Jaakko and Rugluk - Rank & File month #2

Night lay heavy over the valley. Trolls snored. Snotlings squeaked.

Rugluk squatted by the fire, gnawing a bone, when the flames twisted unnaturally. Smoke coiled, shadows stretched… and a towering figure emerged: Rugluk’s father, battle-scarred and ghostly, eyes blazing like forge fire.

“Rugluk,” the ghost’s voice rumbled, echoing across the valley. “Da path ya walk… leads only to ruin.”

Rugluk froze. “Father?”

“Da ambition in yer heart… it will devour ya if ya walk blind,” the ghost hissed. “Yer boyz, yer trolls, yer snotlings… chaos follows every step. Watch it. Trust none. Not even yerself.”

Rugluk tightened his grip on the bone. “So… what should I do?”

“Do?” the ghost spat. “Remember da blood ya spilled, da tribes ya crushed… and know… every choice… feeds da fire dat eats ya.”

A snotling peeked from a bush. The ghost’s eyes flared. The snotling squealed and ran.

The ghost drifted higher, silent now, its eyes burning like dying embers.

Rugluk’s gaze fixed to the ghost’s fading figure. “Dat made no sense... but I fink dis ain’t done. Dis ain’t over.”

Somewhere, a distant howl cut through the valley.

The ghost was gone. Only the fire and the whispering wind remained… and the uneasy knowledge that destiny had just spoken.

Here we are again! I had a lot of time at the beginning of this month and decided to start working on one of the largest units in the army. I ran into some unexpected trouble during the month, including a thumb wound that kept me away from the painting table for a while, and ended up ten models short of completing the full unit. The silver lining is that I have ten nearly finished models on the table, promising an easy month to come. But no more rambling-here are the models!

I managed to paint a unit of 20 Savage Orcs. They were pretty quick to paint, as many of them are equipped with just a loincloth and a blade. I loved all the sculpts and really enjoyed painting them.

I see the Savage Orcs as an orky version of the Dwarf Troll Slayers. That's why I wanted to take something from the dwarven death cult and turn it around, and decided that this tribe bleaches its hair. The original concept also included white body paint (ash?). I didn’t have time to experiment with it, so I skipped that part. I also have a unit of Savage Arrers, and might try the body paint idea on them though.

Da Boss

The month in points:

On the green skin

I’ve been painting models for Heavy Metal Hordes for their upcoming Kickstarter project as a side quest. They asked me for pictures and some explanations for a painting guide. I’ve also received some enquiries about the orc skin recipe I use, so I thought I’d share the pictures with you along with a few words about the skin painting process.

Start with a base colour of Elysian Green. Then apply a wash of watered-down Druchii Violet with a dash of Agrax Earthshade in it. Add small amounts of Druchii Violet to selected areas, like the eye sockets, between fingers, etc., for a more dramatic effect if needed. Highlight with Elysian Green, and add Ogryn Camo to selected parts of the skin on the face. Knuckles, knees, and elbows get Ogryn Camo with dots of Kislev Flesh.

And that’s it for February! Next month, I’ll paint a few more Savage Orcs, but I’ll try not to stop there. That might mean something a bit darker, something much bigger, or maybe some fast-attack choices.

See you later!