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Napoleonorc Armies
I don't do a lot of large armies. I have a number of types of troop
where I have a lot of figures, but they are mostly lots of variant
figures for different purposes. But I picked up a big army (by my
standards) or orcs, and decided I could do two things with them:
- Split the force into two opposing forces.
- Take a shot at painting up Napoleonic forces.
Seemed to make sense to me, since they both are large, fairly unform
armies. There were some issues with the bulk figures I got. Not a problem
with the seller - I knew I was getting second handfigures with a few issues.
Plus, I got them for less than a buck a head (in bulk with some other stuff).
Some needed bases; no problem - tiddlywinks to the rescue! Others had broken spears. I just spliced the upright ones. With the leveled spears, I realized that I could make two ranks where long spears in the back had the same reach as short spears in the front. I liked that idea, so I went with it. I was able to move some spearheads, but some were missing.
I didn't bother to prime (and I am a big advocate of that!) as this was experimental. Here you can see the white breaches and shirts and caucasian skin tones.
There's a guy up front here with a thin cardboard spearhead. I think it blends in decently in close up and perfectly at arm's length.
You can also see another problem. The orcs were wearing masks/facesheilds that I decided to just make into faces. But then, they had no noses. So after painting, I "carved" in a nose with a pencil. This: (1) created a nose, (2) provided a little shadow from the graphite on paing, but also (3) made a thin ridge on the face for the black wash to seep into, reinforcing the noses. Again, reasonable close up and unnoticeable at arm's length.
Here's the Russian side. Green coats with red cuffs and a little bit of
gold trim for some zip. I'm also hoping I could use thsese in a pinch
for Mexican forces. Even though the Mexicans didn't wear these colors (AFAIK),
They look OK for the flag.
And the commanders. These are nice metal figures, so I put a little more
effort into them. I also had them on opposite sides when I orginally
(randomly) split up the troops. But the guy on the left just looked more
French to me.
Here they are on the field of battle. Other than only having about twenty
dudes per side, I think these guys meet their purpose.
And the flags. Each side gets two, one proper flag of the Napoleonic era
and then one slightly more orcish unit banner. A double eagle on a
gold field for the Russians and a fleur-de-lis (more like a fleur du mal)
for the French.