Army the First: Humany Humans

So moving back to contemplation of another army after finishing the Ice Wolves Ogre war band/luncheon party, (which it is not!!!!) and the question occurs. How close to a workable completed army must one get before being distracted by the latest tv show, miniature release etc? 

Quite close as it turns out...but the fact remains that ogreses are massive and sometimes the thought of starting to paint another great lump of angry flesh, or unit of, just seems a bit too up hill. Damn my lack of follow through....

So let us be distracted by the humany humans of said proposed world...The pervading idea behind this army was a low fantasy human force, late dark age to mid-medieval perhaps but definitely nothing fancy or magical.

These individuals represent the poor working men rather than professional soldiery. A militia of part time fighters called up as and when needed, fit and hail by the nature of their lifestyles and more than willing to answer the call to defend their homes and families as their fathers have done before them. Many will have seen action/guard duty of one form or another so they are not quaking conscripts, these men stand with their friends and brothers for duty and for honor. 

Of course they could just as easily be a force of filthy, thieving rebel scum, revolting against the rule of their liege lord under the leadership of a self elected and self aggrandizing robber baron, fit for nothing but the gibbet and the noose...depending on the needs of the moment and of the game.

So what do we have in the magical penthouse of delight? An attic full of shame and half completed projects...

Quite a bit as it turns out. Northstar Miniatures will be our go to manufacturer for this autumn (its now summer!) project namely their Oathmark range but the good fellows of Fireforge will also take a starring role.

As it turns out there will be more than enough odds, ends, partial and un-started boxes and sprues  to  attempt to complete more than a single force. Four spring to mind from the preliminary rummaging alone. 

Two standard humany human forces, one reskinned from the previously started Fireforge force of sub-knightly types, another from the oathmark range and a third barbarian army/raiding warband based on the avalanche of victrix sprues that have been collected and squirrelled away for times of need.   

So more than enough to keep your average low impetus wargamer/figure painter happy and frustrated for the foreseeable future and far away from completing the original ogre army, which is not that far from the finish line, and which started all this nonsense in the first place.

The silver lining of all this is that THE RULES (title to follow), mostly written and mostly ready, will only be dealing with the smaller end of the skirmish world. Proposed forces will probably contain no more than 30 figures max and most likely quite a lot less, so that should bring the painting schedule nicely into the realms of the highly unlikely rather than the outright impossible.  

And so to some finished articles. (You actually have some?) Oh yes! 

More than half the infantry of sub-knightly types, based on the Fireforge north men range, have been successfully repainted and supplemented with a unit of similarly reskinned militia along with two units of cavalry. 

The above storage solution took everything we learned from the ogre storage box and will allow for another unit of twelve infantry, on the painting pile, plus two more units of cavalry, not yet near the painting pile, rounding out the force quite nicely. 

Cheers all 

The Solving of the problem of Six Armies

Following hot on the heels of the problem of five armies that had seemingly been solved and put safely to bed, the great wargaming brain in the sky has now come to a decision that the five should now become six and decided what those six armies should look like. 

Army the first, will be the human army already started and in fact nearing completion, in the blue and black livery based on the Fire Forge Northmen range. A stolid, perhaps aging knightly, semi-nightly order that will include a small cavalry section.

Army the second, will also be a human army in black and white livery based almost entirely upon the oath mark human range. Either set as a mercenary retinue, a baronial warband or some sort of rebel force that will be larger by one half than Army the first, so in any proposed siege situations these fellows should be the attackers. They will also contain a cavalry section which gives the option of combining the two cavalry units into a much larger fully mounted raiding force of twenty eight odd horsemen, (drools at the thought of such a sight on the field, quails at the thought of the work involved).

Army the third, will be the afore mentioned White Wolf Ogres (pending).

Army the fourth, will be another human force. This will be the possibly huge, possibly cavalry supported, barbarian force made up of a number of different ancient sprue types from Victrix and converted to a more or less fantasy feel with the weapons left over from the oath mark goblin army, see below.

Army the fifth, will be made up of oath mark goblins, of which we have about 30, reinforced with the orc heavy infantry (which despite their name seem far closer in size to the goblins than the orc light infantry) to give them a bit more punch. The kits will be blended together using solely armored orc arms and heads. In the testing faze this gave the goblins a much more hunched and apelike appearance, which gives a much more threatening feel to the stances. Cavalry for these evil degenerate types will probably consist of the giant mutated boars rescued form ebay and languishing since, these should make for suitably intimidating war beasts with the addition of fighting platforms for archers and long spear wielders added to them. This will most likely be all the cavalry for them because I don’t have anything else beside horses, as the wolves have been stolen for other reasons. 

Army the sixth, will be the dwarfs of the oath mark variety. They will be converted using arms leftover from Fire Forge Northman sprues, swords, spears and bows. The armored dwarfs will be converted with the leftover arms from the oath mark human heavy infantry, both single hand and two handed weapons. Cavalry will be the converted goblin wolves as I can't find any horses that don't look vaguely ridiculous with a dwarf sat on them this will also feed nicely into a bit of lore as to who is praising the wolf god correctly, the dwarfs or the ogres.

So that’s six.

And we haven’t even thought of an undead army yet, though we do have a embryonic proto force hiding in the attic of doom which will probably be centered around some I-kore undead and barbarian figures.

But even these transplanted goalposts don’t include the West Wind orcs, which we have in the region of 70, straining the floorboards of the penthouse of delight.

Onward to the next disappointment.

Cheers all.

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