Big Boss & Bodyguards of the Bonefish Band

    Warlord & standard bearer for my 28mm orc horde surrounded by his heavily armored bodyguards

My regular gaming group appears to be getting excited and geared up for playing games of Dragon Rampant, 2nd Edition. Four of us have purchased the rules and have several forces we can field, which will be more than enough to lend troops to the others who don't. To me, that means our first game will likely be soon. So, I figured it was time to paint my horde commander and his bodyguard unit. I decided to go with a 6-man "unit", but decided to paint a standard bearer as well as the 7th man. I know that doesn't jive with the rules, but I figure I can farm out one of the bodyguard figures as a leader in another unit of orcs.

    Closeup of two members of the orc bodyguard -- 28mm Gripping Beast from the Ragnorak range

From the unpainted lead I bought earlier this year, I picked out six of the most heavily-armored figures that I have remaining. One of them kind of looked like he could be the general himself, but honestly, none of the six really stood out that much more than the others. So, I looked through my other unpainted 28mm figures (humans) to see if there was one that looked imposing and orcish enough at the same time. I found a figure that I hadn't painted up from my Saga Mongol army. It was a foot figure of Genghis Khan and is freaking huge! I would estimate it towers at least head and shoulders above normal 28mm figures. What's more, he looked really cool. I liked him. Plus, many Tolkien fans have remarked that his descriptions of orcs jives with the way Mongols or Huns were often described by Europeans. Perfect!

    Orc bodyguards of the 'Bonefish Band' form a shieldwall to protect their boss, the horde commander

Next, I had to decide on a color scheme. The rest of the army had been painted up irregularly, with no figures identical to each other. However, I wanted the commander's bodyguard to be somewhat uniform. I decided to mimic, to a degree, the color scheme of late Republican Roman legionaries. Tunics would be painted a dark blood red. Their chainmail would be silver, but their leg greaves, arm guards, helmets, and any other plate armor would be bronze. I have always felt that color scheme is a really effective . 

    Originally a huge Genghis Khan figure, I think the mini makes a mean-looking orc warlord

However, the Genghis Khan commander figure had completely different equipment and armor from the rest of the orcs. He holds a bow in one hand and a long curved sword in the other. His armor looks almost like samurai armor, with intricate designs that evoke lamellar. I wanted it to really stand out, so decided to go with several metallic colors for the armor. I wanted the tones to complement the blood red of his tunic. First, I painted the armor an Iron Wind Metals Steel base coat. Next, I did the horizontal banding on the armor a reddish gold color. Between each horizontal band, the armor looks like it is composed of tiny vertical plates. I decided to do these in alternating colors. My first thought was three separate colors in a pattern, but in the end decided to go with two. I chose an Iron Wind Metals Cooper (to stay with the reddish theme) and a more yellow golden color. 

    Closeup of the other three members of the warlord's bodyguard - I'm happy with their color scheme

Once I finished all of this detailing, which took almost an entire one hour painting session it itself, I was very happy with how the orc boss came out. I like to blurt out Orc quotes from the Lord of the Rings movies sometimes when I'm painting my horde. It gets me in the mood, makes me giggle a little, and breaks up the routine. If I remember correctly, when orcs in the tower in Mordor discover Frodo's mithril silver shirt, one barks at the other, "Hands off my shiny shirt!", sparking a fight. Of course, I had to say that and repeat it several more times during the painting process. This orc commander does indeed have a very shiny shirt!

    Couple angles of the orc boss and his standard bearer on their large, hexagonal 'Saga style' base

I also brightened up the bronze armor of his bodyguard a bit with highlights of gold here and there. I figure these guys might have some weaker servants who they force to burnish up their equipment a bit more than the average orc or goblin. I also decided to go with a "unit" shield design. My thread on the Lead Adventure Forum where I publish photos of each batch of figures uses an orc quote, too, "Gut you like a bonefish!" So, I have been putting fish skeletons here and there on the shields of the orcs and goblins that I've been painting up. I decided the bodyguard would have two bonefish skeletons around their central iron boss. I wanted the shield color to be lighter so that I could use my black micron pens for the design. I decided to go with a faded reddish, salmon color. Of course, I know someone will quip, "Your orc bodyguards have pink shields? Haha!" I've used this color in the warband from time to time, and I like its faded look for cloth. So, I went with it!

    Warlord and his bodyguard form up after looting and burning a human settlement

I also decided to base the orc commander and his bodyguard on the same stand, one of my larger hexagonal ones. This is much like I did with my Saga armies. It makes the big man (or orc) stand out from the crowd of individually based figures. I almost put a wolf on the base, too. I didn't have one the right size, though. All of them were either too small or too big. The flag that the standard bearer carries was designed in Photoshop, as usual, and printed out on a laser printer at the local Office Max store. I'm really happy with how the bodyguards came out, and look forward to the Bonefish Band making it to the tabletop soon.

    Close up of the standard bearer - or the figure I converted into one!

What's on my painting desk now? Well, everything I need to exceed the number of figures I purchased or acquired this year! There is a batch of four goblins and two trolls that are in the flocking stages. Look for a post on them very soon. There are also the five 28mm animals I never got around to finishing when I was getting my Devilry Afoot spirit animals ready. And finally, there is a batch of Redcaps -- those bloody malevolent goblins of Scottish myth. Two of the figures are 3-D printed 28mm Redcaps from Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures. The other eight are an impulse purchase earlier this year from Conquest Games. I picked up a few packs of their Svartalfar -- goblinoid figures that had no idea were as tiny as they were! Honestly, they look to be almost 15mm scale, but are very cool, as is all of their Myths of Albion range. They have no caps on their head, though, so I am sculpting those out of green stuff. I've never really been that proficient with it, so this will definitely be a learning experience. Stay tuned to see how they come out!

    With the way I 'ripple' my banners with white glue, I can't take a good shot of it - so here it is!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 306
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 286

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 62
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 80

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 144
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 213 

    A final look at this batch of 28mm Gripping Beast orcs -- 20 figures away from my goal...!