"28 mm dwarves and orcs - guidance needed" Topic
3 Posts
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Aggie21 | 23 Jul 2015 9:51 p.m. PST |
Hi guys, I need your assistance. I am not new to gaming but totally new to fantasy. I need direction on how best to educate myself and what rules best suit 28 mm dwarves and orcs. I need to know how to construct armies. I am not familiar with the significance of the names associated with these figs. I have been reading some of the other posts and am favoring the dwarves made by Essex, Black Tree Design, Black Hat, Red Box. Sgt. Major Miniatures. and Reaper. I do not know how these different manufacturers mix for the dwarves and orcs. For orcs I am favoring Black Tree, Reaper, Renegade, and Warmonger. Supposedly the old castings from War Games Foundry will be available again for the orcs. Several of these companies have sales going on so I would like to capitalize on them but my information base needs to increase significantly before purchasing. Are Essex 25 or 28 mm's? I like the Warmonger orcs but they are considerably larger compared to a standard 28 mm fig in their ad. link How would these fit in with otherwise 28 mm figs? Are these special individual characters or would you need multiple ones of these figs to build an army?This would be pretty expensive. I know it takes time to respond to these posts so in advance I am appreciative of of your time and guidance. Thank you. Tony |
Prince Rupert of the Rhine | 23 Jul 2015 11:06 p.m. PST |
My advice, for what it's worth, is to stick to one manufacturer for each race. it's amazing how many different styles and sizes one fantasy race can come in so mixing lots of different manufacturers can end up with, IMO, some messy looking armies. Good place to start might be Mantic they have their Kings of War fantasy rules available as a free download to try link Also they do very nice plastic Orcs and Dwarves that you can buy in ready made armies. Here is my Mantic dwarf army
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Pedrobear | 23 Jul 2015 11:36 p.m. PST |
I tend to agree, but more so for dwarves than for orcs. Dwarves tend to have rather specific size and proportion within a manufacturer, not to mention the style of armour/dress. I use LOTR dwarves myself and find it hard to find compatible ranges. I like the look of LOTR dwarves (not the The Hobbit ones though) but they are not designed to rank up and the metal/resin ones can be expensive. If I have to choose a different dwarf range I will probably go Black Hat. Orcs I think can be allowed more leeway in their sizes and armour/dress, depending on the fluff you subscribe to. But taking a couple steps back, I think you (OP) first need to decide what kind of game you want to play: a skirmish game with only a dozen figures per side? A mass skirmish with maybe a few dozen figures per side? A mass battle game with a couple hundred figures per side? You can of course start with a dozen and slowly collect and paint enough for a mass battle game, changing rules as required along the way, but do note that most mass battle games require figures to rank up and will require square or rectangular bases. How big you wish to go will influence what figures you get. If you just want a couple dozen per side, you can stick with the more expensive metal and resin ranges. If you are planning armies of hundreds, then I recommend doing the maths early on and picking a less expensive plastic range which will provide you with the bulk of your forces. |
Syr Hobbs Wargames | 24 Jul 2015 5:09 a.m. PST |
I've always liked Alternate Armies and the old Grenadier orcs and dwarves that Mirliton produces. link link link Westwind Dwarf Wars link Scibor have real nice kits too. link For an old school look I like Otherworld miniatures link (open IE not Chrome) and of course Reaper is doing a Kickstarter with some real nice dwarf sets link link The core set has figures for around $0.80 USD a piece or less and some beautiful dragons for $10. USD.00 Duane |
Sgt Slag | 24 Jul 2015 7:38 a.m. PST |
If you want massive armies, on the cheap, then look for Caesar Fantasy: they make Orcs, Goblins, Dwarves, and Elves; they also make Undead, Zombies, and even Lizardmen figures. Their sets are all 1/72 scale, or roughly 25mm for Humans. Each set typically contains 35 figures, for around $15 USD delivered! That works out to be $0.43 USD per figure. Photo's can be found using Google. I have a Goblin army of 120+ figures: they only have a loin cloth, so they are super-fast to paint up. The Lizardmen are similarly dressed, and similarly quick to paint! For all plastic mini's, I prime with artist's white Gesso, sealing with urethane-stain to wash and protect, followed by a dull-coat. Dark Alliance also has some fantastic Orc sets, light and heavy Warg Riders -- fantastic plastic figures in 1/72 scale, very affordable, very nice quality. They also have Dwarves and Elves. Prices are similar to Caesar's. the Orc Warg Riders are close in size to the Caesar Goblins, so that is what I am painting mine to be. Cheers! |
Judge Doug | 24 Jul 2015 1:08 p.m. PST |
Kings of War is the best fantasy mass battles game on the market, and it's free. |
SBminisguy | 24 Jul 2015 2:07 p.m. PST |
Does anyone know how the Sgt. Major Miniature (old Vendel) dwarves compare to other figure ranges? I seem to recall they were a large 28mm, but a comparison sample or picture would be nice. |
Prince Rupert of the Rhine | 25 Jul 2015 2:31 a.m. PST |
Best I could find is some old Vendel dwarves mixed with the EM-4 plastic dwarves they look good style wise I think the Vendel are slightly bigger.
I found a comparison shot of the EM-4 dwarves with some other miniatures so you might make some judgement on the vendel against the EM-4 dwarves and the EM-4 against other miniatures. link |
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