carveable plastic that takes superglue and paint very well - more like a harder Reaper Bones plastic than the usual 1/72 stuff. Some of the weapons are a bit odd - those war-club things - but I'm swapping some out in later bases with weapons from Oathmark orcs and the like. I'm also adding Oathmark shields to some.

This is the start of some 1/72 armies for Hordes of the Things and L'Arte de la Guerre. I bought quite a few 1/72 boxes last year for the creation of a portable set of RPG miniatures (penny bases, magnetised boxes, very light and portable). As all gaming is likely to be home-based/remote for the foreseeable future, I've switched back to 28mm for RPGs for now (bigger miniatures show up better over Zoom), and in any case, I have loads of spares. A box of Dark Alliance 1/72 typically gives 10 or 12 individual miniatures four times over, so that's a full set for RPGs and a whole HotT army. I've already got some 15mm goblins based up on 28mm HotT bases, and they work very well with 1/72. So, in time, I might transfer all of my 28mm HotT stuff to individual bases - especially as these large 1/72 orcs (as warbands) and their small kin (as hordes) would work fine in a 28mm game anyway.

I'm going with a vague desert theme, to match the gaming mats we have and because I've got a lot of Saracens and the Dark Alliance 'nomads'. So these 'orcs' might actually be ghouls or hinn or something similar.

[Hobgoblin]

I should add that I'm debating whether or not to paint the base edges black (I usually do).

[Severian]

Those are great - and very versatile, as you say. Might need to pick up a box for miscellaneous purposes.

Fine paint jobs as always.

[manic _miner]

 Great painted figures.

 The Dark Alliance range is great.There are more sets coming out soon.Including Minotaurs,Steppes warriors set 2 and Eastern Tribes which are Easterlings with 48 figures in with 12 different poses.

 The Centaurs look nice too.

 Got quite a bit of the range and some of the Caesar Orcs,Ratmen,Lizardmen and the two Zombie sets.

[102-year-old-man]

beautiful painting of those 1/72 orcs. I love the grey skin tone!

The Dark Alliance range is great.There are more sets coming out soon.Including Minotaurs,Steppes warriors set 2 and Eastern Tribes which are Easterlings with 48 figures in with 12 different poses.

Oh, i'm very excited  I think Dark Alliance is getting better and better with every set. At the moment my favorite 1/72 producer

I should add that I'm debating whether or not to paint the base edges black (I usually do).

I also paint the edges black. I think it looks much "cleaner"

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, guys! Here are another two elements: Dark Alliance half-orc pikemen, which are perfect for HotT spears elements (the basing is often a problem for spear/pike-carrying models). One box of these provides another two spear elements, and I'm going to base those with lowered pikes on larger bases and with two ranks to be 'phalanx elements' (doubled spears in someone's house rules available online).

[102-year-old-man]

beautiful! I'm excited to see your whole army

[Jagannath]

Love this project - I’m quite tempted to get hold of some for a 40mm square based project I’ve wanted to do for ages. How are mould lines etc? Been a long time since I painted bendy plastic.

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, gents!

Love this project - I’m quite tempted to get hold of some for a 40mm square based project I’ve wanted to do for ages. How are mould lines etc? Been a long time since I painted bendy plastic.

Mould lines aren't too bad. The Caesar ones can be carved off easily enough; I really like the plastic they use, which is Reaper Bones-ish (takes superglue well, drillable, etc.). The Dark Alliance ones are best treated with a paperclip and candle; the trick is spotting all of them. There's quite a bit of pot luck with the sprues; the best are virtually flash free.

The Zvezda stuff is almost free of mouldlines, but that plastic is a bit shinier and trickier to paint without it rubbing off. That said, the few Zvezda figures I've painted have held up pretty well after a couple of coats of varnish.

One thing I'd be careful about for 40mm squares is the space the 1/72 figures take up. I think they're well suited to 60mm squares, but you might struggle to get many of the more dynamic ones on a base. I just looked at some Caesar knights; you'd get a frontage of two, and it might be less for some of the more fantastic types. Still, they'd look fine when you lined up several bases. More than happy to help out with some photos if you're wondering about the fit.

Here's one for the other side: some Dark Alliance nomads. These are great figures - they'd work well as historical Saracens and Moors, I think. Very simple paint jobs on these: base colour, wash and base colour touch-up for the most part. I'm thinking about some suitably abstract designs for the shields.

[M.P.]

Great paintjob on those nomads and orcs  .

[RSDean]

That’s some fantastic work!  I’m suddenly inspired to work on my own 1/72s...

[Hummster]

Nice work and they could work for historical arabs too.

[102-year-old-man]

I just love the 1/72 nomads from Dark Alliance. I think Dark Alliance is getting better and better with each of their sets