Goblin Sharpstick Thrower

After getting a pasting at Gods of Battles at the club last Thursday I decided to order a Goblin Bolt Thrower to bolster my Orc Warlord ranks.

Its a Goblin Sharpstick thrower from Mantic Games. Its got two more crew which I haven't finished yet. I replaced the shield on the front of the machine with a Orc standard top from my bits box and added a Crooked Claw mushroom to the base.

I picked it up from eBay for £15 inc. postage, which I think is reasonable, its a really nice kit (though it took a bit of cleaning up), I'm tempted to get another - I suppose it'll come down to how well it gets on at its next outing at the club!

God of Battles at the ELMS club

I managed to get another game of God of Battles in at the ELMS club in Leeds last night.

The opening moves

Orcling outriders and chariot on a flanking move 

We played a 36point game with my Orc Warlords against Rob's Dwarves in a scenario which lead to my orcs trying to poison a patch of ancient woodland while the dwarves tried to protect it, with the possibility of a treeman type coming to their aid.

Just before the drake ate all my orcs!

Rob''s lovely dwarves

My orcs got soundly beaten, though did manage to poison one patch of woodland meaning it wasn't a total whitewash (so I keep telling myself). We had a cracking time though and got finished in plenty of time (Rob's drake helping with that!).

Wolf Riders

I can't recommend God of Battles enough, every game we've played has been fun and there's plenty of depth to it despite it running along a good pace. I've another game scheduled for next week, I haven't decided if I'll run the orcs yet or maybe the mercenaries, we'll see...

Ironskins getting eaten by a drake

Thats how to use chariots! If only I could roll dice!

The treeman appears!

Goblin Archers

I picked up a bag of the old 4th edition warhammer goblins cheaply on ebay to paint up as some cannon fodder for fantasy games.

I think they've come out quite nicely for a quick job - the only thing that got any time was the skin.

Savage Orcs

My friend Tom came to visit on Thursday so instead of a trip to the lovely ELMs club we had a game in my loft. I decided I'd like to use my Orcs (or Orruks if you like) and thought it'd be a good opportunity to finish up a unit of Savage Orcs I've had half done for ages. 

Here they are:

The figures are a mixture of Shieldwolf Miniatures Orcs and some resin heads I found on ebay (maximini or kromlech, I forget which). The shieldwolf plastics are of good quality and I like the dynamism of the poses, The heads are nice but I found them a bit fiddly to paint, which sapped my enthusiasm a bit. If I decide to do a few more (I have enough for 10 more bodies) I'll try and source some Games Workshop Savage Orc heads and use those. 

As for the game itself, we went for Age of Sigmar and played a 50point game using the SCGT comp pack. We played The Cursed City battleplan from the Quest for Ghal Maraz book, which saw spirits attack larger units as casualties mounted up. I really enjoyed the mechanism and managed to squeeze a win. The savage orcs didn't do anything spectacular - I think they lack the power they had in 8th edition - I expect they need a character near them to perform to their true potential. 

Arachnarok Spider

I got this monster as a present last Christmas (2015!) and it sat for quite a long time because I was a bit intimidated by the thought of painting in.

 I finally got around to it at the end of 2015, and I really enjoyed painting it. I tackled it in several bits: the spider, the base, the howdah and the goblins - I probably rushed the last two parts a bit but I'm happy its all finished.

Not sure when I'll get around to use him "in game" - my regular warhammer/AoS opponents have gone AWOL of late and no one down the club plays. I'm sure I'll work him into a game of God of Battles or Kings of War if I pester someone enough!

Goblin Wartower

I bought this piece from Scotia Grendel age ago and it has been languishing half painted for far too long. The ELMS club annual modeling competition was approaching so I thought I'd use that as an excuse to get it finished so I could enter it.

I'm really pleased with how its come out. I went for an oval base as it framed the figure nicely. It'll probably end up being used a Basiladon or something similar in Age of Sigmar or possibly just a chariot or pump wagon. 

I'm a big fan of the sneaky goblins under the howadah poking out with spears and bows.

(I managed to get 1st place at the club competition, which I was really chuffed with!)

Orruks

I've decided I want to paint up a small force for Age of Sigmar. I don't think all the criticism leveled at the game is at all justified and I expect mostly comes from people who rarely wargame let alone have tried the game.

Anyway, being a bit of a goblin myself I decided I'd start with some orcs, or Orruks, as they are now called. I'm a bit cautious to spend big on some of the current range as I expect it will be replaced sooner or later with something nicer so at the moment I'm going to go for some cheaper, generic options. These are from the 5th Edition starter set which I picked up from ebay for about 50p each. I have some more in various states of completion but I'm awaiting some 30mm bases to pop them on.

They were painted up relatively quickly, using a brown spray undercoat, a brown wash over the leathers, the metals were washed then given a quick drybrush, everything else just got a quick highlight. The only thing that was given any time and care was the skin (Foundry Moss triad, with a wash of Agrax Earthshade after the A layer) so they match my other orcs.

These will likely see action in Dragon Rampant when it arrives as well being called into action for of Gods and Mortals if I can find some opponents.

Foundry Snotlings

Wargames Foundry snotlings for warhammer and kings of war

Orc Archers

Orc archers by games workshop