The Bronzecast Ogrions & the Normalites of Vanillashire.

Hi everyone,

I did not have a lot of time this week, but I managed to do some work on my Ogrion army.  That is the beauty of having an army project.  You always have something to do.

I managed to block in the basic colours of the Cosmo Wolf.  I find this step very important for me, because it gives me a road map on how I want to paint the model, and removes the analysis paralysis that I suffer from.

The stone on the golem is also something I revisited, because after seeing the model in a photo, it looked like a giant snow ball.  Therefore, I decided to re-sculpt the rock by adding some extra angles to it to make it look more ‘rocky’.

The last thing I started were the characters for the Ogrions.  I usually always paint characters last, so now is the time to begin.  I will paint them up a bit differently from the troops, in order to distinguish them.

That is all I managed over the weekend.  Hopefully I will get something ready by next week.

Stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

I went on to diversify my last two golems in a more significant way by cutting them up and repositioning them significantly.

After repositioning the pieces and gluing the joints, I went on to resculp the joints with Milliput.

With one of the golems I decided to add a boulder.  This was made from Polystyrene. I add more pieces of Polystyrene until I had the shape I wanted.  Then I added modelling paste on top and acrylic pumice from Vallejo beneath to stimulate the idea that the boulder was pulled out of the ground.

The two horde units are now ready to play, and I will do just that before putting paint on them. I do not see much difference in the stats from normal Large Infantry, but I like the look they bring to the army.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun, and I wish everyone a wonderful year.

NR.

Hi everyone,

Mantic Ogres in Kings of War are great, but there is one unit type they do not have – Monstrous Infantry!  I always found this strange, as the Warhammer Ogre army did have comparable infantry.

To circumvent this, I decided to use the Snow Trolls from the Northern Alliance as allies.  The only problem I had was – which miniatures to proxy?, and that would fit into the theme of the army.

The answer came to me when I was browsing FantasyWelt’s website and found some Rune Wars miniatures selling at 50%!  These golems where amoung the offering on the site – so I bought 4 boxes.

Altogether, I had 8 miniatures, in order to make 2 hordes of monstrous infantry.  Unfortunately, they are too big to fit 3 models on a regiment base. I also decided to do some conversions to give these units some dynamism.

Next week I will post the forth regiment.  The last unit has the most work done in order to diversify the models.  Then I will play a few games with them before painting them up.

Till next year, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone.

My first Ogrion chariot regiment is ready.  Chariot regiments should have 3 models on the base.  I do have 3 chariots in fact – I bought them from Spain at 40% off during Black Friday, but they are just too big to fit.

Therefore I went with just two.  So this will be a fixed chariot regiment. I will use the third chariot for my Warlord, Sergeant or Standard Bearer.

My second chariot regiment will be proxied by a Stormcast Vanguard-Palladors box set that I also bought at a good discount from Spain.  I will base them separately so I can use them as a troop or regiment if I so choose to.

Next, I have to start the characters.  I have six to paint up. So that might be my next post.  Until then, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

Today, I managed to finishing the modelling on my Proxy Mammoth.  Now I will play a couple of games with it before I start painting it.  Give it a test ride so to speak, and see if it change my fortunes with this game!

Below, is a quick process laid out in pictures of how I added the harness.  If you have any more questions, please leave a comment and I will answer as best (and as soon) as possible.

Next up will be finishing the chariot regiment, then all I will have left is the six heros for this army.

Until then stay safe, have fun and happy holidays.

NR.

Hi everyone,

I was working on some Ogrion Chariots in tandem with the Cosmo Wolf. Initially, I wasn’t going to have chariots because they were too expensive, but I found these on Ebay from a seller in Spain.  They were two for the price of one, and in my opinion they are still rather expensive.

Nonetheless, I wanted chariots so I decided to buy them and paint them up as a regiment.  Normally, chariot regiments have 3 models, but these are very big, and only 2 fit properly.

Below are several picture of the work in progress.

Next week or next post, this unit will be ready, and I will most probably start on the last stage of the army – the characters.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

Nearly every time I play with my proxy ogre army, my opponents ask me routinely if the ogre warriors have the phalanx rule.  They ask this question because they see my proxy ogres (Stormcast Eternals) with Spears.

The only reason they have spears is because they are the Stormcast I actually have and I did not want to buy new models.  It would have defeated the point, but I admit they have a point.

So I decided to take all my Stormcast and convert their spears into hand weapons.  It was actually easier than I feared initially.  Most of them I just shortenedthe spear into a hand weapon.  The second type of conversion is a bit more complicated.  I had to cut of the spear arm from the forearm and replace it with another part.

These parts came from 10 cheap older Stormcast I bought off Ebay on a Auction.

Now that this pet peeve has been put to bed, I can focus on other aspects of this army.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR.

Hi everyone,

I have been working on several things, but foremost in my endeavors is this army, and especially this monster.

I took the time to sit down and drill holes and add rivets into the armour.  The rivets come from a water filter and they were fixed in place with watered down PVA glue.  You can buy these water filter replacements from hardware stores and they are not very expensive.  Open them up and store the  little balls inside in a container.  It will last you a life time.

The last step is the most time consuming, and that is the belting.  Not only will I have to make and fit belts to the armour, but I will also have to re-sculp a lot of fur due to the cutting and fitting of the said belts.  I am not looking forward to it, but that is for another post.

Until next time stay safe and have fun.

NR.

Hi everyone,

So I have had some time this week to work on this army again and I dedicated my time to the Proxy Mammoth.

This model was originally a Cosmo Wolf (whatever that is or means?) from some roleplaying game world.  All I know is that I bought this model, the giant and the sphinx from WizKids for pennies on the dollar so to speak.

The only problem was that all the war-mammoths I saw had armour, so I decided to amour mine up as well.

The putty I use is exclusively Milliput and Magic Sculpt.  I will eventually use Greenstuff for the leather straps and belting.

Below is a photo-diary of the progress.

The next step is to add some details like rivets and belting, but that is for the next post.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

The second unit of Normalite LIght Cavalry (proxies for Red Goblin Scouts) is now ready for play.

They were painted up like the previous unit, that is the rider in acrylics and the horses in oils.

Now I just need to field them and put them to the test… or at least to good use!

For the next post maybe I will start working on something bigger!  Until then stay safe and have fun.

NR.

Hi everyone,

A quick post tonight.  I have finished painting up my first troop of four cavalry units for my Ogrion army.

The painting was done in the same way, but the horses were painted in oils, because usin oils is way faster when painting wide areas.

The shields are over 20 years old from Citadel miniatures, and do not come in the plastic set from Perry miniatures.

Now I have to start the second unit of cavalry which I will paint in the same way.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR.

Hi everyone,

So as I said last post, I worked on this a bit at a time, during a the week in between other projects until I got it done and dusted.

Like all the other miniatures in this project I tried to reach a good tabletop standard, but in the least time possible.  I also painted it in colours that would tie it into the army as a whole.  That is why I painted the armour like the Ogrions and did the livery in the Normalite colours.

My Battle Sphinx (Goblin Slasher) is now ready.  I still have the Normalite cavalry to do – basically 4 units – so I think I will start those next.  As for the monsters, I only have my proxy mammoth left.

Therefore, until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR.

Hi everyone,

I haven’t posted in a while, but it was not because of lack of interest.  I actually have just finished a campaign with this army (and lost miserably! One of the worst performances of my wargaming life). Now that the campaign is over, I can start to focus on finishing this project.

I decided to work on the Battle Sphinx (Proxy Goblin Slasher), which I used very badly during my games.  I worked on the armour over the weekend.  Now I have only the face and skin, as well the carriage to paint up.

In between paint layers on the armour, I also worked on the crew.  The plastic cannoneer holding the cannon ball and wearing the splendid crotch guard armor, is a part of an old Warhammer kit.  The other metal archer is also an old figure, but I have no idea from which company.

I cleaned them up, then primed them; and finally managed to block in all the base colours before posting this article. Now I just have to highlight them.

That is all for today.  Hopefully, work permitting, I will finish this sometime next week.  Then I will start some Normalite cavalry.

Until next time, have fun and stay safe.

NR

Hi everyone,

I have finally finished the Normalite Archer Horde.  I still have yet to test it out on the tabletop.

As regards the campaign I am playing, things are going badly.  Out of six games, I drew 2 and lost 4. This means in the next phase of the campaign, I will start out as a subjugated nation. To add insult to injury I am subjugated to Ratmen!!!  The one faction I have never liked.  I hate my life so much right now!

This means my lord and furry commander can order me around and can decide where my army goes and who it will fight.  What a nightmare!

That is all for this week. I might start something more ‘showcase’ and less ‘tabletop’ next.  I also want to get back to practicing my oil painting.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

I played my first game this Saturday morning – I lost miserable – but I failed to paint up all my units.

In order to maximize my options, this week I spent most of my free time buiding up all my remaining units that were still in their respective  boxes.

Now I can slow down, and try to paint up a unit every two weeks instead of every week. This will give me some time to paint up other stuff.

Below are several photos of what I built up and have left to paint.

So that is all for now.  I will continue to paint and finish this project but at a more casual and less regimented routine.

I failed my goal, but the army still looks good on the table. Now to try and win a battle!

Stay safe and have fun!

NR

Hi everyone,

Today all I have is a quick update for the Archer Horde I am painting up.  I managed to finish the second line of archers and now I have to paint up the last line.

This will be the last unit I will be able to finish before the campaign starts on the 5th of April. Therefore, I will start gluing things together in order to play with the units that are not painted up.  These consist mostly of the Normalite cavalry and all the characters.

This will be the last push before gaming starts.  I hope nothing pops up to misdirect my efforts to finish this unit. So wish me luck.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

I have been using up all my spare time with the Ogrion army, trying my best to get it ready. Today I have finished the first part of my last Normalite Infantry unit – a horde of archers.

I decided to make an archery horde because my army lacks shooting and is more melee focused. Hopefully this with help address that deficiency.

I will placing roughly 30 models onto the base and I will work one line at a time starting from the back and moving forward.

The statues came from old tourist souvenirs.  They were the top part of a pen! I kid you not. I repainted them in oil paints.

Next up were the archers. In the Perry Miniatures 100 year war English army plastic box set there are only 24 archer models.  Therefore I needed 6 more.  I took these from some plastic Dark Age archers from Gripping Beast.  I just made some minor conversions with the heads.

Like all the other Normalite regiments, I wanted this horde to be led by a mounted nobleman. I just decided to give him a bow instead of a lance.

Hopefully by next week I will have painted up the second line, and maybe – just maybe – they will be ready for the first battle (but I doubted it. They will be on the field for the second battle).

Until next post, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

I have just finished the last Ogrion Infantry regiment in this army. This is also an Ogrion Archer Regiment (Ogre Boomers). There were ten models in a box so I could make 3 regiments from them altogether.

These are the only Stormcast Eternal models that I bought brand new and at retail prices. This is because I could not find them cheaper and second-hand. If anything I found several lots that were painted up (very basically) and selling at triple the cost!

Now all I have left to paint up are my last two proxy ‘monsters’, a proxy chariot regiment, one horde of Normalite archers (goblins),  two regiments of Normalite cavaly, and several characters (which I will leave till the end).

There is no way I am going to paint up everything in this army before the first week of April.  I have to resign to the fact that it is not going to happen.

Therefore for the next post I am just going to build as much up as possible.  That way at least I can play with them.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

A quick post this week.  My second regiment of Ogrion Hounds (Crocodogs).  This now leaves me one regiment of archers and a regiment of Ogrion Riders (Ogre Chariots). I also need to finish painting up the Slasher, Mammoth and Characters besides three units of Normalites.

So it is safe to say I will not manage to finish painting up this army before the first week of April, but it will be all built up and ready to play.

Until next week stay safe and have fun.

Regards,

NR

Hi everyone,

I have taken a break from painting and spent the time customizing an Isperia sphinx model from Wizkids.  This is a very cheap model despite its size.

I want to use it as a proxy Red Goblin Slasher, so I had to remove the wings and add a firing platform. The platform is scratchbuilt from an old GW Imperial cannon sprue.

After building up the proxy Slasher, I can know use it on tabletop in my games in April. If I don’t manged to paint it up by then, I can always paint it at my leisure after the campaign.

Until next week, stay safe and have fun.

NR