Orctober - Mantic Marauder Ripper Suits Progress

With my Ripper Suits assembled and primed its on to painting.  I've done my research and watched a good number of YouTube videos and there are lots of ways I could approach the Ripper Suits.

I'm particularly taken with Sonic Sledgehammer's Grizzly Suit. The result is subtle, but looks very different to a Space Marine or similar, and I want to avoid that. I've based my painting on this, though with my own palette, and lots more fiddly details.

When it comes to colours, I wanted to avoid the 40K orc black or red with checks look; Marauders are much more militarily sophisticated, though they are happy to trade on the 'dumb brute' stereotype.  I didn't want an 'army green', with green skins there isn't much contrast.  I'm also avoiding grey, I might look at that sort of colour for my GCPS.  My previous Marauders (here) were a sort of vague Afrika Corps colour scheme (or any modernish desert unit), which looked good with the green flesh, so I went for a yellow/brown palette, conveniently close to the German Green Brown primer; you'd almost think I planned this.

The Vallejo Surface Primer was given a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone. Already I liked the results.

 

Primed and washed Ripper Suits

Once everything was dry I used Sonic Sledgehammer's foam stippling technique with Vallejo Extra Opaque Heavy Khaki. It gives a good effect, though I think I need to practice a bit to reach his levels of quality. I highlighted with a mix of the VEO Khaki and Vallejo Game Color Khaki with a final highlight of straight Khaki. 

I then went on to the details. Orc skin in two different shades of green, gunmetal for most of the metal pieces and VEO Heavy Charcoal for the pipes and tubes. 

There are a lot of little details on the models, pipes, straps etc, and there's a temptation to add a lot of colour here.  However, these are military combat suits built for effective use; none of this 'red to go faster'.  Real life military rarely go for lots of brightly coloured equipment, that said, a little bit of spot colour will lift the mini and give interest to the eye.

So the final stage will be to add some detailing, but not lots.  Family stuff has taken up a lot of October (plus the opportunity to have a day playing the music of Josquin de Prez), so I'll be finishing these in November.  After that, maybe I'll get the rest of a Marauder Striek Force done, as I now have Deadzone 3, and these Ripper Suits need some friends.

I also got to go to FIASCO today, Leeds Wargames Club's annual show.  It's been a while since I've been to this show, but it looks like the only one I'll get to this year, and the first one since Recon 2019.

I didn't get much, some cheap brushes and a couple of Reaper Bones minis, but it was great to get to a show again and meet T'Other One and Bodvoc, along with his SAD Wargamers (Settle and District).  Bodvoc has done a better write up of the show (with pictures!), I struggled with the dim lighting that the show is cursed with, so didn't do much more than just gaze in wonder.  One participation game that stood out for me was a Mandalorian themed skirmish.  The 3D printed minis were excellently done, and made me think I need to investigate this more for both my 28mm and 20 mm Star Wars games.

Orctober - Mantic Marauders Ripper Suits

Whilst the varnish on the 10mm Mordor orcs was drying, I started my next Orctober project, something for Deadzone.

I have quite a few* of Mantic's Deadzone/Warpath Marauders (or orx as they were briefly known).  I painted up the infantry a while ago but these were gifted to a gaming buddy to encourage him to start his own Deazone team.  I recently started rebuilding and painting the old restic infantry, but I wanted to add more variety to the team; the restic models aren't great for this.  When I heard about the forthcoming hard plastic Marauders I decided to hang fire to see how well components from those work on the restic infantry.  Once I get the chance to try, I'll let you know.  

I've never build any of the Ripper Suits though, and these are impressive bits of kit.  Building the two versions seemed like a good Orctober project, so here we go (NB: NOT 'Ere We Go).

I'm not a fan of working with restic.  There are techniques to learn and it cleans up differently from metal, resin or hard plastic.  Still, once cleaned up the models build up fairly easily once you work out what goes where.  The rotary cannon must fit on a left arm, but otherwise there is a lot of freedom with the components.  Some of the joints need a bit of help; drilling out the sockets on the arms is a must, but go carefully otherwise you'll have to fill with greenstuff.  I speak from experience.

Here they both are, built and undercoated with Vallejo German Green Brown Surface Primer.  I've left the heads off for now to make it easier to paint the suits.  They'll get painted separately and glued in place once everything's finished.

Note heads on sticks

I'll get some paint on them once the primer has cured.  Given the amount of armour on them I might approach them rather like Space Marines, or should I treat them more like vehicles?  I think I need to do some research.

*Or lots and lots, depending on your viewpoint.  I prefer to think of them as being the perfect amount.

Orctober - 10mm Mordor Army Finished

They are done.  All the Mordor troops I currently possess are now painted and, where possible based, ready for Fantastic Battles.  You can see them started here, and some more progress here.  Of course I intend to add to them, as is they are about 500 points worth, and that includes a hefty 100 points in the Witchking.  Fantastic Battles uses a command system so I suspect that having unreliable as a racial trait for orcs means that I'll need lots of captains to try and keep order.

The whole army so far.  Most based for Fantastic Battles, with a small pile of 'spares' ready for the next batch.

I wasn't sure what colours to paint wargs. Tolkien describes them as grey, which works well for a fairly naturalistic scheme, and the minis themselves are very much 'big wolves'. The film wargs are more shades of brown, and I felt this contrasted better with the dark tones in the armoured riders (armour, shields and flesh on some of them). The undercoat had a Vallejo Game Color Khaki drybrush, I then darkened the back with VGC Beasty Brown (the same colour as the fur cloaks worn by some of the orcs, animal welfare issues?) and further darkened the back with a line of Army Painter Dark Tone. I darkened the eye sockets, but perhaps they would have looked more menacing with a red dot?

I'm not completely happy with the red eyes on the shields.  I think it looks a bit crude, but then it is orcs painting it, and on the tabletop it should look OK.

Heroes and commanders.

I'll probably use the Nazgul as a wizard.  The Warg Chieftain will be a thief attached to the rest of the wargs

Witchking on Fellbeast (to borrow film terminology), probably a Dragon/mage Lord character company and Mordor Trolls

Warg riders and wargs

Two companies of orc bows

Orc warrior company and orc 'elites'.

I selected some of the best armoured orcs to base as a separate company in case I ever want any guards, think Bodyguard of Bolg from The Hobbit.  They are based more in ranks as they might be better represented by a Regular company.

Three more orc warrior companies

Another view of the army showing my attempts to make most of the companies look fairly irregular.

The minis were based on Renedra 40mm square plastic bases which had previously had magnetic sheeting stuck to the bottom.  Heroes have 20mm square bases.  The bases were then textured with a mix of fine (Chinchilla) sand, burnt umber craft paint and PVA glue.  This was carefully applied with a dental tool, then smooshed into place with a damp brush. A few stones were added for rocks. I normally drybrush with lighter browns and bonewhite, but the mix, when dry, showed the light colour of the sand as highlights so that wasn't necessary.  I don't really know how I managed this, I hope I can replicate it in the future.  Once dry I glued fine static grass in place with PVA craft glue, then neatened up the edges with burnt umber paint.  I may add some tufts in the future if I can find some that don't look ridiculously large, and maybe some clump foliage too.  

The Witchking hasn't had his base finished because I want to add some ruins to it.  I'll see what I can craft.

I certainly think that my painting method works well on these tiny minis.  Only the Nazgul were painted in a more traditional method of increasing highlights.  Black is a hard colour to get looking right on minis, but I think these came out OK.

I'm really looking forward to trying the game.  Bodvoc has had a game or two already, and thinks it will work well for Lord of the Rings style games.  I'll also look at expanding my forces.  More orcs certainly but possibly also some Haradrim and/or Easterners.  I already have a few companies of Minas Tirith troops, since its good to  collect two armies I'd better do some more of them too.

15mm Dragon Rampant - Minis From the Vaults

Whilst sorting out my F'yar Guard I came across the elves I painted for Orc's Drift, along with some undead that may eventually be used if I ever play Terror of the Lichemaster.  As I've never shown these before I thought readers might like to see them.  They all date back to before my current basecoat, extreme highlight, wash style of painting rank and file troops.  The elves in particular have had increasingly light highlights, which looks good on these models, but takes a long time to do compared to my 'quick' method.

The elves are Ral Partha Demonworld, lovely minis and a joy to paint.  You can just about see them in the Kachas Pass battle report here.  I still need to come up with an emblem for the banner; the Kachas Pass elves have a unicorn banner, which sounds fun, but I'm not sure my freehand painting is up to it.  I might be able to find a transfer that works?

I'd originally planned for these elves to stand in for Bromedir's Bows at Orc's Drift as well, but those elves are armoured, so I might look for some in mail, there are plenty of Demonworld elves, and some of their High Elves look the part.

Elf archers

Elf command and heroes

The unicorn banner of the Kachas Pass elves

The undead are Magister Militum Blood Dawn, and like the F'yar Guard, rather large compared to other ranges.  Whilst I like the minis and they paint up well, if I were starting again I'd choose Demonworld minis, simply because they are more in scale with the rest of my collection.  I have some of the Demonworld zombies for the second and third Lichemaster scenarios, and the height difference is noticeable, though I'll live with it for now.

Skeletons with command

More undead with hero

The 15mm Dragon Rampant box also contains some unpainted dwarves who I need for Orc's Drift (and the Terror of the Lichemaster, if I ever get onto it), so who knows, perhaps they'll get painted soon.

Orctober - 10mm Mordor Army Progress

I've progressed well with my Copplestone Castings Mordor minis, begun here. Currently they are waiting for the shade wash to dry; there are a few little details and highlights to pick out, then its on to the varnishing stage.  I have the pleasurable job of painting around 70 red eyes on shields; I prefer to do this after the gloss varnish, I find it gives a better surface for painting symbols and emblems.  

The whole Mordor force so far

Orc command strip

Mordor trolls, lovely minis.  I'm not sure which flesh colour I prefer.

Warg riders and a lone warg

I'm very happy with how they all look.  I'm still going to drybrush a lighter brown on the wargs, and there are a few skulls and teeth on the trolls that could do with a highlight too, but the finishing line is definitely in sight.

You can see the finished army here.

Orctober - 10mm Lord of the Rings Mordor Army

While the varnish on the F'yar Guard orcs was drying, I started on another group of orcs.  A long while back Bodvoc (or Merlin as he was known back then) and I started work on an adaptation of GWs War of the Ring for 10mm minis.  For various reasons* it didn't get much further than the planning stage and the painting of a few strips to test colour schemes.   Since then Bodvoc has introduced me to Fantastic Battles, which he is sure would work well for Middle Earth battles.  Looking at it I tend to agree as it uses a menu of traits applied to a limited selection of unit types, ideal for personalising troop types and with a points cost already calculated.  

So now I'm back on with the LotR big battles, just with a different rule set.

Fantastic Battles uses a company system of basing.  It doesn't really matter how many minis are in a company as long as the bases are all the same size.  Base width is important as it is used as the standard for measurement of movement, shooting etc.  Since we were already set up for 40mm wide  by 20mm deep companies for War of the Ring, we just switched to 40mm square bases.  

Bodvoc has already got a couple of armies done by rebasing minis from his collection (you can see his elves and his barbarians part way down this post).  I am copying his basing, going for around 12 minis in three ranks for most infantry, 6 to 8 for skirmishers and archers, 5 cavalry and 3 light cavalry (and trolls).  I am going to try and base my orcs in a more random irregular pattern though.  I don't think they would have the discipline required for properly dressed ranks.

I already have some of the Copplestone Castings Orcs that I painted as tests for colour schemes here. I also have various strips bought off eBay that are undercoated and have the weapons and armour painted.  Since it's Orctober, its time to get some more done.

Current progress on the Mordor army

The painting is pretty much the same as the test orcs I did back in 2020, though I've tones down the rather bright yellow by highlighting with a 50/50 mix of khaki and bonewhite.

This is going to be a much longer project than the F'yar guard.  Apart from orcs there are also wargs, trolls and a couple of ringwraiths.  I'd like to get them all done and based in one lot though, and I'm happy to lump them all in for Orctober.

You can see how the army progresses here, and see it completed here.

*Mostly, we couldn't quite get the profiles to reflect how we saw the various troop types in Middle Earth fighting and where we altered things we had problems with points costs.  War of the Ring is very much a game version of Middle Earth based on another game version (the Strategy Battle Game) based on a film version based on the books, so it often reflected a different view of Middle Earth than the one we wanted to play.

We realised we were virtually building the lists up from scratch, with no idea how balanced they were when we were also working on the rules.

Ultimately it seemed easier to start from the beginning with a new game.

Orctober - F'yar Guard Completed

I've finished the Blood Dawn orcs which I will use as a reduced model unit in Dragon Rampant, probably the general and his guard. In Bloodbath at Orks Drift they will be the F'yar Guard.

Painting was as per my orc painting method, well I do use it for other things, but I do paint a lot of orcs.

Drummer and drum carrier

Two of the F'yar Guard

Standard and Leader, I've still got to paint a device on the standard.

The whole F'yar Guard on movement tray

and from above

The orcs are a bit large for their 15mm bases.  I could have put them on 20mm bases, but I wanted to be able to swap them out for troops in other units to give them a tough looking champion.

All the bases and the movement tray are magnetised (tray from Warbases)

I've mentioned before about how big they are, around 20mm tall in some cases. Here's how they fit with the other ranges of orcs in my army. 

L to R; Grenadier, Chariot, Blood Dawn, Essex, Kallistra (10mm)

Big, but given that I'm using them as an elite unit they are fine. The standard needs King F'yar's device on it, which should be a crowned orc head, judging from the artwork in Bloodbath at Orc's Drift.  I might try a simplified version of this.

I really enjoyed painting these orcs.  There's plenty of detail on them, but not so much that I struggled to think what to paint.

I also think that I've got better at painting orcs looking at the comparison shot above.  I could go back and do some repainting, but then again, I've got plenty more to paint, so next up, an entire army.

These ARE the Droids We Are Looking For

I got in a game of Fistful of Lead Galactic Heroes last night with my good mate Andy. It was his first game of FfoL, so we played the first game in the book.

We had great fun, and Andy coped very well with both a completely new set of rules and the legendary Imperial marksmanship (or lack of). 

I've played this scenario before with Bodvoc, and then we had the advantage of his terrain collection as well.  I added a Sandcrawler, the couple of bits of Combatzone scatter terrain I painted for May the Fourth, and some wooden blocks that could be storage crates. More scenery would have been better for this game, but we managed.

We also measured in centimetres, doubling the distances in inches, to reflect the smaller scale.  I printed off stat cards with the adjusted values, this seemed to work very well.

A desert planet a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away

Some of the Imps lurk behind an abandoned Sandcrawler

The Rebels advance towards a protocol droid

Imperial marksmanship is better than the rumours say...a rebel is wounded

The action hots up around the moisture vaporator

In the end it was a Rebel victory.  I took out the Stormtrooper specialist early on, but the Imps were remarkably good at shooting (for Stormtroopers), taking out two of my Rebels, and their officer slew a third in melee.  I managed to find the droid with the second half of the plans while loosing control of the first one.  By the end though, Rebel shooting put all the Imps out of action.

Great fun.  I'll add a couple of tweaks to the scenario for the future; use both jokers in the pack to get the droids moving more, (in this game they moved three times, the previous time I played it they only moved once).  Add +2 to subsequent attempts to find the correct droid, so it it less likely to be the last one searched.  This may make the game shorter, and (perhaps) be more about finding the droids and less about just shooting your way to victory.

I'll also print out definitions of the relevant traits to assist players, perhaps on a sheet with the stat cards for the crew.  I currently print out individual cards, these could all go on one sheet.

One of my stat cards

This all makes me want to build more Tatooine terrain and paint up more Star Wars minis.  I'm trying to stick to orcs for this month though, perhaps some Gamorreans?

Orctober - The F'yar Guard

After the excitement of (nearly) completing the First International Townscape Challenge, and a holiday filled with Medieval Music, hiking and cheese, I'm a bit at a standstill. I haven't posted anything since the FITC, and I haven't done much more hobbywise.

There's plenty I'd like to be doing, but I'm not really sure what to do next (lack of games as a target again) and I don't want to get back in the situation of having too many unfinished projects. 

#Orctober has inspired me though. I've been looking through my 15mm Dragon Rampant orcs and found a set of unpainted command. These are Blood Dawn miniatures from Magister Militum. I got these ages ago, and they are actually a bit big, but I thought they'd work as an elite unit for my 15mm Dragon Rampant Orcs, but do I really need them?

Back in 2017 I started thinking about adapting Bloodbath at Orcs Drift for Dragon Rampant and that campaign includes an elite unit to accompany the Orc leader King F'yar, called the F'yar Guard. These, I thought, would be ideal. So the answer is 'yes, I do need them'.

I'm painting them up using my current method of base coat - highlight - dip. 

First things first though, the bases needed some surgery. The minis are big, with appropriately large broccoli bases. To big to fit comfortably on a 15mm diameter base, then on with the painting.

The painting was pretty straightforward, following the same method as I used for the Kings of War orcs starting here (and I must finish basing them).

They are currently waiting for the gloss varnish to dry, but here they are prior to the dip stage.

These are really fun minis to paint and seem to do well with my style of painting.