So... I may have a problem...

That is directly related to the Samurai Redskins.

As mentioned before, I am dead set on including savage orcs in the list. The dilemma was whether or not to include black orc bosses for their in-game reliability.

In any case I'd decided that I'd either have black or savage orc bosses to fill the holes and give the units a bit more punch.

As most of the army probably going to be converted in some fashion, large or small, I wanted to have bosses that were different. That were not GW figures. I settled on some figures by Red Box Games, specifically the Varp Krigar from their HelsVakt line and Fritjof the Fierce, from the Halfblood line.

A Varp Bezerker, weapon options are included in a seperate bag.

The Halfblood, which I assume to be a half-orc.

Now before I return to the problem I'd like to take the time to do a quick review of Red Box Games.

RBG, is the brainchild of Tre Manor. IT recently had a Kickstarter Campaign (Linky) to get funding for its Helsvakt line. It was a rousing success, getting $80k when it was after $5k. When I ordered the Varp Krigar and the Halfblood, Tre was a real gentleman about it. He emailed me and advised that I was actually due a refund, because I hadn't used the 40% off metal models voucher. (I wasn't aware that there was one). He promptly refunded the amount to my paypal and shipped the models. 

The models came in the post today, about 15 days after it was shipped. They're really nice figures. The issue (yes, we're back to the original point of the post) is that the scale is different. Now Tre, states that the figures are heroic sized, and well, they are. But I was hoping that when he mentioned having big crazy men, I'd be able to substitute them into an orc army no problems. Sigh. That's probably not going to happen. See the pictures below for a scale comparison. 

This one of the Varp Krigar. There are four in the pack.

This one has the halfblood for scale. 

In terms of height, the figures are more than ample but the concern is that they're going to noticeably leaner than the rank and file savage orcs from GW.

Nothing is set in stone yet, but I may need to go back to the drawing board on this one.

On Savage Orcs...

I know I haven't actually posted up an army list for the redskins yet, it hasn't really firmed up in my head. However, I am a big fan of the new savage orc kits from GW, so much so, that I'm using them as the base for converting samurai orcs.

In game terms, the initial assessment is that the samurai orcs would either continue to be savage orcs or I'd run them as black orcs. In any case, I still like running savage orcs, the entire idea of them just speaks of fun to me, crazy naked savages that use anything that comes to hand to fight, including their own crap (probably...).

What anyone who runs orcs and goblins, or who has played against them enough, knows is that they suffer from animosity. Most people then field a whole lot of Black orc Bosses to get around this rule.

Myself, I haven't decided what to do. What I had decided in my own head was that, even if the samurai orcs were being used as black orcs, I'd field a unit of savage orcs. For a number of reasons:

1. They're cool. Cool models, Cool fluff, Cool rules.
2. I've got a Wurzzag model on foot. He is so awesome, full of so much character in the sculpt that I gotta run him. Plus he gets cool rules, which fits into reason 1. 
3. I've got a lot of appropriate models.

Wurrzag, Da Great Green Prophet.

GW sells him in Finecast resin now, for a stupid price. I've got a metal model for a reasonable price.

I feel like I should make a note early in this blog that whilst I enjoy the hobby and the fluff that goes with it, I'm in no way so enamored of GW that I'll willing hand my cash fist over fist for their products. A lot of my models were and are sourced from independent stockists as well as a number of webstores.