"Why are 90% of all Orc ranges identical in concept?" Topic

Goblins too.

Yeah, I know there are exceptions. But where is it written that all Orcs and goblins should copy … well … you know who?

Pig-faced Orcs are fun, too.

They ain't the ones I'm talking about.

THANK YOU!

Its like a bunch of sculptors got lazy and said F--- it. We'll just copy GW's style.

I like the Ral Partha stuff from the 90's. Realistically proportioned. Not the lantern jawed cartton characters everyone seems to be doing.

Chuck

Because GW's style is the best style(subjectively speaking, of course)? Big, green tusked gorillas with ginormous shoulders are far superior to those lanky grey and brown things.

I am with John in this one. So many GW clones that are just silly.
Pig-faced Orcs are cool!
That is one reason I love Labyrinth Lord

Because GW saw what Nick Lund did at Chronicle – copied and exaggerated it and it became the default style.

Compare GW's Orks post Nick Lund's work wih what they put out before Chronicle hit the scene – a very different kettle of fish.

D&D had a gazetteer "Orcs of Thar" that described orcs as:

1. pig faced
2. simian faced
3. and I forget the other

It had some differences from just the norm. The Spelljammer Scro were my fas of D&D lines though.

Wargames factory orcs are based on MERP orcs, they look good but not stooped enough for my taste. Although I got to say I gave them a bit of a nudge in that direction with my WF Numidian/Orc conversion..

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I like the GW Orcs for their comedy value and their look goes along with that, but really only for the Warhammer settings. Otherwise I MUCH prefer the older Ral Partha orcs, such as these:

(these aren't mine, I painted mine grey/purple).
I like that they're more evil looking, less like dumb brutes… more like magically/alchemically created not-men… with maybe just a touch of demon in them.

I also like the Rackham orcs… which obviously take cues from the GW ones but then add a bit of je ne sais quoi… making them look less overtly silly and dumb. Too bad they painted them green.

I have some of the Wargames Factory orcs and they seem more realistic (?) <LOL> than the GW ones. Think the proportions are better ?

The reason they are copied from the 'big and brutal' GW style is sales, GW sells them this way and many of the smaller manufacturers want a share of that market, a lot of warhammer players will want cheaper mass troops but in the style they have associated with the game that probably got them into gaming.
Those same suppliers dont have the courage of conviction with their own designs and prefer to lamely copy the market leader.
Personally I prefer the smaller types such as the Ral Partha ones pictured above,or even the old Minigs Mythical earth size figures, orcs were always smaller and weaker than humans in my minds eye.

Because they sell.

I'm with 20thmaine, Chronicle orcs are the orcs for me.

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I concur with those who prefer the old Ral Partha orcs/goblins/hobgoblins. Back in the late 70s when I was first introduced to D&D I began collecting the Ral Partha figures. Remember the six identicle figures to a pack for about 2.50? These little sculptures with fine detail and beleivable anatomy captivated me. It was great that when the hobgoblins in classical armor were set up they formed a neat phalanx.
The G.W. cartoonish comedy orcs never grabbed me the same way and I rekindled my main interest in historical warfare.

If you like the old Ral Partha figs, Check out the Goblin Factory. They have a very nice line of orcs in the old school style.

I always thought the orcs from the lord of the rings films looked spot on what I though an orc should look like, I wish more manufacturers would go in that direction, rather than the frankly ridiculous looking green gorillas that GW popularised.

The old Minifigs D&D Goblins were great.

I like the LOTR Orcs done by GW, based on the designs from the movie. Much better porportioned becaused they were based on humans wearing costumes. Also, a great variety of skin tones, not just green (though I did see a LOTR Orc army that was all greenskins, painted by one of the GW studio painters, what a suprise).

David S.

I don't know… why are 90% of WW2 Italian armor ranges identical in concept?

If you're going to call something a certain noun, it helps if that noun gives an idea of what the thing is.
-Kle.

I think of the GW Orcs as within the valid range of interpretation for Tolkien's orcs. The comical exaggerated brutality fits the general race concept and is certainly acceptable for their fictional world.

Green skin also always matched the racial look for me. I'm not sure where I got the idea because Tolkien said they were swarthy and Tim Kirk painted them with brownish and reddish skin tones, but in my head Tolkien Orcs always had slate green skin. That's how I painted my D&D Orcs and Goblins. (I too loved the Ral Partha Orcs, Goblins of the Night, etc.)

So GW's choice of skin color didn't bother me, and the bright cartoony paint jobs of the 90s, well, to me that was a stylistic choice on the part of the painters. I didn't happen to like it, but it wasn't inherently disrespectful to the basic concept, not as if they were all in pink polka dots or something.

So if other companies want to ape the GW style instead of trying for something closer to Tolkien (e.g. truer human proportions, darker human skin coloring), well, I guess that's up to them.

Some of the off the reservation choices, e.g., Foundry's Orcs in Rennaissance clothing, seem very odd to me actually, but whatever.

Pig-faced orcs to me were silly made up with no reference, although Frodo and Sam do encounter an Orc in Mordor who has a broad nose and is employed as a tracker. Tim Kirk painted him without a pig nose though.

That's why I like the Chronopia Orcs/Ogres so much. They're not cartoony, savage, r-tards. They are just as organized and civilized as the humans or elves.

I'll take McBride/Tolkien Orcs any day:

TMP link
TMP link

Dan

Bronze Age has some that look cool and are not GW style:

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I like Reaper's Reven orcs from their Warlord game. They're more of a "noble savage" archetype though still quite brutal. Here's one I did as the paint test for my small band that never progressed beyond this one figure.

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GW's green gorillas are so big that you can use them as ogres in Ral Partha, Grenadier, Mithril, Prince August, GW LOTR orc armies.

These guys have the McBride look for me

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For nostalgia purposes I like the "pig faced" variety. For best artistic interpretations, you have to like the old Ral Partha look.

The ones that hang out at my local corner-store are neither green , or tusked, or pig-faced. I doubt that sculpts would sell well, however, as their low-hanging pants make their legs look all out of proportion.

I must say the GW orcs are a bit ridiculous, but fun. That said, we've got a selection of the old Grenadier orcs, smaller, (apart from the giant orcs :-) and less silly.

Orcs
Goblins

Ohhh yes…I remember those old Grenadier Orcs… they were the ones we used when I first started playing role playing games some 23 years ago.. and IMHO they are still very good models… had they been half again the size they are, I'd use them for my orc army in a heart beat… but as they are, they will look puny next to the plastics of today :(