Appetite For Destruction – Part 7

Ogres are very much associated in Warhammer with all things primeval. I rather like this but there does come a point where a theme becomes stretched and the fact that these two have been sitting unfinished on my desk for so long that they may well have got there when mammoths and woolly rhinos were walking the earth definitely qualifies. 

I’ve always liked the idea of the Bellower in a unit of Ogres. Whilst almost every other unit in WHFB had a musician of some kind to set the march the Ogres just have a guy who shouts at them to hurry it up! 

Add these new lads to the ones I’ve already painted and the result is an imposing wall of flabby flesh. 

As usual these aren’t the only Ogres on my desk but they’re the only ones I’ve finished today! 

Appetite For Destruction – Part 6

We’re still in Movember, albeit only just, and I’ve got one last bearded fellow to show you. This Ogre riding on a hulking mournfang has been sitting on my painting desk since sometime during the last ice age and for some reason I never seemed to just concentrate on him for the hour or so it would have taken to get him finished. The time to put the final paints on him is well overdue and seeing as he’s another hairy-faced gentleman I reckoned the Movember painting challenge being run by Rantings From Under The Wargames Table was the perfect moment to focus my attention.

Thanks to the challenge I’ve managed to power through a fair number of bearded chaps large and small this month so of course a celebratory groupshot is in order.

Thanks for the motivation to get these painted is once again owed to Roger from Rantings From Under The Wargames Table so do go and check out his work and the fine range of beards on display from other participants in the challenge.

Appetite for Destruction – Part 5

From the short and bearded to the tall and bearded. As I was working on yesterday’s dwarves I found myself thinking about other miniatures with impressive facial hair that I could paint for the Movember painting challenge and suddenly remembered about the ogres. As it happened the Gutlord champion of my ogre Ironguts was sitting on my desk, assembled and undercoated but otherwise untouched. Better yet I’d converted him to sport an remarkable set of whiskers. Could I get him painted up as well? Turns out I could!

Part of the joy of Ogres is although they’re big they’re actually pretty straightforward to paint so you never know, I might try to do a few more before too long.

Appetite for Destruction – Part 4

During the summer I tend to be out a lot, the pressure of work is high and finding time to paint miniatures isn’t always easy. I tend to start projects left, right and centre, and then find myself without time to complete them. By the time I sit down at the painting desk again something else has seized my attention. Now, however, winter has rolled around once again, the nights have drawn in and the days are cold and grim. Time to finish some of those part-painted miniatures which the hobby butterfly had previously danced around. Over the next few days I’m aiming to fight once again the endless battle against the tide of unfinished projects – starting with this hulking Ogre Irongut. 

When I put together my Ogre warband for Warcry a few months ago I decided that one of the elite Ironguts would make a fine option to call upon should the puny species which attempt to defy the mighty Ogres prove tougher than expected. I started him whilst riding a wave of enthusiasm for the fat lads and now I’ve finally gathered that energy once again and got him finished. 

I do enjoy painting Ogres, and the Ironguts are amongst my favourite models in the range so although I wouldn’t want to commit to exactly when I’m going to tackle more of them expect to see them lumbering over the horizon sooner or later.

Appetite for Destruction – Part 3

The eternal mystery of just who ate all the pies (the burgers and the fries) has been solved – it was these fat bastards. They also ate the pie salesman, his pie stall and the car he drove up in. Yes, it’s true – filled with enthusiasm for my ogre project I cracked on and painted up the leadbelcher, the one who brings a cannon to the knife-fights of Warcry.

I made one slight tweak to the stock model, adding a cannon wheel to the gun to make it look even more like he’s just picked the thing up (to the horror of the poor humans or dwarves who’d been crewing it and thought they were safely behind the lines). From some angles it covers up his pretty face but that’s a sacrifice I can make!

Of course the ogre army has never been just about the fat boys, someone needs to do all the work that the ogres are too big or lazy to bother with, not to mention providing a handy meal if times get tough. This role goes to the gnoblars, little greenskins related to goblins who live symbiotically with the ogres, doing the menial tasks so that the big guys can concentrate on eating and fighting, whilst being protected from danger by their bulky, aggressive masters (at least until said masters fancy a snack). Thus the final touch the warband required was a pair of the little dudes.

With these three additions the warband is complete – and turned around from start to finish in a week no less!

Here’s the whole crew, ready to get out there and pick a fight. I like to think that the gnoblar on the left is spoiling for a fight, backed up by his big pals, whilst the one on the right with his drooping ears and worried expression has a rather more pessimistic opinion of their chances!

I’ve enjoyed working on these a lot so I may well come back to them at some point, I have a few other ogres kicking around that I could use to make a full squad or two and I reckon it’d be quite fun to add a few Ironguts and see what they bring to the gang. Right now though I think I’ll turn my attention elsewhere and see what else is lurking on or around the painting desk and takes my fancy.

Appetite for Destruction – Part 2

Every Warcry warband needs a leader and this is as true of my hungry boys as it is of anyone else. Thus the next step for my little gang of ogres was a crusher, that is to say the fat lad who bosses all the other fat lads around.

With him done the warband takes another (ground trembling) step towards completion.

 With just three models to go (one of which – the leadbelcher – is already well underway, whilst the other two are just teeny-tiny gnoblars) I’m going to try to get the project wrapped up before the weekend, or by the start of next week at the latest.

Appetite for Destruction – Part 1

After adding some more Orcs to my Ironjaws collection my attention has now turned to their hungry sidekicks the Ogres. I’ve always rather liked the Ogres, a mate of mine had an Ogre army many years ago for WHFB and I’ve always liked the look of the hulking great bruisers. However I’ve never done anything about it – until now that is.

Rather than bite off more than I can chew I decided to start my foray into all things Ogre with a manageable Warcry warband, which I intend to hammer through in short order. I’ve cooked up a list of; two gluttons, one crusher, one leadbelcher and two gnoblars. I’ve already painted up the two gluttons (or bulls as they used to be called back in the day) and I’d like if I can to knock out the rest within a week or so, rather than getting overly bogged down. Being mostly large areas of flabby muscle these aren’t too tricky to paint so without wanting to rush I reckon I can turn them around quite quickly rather than ending up with another unfinished project sitting on the desk.

Nothing too crazy in terms of conversions here, I gave one of them a head from the mournfang riders set and the other a big metal jaw (from the orks) to help him chew through the toughest bones and armour. With these two done I’ll be moving on to the Crusher – the unit champion and leader of the warband. Then I’ll be on the home stretch with the leadbelcher and his two assistants/meals.