Half-orcs?

[ZeroTwentythree]

I'm scouting out some rank & file half-orcs. I'm on a tight gaming budget, so they need to be fairly affordable. (I'm in the US, in terms of availability & shipping costs.)

Along those lines, I was considering checking out the Vendel orcs and/or goblins, now available from Sgt. Major. But I'm not certain how they scale up to other figures. Does anyone have some comparison shots, next to each other as well as next to other figures?

Thanks for any help!

[aiteal]

I have a selection of the goblins, and both sizes of orcs and the trolls, can do you some pics tomorrow next to some oldhammer and modern minis.

[LeadAsbestos]

Just as a word of warning, I bought some Border Reivers from Sgt Major and they were among the worst castings I have ever gotten. Almost unusable in some cases.

[Spooktalker]

Just as a word of warning, I bought some Border Reivers from Sgt Major and they were among the worst castings I have ever gotten. Almost unusable in some cases.

I hate hearing reports like this. I really want to order but this isn't the first I've heard.

[ZeroTwentythree]

That is disappointing. I like the look of the orcs, goblins, and especially the dwarfs.

The only Sgt. Major minis I've had were a pack of hypaspists I got in a lot of ancients, and they were also unusable due to mangled chunks of lead where the faces should have been. I was hoping that was just a fluke.

If I do go ahead with them, I'll be sure to just get a few figures to test the waters before placing a full order.


Still open to alternate half-orcs, or orcs that have a more human look than the Citadel/Warcraft style that seems popular? Or just some sort of other "almost human" types?

[beefcake]

Probably not too helpful considering your location but the half-orcs from the old grenadier range (now Forlorn hope/em4 or Mirliton) are among my favourites.

https://www.forlornhopegames.com/index.php/category/231-half-orc-individuals

They also do group prices for them too.

[Mason]

How about the old Asgard Orcs, now available from Viking Forge...?

http://www.thevikingforge.net/25mm-fantasy-orcs.html

I am a little biased, though, as these are my favourite Orcs of all time.
They are on the smaller side and should scale up nicely for your requirements.
 

[Hobgoblin]

Two suggestions:

The Wargames Factory orcs, while cursed with sketchy Playmobil arms, are about the right size and the right degree of orcishness relative to Citadel ones. With your conversion skills, I imagine that you could fix them up very quickly.

The Reaper Bones Bob Olley orcs would be my top tip, though. There are only three variants, I think, though you could supplement them with the more varied metal ones. The Bones ones are dirt cheap, though, and they're nice. If I recall correctly, Warhammer 3rd edition called for half-orc archers in its army lists, though there were hardly any Citadel half-orcs with bows. The Bones ones solve that problem.

Here are a batch of Wargames Factory ones with a Reaper Bones archer in front:



And here's a size-comparison pic with a Vendel orc (one of the medium variety) and a half-painted GW Morannon orc (also an option):

[JollyBob]

If you like the aesthetic of the WGF orcs, there are some similarly styled ones from Hasslefree:

http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=multi-part-goblins-%284%29~hfo012&category=fantasy-%26%0D%0Asteampunk~fantasy-orcs-%26-goblins

They also do a 20 pack for £45. They are multipart, so customisable, metal not plastic, and have much nicer arms...

[ZeroTwentythree]

Thanks all!

I like the Grenadier/Mirliton half orcs, and didn't know about Forlorn Hope as a source. I will keep that site bookmarked.

I had been looking at the Asgard orcs the other day, and was giving them serious consideration -- then forgot about them! I wasn't sure about their size/scale. I'm going for the look of an unruly group of bandits/mercenaries, so these seem to fit.

For that reason, I'm not sure about the Hasslefree figures. They look nice (as most Hasslefree figures do,) but too uniform for what I want. Wouldn't object to having a few of them, though. Not crazy about the Roman scuta style shields, but that could probably be fixed.

I've got mixed feelings on the Wargames Factory figures. They've got an aesthetic I like, but are a bit awkward. I've also been on a boycott of their products after some bad history with the company -- not sure if I should continue with my dwarven grudge, or let it go.  Mixing WGF with some (non-WGF?) historicals might remedy some of the issues with the figures. I had also looked at the Reaper figures, but the lack of variety killed it right away. It's possible a few could find their way into a mix of others, though.

But now what Mason has reminded me, the Asgard orcs may have jumped to the top of my list.

[Hobgoblin]

Mixing WGF with some (non-WGF?) historicals might remedy some of the issues with the figures.

One thing I found is that the GW Hobbit wolfrider arms fit perfectly with the WGF bodies. Unfortunately, they just have separate right arms - but left arms with shields can fix that. So I'm sure that the appropriate historicals would work well. That kit also provides a lot of spare head - the blurry half-orc in red armour in at the back right of the photo above is a wolfrider head on a Perry knight body. One route might be to mix WGF heads with Frostgrave or Warhammer bodies. I think the WGF heads would work well with any "heroic scale" plastic bodies (they're just a touch too big for Perry historicals).

But now what Mason has reminded me, the Asgard orcs may have jumped to the top of my list.

I agree with Mason that the Asgard orcs are quite possibly the best orcs ever made - lovely old Jez Goodwin sculpt and loads of character. For Warhammer half-orcs, though, they might pose a few problems. First, most of them are very small - they're Tolkien-scale orcs rather than Warhammer-scale. Most are smaller than Warhammer goblins. Second, they tend to be very hunched over and often in almost "flat-out" positions - so quite a few of the bigger ones won't fit on Warhammer bases (at least not 20mm). I'm basing some up now for HOTT, and some of them cover the entire depth of a 40mm hordes base.

That said, the Mudak's mercenary half-orcs were quite hunched over, although they're much bigger than most of the Asgard orcs. And the four largest - the Asgard great orcs - would work nicely. Spooktalker has a good size-comparison shot here.

Again, I think they're probably the best orcs around, and the more people that paint them up the better! But you might be best served picking the biggest few and mixing them in with other ranges to get a suitably motley look.

[ZeroTwentythree]

Oh wow, those are a bit on the small side. Given their age, that was what I had feared. Still, as you say, maybe using the larger ones, a couple of the best smaller ones, mix in some of the Olley Reaper orcs you mentioned, and maybe a few other odds & ends and I can get a suitable mob! I don't want the entire unit to read as being small, but having some smaller individuals doesn't bother me.

[beefcake]

As hard are get a t I have a bunch and they make a great motley bunch. Lots of different poses and sizes.

[ZeroTwentythree]

Returning to this... what about some of the GW LotR orcs as half-orcs?





I understand they are proportioned differently to typical WFB figures, and I might be OK with that depending on how they look with my big variety of figures.

[SotF]

One possibility, depending upon what you use for your full orcs, is to get a box of the WGF Orcs and use them with the frostgrave cultists or soldiers boxes.