Ogre Warband Part 7 : Light infantry

 Light infantry?

Not round here I’m afraid, not with these salad dodging maniacs. Maybe ‘slightly lighter’ infantry is more accurate for what will eventually 🤞be two units of 6 models that will represent perhaps the younger members of the tribe who have yet to graduate to being armoured. 

These guys will be the meat of the army, gap filling and reserves held back from the carnage of the armoured charge (which is probably as far as tactics will go) used to mop up the gravy of war with the bodies of the shell shocked enemy stragglers.

However the problem quickly arose of storage of the beast as said war band uses movement trays of approximately 130mm x 90mm per unit (I’ve tried to make them all a standard footprint bar the wolves) and this, as can be imagined, will take up quite a bit of shelfage real estate.

To the charity shop!

Old, and not so old but unloved, board games provide a valuable resource to the space strapped army builder. This one in particular being ‘Scene it’ if memory serves. Large deep and of a sturdy heavy card construction, reminiscent of a space hulk box, and going for only £3 really can’t be sniffed at to protect one’s beloved toy soldiers. The only problem being that it’s just not deep enough especially as the leaders of the current effort will be a three model cavalry unit. 

Still ambiguous about the whole mounted ogre thing… (these guys surely weigh a metric tonne a piece before lunch so how even the most cunningly conceived contraption of leather could keep them strapped to a galloping mount without explosively and embarrassingly failing on the first charge vexes me beyond words)…but digression aside…we have three of these guys in the hoard so we might as well use them and they will form a striking centre-piece/command unit so…

…mourn fangs are frankly elephantine in 28mm stature and with an ogre perched on top they are well into 110-130mm tall territory depending on weapons. Just too tall for the box provided. Think man…if you can…

After a lot of hard thunks, destroying and rebuilding the box to fit just seemed to loose any protective integrity so a roomy bespoke mezzanine/extension of grey board was drawn-up, planned and executed and reet happy with how it turned out we was too 👍🏼.

As an actual bonus, and with zero prior thought applied to a problem that wasn’t even dreamed of, three movement trays fit precisely long-wise into the box (boy did that save a tantrum) and three forwards-wise also, with a tickle to spare, meaning the nine planned units would fit in the box like a child’s finger up their own nostril👍🏼.

Ahhhhh…the unplanned beauty of it all…

Really enjoying watching this army grow and come together and the bits box/hoard is taking a real beating in the process👍🏼

The Problem of Five Armies Part 2

Moving on my from the wandering rumination of the first instalment we must address the idea of the third army.

Orcs or ‘not orcs’ as the case may be.

I know they are a fantasy staple but I don’t want to paint just another green skin army so in keeping with ideas governing the Third Ring these chunky fellows will represent ‘Uber men’ bred strong and tough by the trials of the far more brutal world from which they hail.

Still Human in essence yes but corrupted and hardened by circumstance and evolution they have become stronger and larger, haughty even in their dominance over the lesser races of man whom they regard as pests and livestock. The only thing that retards their dominance and gives the true humans a chance of survival is, like their much larger cousins the ogres, their smaller numbers.

The models used will be Westwind Productions orcs and chunky chaps they are too. I have amassed around 70 of these and the weight alone gives one pause. 

Forth will be the Fallen. Another basically true human force but one that has embraced the destruction of the comet and the mutations that worship of such can bestow. A lighter weight army based around oathmark goblins converted to humanity married to half a dozen sprues of Victrix ancients (goths, Dacians etc) 

And finally the dwarfs/dwarves/dwarfoids.

We have a few boxes of these (oathmark light and heavy infantry) to play with so should be able to construct a infantry based army of troll killers. Abetted with scavenged parts from the other kits available in the hoard should hopefully add an original feel to the army.

So that’s it. Easy.

Yeah?

We’ll see.

To the paint table!

Cheers all.

The Problem of Five Armies (approximately)

I consider myself to be the ‘average war gamer’ so am consequently in possession of an embarrassing amount of unfinished projects. With so much in the candy shop coupled with a terminal case of the fickle mind everything is too tempting and I find my attention perpetually pulled from one tantalising idea to the next. Always starting bravely and fiercely yet all too often I am drawn away before consummation as inspiration strikes from unknown and unseen quarters…oooo I’ve got something in the bits box/avalanche that could be converted into that…and off we go again.

Enough I say! Enough.

The most embarrassing thing to admit is despite so much hard work, intricate conversions and pain staking hours attempting to improve my meagre painting abilities I don’t yet have a single complete/painted army to show for 40 odd years (off and on) dedication to our sacred passion.

Shame! Shame and thrice shame and a curse upon my piscine like attention span…

The situation begs of several questions…Can one honestly go to one’s grave without a single solitary painted army? Is it possible, even in theory, to finish an army? Where and how do you safely store said army if by some miracle you were to complete one?

Such questions must wait another day. Call it embarrassment, call it old age, call it a conscious decision to curb the spiralling hobby costs…either way a challenge has surfaced and a hero shall arise…well maybe…

1) Who buys all this fucking stuff? 

Good question. I have about twenty boxes of differing sizes and capacities safely ensconced in the attic/penthouse (plus an uncounted number swilling around and within the work station) dedicated to this sacred pastime. I dread to think of and refuse to calculate the costs involved in amassing such a collection but am happy that no children were harmed, sold or went without during the assembling of the dread edifice so the conscience remains clear…ish…

2) What exactly is the objective?

Mmmm. There are so many great painters out there who seem to find the time to get their armies ‘to table’. Magazines and the t’internet abound with such glorious examples and yes perhaps many are painting professionals, working in the industry full time but not all can be, surely? Are not some everyday working fellows (like myself) who have achieved the impossible dream? Of course they are and where one man can succeed another can creep along in his footsteps. So the objective is to have and to hold a gloriously realised collection of little painted men all standing to attention before their imperious creator.

3) Just one?

Yeah…..Well, that’s the thing see…after another comb/churn through the hoard it would seem that we have enough unused/uncompleted models for more than one army 😬. The wet, sodden feeling of a project expanding exponentially in its birth canal grows deep within the colon if my imagination. But as one great leader once said…it’s only hubris if I fail…

Soo…in the world of the Third Ring which is where the said army/armies are envisioned to exist there are a number of displaced and competing factions. Namely the ones I can create from the hoard without actually spending any money. (NB-I may need a base or twenty and card etc for scratch building movement trays but this is pennies really and I’m also not counting actual modelling supplies, paint and some descent not-too-expensive brushes that I can get along with and have yet to find, as these represent normal/day-to-day expenses)

As seen elsewhere upon t’blog this year’s summer project has begun…the White Wolf Clan are some of the ogres of this world (back story to come) and at a projected 30ish models for the army (that’s all I have) represent a doable goal and a starter for ten (30) army wise.

So who else would inhabit this world?

Humans obviously and in this we have the start of another army (two?) based around the Fireforge Northman figures including what may turn out to be around two dozen cavalry. The idea of a bandit army/warband also tickles the fancy…

More to follow if hubris allows...

Ogre Warband Part 6

Of Axe and Wolf…

 After the completion of the first unit and some piddling around with the second (big armored two handers) the problem of weapons swirled up again from the unquiet pool of unconscious.

What if this particular tribe of ten foot nutters abored the use of clubs swords etc and instead favoured only the ‘sacred axe’ ?

…our chopper who art in heaven, hatchet be thy name…

Just like the use of wolves as harrying units rather than the sabre cats (that I still can’t find) this would set these guys apart from the lowly clubbing neighbours.

Mmmmmmm🤔

But would we have enough axes to furnish 1-2-3…about 29 ogres? One unit of which would need two each as they would be the ‘light’ infantry unit that would normally carry a sword and club etc

To the bits box!!!!

Somewhere in the deep past of my wargaming career I really over ordered on the Minotaur weapons. But that still wouldn’t be enough…black orc bits to the rescue…black orcs must be close to ogre size judging by these great choppers 😳 or probably just another case of manga influenced over sized weapon syndrome.

In any case we now have all the weapons we need bagged and tagged and ready for application to the slowly growing hoard and it’s really making a satisfying dent in the bits box.

With that decision made the piddling around can cease and the job of unit four (2 handed weapons) can be seen to completion.

Eh viola 

The crew so far with the first stab at a standard featuring the company logo. Probably have three or four flags because why not eh? Besides which they need using up. Next stop, light infantry, yeah I know....

Cheers all  

Ogre Warband Part 5

A problem with white fur…

Having knocked a few of the big guys together I turned my attention to the light cavalry/skirmisher element that will also give the warband its totem and theme.

Bloody great wolves.

Where this particular group of ogres hail from does not support a viable population of sabre cats (because I can’t bloody find them) so we turn to the next best thing…dogs! To the lay person…eight Fenrisian wolves to be exact.

Tried basing them individually on 40x40’s the same as the ogres to begin with to make three units of three, but there was just too much room left between them. Too spaced out they didn’t look hungry, ravening or fighting for position for the first bite. Three each on a 40x40 base was too clogged until a minor brain tremor made me realise that two 60x40 bases would make up the same frontage as the basic 6 man ogre unit.

Two wolves on each base, two bases to a unit equalled two units of four wolves. Custom units require custom bases so one 40mm base glued to two 20x20mm bases and reenforced with green stuff…eh viola…no monetary outlay.

Now…colourisation…

Black wolves are cool and scary but our lads hail from the snowy north so what about some lovely fluffy white doggies?

Mmmm…test painting proved troubling and disappointing in the same measure. Dry brushing too much white giving too much of a chalky appearance.

Was about to change tac in frustration when a mild google revealed that many ‘white’ wolves are much more brown and sandy coloured then one might think.

Return to the paint table my son and dig in…

Starting from a wraith bone base then highlighting up to white I then used a number of beige to brown washes to lower the tone and form a darker stripe along the spine and around the muzzle. A couple of light grey washes (Vallejo) on the legs and lower body gave quite a pleasing colour variation while still staying within the basic ‘white’ coat and a much more natural feel to it. Eyes teeth and jaws and I’m pretty happy with the outcome for saying it started badly.

Four down and four to go and makes a nice interval between the main event big guys 👍🏼

Cheers all

Ogre Warband Part 4

First unit of ogres is up and running 

Four man heavy armor and shields to distinguish them from what will be a standard six man more lightly armored unit.

Pretty happy with how they turned out and a good vibe for the rest of the warband. I like the contrast of light skin against the darkness of the armor which was achieved with multiple washes of agrax and nuln oil over a base of iron warriors with a silver edge dry brush.

Finally found some common ground with agrax after multiple ‘shiny’ disappointments. Alternatively storing upside down (very carefully as it not cheap to spill) a super shake before use and a damp brush with absolutely no water to thin it down seems to work for me. 

Cheers all

Ogre Warband Part 3 The case for bases

 Now to the question of bases

One of the decisions that arises when starting or planning a new miniature project is that of bases.

Size, shape material…the rules which you play will often guide (if not control) your choice in this. Unfortunately I am far too fickle to cleave to a single rule set so the problem of bases always is one of prolonged and changeable personal choice for me.

Three of the ogres unearthed have been completed to an acceptable tabletop standard (all I can muster I’m afraid) and placed on 40mm circular mdf bases. At this time I was obviously of the opinion that larger figures would be better served with such and circular bases do appeal to me ascetically, nice organic skirmishy shapes tabletop wise. 

However, straight lines and precise cornerage are just as often required (if not demanded) by the shadowy needs of my unconscious ocd concerning the incredibly important matter of where and how little painted men should be standing. (Dress that line soldier!)

Coupled with the fact that other material pressures will curtail the finance package of this summer project and that I simply refuse to cut that many circles for the proposed movement trays after the last debacle with the circle cutter…means 20 square bases, 40mm a side of a 2mm thickness reasonably purchased for less than a fiver from a well trusted eBay seller (wargame-model-mods) should get us moving along the correct vector.

Movement trays of different sizes are also available but having the remnants of an A1 sheet of grey board (heavy grey cardboard used in book binding amongst others) I choose to scratch build the lot 👍🏼

This decision also allows a certain freedom of unit size as will be seen with the first unit completed and the wolves for that matter.

A piece of grey board was cut to size (130mm x 90mm) and 5mm strips of the same glued to the edges. The six bases were then tested fitted and the whole thing binned in a fit of childish temper 😳.

Due to the tolerances allowed for advancing age and decreasing eyesight the bases were just too tight and once gravelled and painted would be unworkably so. Slightly narrower 3-4mm strips were cut and test fitted and everyone was able to calm down. 👍🏼

I wanted to get some kind of ruined feel in the bases along with a blasted heathish feel (listening to Horrorbabble again)  so a thick cork heat pad (darling? Have you seen my mother’s heat pad anywhere…?) was donated torn to pieces and arranged as ruined blocks or rocks depending on choice.

Standard sand removed from a bulk bag on site was glued to the remaining parts of the bases and the edges of the tray were covered with a finely sieved version of the same. Diluted Revell black was applied to all.

Now…the ogre skin is probably going to be the lightest area (pastey northern types) so wanted the armour and bases to contrast this. Dark green was dry brushed onto the earth, then nato olive and finally a touch of dead flesh to highlight. The rocks I wanted to have a slightly eerie fantasy feel so a good solid dry brush with Revell blue grey then adding light blue and finally pure light blue to the edges. Wanted to avoid added white as much as possible to preserve the coolness of the blue.

2mm Winter static grass was then applied in random clumps (war world scenics) with only one electronic belt from the flocking flocker this time, then the dried and pressed leaves of a catkin were added for an autumnal wind blown leaf affect and to give a warm ish contrast to the cool of the blue rocks.

Sealed with a pass of Matt varnish and we can call that done👍🏼

The wolf bases were handled the same but were made of a 40x40 base edge glued and extended with two 20x20 bases to give two 40x60 bases (2 wolves to a base) with exactly the same movement tray size as the other units. Ocd satisfied….

Cheers all