25mm Orc Army for Historicon
Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2023 10:58 pm
This army, in 25mm scale, is going to Historicon with me later this month for the big Lord of the Rings game. They are supposed to be orc and goblin forces from Mount Gundabad at the very north part of the map.
These are official Lord of the Rings sculpts produced by the long-gone Heritage brand and based on the Ralph Bakshi movie from 1978. They are still available from Michael Thomas with Classic Miniatures. So they are 45 year old sculpts but new castings...with one exception. There is a Heritage Dungeon Dweller orc on the command stand that I have had since 1980 or so and have finally put to use.
In Triumph! terms, the army is:
6 x Warbands, including the general
3 x Javelin Cavalry (wolves and riders) with a few special abilities (slower than usual cavalry, fierce, and no terrain penalty in woods)
1 x Elephant (Trolls)
4 x Rabble
Plus a few extras for the army that I am still working out, like Ambush, a better maneuver rating, and making one of the Warg rider stands a sub-commander so they can move more independently. Maybe a fortified camp too.
The Army Arrayed
Warband and General
An orc commander riding a horse is seen in the attack on Helms Deep and I am glad Heritage included this figure. The original had a defect - the axe was up near the commander's face and was bent so as to partly obscure his face. I cut it away and sculpted a new arm. The orc from 1980 is on his left. The clothing is all a kind of sage green in order to match the movie. The orcs had glowing red eyes in the film but I went with yellow so they would show up better.
Trolls
Heritage had one Troll sculpt, so I ordered two and converted the second one to have his weapon down and added a shield to his arm. Michael Thomas also sent me an unreleased sculpt of a second troll! I converted his face to better match the other two and changed the arms to give a more aggressive posture.
Wargs and Goblins
The original line had a few Misty Mountain goblins. There was a plan to make some mounted on wolves but they were never produced, so I bought a few Dungeon Dwellers wolves and converted them to be wolf riders. In Triumph! terms, they will be Javelin Cavalry with some special abilities: Slow, Fierce, and Woodland Affinity. Slow in this case meaning slightly slower than regular cavalry because they are wolves carrying goblins, not that they are slow moving.
Rabble
These figures, like almost all the others, had the Hand of Saruman sculpted on their shields. Since this is a "Mount Gundabad Orc" army, I went ahead and ground them off with a Dremel tool and painted a skull emblem. It would be easy enough to change it later. Look at those goofy faces; right from the movie. Gotta love them!
Camp
The camp is an aquarium decoration that I repainted and based. The back was hollowed out to fit a flickering red light so that the smoke-filled entrance glows red. The still photo does not do it justice. The mountain and the base are separate pieces to make it easier to transport.
For Sale
This army and camp are for sale. I don't have a need for it after the Saturday event at Historicon, so for $350 plus postage you can own this army of classic sculpts (with a few unique additions) and the camp.
These are official Lord of the Rings sculpts produced by the long-gone Heritage brand and based on the Ralph Bakshi movie from 1978. They are still available from Michael Thomas with Classic Miniatures. So they are 45 year old sculpts but new castings...with one exception. There is a Heritage Dungeon Dweller orc on the command stand that I have had since 1980 or so and have finally put to use.
In Triumph! terms, the army is:
6 x Warbands, including the general
3 x Javelin Cavalry (wolves and riders) with a few special abilities (slower than usual cavalry, fierce, and no terrain penalty in woods)
1 x Elephant (Trolls)
4 x Rabble
Plus a few extras for the army that I am still working out, like Ambush, a better maneuver rating, and making one of the Warg rider stands a sub-commander so they can move more independently. Maybe a fortified camp too.
The Army Arrayed
Warband and General
An orc commander riding a horse is seen in the attack on Helms Deep and I am glad Heritage included this figure. The original had a defect - the axe was up near the commander's face and was bent so as to partly obscure his face. I cut it away and sculpted a new arm. The orc from 1980 is on his left. The clothing is all a kind of sage green in order to match the movie. The orcs had glowing red eyes in the film but I went with yellow so they would show up better.
Trolls
Heritage had one Troll sculpt, so I ordered two and converted the second one to have his weapon down and added a shield to his arm. Michael Thomas also sent me an unreleased sculpt of a second troll! I converted his face to better match the other two and changed the arms to give a more aggressive posture.
Wargs and Goblins
The original line had a few Misty Mountain goblins. There was a plan to make some mounted on wolves but they were never produced, so I bought a few Dungeon Dwellers wolves and converted them to be wolf riders. In Triumph! terms, they will be Javelin Cavalry with some special abilities: Slow, Fierce, and Woodland Affinity. Slow in this case meaning slightly slower than regular cavalry because they are wolves carrying goblins, not that they are slow moving.
Rabble
These figures, like almost all the others, had the Hand of Saruman sculpted on their shields. Since this is a "Mount Gundabad Orc" army, I went ahead and ground them off with a Dremel tool and painted a skull emblem. It would be easy enough to change it later. Look at those goofy faces; right from the movie. Gotta love them!
Camp
The camp is an aquarium decoration that I repainted and based. The back was hollowed out to fit a flickering red light so that the smoke-filled entrance glows red. The still photo does not do it justice. The mountain and the base are separate pieces to make it easier to transport.
For Sale
This army and camp are for sale. I don't have a need for it after the Saturday event at Historicon, so for $350 plus postage you can own this army of classic sculpts (with a few unique additions) and the camp.
