Servants of Mordor

Not least inspired by Azazel’s forces of Mordor, I had a rummage through my stash of dormant projects to find the Mordor Orcs which I painted when The Fellowship of the Ring was released. Some work on the bases later, and they are now an active faction in my roster of armies. The party is lead by the Great Goblin from Mithril Miniatures which stems from my even more remote days of playing MERP.

Foul orcs are desecrating the ruins of Gondor

Plundering ancient barrows

Toppling the empires of men

There’s been a lot of talk in wargaming circles about using the Oathmark goblins as orcs for Lord of the Rings, so I thought I’d take a comparison picture between the three ranges I own.

From left to right: Mithril, Oathmark, Citadel

Duel of the Mages

Two important characters I had yet to paint up for my fledgling Dwarf and Goblin Oathmark forces were their respective spell casters. Available as metal sculpts from the talented hands of Mark Copplestone, these are very flavourful figures that I wanted to show going up against each other in a battle of magical powers.

Wisdom versus cunning

The raven is an ancient familiar

The shaman draws on the raw powers of destruction

I also converted one of the Goblin spearmen to be a javelineer. Using the ancient peltast as a model, I choose the smallest of the shield sizes (which actually has a shape quite reminiscent of Thracian equipment) and went with lighter armoured body parts. For the javelin, I cut the spear tip off and made it both shorter and narrower. Then I shortened the wooden shaft at both ends and glued the tip back onto the bottom end, so the pose is now that of a throwing arm. A little bit of resculpting on the right shirt sleeve and the chainmail was needed, as the arm is normally expected to be attached in a downward facing position.

Javelineers skirmish ahead of the army

At close quarters the javelin is a deadly projectile

For my eight strong unit of Goblin warriors, I also painted the remaining two champion sculpts in metal and assembled one plastic fighter (on the left below). With these finished, I’m just in time for the Elven pre-orders to begin!

More warriors join the invading horde

Drums in the Deep

Having the core of my Dwarf army ready to battle it out for the Lost Age in Oathmark, it’s time to meet their challengers. I got in for the Nickstarter by North Star Figures again with their Goblins, giving me a plastic regiment box of 30 plus a bunch of metal command models.

Making a start with those and adding a plastic banner bearer carrying a standard by Little Big Men Studios, I decided on a colour scheme for this new army. Sticking with browns and greys and the odd blood red spot colour (in line with the banners and shield transfers I bought), they’ll have their own and unique style contrasting with the Dwarfs. Also, I am using Army Painter Quickshade Dark Tone rather than Soft Tone for them.

Leading the way

Leadership goblin style

I might hold back more of the plastics as I’d like to see some army lists coming out first. Rather than building spear armed troops I’d fancy having a unit with javelins which should be easy to convert, so that the army composition for the Goblins does not just mirror the Dwarfs at this stage.

I’m comin’ for ya

Dwarf Spearhead Complete

These spearmen complete the third unit type for my Oathmark Dwarfs, so I now have a vanguard force ready and waiting for the game. Once again, the shield transfers from Little Big Men Studios together with Army Painter Quickshade allowed me to get them done to a tabletop standard quickly.

A combined force defends a small settlement

Large round shields protect most of the body

Spearmen rushing out to close a gap in the defences

Now I have 12 models left to build from the box set. I’ll leave these until the game rules are released with regards to unit sizes and formations, standards and leaders. Moving on to some goblins then!

Death awaits at the steel tip of a spear

The Dwarf King’s Oath

The second unit for my Oathmark Dwarfs consists of warriors with hand weapons and shields, lead by their king, a standard bearer and a horn blower. Three of these figures are made from the plastic set, while the rest are the additional metal sculpts that are currently available, including the Nickstarter exclusive chap.

The king and his bodyguard

Again, these guys just took a layer of base colours followed by Army Painter Quickshade Soft Tone and a single highlight on the skin. A great addition to the range are the specifically designed banners and shield transfers from Little Big Men Studios. A big time saver, apart from the fact that I would never be able to paint anything even close to their level of detail and quality.

The warriors wield heavy hammers and axes

The clan banner

Shields slung onto the back

Finally a comparison shot between a Warhammer 3rd Edition Dwarf, Oathmark and a later metal Citadel Ironbreaker. The Oathmark style is visibly different and more ‘human’ in its proportions, while also slightly taller (note that there is also still a plastic tab underneath the feet though, on top of the square base).

Dwarfs of all shapes and sizes