Who's the Boss?

Yay! I've finished my first unit: Skargutz boyz. I'll post pics of the whole unit once I've based them, but for now, here's the main man ORC himself, Skargutz.

Skargutz: Savage Orc Boss

Not that kind of cold one!

 I'm pleased with how the unit, and Skargutz himself, have turned out. A few of the models, including Skargutz, have scaly skin for their "clothing", rather than fur. As I'm trying to keep these Orcs Old World style, exotic creatures like alligators are out (hence the fur looking like wolves, rather than zebras or tigers). I was stumped as to how to paint the scales, when I remembered that Lindsay Lawhammer is collecting a Dark Elf army. A quick message later, and she told me her corsairs' cloaks (and probably cold ones too) were a dark red up to orange. So now it looks like my boyz took down a cold one or two.

That's the fella...

I made a few other changes to his paint scheme to make him stand out. His face got a slightly brighter highlight, and I painted his top knot red. I also did his weapons differently: I may decide to give him a magical weapon, but his blades are very clearly chipped stone of some type. I considered obsidian (which has anti-magical properties in Warhammer canon), but instead I opted for Warpstone. Orcs are less prone to mutation, right?

Skargutz from above

I also discovered that his right eye is missing, making the eye stripe warpaint that most of my unit have make more sense. On the subject of inspirational warpaint, I tried to think about what Skargutz should have. As well as some on his face, and lightning bolts on his legs, I thought he needed something to motivate his ladz. Since Orcs lead from the front, this meant an impressive warpaint display on his back:

Skargutz from behind

Waaagh! I've used the orc skull glyph on most of the unit, and so it seemed fitting for Skargutz to have it on his back, so all the boyz can see it, and be whipped up into a frenzy. 

So, first unit done, it's time to think about what next.

I've decided to go for a general, multipurpose greenskin horde. While a themed army can be fun, it's also quite limiting. When I worked at GW and so could afford to buy - not to mention borrow - multiple armies, that was fine. But as this will be my only army, a little versatility is no bad thing. That being the case, tomorrow I'm going to pick up the Orc & Goblin Battalion box. It's pricy - at £70 - but the troops included would come to about £85 separately, so it's a decent saving. Plus, its contents - Orc Boyz, Orc Boar Boyz, Goblin Boyz and Forest Goblin Spider Riders - are exactly the units I would take for a starting Waaagh anyway. 

"Battalion" sounds too formal, no?

I've also made one other purchase in the interim - yet to be painted. I've been thinking about characters - all joking aside, Andy Lawhammer has been able to convert a pegasus riding general because he's an extant character in our Warhammer roleplaying campaign. I don't have that basis, so I need to choose something characterful and effective. And, to be honest, right now I don't know what that would be. Do I want a sneaky Goblin Warboss hiding in a big unit of boyz? A powerful Orc Warboss on a boar to lead the cavalry on a charge? Or a Warboss or Shaman on a wyvern? (Ooh, a wyvern...)

But I had a hankering for a character to paint. But what kind of character could I pick, that wouldn't nix any of the other options? Then, it struck me: a Goblin Shaman. He can go in a unit later, if I want, or he can skulk about on his own. What's more, when I saw the Goblin Shaman model, I noticed something cool...

He has a little skull, with a bone in it, like a mortar and pestle. No doubt it's intended to be him crushing up mad cap mushrooms or somesuch, but another thought occurred to me. What if he's the shaman applying the warpaint to Skargutz boyz. That's unorthodox, true, but Goblins are cunnin' and sneaky gits, after all. What if this devious shaman has stumbled across a small mob of Savage Orc boyz, and in that uniquely goblin style of being simultaneously desperate and tricksy, he ends up tricking their boss, leading him out of the depths of the forests and towards a greater Waaagh...?

So I bought the shaman. :)