I've no idea why this should be the case, but the numbers of views that this blog usually gets have leaped up with the last two posts. The last post, with the ork robot, got about seven times the number of views that the average post gets on this blog. I have no idea what has caused this, but I suspect that they represent bots drawn to this blog like vultures to a man lost in the desert. I expect that the next couple of posts will be hugely disappointing and normal non-service will be resumed.
Anyhow, I've been painting some plastic Goff orks from the 1990s. Back in the day, they were available on their own in a unit-filler set of ten, and also in a boxed game along with gretchin and (of course) space marines. They're not technically monopose, as the right arm is separate and could be stuck on at a range of exciting angles, but really, there's not a lot of variety.
I painted them in groups of three, and for some insane reason tried to vary the outfits so that none of them were identically dressed. I don't know why I did this. The models are pretty decent, and have a nice balance of simplicity and detail, but I don't really enjoy batch painting and I was a bit tired of it by the end. I did save one bloke and painted him up with more detail and fancy golden horns to represent a champion for the unit.
Here is the champion.
I think they're quite cool, but they do make me wonder about painting squads. Since I very rarely play any games, is there any point to batch painting? I have a lot of nostalgia for old Fantasy Battle armies, with their matching uniforms, and it would be nice to own one. However, I'm used to the idea of small units where each model is a character - as you'd seen in Mordheim, Necromunda and the Frostgrave games.
Besides, painting several miniature at once removes some of the pleasure of individual painting. When I'm doing one model at a time, at some level I'm wondering what this particular guy wears, what his function is, and so on. Obviously you lose a lot of that sense of painting individual characters when you're doing a whole load at once.
That said, I've got a small Bretonnian army to paint. Hmm. Anyhow, the next post is going to be something small and individual. Maybe from Necromunda...
Hi!
ReplyDeleteLovely work on the almost monopose Orks! You've managed to give them a wee bit of individuality and I love the champions colour combination!
I must admit that with Blogger, it's almost impossible to track how many actual human beings view it. I get about 2-4k views to the blog but each post only gets about 75-100 views which I think is much more believable (much as I'd love to think otherwise!)
Don't be disheartened though! You're an inspiration to me, both with your painting and your writing and in an era of instant likes with facebook and instagram, the classic longform blog is a pleasure to be enjoyed!
Thanks very much! I've never really chased followers on here, but I do like being able to talk to other people who are more into the oldhammer/converting/eccentric side of gaming. Some of the stuff I've seen is amazing, and I do wish there was more of a real-world community to it all (which is another story, especially since people live all over the world).
DeleteI did once look into the whole algorithm thing regarding self-publishing, but it was utterly baffling to me.
Anyhow, I'm very glad to have been able to provide inspiration! I instinctively like reading longform articles - it's what I grew up with and you learn more and can better engage with people. I remember your excellent pictures of Space Captain Smith from a long time ago. I've always really liked your artwork. If ever you feel like writing a tabletop game...
I'm totally in love with your work on these, I'm drooling over my keyboard right now.
ReplyDeleteI confess it's been quite a long time since I last checked numbers on my blog, but you’ve got me curious now, I’m off to take a look!
Cheers! I've only got a few orks left, but I've really enjoyed the trip into orky Oldhammer. It's been a lot of fun. I have no idea how the numbers work or even if it's humans!
DeleteThese guys are classic for a reason, but they are about as monopose as it gets... well no, the marines they were matched with were worse, although they were also my first GW figures, so I spent a lot of time trying to introduce some variety.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think I won't be painting any more of these guys for a while! The marines weren't great, but at least you get one marine to about 4 orks, so you wouldn't have to paint as many. None of which makes painting sound much fun...
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