Bill's Greenskins: Da Old Guard (406 Pts)

 Rank and File Month #1

As the gate gave way, orcs streamed through into the fortress - not the fat, dullwitted creatures Captain Arnulf von Grenzstadt was used to seeing pour up the Black Fire Pass. No, these were lean, sinewy creatures; all gristle, teeth and scar tissue. These were warriors, experienced ones. With howls and shrieks of bloodlust, they spread out from the ruined gateway, rusty blades raised high in anticipation. 

Von Grenzstadt grinned beneath his salt-and-pepper mustache. An experienced orc was still just an orc. Shouting over his shoulder to the halberdiers behind him, he called out "Wine from my own family vineyards for every man who can bring me three orc scalps!"

And then the enormous green foot, composed of crackling arcane energies, dropped on him.

 

I decided I'd start off this year with some old lead - most of this regiment are Citadel figures released between 1985 and 1993, collected off of eBay individually or in small lots, cleaned up and based by me. Only the musician, a Heartbreaker release sculpted by Kev Adams, is a young stand-out. It's a modern casting from Ral Partha Europe of a sculpt done in 1996, but I liked the gong he's carrying and decided he'd be a worthwhile addition instead of continuing to chase after musician figures on eBay. 

Second rank

 

 There's something reverential for me about handling and painting old miniatures; it's a hands-on connection to the history of the hobby for me, and there's maybe a sense of honoring these figures; after lingering for so long in attics or basements, they've been given new life by my hands. Maybe I'm being too solemn about the old boys, but it just seems right to paint them and get them on the table after all these years. 

Third Rank

 

Musician, Standard Bearer, Hero

Shields are a mix of classic Citadel shields that I got mixed in with these eBay lots and a few from Knightmare Games. I wanted to push myself and try painting some checkerboard patterning, which I think worked out pretty well.  

Some favorites among the shields

Joining them is an Orc Shaman from Knightmare Games, a bit bigger than his older brethren but covered in fantastic detail - mushrooms, spider, the bits and bobs on his belt, even the little snotling carrying the book for him. 

January Points Totals:

• 14 Orc Big'uns, Standard and Musician: 152 pts
• Level 15 Orc Hero, Shield and Light Armor: 91 pts
• Level 15 Orc Wizard: 163 pts

Total:  406 pts

Bill's Greenskins: The Wrap-Up (1248 pts)

My first Old World Army Challenge marks the single biggest and most successful miniatures-painting project I've ever undertaken. I painted my first miniatures almost 20 years ago, I've done some small projects in the interim, but this is my first ARMY. I'm phenomenally proud of myself for having accomplished so much in six months - during this period, I also wrote, playtested and edited a 10,000-word scenario for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game, which will be seeing print towards the end of this year. 

Sorry Iannick, but the humidity was at 87%. A tie was out of the question.

Let's review this Challenge's successes:

Harboth's Archers (May) and Hobgoblins (February)

Orc Boyz (February), Goblins & Trolls (March)

Yorzolg's Chariot (June), Battle Standard Bearer (April), Chuckwagon (May)

Orcs (January), Stone Thrower (April)

And, because I painted some Hobgoblins, Goblin Archers and Black Orcs prior to the start of the OWAC, I decided to put them down on the table as well and see how the Waaagh Kev'Adums looked in its entirety:

Hobgoblins and Black Goblins by Knightmare Games

Barnorsk Great Orcs by Harlequin/Black Tree Designs

Archers by Knightmare and Harlequin/Black Tree, Orcs by Warmonger

What's Coming for OWC V? (Presuming Iannick will have me back)

Yorzolg ducked as another volley of arrows arced over the crumbling stone ruins his army had taken shelter in three weeks earlier. The siege had been a hard one; they'd run out of food, snotlings, and were running low on goblins to eat. The walls were starting to give way under repeated assault by the war-machines of the Empire. 

Slumping against the wall, Yorzolg looked over at the huddled mass of Dem Boyz Ova Dere. Most of them had bandaged wounds and Arzenut was face down, getting an arrow pulled out of his left buttock. 

"Dis might be it, boyz," Yorzolg said glumly. "Dem humies might 'ave us blasted dis time."

In the distance, a horn sounded. Yorzolg's pointed ears pricked up. He knew an orcish trumpet when he heard one.

A gangly orc chanced a look up over the ramparts.

"Oi, Boss!" He crowed. "We'z not ded yet! They'z 'ere ta save our bacon!"

"Who?" Yorzolg crept up, looking over the wall.

Cresting a row of hills, a line of black, bristling war boars, as big as oxen and ten times as ornery. On their backs clung armored orc warriors, swords drawn and voices raised in fury. The boar boyz came charging down, slamming into the back ranks of the Imperial army. Yorzolg could see a boar continuing to trample men even as it choked a handgunner down its gullet, chomping and slobbering as it went. 

The orcs around Yorzolg began to cheer on their relief. The orc next to him pointed and shouted,

"DA PIG 'USSARS ARRIVED!"

These are some Boar Riders from Knightmare, and I've got some Citadel Boar Boyz just waiting for some new boars to ride. I've also got some goblin wolf riders, a unit of Big'uns that I'd initially planned to paint as part of this OWAC, and a bunch of 80s-era Orcs from Kev Adams and the Perry Twins. I was hoping to have some Savage Orc Archers from Black Tree, but the order was placed two months ago (by my mother, for my birthday) and no sign of it yet. Fingers crossed I'll see them. 

And yes, there's an urge to slap some Polish Winged Hussar wings on these boyz.

Bill's Greenskins: Hell on Wheels (240 pts)

 Leader Month

"Oi, Nakscrath, wot'choo got fer me?" rumbled Yorzolg, red eyes narrowed as he tried to stare down the gloom inside the tent.

"Yer gonna love dis, boss. Remember dat absolute mad lad Chaos git last summer?" The smaller orc stumped forward on his peg leg, grinning maniacally.

Yorzolg chuckled cruelly, "Haw haw, yeah I do! Remember wot 'e said right afore I gigged 'im?"

The two greenskins recited in unison, "Blood fer da blood - Aaaaggghhhh!"

"Right, well, we still 'ad 'is fancy ride sittin' around, and so's I scraped off mosta da Chaos gubbins an' painted it up proper Orc-like. Figgered yez'd look right Big Bossy ridin' on dis!"

Yorzolg's eyes widened as Nakscrath pulled a tarp off the chariot. The sides sewn out of human faces had been painted a tasteful red-and-black check pattern, a huge, scowling Evil Sun graced the front and the bronze horned skull on the end of the prow gleamed from being freshly polished. 

"Now dis is right Propa," Yorzolg said approvingly. The war boars already lashed to the chariot snorted and pawed the ground. Nakscrath climbed in, taking up the reins as Yorzolg boarded behind him. 

"Yez'd betta not even fink about farting," Yorzolg growled to the smaller orc.

This was a challenging month for me. I got lucky and got most of the chariot finished before the end of May, but June brought on a bad case of the blues; I lost all energy to do anything after clocking out of my day job, and the thought of picking up a paintbrush felt insurmountable. Painting Yorzolg turned into a grueling forced march of 5 minutes of painting here, 3 there, maybe 10 minutes on a Saturday. I used Contrast paints (Iyanden Yellow and Snakebite Leather) to try and speed things along, then cursed myself out for a week straight for not simply quartering the yellow and black color scheme and doing the full puff-and-slash. And there was no way I was going to manage to do the diorama base I'd originally planned on; a 50x100mm MDF base painted Goblin Green would have to suffice.  

But I made it work. And I was able to glue a Yorzolg I was happy with in behind his driver, glue the boars down to the base and flock it, then glue the chariot to the base and to the boars. It was done.

 

The chariot itself is a Beastman Chariot from Warmonger Miniatures, with the occupants replaced and some slight modifications; the horned skull on the beam is originally from Grom the Paunch's chariot from 4th edition WHFB. I had originally thought I'd manage to put two crewmen (a driver and a banner-bearer) in along with Yorzolg but once I had the pieces in my hands it was obvious that the orcs were just too beefy for that. As is the chariot is comically crowded, and I needed to add a platform for Yorzolg to stand on to be able to see over his driver's shoulders. The back of that platform is covered by a "bumper" made of three goblin shields from Knightmare Games glued to a strip of plastic card. 

Overall, even without the supersized diorama base, I feel like this is a suitably impressive piece to conclude my first OWAC on. Even better, it contains pieces from Warmonger, Citadel and Knightmare, making it representative of most of the companies I've bought figures from for this army. We've got some freehand in there which I'm really proud of (I've become such a big fan of painting these Evil Sun faces) and I even worked in the classic Games Workshop checkerboard pattern. 

The chariot rolled to a halt, the heavy boars grunting against the weight. Before him, stretching out as far as he could see down the Black Fire Pass, Yorzolg could see more orcs gathered than he could even begin to count. 

Throwing his arms wide, sword held aloft, he addressed the teeming horde.

"Boyz, gobbos, an' assorted rest of yez," he began, "tha eyes o' Gork and Mork are on yez today, an' I'm tellin' yez dey's grinnin'! 'Cuz dis right 'ere, yez lot o' greenskins, both da big'uns an' da useless 'uns, yez make up da greatest ting ever seen on dis, or any, world - yer a WAAAAAAGH! NOW LET'S HIT DA MOUF O' DIS 'ERE BLACK FIRE PASS, AN' SHOW DEM HUMIES WOT IS FEAR!"

The crowd began to cheer. Yorzolg grinned, baring his teeth. This was his moment.

So that's it for me for June, and for OWAC IV. Let's see what that comes to points-wise:

• Yorzolg himself is a Level 25 Orc Hero, with Light Armor and a Handweapon - 145
• Chariot with a single Orc crewman, scythed wheels, drawn by a pair of War Boars - 95

For a June total of 240 points, and an overall total for OWAC IV of 1248 points!

Bill's Greenskins: Nock, Draw, Loose! (170.5 pts)

 Rank and File Month #4

"Oi! Yez knows the rules, orcs eat first, then gobbos!" Epigruel snarled at the short, lanky form half-glimpsed over his shoulder as he rushed to dump more mashed turnips into the bubbling pot of stew.

"WOT did yez just call me?" rasped a gruff voice behind him. Epigruel turned.

The greenskins standing there in chainmail and striped trousers were short, yes, and lean - not scrawny, like a goblin. Their tusks and plug-nose spoke of orcishness, and their red eyes were narrowed in fury.

"We'z come all the way from Stirland to join this Waaaagh, and yez tellin' us we'z gotta wait to eat?" the leading greenskin snarled. Epigruel just blinked stupidly.

"Yez an orc?" the cook finally said.

"Yeah, and a Gork-damned hungry one! Now'z get to dishin' or get to dyin', tubbo!"

I feel like this month I've really earned my Oldhammer "cred," so to speak. Not just modern figures sculpted in an Oldhammer style, not just figures I remember from when I entered the hobby in 2001, but Citadel miniatures from the 1980s. Yes, I got my hands on some of Harboth's Orc Archers from 1987, including Harboth himself. 

I haven't got shields for most of them yet, so the points for those haven't been factored in. Tom's Bad Moon Orks inspired me to try putting some stripes on the trousers of the orcs who were wearing them, and of course the big smooth belly-plate Harboth is wearing cried out for some freehand, so I painted my tiniest "evil sun" face to date. It ended up looked more concerned/confused than "evil," but given that it's smaller than my pinky fingernail, I'm not complaining,

And finally, a pair of close-ups of Harboth himself. 

Next up, something I'd hoped to have finished last month for my Wild Card but just couldn't swing it in time. They say an army marches on its stomach, and if you look at the Warmonger Orcs I've spent most of this Challenge painting, you'll realize my army has a lot of stomach. The archers put me over 1000 points of greenskins, and that calls for a Baggage Train, or in this case, a Chuckwagon. 

 

I found "Mighty Epigruel, Orc Chef" on Warmonger's site, and did some quick thinking to figure out another four figures that could accompany him and make up the civilian contingent of this baggage train. I found a goblin chef brandishing a spoon and an overworked snotling carrying a full pot of something, and then brainstormed over the orcs until I decided on a spearman pausing to chug from a bottle (a wagon guard taking a break?) and an orc musician playing a triangle - literally ringing the dinner bell! The boar was also from Warmonger, while the wagon, cauldron and assorted boxes and barrels were 3D-printed. As a final touch, a landsknecht casualty figure from Warlord Games was painted in Averland's colors and loaded into the back of the wagon.

"That's my last bottle of cooking sherry, Crugdrun."

Just as an aside, Epigruel marks the third greenskin in my collection that Kev Adams sculpted with a booger hanging out of their nose.

After some consideration, I opted not to simply use the points cost listed on the box for Harboth and his archers, since I don't have shields for them yet. Instead, I'll go with this:

• "Harboth," Level 10 Orc Hero, Two-Handed Weapon, Light Armor, Shield - 66 pts
• 11 Orc Arrer Boyz, Light Armor - 104.5 pts

For a May total of 170.5 points, and a total score five months into OWAC IV of 1008 points! Not counting casualty figures, and treating each troll as only one, I'm also at 72 figures painted so far during the Challenge, the single largest army project I've ever successfully committed to.

Bill's Greenskins - "Fling 'Em, Lads!" (180.5 pts)

 Wild Card Month

"Oi, you lot know wot we fergot ta pack? Tha bleedin' catty-pult! How's we s'posed ta be firin' a Stone Thrower if we's ain't got one?"

"Not ter worry, Boss - them gobbos got somefink over there we can borrow!"

"That's one a them newfangled Doom Divers, it can't be a stone thrower! No stones!"

"Gobbos is about as smart as stones though, right Boss?"

"Ya might be on ta somefink there..."

Somehow not as productive a month as I'd hoped for but nonetheless, no Field of Bones for me yet. For my Wild Card month, I present the very first piece of artillery I've ever built and painted. To me, this is a 6th Edition Doom Diver because that was the current edition when I entered the hobby and I remember reading about and loving the Doom Diver Catapult at the time, but I believe this model was first released in 5th edition - don't quote me, and if I'm wrong, please correct me. This also marks the very first official Games Workshop-produced Warhammer Fantasy Battles Orc & Goblin miniatures that I've painted for this army (and the goblins aren't sculpted by Kev Adams, I don't think, but I'll allow myself an exception here).

But wait! The Doom Diver does not exist in 3rd Edition WHFB, the edition I've been using for the OWAC. So, with the addition of three Orc crewmen from Warmonger Miniatures, it becomes an amusing proxy for an Orc Stone Thrower, on the principle enumerated above that "gobbos is about as smart as stones."

I might still go back in and letter "ACME" in big letters on the frame, because it reminds me so strongly of Wile E. Coyote and his endless, futile pursuit of the Roadrunner.

The high-flying (or at least, far-flung) Goblin will make a nice marker for where I'm targeting on the table.

And finally this month, I have my Battle Standard Bearer, Bogloaf Gunderstank, a Level 15 Orc Hero who can't keep from smiling at the fact that he's lucked into the cushy job of carrying this big stick around while everyone else gets trampled by horses or shot full of holes. Not the Army Standard I initially wanted, but Warmonger is retooling the mold of the other standard bearer I ordered (which is topped by a captive dwarf whose testicles are being played like a cowbell by a sadistic goblin) and I'm still awaiting shipment on that, but this will serve perfectly well in the interim.

So this month's points work out to:

• Orc Stone Thrower and Crew: 42.5
• Level 15 Orc Hero, Army Standard Bearer: 138

For an April total of 180.5 points, and a total score four months into the OWAC of 837.5 points. As of this writing my February points are still being counted twice on the scoreboard but I know Iannick's getting that sorted for me :)

Blue's Orc Boar Boys...Rank and File Month 3! (167 pts)

 Hi all,

Another Rank and File month for this month...the mounted WWAAAGGGHHH!!! grows yet more.

This month I have six new Boar Boys one of which is a standard bearer.  We have three from the hand weapon unit and three from the spear armed unit.  Sadly the package with the shields for these guys is still in transit so they are lacking for the moment. (I have not counted the shields in their points total)

All the riders this month are actual Marauder Boar Boys, sculpted by Trish Carden...except the standard bearer who is a converted Citadel infantry model. He came to me already cut (a little sloppily) to fit on a boar and he is a great figure so I'm going with it!  The Standard in this case is more of a totem of "da Iron 'ard Bull" or "ol' Nick" as the Ladz call him. 

Group shots

 Individual shots 

 

Points:

• 3 Snortas w/spears (no shield)  75 pts
• 3 Gruntas w/hand weapon and Standard (no shield) 92pts
  
• Total: 167 pts

Next Month I think I'll be back with one more even larger group of Rank and File before I turn to My Hero Month for May...and hopefully something special to wrap up the challenge in June!

Stay the course ladz!! we are half way through!!

 Cheers for now!!

Blue

Bill's Greenskins: Dese Lads Ova Here & Some Cunnin' Gits (194.5 points)

 "Oi, Zartanesh! Your lot ready to move?"

"Lemme check. You, wit' th' banner - you got somefink good?"

"Sure do, boss, checkit - I drew da Foot o' Gork!"

"That's real good, let's move! I see dem Hobbo boyz on da march and we can't let them beat us to da fight!"

Rank and File Month #2

First up this month is a second gang of idiots, I mean, Orcs, a mirror for last month's regiment though this time the musician decided to bring his sousaphone to war and the standard bearer had a larger banner-pole for me to work with. After some deliberation involving various rude phrases for the banner, I was reminded of the "Foot of Gork" spell that Greenskin shamans get - maybe not in 3rd edition, I'm not sure, but certainly from 4th onwards. For context, this spell causes a giant spectral green foot to drop from the sky on to an enemy unit, stomping on them unceremoniously. 

This, in turn, reminded me of the classic crushing foot animation from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Pulling up an image of that specific foot, I freehanded it on to a banner, colored it in green, put a big gooey blood splatter around it and felt like I had an appropriate banner.

 

I ended up one short on the red face-shields I'd batch-painted last month, so I found another 6th edition plastic shield in my mess and painted a big yellow face that was in the process of vomiting on to it, gluing it to the unit's Hero, Zartanesh, to distinguish him from his fellows. I think these were originally packaged with Skeleton Warriors, as they're slightly larger than the Night Goblin shields I'd put on the rest of the Orcs.

The orcs wrapped up surprisingly quickly this month, and I decided to see what else I could try and squeeze in before the end of February. I ultimately pulled six figures from Knightmare Miniatures, a mix of Hobgoblins and "Black Goblins," their goblin equivalent to Warhammer's Black Orcs. I had started a unit for a Hobgoblin mercenary contingent before the OWAC began, getting the first six figures including command painted. Unfortunately, for whatever reason Hobgoblins aren't a big seller for Knightmare so the number of available sculpts is limited; however, the Black Goblins are tall enough to pass for short Hobbos, and their armor styles are very similar, allowing me to plug some BGs into my Hobgoblin unit to get a few more ranks in before I have to start converting figures.

I know technically Hobgoblins should be on 20mm bases, but these figures have wide stances and fit better on 25mm bases.  

With these six painted, the unit currently stands at 12 strong, perfect for something like Osprey's Dragon Rampant. I ordered a few more BGs the other night to bulk the unit out to 15, but we'll see if those last three get painted during the OWAC or not.

The "Mourngul Renegades" regiment in full (so far).

 11 Orc Boyz, Standard + Musician: 110.5 points

Level 5 Hero, Light Armor + Shield: 36 points

6 Hobgoblins, Light Armor + Shield: 48 points

Point total for February is 194.5, for a total of 341 so far this OWAC.