Never Mind The Orruks

Of course I had to paint some Age of Sigmar greenskins, and of course I was suckered into the jaw-dropping value of the 'Getting Started' Ironjawz set.

To sum up: buy the monstrous cavalry and get a set of infantry and a character for free!
You'll feel like you're *making* money!

Let's not dwell on the impact to my unpainted leadpile and crack on with the minis!


The other appeal of this army was how quickly I reckoned I could paint them. I had a definite idea of how I'd like Ironjawz to look, and it didn't include yellow armour (what sadist would paint that much yellow?).

A black primer, then a drybrush of metal, a splash of technical paints to make them rusty, and I'm all done!

The best part of all: no eyes to paint.

... that plan got a bit scuppered when I had the moronic idea to add checks as an accent.

So. Many. Checks.

In truth, they were pretty quick to knock out, even with my self-sabotage with all the bloody checks. Quick, and I'm very chuffed with the result. Between the crazy helmets and the rusted armour, they have a 'Brian Froud's goblins from Labyrinth' look that I was going for (although considerably more pumped).

An iconic helmet. Literally.

In most of the illustrations, the unit's Boss is the one going bare-headed, but when I saw the Banner Icon, I had to try it out as a comically oversized helmet.

I know what you're thinking: how's he supposed to bring his arms down over those enormous horns to chop with the axe? Well, I don't believe that kind of long-term strategy is appropriate for an Orruk, and you should be ashamed for thinking it.

Gork alone knows how I posed this drummer at a right angle from his drum.

It's quite likely I'll be knocking out a few more Ardboy units (once I scan see the foothills of the Leadpile again), so to remind myself of the super-quick system:

• Armour: Black Primer, Ironbreaker drybrush, Typhus Corrosion Wash, Reza Rust drybrush
• Skin: Elysian Green base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Nurgling Green drybrush
• Horns: Zandri Dust base, Agrax Earthshade wash
• Tusks: Ushabdi Bone base, Seraphim Sepia wash
• Eyes: Pallid Wych Flesh
• Weapon heads: Ironbreaker drybrush x 2, Tinny Tin accents, Nuln Oil wash
• Weapon hafts: Tallern Sand base, Reikland Flesh wash
• Belts and Straps: Balor Brown base, Agrax Earthshade wash
• Checks: Pallid Wych Flesh & Chaos Black, thinned Agrax Earthshade wash
• Base: Skrag Brown, Blackfire Earth, Flayed One Flesh drybrush

I kept the weapons rust-free, and even gave them another lick of Ironbreaker, since I wanted them to be distinct from the armour, and it made sense for an Orruk to keep his blade sharp. The rest looks wonderfully grimy. I only hope my pot of Typhus Corrosion lasts for the entire army.

This mouse hunt just got serious.

For the bases, I decided to embrace the Age of Sigmar-ness and do something totally different to the Old World grass/leaves/badlands. Since these guys are all about iron, I went with a kind of Martian landscape: barren and lots of red ore. So I guess that puts these guys in the Realm of Metal - Chamon!

Chamon! Chamon! Sing it with me.

As 8th Ed Black Orcs, I was never going to collect these (having a massive amount of their predecessors), so I'm glad I got the chance to paint these up. They're fun to work with, and about as Orky as an Ork can be.

But I'm especially glad that I never had to model them for a ranked-up regiment. They barely rub along on 32 rounds; having to fit them onto 25 squares, and then get them into a regiment where they had to be removed and replaced, would be a special kind of hell that would have me rebasing in a heartbeat.

And so begins my second Age of Sigmar army: Force of Destruction, with a decidedly green tint.