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👍🏼

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 (year 20)

 After about twenty years I figure these guys have been patient enough.

Two boxes of parts spares bits and pieces from a number of kits not all ogres but some of the larger weapons from other gw kits too (black orcs and Minotaur mostly) should by now furnish enough to create a Warband 

Looks to be about thirty in total (27 foot and 3 mounted) 

So should furnish five or six units depending on make up 2,4 or 6 men 

First problem…pretty sure I had at least a brace of sabre cats but a thorough churning of fifteen or so other boxes of accumulated wargames figures has turned up zilch-a-Rooney…🤔

There are no problems only opportunities and ideas spring from adversity so we will use this cowpat of figure loss age as a spring board of identity 

We have nine fenrisian wolves which are languishing in a state of mild neglect that can be requisitioned in to the current summer project.

And seeing as I have no intention of pauperising myself to buy enough warhammer rule books or be using the Warband for competition purpose we can pretty much free our imagination 

Replacing the cats with wolves and using them as they’re own separate unit will also fill out the light cavalry/skirmisher section (which we don’t have 🤷‍♂️) and probably doesn’t exist in ogre culture.

Two hunting packs of four wolves to use as a fast attack/screen should suffice as they are quite large though not as large as the rhino sized thunder wolves which are to be the mounts of the orc army.

Marrying this with the banner that turned up during churning should be able to crow bar a wolf ish feel/totem/emblem into the Warband 👍🏼

Cheers all