Author Topic: The Oathkeepers Tribe (reinforcements) (Read 5168 times)

Baron Wastelands · « **on:** Jan 11, 2010, 12:54:37 AM »

So. Snowed in, no work, only 14 half painted models and 4 new christmas ogres (a present rather than a rumoured new special troop choice) away from finishing painting my collection of ogres - numbering a mathematical pleasing 44 ogres in total - all plastic, all converted. Admittedly, by "conversion", I just mean changed a bit - I'm a basic greenstuffer at best, and many models just have hands glued at interesting (but plausible!) angles. Nonetheless, some of the more adventurous conversions I'm personally pleased with, though tame by some of the standards around here. But hey, it's about personal development, right?
So, it's nearly a week later, late on Sunday night, with the prospect of returning to work all too real, but I'm done! Some gnoblog then . . . Well, when I say I'm done, I mean I'm done so far. I'm all for adding to it, and thought this might encourage me - have a terrible habit of just stopping a project for several months and then coming back to it thinking "now, how did I do that skintone I wonder?"
For example, I would like to add some gorgers, but not happy with the standard models, would like to stick to plastic, and maybe do something a bit different with them - even giving another rationale. Will think about it - one possibility is taking a knife to the rat ogre models and see what happens (I know this has been mooted before - anyone get anywhere interesting with this?)

Anyway, the army. I have painted a lot of skaven in the past, and am sick of large regiments of small models, so I made a conscious decision not to use gnoblars (I know, I know, I NEED trappers, and what about screens, etc. - well, I prefer to lose with a theme, ok? ;p) Which gave me my first bit of fluff - I wanted a nomadic band of ogres, disposessed of their home territory, who only took as many gnoblars as they could carry (lookout, sword, etc.) Second, I really like the dirt-and-rust feel of some ogre tribes, so I decided to go with very muted colours, dirty banners etc. I found simple drybrushing gold on browns gave me a passable bronze effect, so went with that as the main metal scheme. All this was a while ago - this week has been largely trying to reproduce the colours on existing models!

Next, the pictures. I must confess I have never successfully taken pictures of figures in the past, so my first try was a bit scrappy - see Maneaters in the butcher's cauldron for my first bad attempt at flash photography. Anyway, did a bit of research, and have discovered a way to take photos without flash (and learned plenty about my camera in the process!). So, while latest attempts are not perfect, I think they give a better representation, so I thought I'd post some up. So here goes!

First, a couple of bulls - was really happy with the standard bearer here, might be my favourite standard in the army.

Next up, my slaughtermaster with a couple of Butchers:

My tyrant, and bull gut bruiser:

And finally some of the more converted leadbelchers, which I had a lot of fun with:

That's it for now - I have also finished the BSB and irongut conversions, and will post pictures of those soon. Here's hoping I stay snowed in tomorrow . . .

Gilgre · « **Reply #1 on:** Jan 11, 2010, 01:53:55 AM »

Nice work. I really like what you have done, expecially with the Gut Bruiser!

Randroid · « **Reply #2 on:** Jan 11, 2010, 02:34:50 AM »

The gutplate cannon is awesome!

Reg06 · « **Reply #3 on:** Jan 11, 2010, 05:27:05 PM »

Very nice work. The Slaughtermaster's skullmantle and hammer are made of awesome, and the tyrant is an excellent example of making characters from the basic components (all your characters are actually).
But for the love of all that is good, watch out for those mold lines (case in point, the first belcher).

Baron Wastelands · « **Reply #4 on:** Jan 12, 2010, 12:41:58 AM »

Yeah, I noticed that too, but not until I looked at the photo - it's near invisible on the model

Anyway, thanks for feedback so far

Time for a bit of background - the Oathkeepers are run by Gorlag Oathsayer - the son of Ylarth Oathmaker, who was tyrant of the now destroyed Ragged Maw tribe. Ylarth swore a blood oath with two other tyrants in the early days of Greasus to oppose the rise of the overtyrant, and were horribly slaughtered for their trouble, as part of Greasus' meteoric rise. But Gorlag, through a "gutsy" gamble and not a bit of luck, managed to escape the same fate, and in time, both reiterate the oath, and raise a new tribe. He knows full well that to oppose Greasus directly is death to the tribe, so instead the Oathkeepers run a guerrila war, deliberately raiding the caravans on the lucrative trade routes, especially the ivory road. To avoid destruction, they are constantly on the move, and pillage all they need. It is not an easy life, but one to which they are (for the most part at least) fervently devoted. All ironguts are required to swear a blood oath too, before they are awarded the tribal status.

Am working on a longer account, something approaching a story, but in the meantime, a few more pictures: mainly, my favourite irongut, and in a unit:

and as an after-thought, was very pleased with how the book on this butcher turned out - he's the one with the chicken drumstick and cleaver above . . . most of the backs of my models are fairly boring, but one or two individuals make the army pleasing to look at from my point of view!

- like the back of my hunter. Can't seem to take a nice picture of his front, but here's his back . . .

That's it for today - hopefully some more fluff and/or pics tomorrow.

skraggy · « **Reply #5 on:** Jan 12, 2010, 02:07:59 AM »

Wow! Fantastic great way to start an army, I love the standard bearer and the color scheme especially.

Busta Gut · « **Reply #6 on:** Jan 12, 2010, 10:04:45 PM »

that standard looks great. I get so jealous looking at some models on here lol

Baron Wastelands · « **Reply #7 on:** Jan 14, 2010, 12:13:10 PM »

Took a photo of the BSB to add - he mostly runs with the maneaters, so he shares their theme a little - I'm now thinking of doing another tyrant, since I have been putting him in with them trying the deathstar, and theming him a little - possibly even breaking my all plastic rule because I love the paymaster maneater and I think he would make a great tyrant conversion too.
Anyway, the standard bearer:

Little blurry, so here's a shot of him in unit:

and from behind, with captive!

Much happier with these pics of my maneaters too (rather than the crappy one I first posted in the cauldron) - happy to have learned to take better piccies through doing this too

Still working on the fluff, though my laptop has died on me (green lines, anyone?) so don't know if I'll get the story back, so might start over. I also might try to post a full army list soon - have a total of about 3.5k, but from a modelling/painting/fluff perspective, most actual games I play are in the 1-2k region. Still, should make a decentish 3k army list - my goal now is to eventually move it up to 4k.
Rat ogres to gorgers is I think the next project

Now the snow is going at last, I might just get into town to buy some.

skraggy · « **Reply #8 on:** Jan 14, 2010, 12:20:51 PM »

This is a great army. The bsb and his unit look absolutely fantastic. Have a pet gnoblar!

Baron Wastelands · « **Reply #9 on:** Jan 15, 2010, 10:35:17 AM »

Ok, gorgers are a WIP now, so thought I'd post a couple of pics - still some green-stuffing and additional bits (skulls hanging from the belt, a chain or two maybe, etc.) but the basic idea is there - have reposed the rat ogre models to give them a more feral stance, and stretched the mouths of the bulls head to give them a slightly unnatural effect.

Since the Oathkeepers are always on the move, I had the idea to make these "captive gorgers" - hunted and chained by the tribe's hunter, and released just prior to battle, then recaptured when they have gorged themselves on the flesh of the fallen. I like the idea of a hunter who has captured anything and everything - might even give him a big name like "kinseeker" or "runtcatcher".

Baron Wastelands · « **Reply #10 on:** Jan 19, 2010, 08:50:38 PM »

Gorgers are still WIP, rooting around in bits boxes for suitable stuff to add. In the meantime, I put together a 3000 pt army list, which uses most of my models (1 hunter, 6 bulls including 3 modelled as standard bearers - here's hoping they're useable in 8th ^^, 1 irongut standard, and 1 leadbelcher left over). I've included the gorgers even though they're not finished yet.
This is mostly theory at the moment, I don't get the chance for many 3k games, but it's fun to think about, and nice to have the choice for lower point value games

So, the Oathkeepers at the moment amount to:

LORDS AND HEROES:

Tyrant: Tenderiser, Heavy armour, Wyrdstone necklace, 2x Thief stones (306)

Bruiser BSB: Battle standard, Lookout gnoblar, Heavy armour, Sword of Striking (194)

Bruiser: Ironfist, Heavy armour, Greedy fist, Fistful of laurels, luck gnoblar, 2x sword gnoblar (189)

Butcher: Skullmantle, Siege breaker (180)

Butcher: Bangstick, Dispel Scroll (180)

Butcher: Bloodcleaver, Dispel Scroll (180)

CORE UNITS

3x Bulls, Bellower (115)

3x Bulls, Bellower (115)

3x Bulls, Bellower (115)

3x Ironguts, Champion (164)

3x Ironguts, Bellower (154) (Skullmantle butcher goes here)

3x Ironguts, Standard (Rune Maw), Lookout gnoblar, Bellower (199) (Bruiser and Bloodcleaver butcher go here)

SPECIAL CHOICES:

2x Leadbelchers, Champion (120)

2x Leadbelchers, Champion (120)

2x Leadbelchers, Champion (120)

2x Leadbelchers, Bellower (120) (Bangstick butcher goes here)

RARE CHOICES:

3x Maneaters, Great weapons, Heavy armour (270) (Tyrant and BSB go here)

Gorger (75)

Gorger (75)

2996 points

Goodwin · « **Reply #11 on:** Jan 29, 2010, 03:58:45 PM »

I think I posted in your maneater post, but these guys are awesome. Your 'basic' greenstuffing is making me jealous and worried that I'll just never compare. *wipes tear*

I really like the paint scheme and the conversions.

Have a gutslap.

*Slaps your gut in happiness*

Steelbull · « **Reply #12 on:** Jan 29, 2010, 10:23:40 PM »

Very nice conversions! There are some ideas you've used that I like a lot, and I'm in the process of needing to make some maneaters... I particularly like the Irongut wielding the dwarven cart. If I end up borrowing that idea, I'll have to name the model Baron Wastelands! Keep up the good work!

Goodwin · « **Reply #13 on:** Jan 30, 2010, 10:06:00 AM »

Really like the gorgers too. Snazy!

Crowbait · « **Reply #14 on:** Jan 30, 2010, 10:27:39 PM »

Yuut! Fantastic stuff! My mind is reeling with things I want to try based on your conversions.. thanks for the inspriation..

~crow~

Savage Oaf · « **Reply #15 on:** Jan 30, 2010, 11:00:33 PM »

Hey mate is you leadbelcher cannons just black with a chainmail drybrush then highlight? Looks really good.

Baron Wastelands · « **Reply #16 on:** Jan 31, 2010, 08:26:06 AM »

Quote from: Savage Oaf on Jan 30, 2010, 11:00:33 PM

Hey mate is you leadbelcher cannons just black with a chainmail drybrush then highlight? Looks really good.

Exactly that, yes - I found that an extremely light drybrush applied a few times will give a sooty, metallic feel on black - and that way it really builds up most of the highlights on it's own - then just fine highlighting to finish.

Thanks for the nice feedback all

Rhokan · « **Reply #17 on:** Feb 01, 2010, 04:15:38 AM »

I love all your conversions!

They give a hopeless noob some good Ideas. My favorite though must be the Irongut with the cart, I must have a fetish for Ogres smashing other things with big objects!

barlio · « **Reply #18 on:** Feb 01, 2010, 08:02:23 PM »

Looks great. I'm converting characters from basic bits so thanks for the inspiration.

Baron Wastelands · « **Reply #19 on:** Feb 06, 2010, 11:40:28 PM »

So, after messing about with various modelling projects and completely failing to decide what the next army to paint is going to be (options are some of the new plastic skaven - a pestilens themed list, orcs and goblins - all built and undercoated but sooo many models, or 40k orcs - lots converted now but same problem!), so went back to my gorgers. Have been afraid of painting them since I put on the base colours I envisaged, and wasn't at all happy. Anyway, forced myself to finish and then see, and actually quite pleased with the result. So here they are

Which gives me proper rare options at last

Baron Wastelands · « **Reply #20 on:** Feb 18, 2010, 11:49:49 PM »

Ok, have finally finished basing all the bulls etc., (I got distracted by buying some other models - a serious error, I realise - more on that elsewhere

), so I thought it was time for a group photo. Here, just after a big feast, are the oathkeepers!

So, just need to do some individualised objective and gut magic markers, which are a low priority since I have standard ones, but it would be nice to get them done. I'm also toying with the idea of adding some 'tusks for my hunter, I had modelled some white lions, but they're unpainted - and I might wait until people have forgotten about zsouless's ones a bit, mine pale by comparison!

Other than that, I'm going to leave these guys alone for a bit, at least until the next book - I'm happy with the options they give me. Will post anything I do and/or am inspired to do in the meantime.

Which brings me to my next project

Time for another gnoblog . . .

barlio · « **Reply #21 on:** Feb 19, 2010, 10:56:12 PM »

Looking good man. I think the Leadbelchers and the Maneaters are my favorite.

Savage Oaf · « **Reply #22 on:** Feb 22, 2010, 04:09:08 PM »

Fantastic looking army mate, looking forward to more of your work in the future.

Baron Wastelands · « **Reply #23 on:** Jul 29, 2010, 08:02:26 PM »

I'm on vacation once more (hooray) and after several days with my head buried in books (no prizes for guessing which ones) I turned to updating the Oathkeepers for 8th Ed. Actually, not as bad as I thought - scrappies got better, bad for me since I don't use gnoblars, though I am considering painting up a unit, everyone keeps telling me I'm missing out on the little fellas, but I don't like the models or the fluff . . .

Anyway, otherwise, Yhetees got a bit worse - no problem for me, same as with the gnoblars - the fact that they are now mutated ogres still doesn't do it for me. So the main difference, as far as I am concerned, is that bigger units are needed, and hence command options (at least standards and bellowers) become more viable. Well, this could've been worse - I like modelling and painting standards anyway, so I always did them whether or not I intended to field them - with the result that for every three bulls, I had a bellower and a standard already. So, with 3 units of bulls, that meant . . . about 3 more needed so that I could feel 3 6-strong units, or 1 15-strong Horde (with characters). My units of IGs were the same but smaller - I used to use standards with them anyway, so I had 2 units of 5 with stds and musicians. Since these were almost always accompanied by characters, they didn't need much, but I thought I'd model a gutlord in case I ever wanted to hide a butcher behind a full command rank.

After that, with 2 models left over from my new box of bulls (so many bits I went for maximum bodies ^^), I did an extra Leadbelcher, since I had an odd number, and finally modelle another character - which I like, so may do a bit more work on later and use him as my tyrant. I have an idea about the weapon, but more later.

But first, as I promised ages ago, I did in the end model 2 sabre tusks for my hunter from white lions models. I quite like the result, so here they are:

and with the hunter:

Next, the 3 new bulls and the extra leadbelcher - I like the idea that this guy fires through a full barrel of gunpowder every time, for that added kick, so he has 3 "rounds" attached to his belt. The pointing bull, with all the knives, can also serve as a champ if needs be.

And lastly, the gutlord and the possible tyrant:

Dragsus · « **Reply #24 on:** Jul 29, 2010, 08:07:04 PM »

i like the lion from hunter:-)