Lead Legionaries: Armored Orcs for Dragon Rampant

Saturday, October 25, 2025

Armored Orcs for Dragon Rampant

Batch of six 28mm Gripping Beast armored orcs from their Ragnarok range for Dragon Rampant

No fancy Lord of the Rings movie quote for this batch of orcs, unfortunately. Here are six more orcs to add to my horde that I am painting up to use with Dragon Rampant fantasy miniatures rules. They are from the Gripping Beast's fantasy Ragnarok line of 28mm metal miniatures. Once again, I sifted through the figures I bought earlier this year to find a batch that looked relatively similar. I think it makes painting them go quicker when they have similar equipment.

Closeups of two of the poses -- this time I remembered to do a better job mixing up the weapons

I believe that most (if not all) are from the Uruk Hearthguard range/packs. They are all armored in chainmail with steel helmets and shields. This time I did a better job of mixing up the weapons I glued onto them. Two got short swords, two spears, and two axes. Yay! I remembered this time! I am quickly running out of weapons, though, that I received when my friend Jeff sent me this very large purchase that Rusty and I split. So, I'm likely going to have to increase the number of spear-armed troops as I am already digging into the spare 28mm weapons I have in my collection.

The orc on the left is probably my favorite pose, & with helms covering their faces, I didn't paint eyes

When I started painting these, I decided not to pop them off the round MDF bases that Jeff had glued them onto. His MDF rounds are quite a bit thicker than my Litko ones I used on the first couple batches. So, they do stand visibly heftier on these, especially once I add my magnetic material to the bottom. Hopefully, though, once they're all mixed together on the tabletop, the difference won't be too apparent. Because I am definitely NOT going back and re-basing them...haha!

I think the orcs & goblins with no helms show more character than these, but the orcs still look good

I painted these pretty much exactly like the last batch of armored goblins. Same three-step flesh tone, same chainmail base coat and dry brush, and same mix of pale or dark colors for orc clothes. The shields are a mix of tribal-like designs and things that seemed like they belong on an orc's shield, like snakes and glaring eyes. I got really positive feedback on the shields I did for the goblins, so figured why mess with success? I probably rushed washing the face of the shields with my black or brown vehicle wash, though. The black micron pen I used on the design smeared a bit on one or two of them. Normally, if I wait a couple days, the ink has dried sufficiently that there is no smearing. Sometimes to avoid this, I have even done a first spray of clearcoat to make sure. I usually do my first clear coat after the washing step, though. I may have to rethink this, and for the orcs and goblins, wash the shields after I put the first layer of flocking on them (when I usually do my first spray). Hmmm...

A good look at the tribal-like designs I used for the shields, again - most turned out pretty nice

Anyway, I am excited to see people posting on the Facebook groups I'm on that they have begun receiving Osprey's Dragon Rampant, 2nd Edition, in the mail. I pre-ordered mine through my friends Rusty and James at Firelands Games. He says he will most likely have it for me when I see them November 14-15 at Hold the Line convention in Camp Perry, OH. My friends Mike S and Keith have also each ordered a copy, so I look forward to games of Dragon Rampant in 2026!

Final look at this batch of six armored orcs -- I'm up to 37 figs painted for my army

So, what else is on my painting desk? It was actually rather crowded while I was finishing these guys off. I have decided to forge ahead and run my initial game of Devilry Afoot this coming Sunday in honor of Halloween. So, not only did I pull out three more Native American shamans (who will substitute as witches in my Franklinton 1797 campaign), but I also had a dozen or so woodland animals crowding my desk space, too. In the rules, witches/shamans switch back and forth between human and animal form. So, I am painting some "spirit animal" forms for the shamans. Witches can also summon imps in Devilry Afoot. For my frontier America setting, though, I'm substituting woodland animals being called by the shaman as an equivalent for the witches' imps. So, taking time away from these orcs being completed were shamans, bears, wolves, beavers, and wildcats. It was quite the race to get as many of them done in time for Sunday's game as possible. There was also a surprise monster that the shamans are trying to summon to bedevil the settlers of Franklinton, Ohio. Just in case any of my players are reading this, I'll hold off on announcing what they will be up against besides the shamans. Stay turned...LOTS of updates in the next few days!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025