Buzzkill | 17 Dec 2014 2:05 p.m. PST |
I have a lot of Goblins and Orcs from the GW LOTR SBG game and I want to paint them up to represent various distinct tribes or factions to add variety to my scenarios. I want to vary color schemes, badges and banners to represent the different tribes and even mod weapons to portray "cultural" differences just like warriors of Gondor are distinctly different from Rohan. There are the obvious ones: Moria Goblins (Badge?) Mordor Orcs (Red Eye) Isengard Orcs (White Hand) Goblintown Goblins (Badge?) Moranon Orcs (Badge?) Gundabad Orcs (Badge?) Misty Mountain Orcs (Badge?) I'm sure I am missing a bunch. Can you think of any others from the books, movies or other ME source material or do you have any ideas about badges and banners used by the ones I listed above? I don't care if it is strictly Tolkien canon but as close as possible would be great. Any and all ideas appreciated! |
wminsing | 17 Dec 2014 2:49 p.m. PST |
I don't have the references off hand, but the old MERP books had more detail on Orc tribes. Off the top of my head I think you could include the Dol Guldor orcs as well, though they appear to have been mostly dispersed by the time of the War of the Ring. -Will |
Wackmole9 | 17 Dec 2014 3:05 p.m. PST |
Witch kings land of Angmar had a separate kind of Orc also |
Buzzkill | 17 Dec 2014 3:09 p.m. PST |
Thanks Will, I have heard that before. Do anybody happen to know what MERP supplement in particular, I will maybe scour eBay and see if I can lay hands on a copy. |
Buzzkill | 17 Dec 2014 3:11 p.m. PST |
Angmar! That's a good one. Did the Witch King have a specific emblem or badge for his troops? |
Landorl | 17 Dec 2014 3:41 p.m. PST |
Outside of Mordor and Isengard, most orcs are tribal in nature, and would have tribal totems or emblems for their standard. According to the MERP Angmar modules even there they lived in tribal groups only joining together when the Witch King called them forth. If you look at many of the GW Orc banners, I think that you might get a good idea of some of the designs that you might see. I don't remember seeing anything specific for the Angmar, but I think I have seen an Iron Crown on black before. |
Kropotkin303 | 17 Dec 2014 4:18 p.m. PST |
These are my Moria Orcs with a triple red peaked mountain symbol. link |
FABET01 | 17 Dec 2014 4:58 p.m. PST |
Kropotkin – Very Nice collection of old miniatures you have in the photos. |
Buzzkill | 17 Dec 2014 8:09 p.m. PST |
Nice Kropotkin, consider that idea stolen! I just based and primed a bunch of Moria Goblins so that gives me some inspiration. |
wminsing | 17 Dec 2014 8:21 p.m. PST |
Yes, the Crown on Black seems familiar to me as an Angmar-related symbol. There's a list of the MERP books here to help figure out which ones are most likely to be orc-centric. link -Will |
Dn Jackson | 17 Dec 2014 10:46 p.m. PST |
Minus Morghul – scowling moon |
Kropotkin303 | 18 Dec 2014 12:16 a.m. PST |
I have seen a single red tower on black used for Barad Dur elite troops. |
piper909 | 18 Dec 2014 12:59 a.m. PST |
Old D&D books sometimes bandied about Orc tribal names, like the Broken Bone tribe or the Bloody Hand tribe. Any simple piratical or occult image should work. Tolkien did not himself go into much detail about Orcish symbols, unfortunately. |
Dark Fable | 18 Dec 2014 6:39 a.m. PST |
Back in the 1970's I remember seeing an edition of the Return of the King that had some type of rune as a shield emblem for an illustration of orcs. I can not remember what tribe or even the exact rune |
Shadyt | 18 Dec 2014 7:08 a.m. PST |
The symbol of Angmar is often a red tower (Carn Dum), the Dol Guldor orcs were still around at the time of the war of the ring and I have seen their symbol as a tower with a red eye over it. Don't forget the Gundabad orcs, I have seen a wolf head used as their symbol. |
Buzzkill | 18 Dec 2014 8:29 a.m. PST |
I think it is the Angmar supplement for MERP that details Orc tribes but they are not cheap on ebay! I wonder if there are PDF's of the old MERP stuff since it is long OOP. |
Griefbringer | 18 Dec 2014 11:26 a.m. PST |
As for the Mount Gundabad orcs, in the MERP supplement of the same name the orcs dwelling there belonged to four different tribes, each living in their own part of the mountain and having their own tribal insignia. You can see some of the tribal flags in the cover art (drawn by Angus McBride himself back in the 80's):
I have a copy of that somewhere, as well as the Realm of the Witchking supplement for Angmar (lots of orc tribes mentioned in that). |
Griefbringer | 18 Dec 2014 11:52 a.m. PST |
After some digging, I found my copy of Mount Gundabad. Following are some of the items I quickly found. __________________________________________________________ Ruler of the Mount Gundabad flies the Ghrazim banner, which is a blood-red pennant bearing at its center the black emblem of triple peaks (the mount itself). Also the small royal hoerk serving directly under the ruler has the right to bear the triple peak emblem on their helms. Huvorgha tribe are the first inhabitans of the mountain and the fiercest of its tribes. Their tribal banner is a black field bearing crossed red scimitars. Huvorgha tribe provides great numbers of miners and tunnelers. Their tribal banner is a pick and split rock in black centered on a red field. Krach-ul tribe operates the forges of Gundabad. Their tribal banner is a black field with red flames. Ilguz tribe is the least fierce of the inhabitants of the mountain, but it supplies many fine trackers, scouts and archers. Their tribal banner is a black field with red flames. Mount Gundabad also has its own siege train. Their battle standard is a red field with a black tower sundered in two. ____________________________________________________________ I hope this was of some help. Not going to dig for my other MERP books for the time being, though. |
Buzzkill | 18 Dec 2014 3:30 p.m. PST |
Thanks Griefbringer, I found that supplement and a bunch of others on Scribd which can be viewed for free. I am in the process of compiling the info and I will post it when done. |