Armored Troll & the Last of the Orc & Goblin Horde

    My final batch of armored orcs (plus an armored troll) for the Bonefish Band are done!

I am winding down the painting of my orc and goblin horde for Dragon Rampant. Here's the final batch (with one exception which I will talk about below). I've also included one of the Gripping Beast armored trolls in with these because I previously had only five trolls painted up. I wanted a sixth because a unit of Greater Warbeasts under the DR! rules is 6 Strength Points. This way, I can remove one figure for each SP loss. The other eight figures in this batch are armored orcs.

    One of 28mm armored trolls from Gripping Beast's Ragnarok line -- a heavy hunk of metal goodness

The troll (named Ogah on their site) was great fun to paint up. It thought that his chainmail, with its small plates of armor over the top on his chest, was a nice touch. I painted both those plates and his helmet bronze to give more contrast with the chainmail. I love the intensity of Ogah's snarling expression, teeth bared. His feet wrapped in strips of cloth are a nice touch, as well. I used the same skin tone recipe for him as the other trolls -- charcoal gray base coat, rain gray dry brush, and faint timberline green highlights. I also love the plates of armor bolted onto his huge shield, as well. Looking at the shield, I thought it just called out for a checkerboard pattern. That turned out pretty well, too. All in all, it is a great figure that will definitely be deployed in the ranks of the Bonefish Band!

    Closeup of 4 of the last batch of GB armored orcs -- these were a lot of fun to paint!

The armored orcs were simply more of the same that I've subjecting you to on this blog...haha! I certainly feel like I've painted up a lot of these boys over the last few months. In fact, I had very few unarmored orcs at all in this army -- mostly just the goblin archers. I will likely pick up a couple packs of unarmored goblins from Firelands Games so that I have some to use in games of Sellswords & Spellslingers. It's kind of funny, and so typical of us wargamers, right? I have way more orc and goblin figures than I need to fill out the ranks of my Bonefish Band, but I need to buy more figs...! To be clear, they aren't for Dragon Rampant -- they're for another game. But it still seems strange, doesn't it?

    Obligatory 'Shield Shot' with all of them lined up in a row -- I thought this batch came out nicely

I really like how the shields came out on this final batch of troops, too. I decided to add a second (or third) color on some of them. I'm still using the simple, tribal-style illustrations with my micron pens on the lighter-colored shield faces. On the darker shields, I brush paint the design -- the gaping skeletal jaws on one and the yellow moon on the other. I have genuinely enjoyed painting the orc, goblin, and troll figures in this army. I would have liked more variety in equipment. However, that's not Gripping Beast's fault. That's simply what my friend sold to me. Oh well -- the army is nearly done! 

    Are you sick of seeing orcs here on my blog? Well, other than some casualties, you made it through!

After this batch, I counted out my remaining orcs and goblins. I had only 15 left from the horde that I purchased from my friend Jeff. The final step is to take a half dozen of those remaining and create casualties out of them. One disadvantage of metal figures vs. plastic is chopping them off their bases is NOT easy! I have done that to six, though, and am in the process of creating the flocked base each will rest upon. They will be used to mark units that are "Battered" status in DR! This reminds me a bit of making Fatigue markers in Saga. Same idea -- something scenic on the tabletop instead of a random colored bead or other marker to track a unit's status. The remaining nine orc and goblin figures I likely won't paint anytime soon. I'll save them in case I need them for something special. As I said, I have PLENTY for my DR! army!

    Okay, I liked -- here is one of final look at Ogah and his orc minders lined up for battle

With this batch, I also finished more bases of elephant grass (Version 3, if you're curious). I have now used up all of the 22mm tufts I bought at Michigan Toy Soldier, with which I was able to create 14 total 1.5" bases of elephant grass. Hopefully, that's enough! So, what else is on the painting desk? I continue to work on those crashed spaceship sections. The base coat of dark metallic is done for all of them, and I am more than halfway through the dark red metallic accent color on them. After that, only the flocking will be left to do. They're scheduled to be used this Sunday in a Star Wars skirmish game using Space Weirdos. So, stay tuned -- more stuff is on the way!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 6
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 24

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 2

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 16