Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 85: The evolution of orcs/orks/orruks: from Paul Bonner to Brian Nelson to the Kruleboyz

There are new Orruks in Age of Sigmar!

In this episode, we are joined by our long time friend and ork supporter, Brad Smith. With the recent reveal of the new Age of Sigmar edition (3rd), and the visual redesign of the included orruks, the Kruleboyz, we decided to talk about how Games Workshop’s orcs have changed over the years. We talk about the goofy looking Paul Bonner-style of orcs/orks that filled early editions of Warhammer and 40k, before talking about how Brian Nelson completely redesigned their look for GorkaMorka and 3rd edition 40k. Although Nelson’s designs have defined the orc look for over 20 years, their look has changed slightly, as designers struggle to capture the simple ferocity of his designs. Finally, we talk about how orcs changed for Age of Sigmar, becoming Orruks, and how divergent the Kruleboyz are from the previous Ironjawz models.

A look back: The miniatures of 2016

With 2016 coming to a close, we thought that it would be fun to take some time to consider what miniatures were released this year, and comment on our favorites. Anyone who has followed the site for awhile will know that we largely focus on Games Workshop models, though we have tried to give mention to quality releases from other ranges. This year, however, nearly all of our time was spent with Games Workshop models, with nothing beyond that spectrum really capturing our attention. Feel free to let us know in the comments what other companies we overlooked in 2016, however.

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 7: Orruks in Age of Sigmar and Warhammer Quest!

Orcs/orks/orruks are back!

This episode is focused on the orcs arrival in  Age of Sigmar, in the form of the Orruk Ironjawz.  We talk about the new Ironjaw models, and discuss how the image of the orcs has changed over the years in Games Workshop products. Special mention is given to Brian Nelson’s key role in defining how they look today.  We also speak briefly about the newly revealed Warhammer Quest boxed game, marveling at the surprising diversity in the models included in the box.

Orruk Megaboss: Unboxing and assembly impressions

This beakie looks outclassed...

In my mind, the orcs/orks/orruks really came into perfect form when Brian Nelson started to sculpt them, starting with a few Warhammer Fantasy models, then moving to Gorkamorka (Mad Max-style gang warfare game), before finally sculpting the majority of the 3rd edition Warhammer 40,000 range.  He was able to take the somewhat comical humanoid designs of Rogue Trader and 2nd edition Warhammer 40k and completely revitalize them.  He turned the orcs/orks into more simian-like creatures with long arms corded with muscle and hunched postures.  Beyond the orcs’ frame, Nelson gave them a very distinctive facial structure, with a flattened nose, small beady eyes and a pronounced lower jaw.  A lot of these features were already part of the orc aesthetic, but Nelson was able to combine those elements into something very distinctive and unique for Games Workshop. Brian Nelson made me love the orcs.  A number of other sculptors have handled orcs for Games Workshop since Nelson’s reimaging, but none ever fully captured their essence like he did.  The last few Warhammer 40,000 orc releases seem more like imitations of Nelson’s greatness, never quite reaching the same heights (despite being very good).  I had long hoped for the day that Nelson would return to sculpting orcs, and when I saw images of the new Orruk models for Age of Sigmar, my heart lept.  After seeing the expressive faces on the models, and the careful attention to scale, I knew that Brian Nelson must have had a serious role in their creation.  As it turns out, Nelson’s first sculpt for the Orruk range was the imposing Orruk Megaboss. Such was my excitement about the model that I was at my local hobby shop to get it the day it was released.

The Pilgrym: Samael Urkston, Lord of Bones Complete!

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind.

Having finished building quite a few members of the Church of the Red Athenæum, I realized that I need to start painting some of them, lest the summer arrive and they are all still grey plastic and green stuff.  Looking over the models that I built, Samael Urkston, the Church’s Chronicler, seemed like a good place to start.  The Wayne England tribute is one of my favorite models that I have ever created, and it seemed a good place to start painting, and experimenting with a suitable color scheme for the Church as a whole.  The model ended up taking quite a long time to paint, but I think the effort was well worth it, both to establish the Church’s image going forward and to honor the irreplaceable Wayne England.

The Pilgrym: Samael Urkston, Lord of Bones, A Tribute to Wayne England

The Emperor Expects.

The passing of Wayne England earlier this month hit my brothers and I pretty hard, as his art has become synonymous with our ideas of the 41st millennium. This caused us to reflect on his contributions to Warhammer 40,000 and to look back through his seminal 40k art.  Perusing his pieces brought us back to one particular illustration, one that completely encapsulates the grim-dark ethos of Warhammer 40,000.  The illustration that I speak of is of the sneering scribe inking skulls in the 3rd edition 40k rulebook.  The beak-like nose, frazzled hair, and stretched skin combine to create a wonderfully macabre character.  Seeing this artwork again inspired me to create a model for the Church of the Red Athenæum in his likeness. We had been planning to create a Chronicler for the Church, someone who keeps track of the bodily sacrifices and the Church death toll (and might have started to sell body parts on the side).  And what better than modeling our Chronicler after England’s iconic skull inker?  This lead to our creation of the Lord of Bones:

Black Sailors: Papa Jambo, Witch Doctor Unboxing

Papa Jambo, Witch Doctor of the Black Sailors

I have always had a soft spot for orcs, ever since I started playing 40k with the second edition boxed game.  They were called Space Orks back then, and their identity was a little confused, equal parts goofy and equal parts brutal.  Most of the models were also quite generic humanoid figures, with few discerning features.  This all changed when Brian Nelson re-envisioned/recreated orcs for Games Workshop.  Rather than spindly human frames, they were replaced with hunched, hulking bodies, with huge corded muscles dominating their oversized arms.  Their faces also changed slightly, taking all the hallmarks of orcs in the fantasy setting, pointed ears, small recessed eyes, pug nose, and a broad jaw brimming with sharp teeth, and created something more his own.  This gave Games Workshop’s Orc design their own unique look, even though it was built from standard tropes, and it solidified my love of orks.  In the years since Nelson’s redesign, many have tried to sculpt orks in his style, but few ever really succeeded.  They tend to go through all the right motions, but always ultimately lose something in the process (often the sheer brutal practicalism of their clothes and weapons, replaced with wonky oversized nonsense).  I can probably count on one hand the orc models that I like that are not designed by Brian Nelson, and therefore almost lost interest in new orc models in general.  This all changed with the Black Sailors - Pirates, Orcs, Fantasy Miniatures! Kickstarter by Big Child Creatives.  They are a small company of very talented sculptors based out of Madrid Spain, who decided to launch a project with the following premise: "At BigChild we love orcs, we love pirates, so we thought, why not combine the two and produce such miniatures!?"  The result is an astounding collection of swashbuckling orcs, each gigantic in 54mm scale.  The amount of passion and creative energy oozing from each model literally renewed my faith in the creation of orc models.  I had to get one.  I ended up selecting Papa Jambo, a ramshackle Witch Doctor, and to my delight, he arrived in the mail yesterday.  I think that pictures will convey the meticulous craftsmanship of these models better than I could write!

Unboxing: Stormcast Eternal Lord-Celestant

The first few Stormcast...

Having played a few games of Age of Sigmar while proxying my Dark Angels as Stormcast Eternals, I was really impressed with some of their character models, particularly the rune sword and warhammer-wielding Lord-Celestant.  Despite being geared for close combat, he wears a Sigmarite Warcloak that gives him D6 shooting attacks which have the possibility of causing Mortal wounds.  What makes him truly impressive, however is his command ability (Furious Retribution), that allows himself and any other Stormcast Eternal within 9” to add 1 to all their hit rolls in close combat.  In my first few games of Age of Sigmar, he was able to boost the killing potential of a unit of Retributors, allowing me to tear through pretty much anything my opponent could throw at them.  After having so much fun using the Lord-Celestant in game (I had been proxying an Emperor’s Champion), I decided to get the model itself.

Putrid Blightkings: Impressions

Grandfather Nurgle is proud.

Since its release, Brian Nelson’s Nurgle Chaos lord has been a key component to countless imaginative conversions.  In particular, it has been championed by the Inq28 crowd to make everything from daemonhosts to weapon servators (JRN’s daemonhost and Migula’s weapon smith, are excellent examples).  It is not difficult to understand why the model has received so much attention, it is both hideous and majestic in its corpulent, rotting splendor, dripping with vile ichors and donned in corroding metal.  It was also one of the first plastic character models Games Workshop released that, while multi-part, was intended to be assembled in one way.  By restricting the the posing, they were able to produce models with astounding depth, with parts layering on top of another (Malifaux plastic miniatures excel in this, as well).  As such, I was very excited when the Putrid Blightkings, a whole unit of foetid servants of Nurgle, much like Nelson’s model, were unveiled.

Dark Eldar: Converting Duke Sliscus

Follow the Serpent!

Ever since the release of the Dark Elf assassin Shadowblade, I knew I wanted to use the model as a foundation for a conversion of Duke Sliscus. The model’s dynamic pose seemed to play nicely with the image of him I had in my mind, a flamboyant firebrand of a character.  I mused on how best to create the characters, and with the later release of the Dark Elf fleetmaster, I knew I found the last few pieces I needed.

Dark Elves: New possibilities for Dark Eldar and others!

The new Dark Elf models are just begging to be converted!

This past weekend marked the first wave of releases for the new Dark Elves army book. With a release schedule somewhat reminiscent of the Dark Eldar in 2011, the army is slated to have a second wave of releases in the near future. Taken together, these two waves largely see a complete resculpting of the army’s range of miniatures. This is an exciting time for the Dark generals of Naggaroth and the Warhammer 40k generals alike. This new set of releases offers a large collection of new pieces suitable for all sorts of conversions, be it individualizing some Dark Eldar warriors, or converting an INQ28 death cult assassin. With this post I wanted to talk a little about some of the new releases and my thoughts about them and how I envision them being used in conversions as well (this is greatly facilitated by all of the releases being in plastic!).