Gamer #2: Jon Peletis

AN ORC GUY

I’ve played fantasy and sci-fi miniature games for 20 years now. I’ve NEVER been an Orc guy. You know the Orc guys right? Orc players are in their own club. No matter what the system, or the universe, there is a bond that Orc players have. I have the attributes, I can be loud and oafish, so why not join the club? After enough time, you realize you just aren’t an Orc guy and move on.

Then I saw a fantastic looking Orc army for Kings of War painted by Dave Manganaro from the Mantic USA Sales Team at Adepticon this past year. I was jealous. Not that all the other Orcs in various systems I’ve seen over the years didn’t look cool, they did, but seeing the hordes of axe-wielding brutes along with cavalry on Gores was just too awesome to ignore. Maybe it was also the idea of Orc models arranged in diorama multi-bases making it seem even more realistic (It’s still real to me dammit!) rather than seeing them all ranked up.

Cut to a few weeks ago and Joe at Mantic asked me about joining the Tale of Six Gamers blog, and I said I’m in, and I’m in with Orcs. My chance to become an Orc guy. Might as well — I haven’t won a game with my Undead in awhile so a fresh start would be nice!

Here is what I’m starting with, The 54 figure Orc Army Set:

The goal of this blog series is to show you how I created an 800pt Orc army using this $85/£50 Starter set.

DON’T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME

You may have seen Kings of War players choosing to “multi-base” rather than glue each model into its square base then onto a movement tray. Personally, this is one of things that drew me to the game. Some make very elaborate dioramas. I’m not a great painter, or great modeler for that matter, but I like playing wargames with painted models. So I spend a little time on it, as my opponent does, and we both get to reenact a colorful battle on the tabletop.

If you take say a 20 model set, and instead mount 14 models on a regiment base, you can achieve multiple things.

1) Get more for your money. Mantic models are already affordable, but spreading them out over the course of your collection will get you a few “free” units when it’s all said and done.

2) I think it looks better. These models are so detailed, wouldn’t you like to be able to see them instead of just the front rank? Plus, it gives them some character to have them in unique poses, or utilizing some terrain on the base itself.

3) Easier to paint. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not an expert painter, so I choose to take quicker approaches to get them table-top ready. I’ll explain this one more in the next couple blogs.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?!

3 Trolls (resin plastic)

1 Gore Rider Chariot (resin plastic)

20 Ax with Command (hard plastic)

20 Greatax with Command (hard plastic)

10 Gore Riders (resin plastic)

Lots o’ bases (hard plastic)

Orclings on the various Ax and Greatax sprues (hard plastic)

4 Mantic Points (smooth baby bottom cardboard)

With the release of Kings of War 2nd edition, some unit composition has changed. Nothing will ever be obsolete, but a few units may need to be a bit reorganized. For example, you can no longer use a single Gore Rider Chariot, but I could always mount a Krudger on the chariot and use him to lead my force. Another option is to just add one more Gore Chariot to my collection and mount both on a 150×100 multi-base to act as a Regiment(3)

JOIN THE ARMY

Time for the army list. We are all doing 800pt lists so here is what I came up with:

Regiment of Orc Ax – 125pts

Regiment of Orc Ax – 125pts

Troop of Orc Greatax – 100pts

Troop of Orc Greatax – 100pts

Regiment of Trolls – 125pts

Regiment of Gore Riders – 185pts

I like the idea of using the elite Greatax in smaller numbers trying to get flank charges after the Ax and Trolls can engage the enemy from the front. List comes to 760pts. With the leftover 40pts I’ll add Maccwar’s Potion of the Caterpillar to the Gore Riders (giving them Pathfinder and not letting terrain get in their way) and the Helm of Confidence to the Trolls (really, their charity work is so inspiring to the Troll community, it just feels right).

What a deal… I was able to hit 800pts and still have the Chariot and Orclings to add later on when I’m ready to take the army to the 1000-1200pt level!

Next blog will talk about the assembly of models, pics of multi-basing in action, and color scheme. SPOILER ALERT: It’s green.