Warmonger @ Salute 2015

 

Last post I gave you a brief overview of this year's Salute. As promised, I am going to take a closer look at some of the things that interested me on the day for the benefit for those of you who couldn't make it. Today's topic is of course - Warmonger!

If you have been living in a hole for the last year or so and don't know anything about Warmonger Miniatures - let me explain things in layman's terms. Warmonger is a project between Bryan Ansell and Kevin Adams at the Foundry, Stoke Hall. 

Any collaboration between these two legends is going to be high on all Oldhammerer's interest lists, so let's delve a little deeper into the project. Be warned though....

Its utterly bonkers! 

Much of the early range saw the incorporation of Kev's old Orc and Ogre models he produced for the Foundry some years back. Many of these models had not been available for some time and are quite frankly, gorgeous. The small vignette, shown above, was built from several pieces of the 'Snorkling' range put out about the same time. These tiny miniatures are FANTASTIC and display more ingenuity and imagination than entire ranges! After painting these up last weekend I am now a committed collector of these tiny buggers and hope to score some more in the future. 

The jewel in the range, at least for me anyway, is the range of Orcling Outriders. Like the painted models above, they are small, comical and full of the Kev Adams zany imagination. So far, I have collected eleven of them and I hope to make up a full regiment of them when my next project is complete. 

Here is a close up of one of the Orcling models. In my mind, they will make perfect 'wolfriders' for my Orc and Goblin Oldhammer stuff. Now that I am happier about the colour choice I use to represent goblin skin, all I have to do is work out how I am going to paint up the mini-dinosaurs these cheeky gitz ride. 

A bright red, perhaps? To contrast with the green. 

The red sponged clam packs contain the newly sculpted stuff. Loads of the early castings was available at Salute and I spent a while picking through the assorted bodies and heads choosing the pieces I liked the most. I tended to go with the models that had huge knockers on them - easily distracted like I am. What is worth noting here are the size comparisons. Models in the range vary in height quite dramatically, and this is a deliberate choice by Bryan and Kev. You can use the larger models (if you collect classic stuff like me for instance) as giant orcs, or ogres and even trolls. 

Trailing along the top of this clam pack are a little selection of Kev's incredible 'face-shields' hand picked for me by the man himself. These are brilliant and are an essential purchase for any fantasy wargamer. 

The goblin drummer seen in the centre was the first model Kev completed after returning to work after his operation.

Chatting with Kev was as fun as ever and he had quite a bit to say about his plans for Warmonger. Obviously, there will orcs, a lot more orcs, to come, some of which look very similar to the old school Citadel ones he concentrated on in the 1980s. But the ethos behind the new greenskins is variation - with all kinds of sizes and design choices being made, spurred on by Bryan's fevered imagination. Beastmen will follow, and greens of this future addition to the range were featured in the display cabinet, as will skeletons, ratmen and all the other fantasy types if Kev gets his way. 

I will leave you with the snaps I took with the trusty iPhone. What can you spot?

I spotted this orc amongst the horde - he looks like something out of the plastic regiments box doesn't he? Its deliberate. I so want a unit of these! 

Orcs and ogres in all shapes and sizes - including some wild, wild orcesses. 

The zany imagination of the Goblinmaster was evident!

This green represents the chap on the Warmonger logo. He has a bizarre name that I cannot remember. 

Some WIP beastman sculpts