Jolly Japes and How I Paint Old School Goblinoid Skin

When you gotta go, you gotta go!

One question that I have been asked a great deal over the years is how I paint goblinoid skin. Or more precisely, how can you paint goblinoid skin to look like the classic orcs and gobbos of the 1980s. My answer was always the same 'I really don't know' as all of my previous attempts to capture that slightly radioactive tone have fallen short. Usually, my orc or goblin skin looks too pale, at least to my eyes. Have a look here to see what I mean. 

As well as being a common snotling, this chap was also part of an amusing set. have a look here to find out more. 

I quite liked my darker skinned orcs I produced recently for McDeath (look here) but they were a deliberate departure from the light green stereotype. In my heart of hearts, I still wanted to find a satisfactory method of achieving the '80s look until today, I just couldn't quite reach the desired result. 

According to Kev Adams, this model originally had a finely sculpted turd hanging from his bumhole. The sight of the offending faeces was allegedly too much for one Studio Manager and the helmet was added to cover up the naughty nugget!

As you can see, that all changed with Jolly Japes. I was feeling inspired by my little trip to Salute and with the wife and kids laid up with a tummy upset, I spent this afternoon tinkering with my paint station. I had Jolly Japes based up since I found him in a small Car Boot lot last summer. Whim took me, and I started painting him up using whatever paints I had to hand. It was with the addition of Bilious Green to the mix that I knew that I was on to something and over the next twenty minutes or so it took to finish highlighting the tiny model up I knew that I was closer than ever to achieving the classic 'look'. 

Warhammer's equivalent to that scene in 'Every Which Way But Loose!' Right turn, snot!

As promised so many times, if I ever found a simple way of creating that '80s goblinoid look I would put together a little tutorial and share my method. So here we are! As always, you will be needing a short shopping list of bits and pieces to get started. Have a look at the paints I used: 

From the left we have Citadel Colour Khorne Red, Evil Sunz Scarlet, Foundry's Yellow 2B, Bright Green 25B, Citadel Colour's Bilious Green (1985), Rich Butternut 115B, Boneyard 9A and 9C and last but not least, Citadel Green Ink (1985).

All these paints are very easy to get your hands on, save Bilious Green and the Green Ink, both of which turn out to be key colours in my little recipe. Not that they are impossible to collect - scouring eBay for a couple of weeks will result in several opportunities to get your hands on a pot. There are a number of modern similar equivalents but there is nothing to my knowledge out there that is a perfect match. I am sure that many of your will have a pot or two hidden away somewhere. Go on a hunt! 

Step One: Undercoat your model in a single layer of white acrylic paint. A spray coating or brush on will be fine. As you can see, I brushed on - proper old school that! 

Step Two: Basecoat with Foundry's Bright Green 25B. Ensure that there are no bubbles clinging to the model before setting it aside to dry. 

Step Three: Dot the eyes with Khorne Red and paint the loincloth with Rich Butternut 115B. Once dry, wash over the entire model with green ink. 

Step Four: Repaint all the raised areas of skin with Bright Green, try and leave a suggestion of the darker ink shade in the deepest recesses. 

Step Five: Add a little Bilious Green to your Bright Green paint on the palette and mix it in. Your new shade should be fairly brighter but don't over do things. Try a ratio of 4:2 Bright Green and Bilious Green.

Step Six: Final highlight of the skin with a 4:3 mix of Bright Green and Bilious Green. I toyed with adding a final mini highlight to the face and hands using just Bilious Green but decided the effect was too stark in the end. There is nothing stopping you trying it out, of course!

Step Seven: Paint the eyes using Khorne Red as your base, followed by the Evil Sunz Scarlet while the previous paint is still wet. Use a tiny dot of yellow to create a pupil in the centre of each eye. 

Step Eight: Use Rich Butternut 115B, Boneyard 9A and 9C to highlight up the lion cloth, though in truth you could do with with any colour you devise. I just think that mouldy browns and oranges look best on a gobbo. 

And here is my little snotling snapped on my photography set up. A little blurry I know but the light was going by the time I took the picture. He blends in well to his surroundings and more importantly doesn't look too pale or washed out. You may be wondering why he is just plonked there on an undecorated base? Well, you will have to wait and see where he ends up as I am also working on an other project involving snotlings - quite a lot of them actually. 

Hopefully, someone somewhere will find this little tutorial useful. Before you go, can you do me a favour? If you have a nifty little recipe for orc/goblin skin that you regularly use could you share it below in the comments? I wouldn't mind trying out a few more techniques in future and who knows, yours might be the perfect tone for some grizzly old orc I have lurking around in the leadpile!!

Thanks for reading.

Orlygg

First batch of McDeath's Orcs

If you read my recent post about Glenwoe, you will now know that I am working on that scenario and as part of that project, I need a unit of about twenty orcs. Looking about for inspiration, my eyes fell upon the old C15 orcs and I had a rummage around in my leadpile to see what I could find. 

These three goblinoids are the first of the bunch to see paint, and having long been dis-satisfied about the colour of my orcflesh, I set out to try something different. I used a much darker green as a base, mixed in brown to darken it further and used bleach bone once again to help create the highlight shades.

There rest of the painting was pretty straightforwards, with drybrushing used to create the fur and chainmail effects and layering used elsewhere. I enjoyed painting these, though I don't fancy sitting down and painting up the remaining seventeen models as a single project! Instead, I plan to do three at a time and intersperse my goblinoids with other miniatures. I already have the Foundry fishmen and the 'Three Murderers' (cue dramatic music) on the go!

I hope you like my latest work! 

Tackling the 'Unfinishables': The Miniature Painter's Struggle

Years ago, I wrote about the concept of a Miniature Moriarty. Those miniatures that somehow or other turn against their owners in a kind of Frankensteinesque moment that often results in a long period of apathy. At the time I jumbled together some ideas to help me express how certain models made me feel. It went a little like this:

"So if you blessed by not having a shameful secret (or think you are) how can you recognise a Miniature Moriarty? To help you decide I have created a little checklist that you can run through if you are unsure.

Here we go...

1) No matter how hard you try your paint always 'does its own thing' and blobs and runs in places you don't want it to go.

2) The colour scheme always looks awful, not matter what you try. Either too flat and lacking depth or cartoony.

3) Base looks awful, even though you have used the very same technique that you always use.

4) You start to despise the figure you are working on.

5) This feeling of dislike spreads to other models and you become reluctant to paint anything else in case the 'contagion' spreads to other models.

6) The 'contagion' spreads, you become disinterested in painting, your miniatures stand idle and the jar full of models you just bought from eBay float in their dettol bath unloved for weeks. Your table becomes a dumping ground for random objects placed their by your wife, dust breeds, the table becomes an embarrassment that you just cannot face tidying up

7) You blame it all on that one miniature that started the whole downward spiral.

And now, the most important aspect of a Moriarty Miniature! Number 8 in the list. Remember, that we are talking about a nemesis here, an archenemy. Its a personal thing, between you and the lead.

So...

8)Only YOU can see the faults. Only YOU care about the flaws. So only YOU can make the change... Everyone else will just look at the model and say... "I like the way to did the...'

So...

Just paint."

Thankfully, none of the models I am sharing with you today are true Moriarty. They are what I like to call the 'Unfinishables'. Models that you want to paint, start working on but ultimately abandon for some reason (initially for a short time). However, they just remain on your painting table, or even worse tucked safely away somewhere (often for years) and never, ever get completed. Years can go by, as indeed did for a couple of the models I am showing off today, without any further work being carried out. 

With a long holiday underway, I was keen to get some serious painting done and hope to get a least one miniature painted each day. Currently, its Day 6 and six models stand completed before me (though today, Thursday, I haven't completed anything as of yet) so I have done well. What better to get working on than some of those unfinished projects I have started over the years and never got around to finishing off. As I write, I still have three unfinished projects for next time I have a clear through but I am ready to move on to another project really. 

So lets have a look at what I have managed to paint over the last few days

This undead rider model is a bit special. Not because there is some sort of Warhammery legend attached to it but due to the fact it is one of the few original models I owned back in the 1980s. I must have at some point picked up a blister with these in as there was once a second rider and steed, but both were far to badly damaged survive one of my culls and went in the bin. Yet, this model has survived and I have been keen to paint it over the years but as described, I'd start it, grow unhappy or bored with where I was going and plop the figure in the Dettol. Repeating the process several times. 

He was undercoated and based on my painting table but I wasn't sure where to go with the colour scheme. I have a hefty collection of old school undead and always intended to do a white (bone) back and brown scheme for the lot of them, using red as a spot colour. The colours of death ultimately. So I opted to go for a brown robe for the rider, he did after all look like some kind of monk, and highlighted up with my new best friend of painting, Foundry Boneyard 9A. A truly versatile colour indeed. 

The rider's face and hands were completed using the Boneyard shade I just mentioned, followed up with a chestnut ink glaze. The cleaver was very easy. Just a dark metal basecoat, washed over with first a brown ink and then a orange/brown wash. A slight silver highlight was added to the edges. The shoes proved a bit of a problem as I didn't want to just paint them another shade of brown. In the end, I went for a green into which I mixed a little of the brown to create a little colour harmony.

It was the horse that took the time. I wanted to go for black to contrast against the brown of the robe. Now, as many a painter will tell you, black, like white, can be a real challenge to get right so I highlighted up with dark greys until it reached a point I was happy with. I used the same grey to drybrush up the mane and tail. It was fairly simple to basecoat the missing chunks on the mount's body with a scarlet before washing over with a chestnut ink. I highlighted the gore with red and then a pink. 

An enjoyable figure to paint and a finish I am really pleased with. 

McDeath is a favourite range of mine, though few of the models are exclusive to it. The Knight of Harkness above is one such figure. Sadly, he has gathered dust for some months on the paint station because there was always something a bit more exciting to work on. He was very straight forwards to paint up, though I had to change the base colour of his 'skirt' bit to red after reading through the background materials. I was unhappy with how the armour had originally turned out, so I mixed up a blue glaze and ran it over all of the steel on the model. It gave the metal a bright, noble hue that helped bring out the details. Well, I thought so anyway.

Only the shield took me any great time. The design is lifted from the McDeath background material though the colour choices are mine. A real test of my freehand. 

Over the years I have raved about the Citadel plastic skeletons many times and I am sure you will forgive me if I rave once again. They are, quite simply, the best plastic skeletons ever produced and GW really did go backwards with their second (and much inferior) set of plastic skellies. Thankfully, the originals are very easy to get hold of and I probably own more than I will ever need. If indeed you can actually own too many of them in the first place! 

I cannot recall why this model was abandoned. But he has sat there for some time feeling lonely so after the paint had dried on the Knight of Harkness I started work. I was keen to try out the Foundry Boneyard triad on a whole model and ended up washing over my original paint work with a dark brown wash. Once dry, I used a mixture of layering and drybrushing to work up the model to the highlight. This probably took no longer than 15 minutes to achieve. The axe needed just a moment or two to highlight with suitable colours. Easy and effective I thought. Another positive advert for triads. 

Of course, being a plastic skeleton he needed a freehand painted shield. As I have done in the past, I Googled skull designs and copied one onto the shield. To add interest, I decided to add a single, blood-shot eye inside one of the sockets. If you are trying similar things, always do your research first. Have an explore through as much reference as you can and always keep you paint fluid with plenty of water. My top tips!

With the skeleton based and finished, it was time to move on to a figure that I started last spring. Originally part of my Chaos army but unfinished due to me having grown tired of painting Khorne stuff - this classic chaos dwarf is a brilliant example of the insane ideas behind the original chaos release. 

He painted up quickly. I loved working on the face and chose purple as a skin tone. Dwarf faces are so full of character that they are a joy to highlight and I just kept on adding Boneyard 6C to the mix until I was happy with the result. The red hair was also easy to achieve. A dark red base, highlighted with orange and yellow. I used the same yellow to pick out the two spots on his face. To add further contrast, I used bone for the horns sprouting from his head and a vibrant green for his tongue. 

Not a chap to bump into on St Valentine's Day, eh? 

Though hard to see in the image - I used browns and creams for his clothing. After all, with such a shocking colourful face, I didn't want to over-egg the pudding and spoil the look of the model. The boots were black, drybrushed with grey and highlighted with a lighter shade. I used Foundry's steel triad for the blade and GW's new gold paints for the hilt and guard. 

The model gave me another chance to paint on one of the 'ogre faces' I have been using on my chaos stuff. It was a little more challenging this time, as I usually use the larger round shields, but instead opted for one of the spiky undead ones. As I have done previously, I kept the rim of the shield black to help frame the painting on the face itself. Its what they did in the GW Studio back in the day so its good enough for me! 

It was then an easy job to base the model. In retrospect, this is my favourite model in this little project. I have already added him to my chaos dwarf unit. 

Now this 'unfinishable' must be my oldest. I started this back in 2012 when Realm of Chaos 80s was just a few months old. I gave up on it because I just didn't get on with the sculpt. I am still not a great fan of this particular orc, but I persisted and am fairly happy with the result. I still think that my recipe for orc flesh is too pale - but there you go... That is a problem for a future painting session. 

And finally, this chap. He was a quick paint and is destined to bulk up a unit of Slanneshi Chaos warriors in my other chaos army. I cannot say I am a big fan of this model either, but he is finished and I am now free to try other things. I don't feel that the colour scheme works particularly well. I think its the lack of depth in the pink armour. But its finished and ready for the table top. 

To conclude, there is something deeply satisfying in completing a model at the best of times. Its even more satisfying when they are annoying figures that have just sat there gathering dust for some time. As I said at the head of this article, I have a few other models out there which can be classed as 'unfinishables' and one day, perhaps half-term, I shall return to them and endeavour to get them completed too. 

Until then, I off to start work on my next project. More McDeath stuff if you want to know. But before I pop off, why not get thinking (like so many of you did with my speed painting challenge) about YOUR 'unfinishables'. And the next time you lift a brush to paint, why no reach for one of those models instead, and lay an overdue project to rest.

Happy painting.

Orlygg

McDeath: Speed Painting Mogro Neckbreak

Warning, this may cause addiction. 

Yes, speed painting may become an obsession. You may start arranging your paints into 'homebrew' triads of your own (or covet Foundry's excellent range), deep searches of the lead pile will be mounted in search of that 'perfect miniature' for the job or the dreaded of dreaded... You may trade the family silver for a Citadel sheep as it requires only two real colours!

I must admit to having spent most of this week pondering over which model to tackle next in my new found love of speed painting. My self imposed rules are simple: the selected model can be based and undercoated before starting work, a hair dryer can be used for obvious reasons and the model must be finished within one hour. It seems simple, doesn't it? Well, it is - but its also great fun... And did I say it is a bit addictive too?

So addictive that I had another crack at a model - though this time I opted for a black undercoat. Looking at Mogro, you can see why - most of him is swathed in chainmail! So it was fairly simple to drybrush him up (using Foundry's triad for chainmail, strangely enough) before using a little black ink to create some more distinct shading around the equipment and folds. 

Next up I tackled the skin. This was just straightforward layering. I started with a base of Goblin and Snot green - before working up the highlights by adding larger amounts of rotting flesh. As part of this process, I blobbed on some dark purple in Mogro's mouth - using the lightest green mixed in with the base purple to highlight it up quickly. Foundry's bone triad made quick work of the teeth and axe handle. 

By this point I was about half way through my time. I decided to use a spot colour on the belt - and selected a dark red. Again, simple layering worked this up in a few minutes with Blood Red and an orange being used to highlight straight out of the pot. It did the eyes at the same time. Mogro's helmet took longer and nearly destroyed my chances of getting the model finished in time. I wasn't at all happy with the contrast after the drybrushing, so repainted it with about twenty minutes to go. I sued gold as a base. Washed over with black (dried with hairdryer) and then washed again with a verdigris colour I mixed from various blues and greens. Again, the hairdryer meant that I was ready to highlight within seconds and used gold to pick out the edges. Remembering the belt, I quickly worked up the buckle in the same colour. 

By this point I had about ten minutes left on the timer. And the shield hadn't been started and the shoes still needed work! Grabbing an old Bestial Brown, I blobbed it down on the palette on top of the still wet orange paint. It took a fair while to cover the shield in the base (leaving the black highlight for contrast) but was fairly simple to add a bone colour to help create several rounds of highlights. With seconds to spare on the clock, I grabbed a grey and smeared a quick highlight onto the shoes - covering the silvery flecks left by the drybrushing - and my time was up. 

The model was finished but I hadn't done anything with the base. So that was tidied up later. Looking back, I really enjoyed the challenge with this model and I think Mogro stands up to the other orcs I have in my collection. I am already looking around to think about what to paint at speed next!! 

I am please to report that two other Oldhammer veterans have had a go at a similar challenge. There may be more of you out there? And if there are, I would love to see what you achieved in an hour. The first contender was Jon Boyce, over at Magpie and Old Lead, who produced this rather noble looking Rogue Trader tech-priest/medic bloke. Have read of the link above for further details on how he achieved this in an hour. 

Then came Welshman extraordinaire and wearer of yellow fleeces, Steve Casey, who had a crack at one of the most bizarre Citadel sculpts ever to grace the pages of White Dwarf. The infamous 'Slugman'... Take a look.

Anyone else up for it?

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Black Orcs, Dark Elf Assassins, Chimera and War Wyvern

It seems to be a case of long time no see here are Realm of Chaos 80s! Well that would be down to the fact that I have gone and injured myself. Nothing serious, but enough to prevent me from sitting at a desk for more that five minutes without serious discomfort! Hence a lack of postings on this blog, or anywhere else either for that matter. Now before you go imagining acts of daring-do, it was merely a crick of the back after picking up my two year old daughter, but it was a thorough pain!

On top of that, it appears that my email account has been totally spammed while my eye was away and now I need to have a major deleting session of junk. If you are waiting on a response for me, please do email again incase I have missed you while I have been away!

Anyway, back to business... Our little journey through Warhammer Third Edition is coming to its conclusion. We are well into 1990 now and the game as we knew it only had about eighteen months of 'officialdom' left! Things have certainly changed enormously during its lifetime - with the release of more and more plastic kits, a shift in style in regards to sculpting and the incredible success of Rogue Trader/Warhammer 40,000.

But believe it or not, there are still a few items to document and one such release is what I bring forth for your reading pleasure today.

MM27 Giant Black Orcs

Now these were a popular release back in the day, as I can recall seeing them in nearly everyone else's collection but my own. That fact that some of them (C and D particularly) are nearly always on eBay is perhaps testimony to how many were bought over the years. The first thing you will probably notice if you are comparing these models with the earlier Citadel ones from the 1980s is just how large they are. The are very, very big goblinoid models indeed, even by today's standards. I must admit to having owned model C quite recently, and I think I have lost him somewhere, and for quite a while I was put off painting him up due to the model's enormous size. Since researching this article, I have discovered that I was quite wrong in my original view that these models are just another example of the 'oversized' nature of Warhammer in the 1990s. In fact, these models are supposed to represent that very largest, meanest 'Black Orcs' to be found in the Old World or anywhere else!

Obviously, you are going to be hard pressed to get a varied unit out of just four models, though I have met enthusiasts who just love ranks of identical models all painted up and looking in the same direction. Each to their own and all. My feeling is that these miniatures would make fantastic character models for champions and leaders of your Orc warbands. I particularly like the first two models (A and B) in that regard.

Do they stand up against Kev Adam's best work? They have a certain brutish cunning that gives them a clear sense of character yes, and they are varied enough to avoid the 'indenti-kit' look of more modern orcs and goblins. I would still seek out Kev's work as a preference (but that is just my personal taste) but I would be happy inlcuding these big lads in any goblin horde I was amassing.

M73/5 Dark Elf Assassins

These are not my favourite releases from Marauder I must admit. I just cannot get on with the concept behind the models. To me, they really do look like members of a really poor heavy metal band circa 1987. There are shades of Spinal Tap in there too! Perhaps this was deliberate but they really are not as good as Bob Naismith's Dark Elves and Witch Elves that he produced in 1987. This is a real shame, as there is much to commend the Marauder Dark Elf ranges we have already seen, especially the cavalry. I won't be in any hurry to acquire these I can tell you.

MB08 Orc War Wyvern

Looking back, I have absolutely no memory of these model anywhere. Not even in the pages of White Dwarf or on eBay. If I think 'War Wyvern' I instantly think of the Citadel Miniatures boxed version and nothing else. The fact that a painted version of that model appears in the WFB3 rulebook only further solidifies the image of that model in my mind.

That is probably the problem with this model for many. It lives in the shadow of its grander, more well known and perhaps more iconic big brother. Its not a bad model at all and the additional of a choice about the rider, between Champion and Shaman, is also a boon. In fact, the riders are quite useful if you are after character models or even a little variation on other mounted units.

But the model does lead me to one question! Why don't orcs ever ride horses?

MM44/2 Chimera

Now this is a good solid model. Considering that it is supposed to represent a mythical/chaotic beast of terrifying power, it goes some distance at actually suggesting that the creature in question is seriously substantial. For starters, the model really is a great size and seems to dwarf the square monster base upon which it resides. The choice of heads is also worthy of note for the range on offer, with the eagle and rat heads being my favourites. To me, this version of the beast is the definitive one put out by GW over the years. A lovely model and one I really do recommend you pick up if you are into collecting or fielding monsters.



A Warhammer Bestiary: Orc

Despite not thinking I'd find time, I managed to spend a good few hours today painting. The result of this is three completed figures and a couple more in varying stages of completion. My Warhammer Bestiary project had not seen much attention of late and I felt it time to rectify that fact. Luckily, the next miniature on the list was one of my favourite races - an orc! 

Which figure to pick, though? I nearly rounded on Harboth but in the end I selected this chap. The model was obviously designed to represent a mighty orc champion, complete with arm and leg rings and an enormous helmet crest. He is also named in Blood Bath at Orc's Drift as Grashak Kra. Which is what I shall call him evermore. 

The paint job was a simple one. The flesh was worked up from Snot Green using Goblin Green with increasing amounts of Foundry's Boneyard Light. The metallics were simply the base colour mixed with a little black washed over with a chestnut/brown ink mix and highlighted up with silver. The armour was painted in much the same way, only with a red base and a flesh/orange/red mix to highlight the edges. I added an orange leather belt by mixing brown and orange and highlighting it up with a flesh tone. While the crest was as simple as basecoating in a brown/yellow mix and dry brushing up with layers of added yellow and white. I completed the hair do with a  couple of layers of bright yellow to get things looking uniform. 

And enjoyable hour or two well spent. 

Onwards! 

Orlygg

Doom Brothers or the Brothers Grim?

I expect that some of you well be familiar with these models. The pop up quite regularly on eBay though they are a rare sight painted. Though that will change as both models will be seeing the attentions of my paint brush this weekend. 

But why are they named so? Who were the two orcs? Were they really brothers? Interestingly, they seem to be a little confused about their actual name, as when they first appear in White Dwarf 91 they refer to themselves as the Doom Brothers. 

Here, have a look...

Later on, our friends reappear (seen here in one of the late '80s catalogues) with a new moniker, that of the Brothers Grim in a suitably Warhammer reference of the modern world. If the original brothers collected stories, I wonder what the goblinoid versions collected?

Actually, I dread to think!

Check them out...

There are a number of theories about their provenance, with most of them linking these characters to the aborted Malal comic strip staring Kaleb Daark. Perhaps the change in name was an attempt to reuse the models after the partnership with GW broke down. However, it seems strange to me that a comic strip story already containing a set of brothers (Helwud and Jaek) would need another. 

So I had a word with the original sculptor of the models, the legendary Kev Adams, but he couldn't remember working on them at all. Judging by the design of the armour on the bigger model he said, they were earlier on in the 1980s, which certainly puts them in the right time frame with the Malal strips. Incidentally, Kev is looking very well after being chopped up with sharp surgeon's blades and hopes to be back at work soon. 

So, I guess the models will remain a small mystery in the Oldhammer world. Unless you dear reader know something more..?

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Orc and Goblin Army

Hello all... We arrive among the pages of White Dwarf 124 today and have a look at a very well known release of the Marauder Orc and Goblin army, otherwise known as Uzgrim's Marauders. For me, this was 'the Warhammer army' of the time and I can recall this spread of photographs being pored over by myself and my schoolyard friends avidly. Even now, its a great looking army made up from the rather good goblinoid range that the Morrisons put out in the late '80s. Though of course, they are no Kevin Adams sculpts! 

Many of the models we have seen before, such as the goblin chariot, but many are fresh to this release. One thing that strikes me looking through these miniatures are all the little handpainted banners added to most of the units. Considering that the 'Eavy Metal team painted these as a favour to the Morrisons, they have done a really good job here to say the least. 

One thing that I have spotted here is a return of the strange bulbous mace head weapon seen on earlier goblins in the Citadel range on one of the fanatics - a nice touch! As with all the goblinoids from Marauder there is a distinct Mongol feel to their armour and weapons. This 'look' really helps differentiate the two ranges. 

As with the Dark Elf force before, the army was accompanied with a little bit of background and more interestingly, a series of illustrations to help create the banners shown in many of the photographs. I can recall asking my mum to copy these at work (as at that time they only photocopier I ever saw was in the hospital my mother helped run) and coloured them in very badly with my Citadel Colour paints. 

My efforts at painting banners and flags wouldn't improve really for a further twenty-five years!

All in all... This is a great army. I wish it was still available today!

A sneaky look at some Warmonger WIP greens from Wargames Foundry

The Goblinmaster with his creation - The Oldhammer Goblin! He has the unofficial name of Boyldrick!

All hail the Leadheads and Oldhammerers! A bit of an exclusive for you today, a closer look at some of the greens produced by Kev Adams for Wargames Foundry: shared with you via Bryan 'Dark Winged' Ansell. As many of you who attended BOYL this year will know, Kev took time away from chasing the goblins only he can see and spent time chatting with fans as well as showing off many of his forthcoming greens. As some of you will know, Wargames Foundry are developing a new range called, Warmonger! This range deals with the many goblinoid sculpts that the Goblinmaster has done over the years as well as all of the new greens he has been producing of late. 

To quote the Mighty Avenger himself: "Kevin may have done a hundred heads so far: there's no stopping him now.  They are vaguely derived from the rough concepts that were knocking about last weekend."

None of these models should be considered complete and Bryan went on to tell me that many of them will receive additional layers of clothing and other gubbinz that orcs require to feel contented with their lot in life. 

Let's have a look then!

And now for something completely different...

In case you haven't seen this image on the Facebook group, here are the assembled Oldhammer Boyz on the Saturday afternoon. I am the plonker looking the wrong  way just left of the middle! 

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Ogres and Orc Battle Chariot

Welcome back to my series that charts the history of  Warhammer Third Edition through its releases. Today we will be taking a look at a single page of Marauder miniatures, namely the Orc Battle Chariot and the excellent ogres.

Starting with the Orc Battle Chariot, I must say I have always been quite impressed by this model. It's chunky and brutal but not ridiculous in its dimensions. The wolves are small and spiteful and the construction of the chariot seems plausible enough. What is worth pointing out are the choices of crew available in the set - a driver, an archer, a champion and a warlord. This allows the collector or old school gamer a choice about how to portray the chariot. 

The ogres are probably far more famous and easily match up against the iconic Jes Goodwin examples. Where Jes's work is rich in variation, the Marauder set is more uniform, most likely because they are actually in... Well... Err... Uniforms! These models are well sculpted and more realistic then the Citadel set. Special mention should be made over the renaissance clothing, which is really interesting and original. This look makes across the dwarf and human range and would make a fine army all on it's own.

A fine collection of models in all. The ogre with the cannon is probably the best ogre sculpted!

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Releases from White Dwarf 120 and 121

With the weather being so hot at the time of writing, I have found it hard to do little but laze about on my holidays and cook tasty meals for my family. Oldhammer related work has ground to a halt. Things seem a little cooler today, so I am back at the desk, though my goal at the moment is review the next releases of Marauder miniatures rather than wield the paint brush. Right then, where are we in this journey through Warhammer Third Edition? These releases featured in White Dwarf 120 and 121 and saw the introduction to something that got many of us fantasy nuts drooling - Marauder regiment and army deals. 

Issue 120 saw the arrival of some more Dark Elves into the range, or more precisely, Witch Elves. I find these models rather chunky and frankly, rather manly. The Bob Naismith Dark Elves are much better in my opinion, and far more lithe. I traded some away a few days ago to Stuart and am now lamenting their loss. Still, their absence from the collection just gives an excuse to buy some more in the future. The paintjobs are little better and have a distinct whiff of the 'Red Period' of painting that followed the 'Classic' Bryan Ansell years. 

Things improve further down the page with a second visit to the incredible Marauder dwarfs. I have written about these before and I have stated that they are probably the greatest dwarfs ever cast. My opinion hasn't changed since my last visit to the models and the standard bearer is a thing of beauty, both for the actual sculpting and its exquisite paint job. In fact, the entire command range are practically perfect and shame the entire modern dwarf line all the way to the headmistress' office. 

Finally, we have the Orc stone thrower. Considering they are not by Kev Adams, these greenskins are really rather good, though shades of the Man Mangler remain. I would be happy to own this model and paint it up for my Goblinoid army, as I expect would many of you. 

It being the very late 1980s at this point, colour photographs in magazines were still expensive and black and white was still used extensively- its funny what you forget, isn't it? Sadly, we have no photographs of the remaining Witch Elves, nor the goblin regiment but what we do have is an intriguing reminder of the Marauder Blade painting competition. Its often forgotten these days and I wonder what happened to all those blades?

And so we are on to White Dwarf 121 and the first army deal from Marauder. I loved these as a youngest for two reasons. One, the painted models. Two, the background context that the army was put in. Many of the models on show here were previously shown only as line drawing and its fantastic to see many of them, even though some of obscured in the second rank. Two models here catch my eye as being worth a mention, namely the Deathcap Hero (in a classic pose for a single cast model) and the brilliant standard bearer. 

And here is the rest of the force. Gorgeous when arrayed together. The perfect mix of riotous colour and conformity which, perhaps rather surprisingly, works as a whole. Of note here are the excellent Marauder shields, which are a mixture of freehand designs and painted cast patterns. The price is enough to make you weep all these years later, £50 for 78 Dark Elves, 4 Warhounds and a FREE Darklord and Deathdealer on Cold Ones. I for one, recall pouring over this article and vainly attempting to construct a plan that would see me having £50 to spend on them. I failed, as I expect did many of you! Still, it just goes to show, GW did once do deals.  

A simple army list has been included at the end of the article along with an intriguing ad for Abandon Art. These days Fantasy and Science Fiction tropes have become rather mainstream, especially in the world of computer games and have in many cases become rather generic. One bald 'Space Marine' looks much like another in games like Mass Effect, Gear of War and so on. Fantasy has had a similar fate, though there have been exceptions, like the startling original world of Morrowind in the Elder Scrolls series. Adverts like this remind us that back in the later '80s Fantasy was much less mainstream as it is now and subsequently was treated a little more seriously. A quick glance at some of the artists involved is impressive and I would certainly love to walk through the gallery to this day! 

The final image shows off the Warhounds in further detail. I haven't got much to say about them really apart from pointing out that the dogs do look a little 'cute'. When compared with the Troll Slayers you can catch another whiff of the 'Red Period' with the dominance of that shade, and its cousins, in the paint schemes. I rather like the Troll Slayers, don't you?

What is interesting is that the Painting Competition I mentioned earlier seems to have been renamed in the past month. Its now the 1990 marauder Blade Painting Competition. It sounds MUCH more impressive doesn't it. I wonder who won it and what the winning entry was? 

Anyone know out there?

Orlygg