So I Bought an Orcs & Goblin Army...

By Jonas

This year has seen a sudden surge in Fantasy activities at the club. With several members digging out old miniatures from storage, it was just a matter of time before the nostalgia would be too strong to resist.

Lately I've been thinking about returning to my first tabletop love, Orcs & Goblins, at some point. They were my first real tabletop army, a collection that started when a teeny lad version of myself spent his Christmas money on a 4th edition WHFB starter box in the middle of the 90's. Needless to say, I always imagined going more for an old school look than the current range from GW. The goal would be to model and paint the kind of army that I did not have the skills or dedication (or funds!) for as a teenager.

However, a sudden work lot on a Facebook group turned the project from something in the distant future into something that turned up at my door! 

This turned out to be a solid foundation for an Orc-heavy army, with three big piles of orcs: metal orcs from 85-92, metal orcs from 4th ed and some of the half-new multipart plastics.  There are also various goblins (including some from 85-92) to bulk out the core options.

On top of that there are some savage orc boar boyz, two pump wagons, a giant, a doom diver and some other random  minis. There are also several character minis, including my childhood hero Morglum Necksnapper!

Most minis were unpainted or primed. While all the metals will need to be stripped and re-primed, some of the plastics had solid primer coats (though some had a bit of mold lines). I could not resist taking out some of the plastic goblins to test out some skin tones, I don't think I've painted proper greenskins in 20 years!

This army is going to be a long term project. I plan to paint up the core units and then work on what I want to complement it, instead of just haphazardly buying things online. Though I am pretty sure there will be some of that as well. The army has some strange quirks such as not a single one carrying a shield, which means I will have to source a ton of suitable shields. I'm also looking at some current companies that makes old school looking greenskins, such as Knightmare Miniatures.

Until next time: Waaaaaagh!