A Cheapo Orc Army, Army project/modelling/pricing log

Hey guys

This is my first post on the forum, so hi to everyone!

I'm a long time collector of many different games systems, but at the moment playing mostly some board games, Infinity, Mordheim and 40k at the moment.

I wanted to start a new WFB army, specifically Orcs&Goblins. I've always thought about doing them, and have several abortive attempts, but this time I am determined!

But, I wanted to do something a little different. Make this a project not only for painting/modelling, and background, but also to make it as cheap as possible! So, kind of make it like 'A tale of 4 gamers' (except just 1 gamer ^^), writing prices for each item of my army, and where I bought it from. So, hopefully help out some other people who might want to do the same thing, with the objective of making an army that has a common theme but also is as cheap as possible!

I've already got the first bunch of minis, so hopefully some pics and background to follow soon! Thanks for reading

Welcome to da warpath. Youv picked a good army for this (in my opinion). We'll be sure to help motivate you...

Yeah, I agree with snikpik, orcs and goblins have so much possibilities and choiches that you can build a nice cheap army ^^ I discovered only one year ago the fabulous world of the 2nd hand, you can find OOP, rare and particular models at amazing prices.
I hope we can keep yu motivated ^^

Ah, WELCOME!

Welcome to Da Warpath! This project sounds very interesting, remember you can always scratch-build things like chariots and warmachines.

Theo

A very warm welcome!

And some pointers on keeping it cheap:

1) tomb kings chariots work very well for wolf chariots (at 1/3 the price or something).

2) use Ebay for buying the old one-pose Orcs that cam with the 6th edition box (If I'm not mistaking it was 6th??)

3) You can use the left-over feet from wolf rider for some more goblins with a simple green stuff body:

(And if you're up to it, it works with the wolf rider legs as well, but it's more work).

Hop these help a bit

Grtz
-EM-

Always good to see someone trying to be creative and make an army on the cheap.

Ramshackle games do some decent and very cheap war machines in resin. You can also make respectable spear chukkas from the Lizardmen stegadon Giant bow.

Tomb king chariots are the way to go fro cheap wolf chariots. I've used/am using the battle for skull pass hut as the basis for pump wagons. The troll from that set is usually availible in some capacity at very cheap on ebay. You can buy several and then convert them easily with a bunch of ogre hands.

I've recently seen someone on this forum make savage orcs out of normal orcs, but with static grass used to make fur.

@EntertainME: Do you have any example of the green stuff torso goblins painted?

Very much looking forward to seeing how this goes!

I'm all for building armies on the cheap, and (as has already been said) the 6th Edition starter Orcs (both with two hand weapons and with bows) can be picked up for pennies on Ebay. They're versatile enough, though, that they can be used as the basis for all sorts of conversions. I think all the core Orc units in my army are made out of them...

I'd also second amplebob's recommendation of Ramshackle Games and their range of resin warmachines and beasties.

Wow thanks for the comments, really surprised to log in and see so many replies!

And thanks for the tips, about the Tomb Kings Chariot especially, will have to look out for one of those. One of my first purchases actually was an Orc chariot off ebay, minus orcs but with 2 boars (one of the boars was missing a leg?! Kind of amusing that it was included but I have a boar left over from a previous aborted project which can sub in. Probably have to put the wounded one to sleep ). But, OK for 5GBP inc. P&P.

I want to try and make a theme and background for the army (so I can name them and feel sad when they die in a game ), so here goes!

The life and death of Mutilla of Darkwood
They say that you never hear the arrow that kills you. For Mutilla, orc tribesman of the Darkwood clan, that was probably not helped by the fact that he was yelling at the time. And he didn't see the damnable pixie that shot it either, one moment he was running forward, choppa held above his head in a fiercesome manner , the next moment he was lying in the grass. Everything had gone green, and his tribesman were stood over him. He heard the guttural voice of Zugbug, "grab 'is boots, 'e won't be needin' 'em anymore!" A few of the other lads snorted with laughter. But, that laugh quickly changed to a yell of surprise as Mutilla sat upright. He felt kind of funny, but not in the painful way like when you get hit by a choppa or the boss threw something at you.

"I don't believe it! How is you alive!" Exclaimed Girtz "You should be dead", although it puzzled Mutilla that he was still laughing a bit. "Nubbinz, give 'im yer mirror!" Nubbinz was a bit of a curiosity to the other orks - despite his massive frame, he had something of a penchant for a dressing up in the clothes of maidens he had slain, which always looked comical to the other orcs, especially when he wore a bonnet (although they would never say it to him within earshot!) Nubbinz reached a giant gorilla-hand into his bag, and reached took out a mirror, handing it to Mutilla.

Mutilla looked at himself in the mirror. "Zoggin' eck! How am I alive!" Exclaimed Mutilla, almost dropping the mirror in surprise. "Careful with that!" warned Nubbinz.
There, smack in the centre of his forehead, and so far in that only the feathers were visible, was the shaft of an elven arrow. Instinctively, he reached around to the back of his head, and almost yelped in surprise as he felt the pointy end prick his finger. "Actually, that is kinda funny" he laughed, and the other boyz guffawed with him.

"You better pull it out" explained Zugbug, "No good you walkin' round with an arrow stuck in yer 'ead!" The other lads nodded in agreement. "Alright then, what about you Nubbinz, you is the strongest!" Bracing himself and closing his eyes tight, he felt the hulking orc grab the arrow with both hands, and put his boot on his chest.
"One.. two... er.. what's next?" "Just zoggin' pull it!" squealed Mutilla.

There was an awful, terrible wrenching sound, mixed with the sound of elf fingernails on Altdorf China, and suddenly Mutilla found himself lying in the grass again. It was tickling his neck. He looked up, and saw four curious looking faces looking down at him.

"You still alive?"
"I think so.. but I'm amazed after so much haemorrhaging." Replied Mutilla.
"What?" Replied a perplexed Girtz"
Mutilla sat up. And he realised as he did so, that the world looked a little different to before....



That's it for now guys, thanks for reading if you got this far! I'm sure you can recognise what famous ork story I am copying here

Next and final part, hopefully along with some mini pics, in the next post!

It's almost invisible from the front. Especially if you give them shields.

But this is the only pic I have now:


The idea was to use green stuff as fast as possible (the only way to do it if you want to make dozens of them). So green stuff work isn't very good, mainly just a bal with a hole poked in for the belly button.

I'll try and find some more pics that show this (hopefully tonight).
If not I'll make some

@Pacific: Mind if I post them in this blog?

Also, nice story for the army. Always nice to see somebody make personalize their models.

There are two methods of getting things cheap for Orcs.

1) 6th Ed mono pose orcs. They are pretty static and you can usually find them pretty cheap on ebay. Well, it might be harder and harder to get them, but you can usually come across them pretty cheap. I've found you can clip the arms off really easy and just buy some bitz to use instead. You can also even just do things like clip a weapon off and put on a shield for some of them. I found it's really easy to make these guys look better. To be honest, these Orcs tend to be a bit bigger and bulkier than other orcs and I tend to like 'em!

2) 40k Starter box (Battle for Black Reach - or something). Most of the regular orks have hand weapons. Maybe you will have to clip an arm off or two. Looks better that way, anyways. A lot of their heads are good. You might need to clip off some hoses or wires. These guys are actually better looking than the regular Orc boxed set! I really like these guys and I like their heads, too. I think you can get them pretty cheap.

The Tomb King chariot idea is great, especially if you buy the bitz for ork bike wheel guards to the front. Or boss poles. Check out my blog for some of that. You will have to buy some wolves for them, though.

Mantic has a really cool rock lobba for their Undead guys. I bought one and use it. It looks a little small, but that's OK.

If you troll ebay, you can find deals. I once got two pump wagons for $12 + shipping. Score!

If you are looking for trolls and don't mind converting, you can do stuff with the Battle for Skull Pass troll. Look at some of the blogs or start a thread asking for conversion ideas. Some people have been really creative. Ogre hands work good. All depends on how good you are with chopping and repositioning.

If you like Night Goblins, just go to the Battle for Skull Pass. You can usually find a crapload of NG for sale. Just get the cheapest you can. They aren't bad for mono-pose starter set guys. You can buy a lot of them on the cheap. I really think spears and hw + shield are really equal. No point in converting what you have. You can throw in some bow guys into a regular unit if you don't want to use them as bows.

You can sometimes get whole kits of stuff cheap on ebay. Maybe you see some cheap Black Orc arms and heads on sale. Then, you hunt until you get some bodies. You have a BO unit for a lot cheaper than you would pay if you bought the box! Maybe not all the options you want, but enough to get by. Sometimes you suck it up and get the bodies at BUY NOW prices, though. Still ends up being cheaper.

There are some people who have made scratch built war machines, too. Check them out.

Oh, if you find wolves from another company cheap, or even buy them from GW, you can usually get wolf rider legs from all over. Then, make your own torso or buy the necessary bitz from ebay and make your own wolf riders for cheaper.

This!

I've used the 6th edition ones and converted them to a stunning unit.
Pics in my blog (if you can find it).


And there was also a bloke here who made a spear chukka from bits of sprue and some odd shields and stuff. Don't know who anymore, but I tried this myself and it's pretty easy.

Grtz
-EM-

Guys, thanks so much for the replies!

It has given me a lot to think about. EntertainMe please go ahead and post if you like, although I probably won't be using any Goblins for the time being. I wanted to create a more 'martial' style Orc army, rather than the horde of savages angle, and for now I think orcs will fit a little better into that (except perhaps for goblin archers/warmachine crew).

My idea is more of a kind of 'Blood Axes' of WFB, perhaps more humanised in their style and methods - so taking inspiration from Tolkein's orcs, and the more general orc fantasy trope of a cunning and extremely violent (almost barbaric human) yet still intelligent, rather than GW's orcs.

A little more background and images coming soon, thanks again for the very helpful replies!

Ahoy, given the prices charged for GW miniatures, I can naught but approve this very project, even more so with yer theme of WHFB Bloodaxes. I 'll be lookin' forrard t' yer result, matey, and I hope to see a lot of Empire bits sprinkled on 'em.

And may I be so bold and suggest a few things on me part as well?

- Balsawood from any craft store is another cheap alternative for chariots. Plus, it's not particularly tragic if the blasted things look ramshackle. After all, we 're goin' fer a Greenskin army 'ere and that's what their contraptions usually look like!

- There's also a few brilliant people who built boltthrowers out of plastic sprues, and over at Bugman's Brewery, Goldo built a bleedin' Goblobba out of leftover plastic bits. If ye don't mind cruelty against Goblins (and, frankly, who does? Those weedy swabs deserve it!), head over and take a look at it. Ye can easily orcify the design.

- Another idea I 've seen executed well on these forums, is to get cheap Skullpass Trolls and use the spare River Troll parts to turn them into more River Trolls. Also, the new big Ghoul thingies set for the Vampire Counts might be of interest if ye want common Trolls. Not cheap, but cheaper than Finecast Trolls, I s'ppose.

- Last but not least: Barter, trade, swab or beg bits from other armies. Need yer lads to look Empire? Ask yer local Humie players fer spare heads, statetroop or - better - militia weapons and so on (Since ye're playing Mordheim, I guess ye got a couple of 'em already). Or get flails (for more Nightgoblin Fanatics) and spiky bits from yer local WoC players.

Incoming plug with the gobo's.

One with just the torso sculpted (in less than a minute BTW)




And the backside which you won't ever see (because gobo's are SO reliable)



I also did a few where I sculpted the left arm (which you only get just enough).




Grtz
-EM-

Thanks for the suggestion, and that's a great idea using a green-stuff body for those goblins!

Actually some pictures in this post! But, first of all, a bit more background and notes on design (sorry! )

The life and death of Mutilla of Darkwood, Part 2
An arrow to the brain produced some remarkable changes in Mutilla. He looked around him, at the Darkwood Clan, with new eyes and his apprehension concerning how his kin lived and died began to grow. For a start, why did the clan continue to kill each other and waste their resources on pointless civil wars with other nearby clans? He looked at the humans, the dwarves and the pixies. None of them killed each other, or burnt down each other's yurts. And they were strong! And he looked at their weapons, their armour. He thought about how strong his clan was (much more than the puny humans!) and how much stronger they would be if they had those same weapons and armour. And what about the big guns that spat smoke and metal, that cut his boys down as they ran? Mutilla didn't understand how they worked, but he saw how powerful those weapons could be. His clansman could learn about those weapons too...

Notes on Design & Model choice
First of all, as much as I like the comedic orcs of GW, I wanted to do something a little different. So, keep the savagery, but introduce a more cunning and intelligent type of orc. Almost like a more barbaric human, so something like the original concept of an 'orc', as the traditional fantasy trope from the likes of Tolkein, Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy literature.

So for this I spent some time searching the web for different orc miniatures. I really liked the 'Gamezone' orcs, but they broke the first rule I set out when making this army - it must be cheap! So, I picked up a box of Mantic Orcs. These were very cheap (at just 13GBP for a box of 15), but also importantly they fit with the concept of this type of orc. So, much smaller head and narrow, evilish looking eyes, with less rag-tag looking equipment than a standard GW Orc. Anyway, I thought I would go with them for the time being and see how they turn out! If they don't look any good as a unit, I reserve the right to change my mind about it completely!

So here are the first few I have painted. I haven't bought any Mantic miniatures before, having just bought GW orcs, and my first thought was how much smaller they are. In particular, they have a lot less upper-body bulk. They have a nice level of detail on the sculpt, although I can see already that there is a very limited number of options in the box. It doesn't matter too much however as I'm unable to leave models as standard with any project I'm working on, so will probably convert some of them to introduce some variety! I hope it can make a kind of 'organised Barbarian' look when they are assembled in a unit.

Anyway far too much writing, here are some pictures. They were very quick to paint, I've tried to also make a less garish looking skin tone for them. Any comments are very welcome!