Category Archives: Ogre Army

From the Painting Desk #13 – How Should I Paint this C23 Ogre Shaman?

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This weekend I finally knuckled down and finished the C23 Ogre Mercenary with 2-hander who I’d been staring at for the last couple of months. He’s outside having the varnish dry in the sun. So far, so good. I’ll get some pics of him and his unit this coming week and show them off then. With him down, the next part-painted-aeons-ago Ogre steps into the front rank of stuff to get finished soon.

This guy:

C23 Ogre Warrior Priest/Shaman

C23 Ogre Warrior Priest/Shaman

I think the reason this guy has been in the “stuck” file is because I just can’t figure out what colours to use for him. I’d originally given him a purple skirt with the intention of painting some stars and moons and pentagrams, etc on it – which I think is based on mis-remembering the first time I saw him painted, which was probably the figure pictured in this White Dwarf advertisement from 1989. Orclord of SoL fame also has a nicely painted example in his personal collection.

So what of this guy? Well, the purple robe would have worked better is his outfit was a onesie, but he’s got that fur-cuffed vest as well, so that means we need something else as well. I’m thinking dirty grey-white hair to give him a sense of age and authority. His pauldron could either be worn steel, “coloured” metal, as in the Chaos Ogre from the berserker unit this guy will be inspiring/attached to, or a bright, enamelled red as worn by the one member of Olley’s Ogres. It all depends on how much I decide to make it “pop” as both former solutions are much more subtle and low-key than the latter, and this guy is, after all, a Character in the army.

I’ll clean up the chestnut browns on his boots and arm wrapping, go with my typical bone effect for the warhammer-head, and go with contrasting browns for his pouches and belts, but ultimately it’s the skirt and vest that have got me stuck.

My Ogre force does not have “army colours” as many of my other armies will and do. Some units will have their own heraldry (or just a dominant colour) but nothing across the whole army, which I see as a collection of individuals from a number of tribes.

I could go with strong reds to make him stand out on the battlefield? Keep the purple and give it the patterns I thought of originally? (But what of the vest?) Copy Orclord’s scheme? Something completely different? I really don’t know, which is why I’m posting this here and on a forum I frequent, so I can see if I can get some feedback that will inspire me enough to get this guy finished – and to take less than three months to actually get it done.

Classic C23 Citadel Ogres for Kings of War – Unit 2: Ogre Berserkers!

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C23 “Chaos Ogre”. See what I mean about looking like a nutjob?

Another of the figures that I’ve just finished this week after initially being started years ago, restarted a couple of years ago, and re-restarted several months ago – the C32 Chaos Ogre from the mid 1980s. He nicely provided the final figure in another unit of three – my Berserkers. I think I may have originally been planning to use him as one of my two single-Ogre units – since he looks like the kind of complete nutjob that Ogres might allow to fight alongside them, but, you know, don’t get too close to me – but since they’ll be removed as an option in the new edition of Kings of War, I’ve just dropped him onto the Base with the other two C23 Ogres that I’m using as Berserkers for now.

It took awhile to work out a skintone that would work well with the armour. The ruddy tones for his face and horrid pink and purple for his lower jaw seem to provide enough contrast without looking too garish. Red-browns for his leathergoods, and bronze for the metal trim again provide enough contrast without overwhelming the model or making it too busy.

C23 "Chaos Ogre"

As you can see, I decided to go with a Nurgle-themed look to him in the end, though not so completely over the top as so many of the current models. A green tinge to his beaten-up and damaged armour, and some glistening, oozing pustules on his shield were enough to match the model’s aesthetic. He’s much more “Chaos Warrior” than “Chaos Spawn”, after all.

C23 "Chaos Ogre"

Unsurprisingly, the rear of the model is the least interesting side. Armour plates are as armour plates do, after all. I used brass/bronze chain to break up the endless green a little.

C23 "Ogre Berserker"

C23 “Ogre Berserker” How appropriate!

I really thought I’d shown off the other two, but I can’t find them in my archives, so here goes. These guys were both painted a long time ago in the early 1990’s. Last year I cleaned them up a little while maintaining as much of the original work as possible. In practice this really just came down to smoothing the blends in their flesh and brightening up things like metal that had become dull, rather than any kind of major repaints.

This guy was (is) actually called “Ogre Berserker”, so how appropriate for his current role in my collection. The mono-horn predates the whole Nurgle aspect by several years, but I admit does fit in thematically with his fellow here. I’ve got some “proper” Forge World Chaos Ogres somewhere, but their time will come later on down the line. I want to finish all of my old-school Ogre models before starting on newer ones like those.

C23 "Ogre Berserker"

Nothing special on his rear view, though you can tell that he was painted in the same general timeframe as the Dark Angels Scouts I posted the other day as his pants are in “choc chip” desert camo and his loincloth in woodland. I think this might have been the figure that inspired me to paint my Marine Scouts in Desert Storm camouflage.

C23 "Ogre Berserker"

I’ve got to say – I really love the mean expressions and character that Jes Goodwin put into these Ogres. I’m pretty sure I’ve said it before, and I’m sure it won’t be the last time, either!

C23 “Matthog, Ogre Mercenary”

This next Ogre has clearly seen better days. With a peg leg, an eyepatch and a hook-hand, he’s got the pirate battle-wound triptych down. All he needs is a parrot and a tricorne hat (or bandanna) to complete the look completely into self-parody. SA clear forerunner and inspiration for many of the Maneaters that came decades later (as are many of the Original Ogres). This particular figure is quite special to me, for reasons you’re about to see.

C23 "Matthog, Ogre Mercenary"

There’s a nice glimpse of it. When I painted this one, it must have been 1991 or 1992, and I was working in the fringes of the music industry, taking home a lot of CDs each week.

C23 "Matthog, Ogre Mercenary"

Search and Destroy – Life is Pain – I Want to be Insane

C23 "Matthog, Ogre Mercenary"

More Than Soul – Death Trip

C23 "Matthog, Ogre Mercenary"

Creepy Crawl – Wash This Out of Your Life

Yeah, once I finished the skin on this guy, I just started painting Henry Rollins’ tattoos onto him. Not planned or anything, it just happened. If I’d planned it, I would have chosen a much more suitable figure to be the canvas for it, with a fully-exposed back, visible forearms, etc. Maybe even exposed legs. I’m planning to do another Ogre in the semi-near future with Rollins’ tattoos on him, and do a better job. But for work that’s more than 20 years old, this guy still stands the test of time for me and remains one of my special favourites from all of my painted models.

C23 Ogres - Berserker Unit!

C23 Ogres – Berserker Unit!

C23 Ogres - Berserker Unit!

These guys should make an impressively scary unit on the table, each figure an individual you wouldn’t want to fuck with combined into a very nasty unit. Now to get onto finishing their Shaman…

 

Ogre Index:

Jes Goodwin Classic Citadel Ogres #1

Bob Olley’s Classic Citadel Ogres

Golfag’s Ogre Mercenaries

Mantic’s Ogre Shooters: Units 1 and 2.  And Based.

Mantic’s Ogre Shooters: Units 3 and 4.

Mantic Ogre WIP 1 (and army concepts/some of the other ogres pre-touchup and rebasing)

Mantic Ogre WIP 2