AHPC XVI: From Mike W - 28mm Orcs & Night Goblins plus more Skaven (245 Points)

 This week I have started on my pile of Orcs & Goblins... There is of course the old adage, that you can never have enouigh Orcs! To which I subscribe whoe heartedly, however, be that so, they still need to be painted.

10 x Orcs, destined to be new recruits for various regiments in my collection

This group of about 50 figures, will hopefully get painted over the next couple weeks, they are part of an eBay bulk buy I acquired three or four months back. They have all been treated to an undecoating process - black spray paint followed by a 'zenathal' white spray paint coating form top downwards. As I am based in teh UK - I use Halfords' undercoat spay paints, which are available in large cans at a very reasonable cost.

A slightly different view

Five Big 'Uns with two hand weapons

This week's batches are a group of 10 x Orcs plus a batch of 21 x Night Goblins. I have described in previous year's my method for pinting Orcs and this has not changed, I'm comfortable with it and it will maintain consistancy with the rest of my collection

Two orcs, heading for a regiment armed with shield & hand weapon.
All my Orc regiments nad white & red shield designs, although
some have red & white designs!

As these figures were pre-owned and already built, they do not actually form a single Orc unit, this suits me fine as they will be conscripted into existing units in my collection to bulk them out.

The green skin was applid over the undercoat, I used Army Painter Orc Skin Speed paint, I used various other black and brown shades t block in their clothes, before using Lead Beltcher for all metal work - be it armour or weapons.

Close up on three of the Orcs, not skull on left hand figure's sword hilt.

Everthing getrs a watered down Dark Tone wash before I spend time picking out details - concentrating on mouth & lips as well as brass / gold work on weapons and jewellry. THen other hight light area is on any bone work! - skulls teath etc.

Then it is time to apply a highlight to the green skin, using GW Warboss Green before adding in nails & claws using GW Elysian Green. 

Bases are my standard Brown paint/glue gloop with fine sand and electrostatic grass added to taste!

Moving on from the Orcs I now bring you a group of 20 x Night Goblins, again whilst most of these are armed with bows, there are a few other odds and ends, these will all be drafted into existing regiments in my collection.

The completed 20 Night Goblins

My approach to painting these Night Goiblins is very similat ro the Orcs, with the same undercoating process being used for the whole of ths group of Orcs & Goblins. I painted all these little guys' robes with black speed paint before picking out all the skintones in GW Warboss Green.

Another view

I prefer my goblins to be  lighter shade of green to my Orcs and I have put together a new recipe for these guys, highlighting the skin with GW Elysian Green and doing claws and nails with a mix of GW Elysian Green. and Zandri Dust - in essence making the goblins a shade lighter all over than the Orcs.

I like th eresults which is good but now I'm feeling the need to go back and highlight all my other goblin figures in a similar way, this will be a big task....

And another...

Bows and spears were painted brown, armour, swords, spears and bow tips etc were done in GW Leadbeltcher Metal and then boots and laces and armbands were done in a leather colour or where it was material in a cream colour thaht was then washed with a light brown for shading purposes.

Close-up on five of the little guys

I blinged-up the figures by adding a lot of brass / gold earrings, lip rings and weapon furniture, additionally as with all greenskins the other feature point is the mouths so teath and lips were carefully added to give contrast to the green of their skin.

And another five!

Bases were my Warhammer standard fine sand and electro staic grass.

At some point I may add a standard to the guy with the spear but I'm happy with the look now

The final five

Next we have 17 x Skaven, painted to the same recipe as described in my previous posting. Not much to add to these in way of commentary but I'm still very undecided about the bases - I may just switch to may standard Warhammer bases as above but in the meantine I'm still experimenting and open to ideas!

17 x Skaven in three ranks

Whilst I'm using a mix of new and old models - I like the esthetic of teh newer figures - I particularly think that the some of teh older models look dated and so have tried to add rome robes to a number of tehse figures.

Another angle

I simply tore off small pieces of tissue paper, soake dthem in PVA glue and then draped them over the figures in an attempt to make raggety old cloth. I'm pretty happy wit hthe results and think this helps tie the older fgures in better.

Closeup of some of the Skaven

Some more...

A view of the home made robes on some of the older figures
when compared to a newer figure (left)

The last of this week's figures.

AHPC XV: From MikeW - Warhammer Fantasy Goblin Wolf Riders and 28mm Arthurians Skullz Squirrell (150 Points)

 This week sees me finish my last of my current supply of Arthurians  I'm already planning for a number of new units but I'm unlikely to get hold of these before the close of this year's challenge. 

Temporarily the last batch of Arthurian Infantry

The batch includes 10 close order Medium Infantry  all spear armed and including an officer, mustard standard Bearer with added cloak, these are all Gripping Beast Late Romans, with Victrix head swaps.

10 x Gripping Beast figures (with some head swaps) painted up with tan tunics, green trim and white/red shields. I need to look for some white/green white/blue transfers to get some more variety.

Rear rank brought to the front

Close-up on the command figures, not very clear in the photo but he standard bearer has had a Victrix cloak added, the musiciuan's horn is, I believe, from the Conquest Figures Norman set.

There are also 5 little guys with chainmail, including a standard Bearer, painted to join an earlier group of similarly painted guys to make up numbers of another unit.

Again these guys are all Gripping Beast with head swaps, I still need to source a suitable transfer for the standard.

Again rear rank to the front!

Next to the Greenskins, 4 x bases of Snotlings, these are mostly old metal figures, though there is the odd plastic guy mixed in with them.

Completed Snotling bases, (with 8, 7, 7, & 6 figures on each)

They were undercoated black  with Goblin Green added as a base coat before being drybrushed with a light tan colour.

Close-up on the left of the unit, I wanted the skin tones to be significantly lighter than the Goblins and Orcs in my army, I'll now have to retro-fit this skin tone tyo my two Snotling Pump Wagon Crews - but that is for another time.....

 

Skin was then given a coat of Army Painter Ghillie Green, leather / cloth with Nazdreg Yellow and wood with Gore Grunta Fur. Metal was done in Leadbeltcher Silver before mouths, teeth and other details added.

I have scored them at 1 point each as they are all about 10mm tall.

And the right end of the line.

I have also painted up  two Bolt Chukkas to give some long range heavy support,  each with a crew of 3 goblins. These were old eBay purchases that have floundered in the loft for many years, finally ready for the tabletop.

Goblin Bold Chukka battery

Close up of one of the Bolt Chukkas

And the other one! Note skull on this weapon.

To this is added a few Goblin odds and end infantry that I dragged from the bits and spares boxes, to add to the ranks of existing units.

5 Goblin odds and ends, painted to fill out the ranks of exiting units that have had real life casualties (well 2 were broken and 3 went AWOL!)

Another view

And another

Finally for this week's Greenskins are 10 more Wolf Rider, having enjoyed painting last weeks unit, it was a simple decision to paint up another unit in the same vein.

Completed unit with 2 Skullz on the standard!

Another view

I tried to give this unit much darker wolves,
this was only partially successful as the drybrushing ended up lightening a number of these beasties.

Final view

AHPC VX: From Mike W - Warhammer Fantasy Goblin Wolf Riders and 28mm Arthurians Skullz Squirrell

 When your Greenskin army already has 40 or so Goblin Wolf Riders the question is do you need another 10 of the little guys!

Completed unit, wolves were undercoated grey, drybrushed white and then give a coat of Army Painter Rune Grey to give them some depth.

The answer is No! I don't need them but I do want them! And I have more to get painted...

Another view of the unit focusing on the command group, in my opinion focusing painting time on some obvous details such as the wolves' mouths, teeth and tongues distracts the viewers eyes away form the less detailed parts!

Over the last few months I have been pulling together Goblin and Wolf parts from eBay and combined with old spares sprues in the loft and garage  I have been able to put together a new unit for the Wolf Rider wing of my army.

And another view, note two skulls on the banner.

Here is that new unit, 10 x Wolf Riders, in the past I have armed my Wolf Rider units with spear and shield and shunned their lighter bow armed brethren. This unit has been given a bow as well as spear and shield, so I can field them as either type. 

The Command group - musician, standard bearer and boss.

Three of the unit, close up

I'm also looking to raise a purely bow armed unit as well if the spare parts allow me to put enough suitable figures together but at present I'm short of what is needed.

The remaining four goblins, you can clearly see they are armed with both Spear and Bow.

Next up is a unit of 10 x 28mm Arthurian Archers, constructed from the Gripping Beast Late Roman Infantry kit.

The completed group of 10 figures

Another view, from the left

And from the right!

I have fixed things up by swapping out some of the Gripping Beast Heads for Victrix counterparts as well as adding a couple of shields to vary the look and feel.

I'm not sure if it is accurate to show the archers placing arrows in the ground ready to fire, but I had some of the Perry arrows in my bits box - so used them

Another close up of three archers.

And the last four.

I painted these figures in grey tunics with blue trim to allow me to add a couple of figures I had painted earlier in this Challenge to give a tabletop strength of 12. Next week more Arthurian Infantry and more Greenskin Odds & Ends and maybe a surprise item, if I have time.

APHC XIV: MikeW - 15mm ECW Covenanters, 28mm Santa Anna, Goblin Frog Riders and Tau, Squirrel

 Another week and another set of figures to get posted, this week it is pretty much as trailed last week, plus a few odds and ends!

Earl of Lothian's Regiment of Foote, there is some suggestion that the original regiment may have been  issued red jackets on their creation but these were quickly replaced by grey as the red ones wore out. I have chosen to do these in all grey.

First up is Earl of Lothian's Regiment of Foote, a Covenanter unit that I have now recreated using Warlord Games Epic miniatures. For these guys I paint these on the frame, giving them a grey undercoat and then dry brushing these light grey.

A view from the left...

I then painted faces, socks and hands white before using GW contrast paint to colour hands and faces in with GW 'Darkoak Flesh'. In fact I used contrast / speed paints quite extensively on these guys, using 'Gorgrunter Fur' to paint in the woodwork on muskets, 'Snakebite Leather' for all boots, belts and straps etc.

... and one from the right.

To this base I highlighted the skin with regular Army Painter flesh paint, Vallejo 'Golden Brown' for pike shafts and ultramarine blue for the bonnets. GW 'Air Leadbelcher' was used to do metal work on pikes , muskets and armour etc.

They were all washed with a watered down dark wash to add depth / shading. Flags were added and the figures based on 60x40mm bases (Musketeers) or 60x60mm bases for the pike block - to fit in with the rest of my Epic Collection. (Larger than recommended by Warlord Games but hopefully easier to handle and protect figures with the larger bases).

This week's batch of Tau Warriors plus the obligitory Drone

Next up I have completed another set of Tau Warriors, these are another nine troopers plus another Drone. In this group there are two Rail Gunners plus another Squad Leader. The unusual figure is the guy in long flowing robes, this is a conversion figure.

Close-up of the Drone and the two Rail Gunners

I was thinking about what Tau might wear if they were not in their combat armour, long robes seemed like a good shout! To make this figure I took a Gripping Beast Arab Infantryman, added spare Tau head, arms and combi weapon. I carved the feet to look more like hooves and then relied on a good paint job and strategically placed bushes to hide my attempts at carving hooves....

A juvenile Tau, without full Combat Armour,
nonetheless in possession of a Combi-Weapon

I'm justifying this conversion by saying that this guy is a Tau juvenile who is not fully qualified to join the regular Tau Armed Forces but is nontheless tagging along, with a minimm amount of weapons and gear.

Tau with Combi-Weapons, centre is another Squad Leader with Sensor.

These were all painted in the same ongoing scheme that I have described elsewhere in this challenge, the juvenile does not get the obligatory orange left knee pad!

Final three Tau all armed with Long weapons

The last main submission this week is a set of Highlands Miniatures 3D printed Swamp Goblins riding Frogs!

Swamp Goblin Frog Riders in their full glory!

These are proxy Squig riders to be used in Warhammer Fantasy and I am really impressed by the quality of these figures. From a game point of view I'll develop some house rules for these little guys - pretty much based upon GW Squig Rider rules but expanded to include recognition for their ease in crossing water and swampy terrain as well as the toxicity of the Frog (or maybe its Toad's skin) probably simple risk of poisoning of riders and opponents that come into contact with them!

Three guys armed with lances / spears.Each has an helmet and visor. 

I have given the bases a slightly different finish to my usual sand and electrostatic grass solution, in an attempt to recognize these guys are from a swamp. Thus I have painted the bases a dull blue, then 'varnished' them with clear PVA glue.This hasn't come out as shiny as I'd wanted so may go back and apply a blue ink and gloss varnish mix when I have time. I have then added small patches of sand and grass to try and show that there is some terrain in the swampy water.

Two more goblins armed with spears/lances. 

The Frogs were undercoated in white before painting the lower half of these with a Ivory colour whilst the top half was painted with Wargames Foundry 'Phlegm Green'. I washed the lower half with a very watered down orange and then added all the detail as can be seen. I gave the Frogs a weak wash of Agrax Earthshade when completed, before highlighting up again.

Goblins with hand held weapons and improvised helmets made of pots & saucepans!

The goblins themselves were painted using GW 'Air Goblin Green' and then washed in green ink. I opted for their robes to be a dirty brown colour, as can be seen. As ever particular attention was taken to get their mouths and teeth right and to ensure each figure has some distracting 'bling' where possible.

A couple of the 'madder' poses in the set, on the left two goblins riding the same frog.
On the right a goblin struggling to stay on his frog. 

Final shot of two for the more dynamic poses,
both these goblins are holding on for dear life.

I'm definitely going to get some more of these guys in the near future....

Finally following on from my Alamo Volunteers and Mexican Irregular Lancers, this week I am posting a figure of General Santa Anna, again a Boot Hill Miniatures sculpt. Painted in much the same way as the other Alamo figures last week.

I believe his full name was Antonio de Padua María Severino López
de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón

With this Santa Anna figure I am claiming the Historical Personality Bonus of 20 Points to add to this week's total, assuming my minion allows this!

With a big name a big personality!

A close-up of the arid ground work, sand on brown
paint/PVA gloop with dried grass tufts added.

Points wise I think it is pretty straight forwards, I remember from previous challenges that the Warlord Epic figures were counted as 15mm, although in reality they are slightly smaller. As for next week, more Fantasy Orcs and Tau and possibly some Scots Covenanter Cavalry, unless some other shiny items distract me form my painting plans! 😀