Friday 15 August 2014

Acceptable in the '80s: Marauder Ogres and Orc Battle Chariot


Welcome back to my series that charts the history of  Warhammer Third Edition through its releases. Today we will be taking a look at a single page of Marauder miniatures, namely the Orc Battle Chariot and the excellent ogres.

Starting with the Orc Battle Chariot, I must say I have always been quite impressed by this model. It's chunky and brutal but not ridiculous in its dimensions. The wolves are small and spiteful and the construction of the chariot seems plausible enough. What is worth pointing out are the choices of crew available in the set - a driver, an archer, a champion and a warlord. This allows the collector or old school gamer a choice about how to portray the chariot. 

The ogres are probably far more famous and easily match up against the iconic Jes Goodwin examples. Where Jes's work is rich in variation, the Marauder set is more uniform, most likely because they are actually in... Well... Err... Uniforms! These models are well sculpted and more realistic then the Citadel set. Special mention should be made over the renaissance clothing, which is really interesting and original. This look makes across the dwarf and human range and would make a fine army all on it's own.

A fine collection of models in all. The ogre with the cannon is probably the best ogre sculpted!

Orlygg

8 comments:

  1. I love those Marauder ogres, those were some of my first every purchases. I recently updated the awful original paint jobs mine had - have a look here if you like: http://woffboot.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/out-with-new-in-with-old.html (and sorry for the shameless blog promo, but we're big fans of yours)

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  2. I love the Marauder sculpts. After reading your post about picking up stuff on ebay I logged on for a lark and found an auction for the Marauder Giant. Suffice it to say I bid too early and someone came along and bid up in $1 increments till they found my max bid. I tried to get crafty, but my revised max bid and last second snipe was to no avail. So no Giant for me. I am now at the point where I'm not sure how i want to proceed. I hate auctions but many of the Buy it Now prices seem ridiculous. Perhaps I need to re-read your advice and consider if my ideas of fair market value are skewed.

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  3. I don't know if they were ever part of the Empire army lists for Fantasy Battle, but in the background for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay which was contemporary to 3rd edition FB, the Empire regularly employed mercenary ogres.

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    1. Ogres could be used as mercenary contingents by a number of armies. I'm pretty sure the empire was one of them - I know Bretonnians could.

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    2. Yep both Ogres and Dwarf's were in the 4th edition Empire Army book which I owned at the time.

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  4. I am a big fan of the Marauder Minis. The Ogres are a real favourite as they match the uniforms of the Empire soldiers now and back in the 80s. Not like the chunky blokes GW makes today

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  5. I've just come to the realisation that the top-middle ogre would require very little converting to become a rather excellent Blood Bowl blocker!

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  6. I've still got some of the Ogres - really characterful models. I ought to get the paintstripper out and have another go at them. They would look good in landskneckt colours... or possibly papal Swiss Guard. Hmm...

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