Brute Force

Look at what my family got me for Christmas!

Translation: look at what I bought for myself once I'd returned all my presents

These very welcome and short-lived Battleforce bundles from Games Workshop are jaw-droppingly good value. If they repeated this exercise, I'd be in serious danger of buying one each year.

Let's get started: Big Wunz Iz Da Best!

We'll start with a mob of Brutes, which are about as orky as it gets. They have a classic orkish look to them, and are even more impressive when you can see the scale of them (they're based on 40mm rounds). While there is a tendancy for Age of Sigmar models to creep up in size, greenskin lore has always held that orcs get bigger with success, so it's great to see the kits make good on this.

I'll sort out some comparison pictures with other greenskins, but they can look a Stormcast in the eye and crap on Grimgor, so they're a considerable jump on regular orcs.

I used the same painting scheme as my Ardboyz , and that managed to speed things along. There was a fair bit of extra details (such shoulder trophies) to add in, and more dynamic poses, so they're more than just scaled-up Black Orcs.

And that's not a complaint. The kit is not cheap if bought on its own, but I would argue that you do get the value from them in painting time alone (if you're into that). I'd feel a bit cheated if these could be painted up as quickly as a regular orc.

And in case I forget the recipe, here it is again:

• 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, Agrax Earthshade wash
• Weapon straps: Balor Brown base, Agrax Earthshade wash
• Belts and Straps: XV-89 base, Agrax Earthshade wash
• Checks: Pallid Wych Flesh & Chaos Black, thinned Agrax Earthshade wash
• Base: Skrag Brown, Blackfire Earth, Flayed One Flesh drybrush

As much as I've bought into the Age of Sigmar world (or Realm?), I still can't get on board with the primary-colour armour it depicts for Ironjawz. Maybe that's just fear of painting yellow, and then making it looked properly chipped and scratched - it seems a tall order - but for my money, greenskins should be crud-encrusted.

A note on the assembly of these guys: I don't usually go in for sub-assemblies (unless painting riders and horses counts), but you will definitely want to paint up the chestplates and bare chests separately. They fit together loosely, as befits such clanky armour, so you will still be able to see the flesh beneath, but you'll be lucky to get a brush in there. Unless they held their weapons across, I painted up my orcs topless, and then add the armour afterwards.

(I now shudder at the kind of blog visitor who will arrive from the Google search result: 'topless orcs'.)

This big fella is holding the mob's heavy weapon: the 'Gore Choppa'. This is different from the standard 'Brute Choppa', or the leader's 'Boss Choppa', or the alternate 'Jagged Gore-Hacka' or the mounted 'Pig-Iron Choppa'.

It's great that Age of Sigmar makes things so simple, isn't it?

Anyway, this model helpfully demonstrates why it took me a week to finish them off after their debut battle against Disciples of Tzeentch - the chequerboard details. While it's nice to have a motif for the warband, and it does hearken back to the 40k Goff clan (my first taste of greenskins), I think going with a signature colour would have made my life easier.

I swear, half the time sink on these models was the checks.

Finally, the group's boss. He doesn't have the notorious Boss Klaw (I'm using that on the other mob), but the Boss Choppa offers more reliable damage output, albeit less dramatic results.

I'm liking the trophies he comes with: a Stormcast helmet on his belt, a Plaguebearer skull on his pauldron, and a Bloodreaver in his hand (so I had to hastily improve some warpaint for him - it may even carry over onto the living Khornites I have on the waiting list).

I've tried to avoid blood effects on this army (the blood-soaked army is my Chaos one), but you can't really have a severed head without blood, so I added a little to the axe and head.

And that's the first mob done. I enjoyed using them on the table, and can see why they're a popular, if fragile, unit for Ironjawz.

I'd almost be tempted to paint up some more, but I think I'll take a rain check.