A trip back in time with this lot. Most of the figures date from about 1984 to 1989, so I've had them for about fifteen years. Having said that the paint jobs are rather more recent (last five years). Although I didn't know it then, I would look back on the pride of my painting with a critical eye. Goblinoids were one of my first passions. There was an army list for Warhammer Fantasy Battle II in White Dwarf 87 for the Broken Nose Goblin tribe, that just blew me away. Only a handful of Kevin Adams models illustrated the list, but I looked at the tattoos, the zits, the rusty chain mail, the barbarously shaped weapon blades and I just had to have them. Unfortunately under Warhammer rules, goblinoid armies were rubbish, so I always fielded elves and dwarves; they look good though. I like the more naturalistic style of these older models. The weapons are a more reasonable size, the sculpting is less cartoon like.

Orc Stonethrower A classic orc weapon - the stonethrower. This one is from Marauder Miniatures - a temporary offshoot of Citadel miniatures. The wood of these things always comes out rather pleasingly. Start with a very dark brown or even black, then drybrush all the way through the browns to a very light - almost white - cream.

Orc Warrior I like the way his belt sags slightly under his gut. The shield is moulded, with lots of sewn patches of hide . These were painted in different browns and then a red rune was painted in the middle.

Orc Boar Rider This figure is meant to be infantry, but I had a spare boar, and luckily he was in a bow-legged, riding sort of pose. The heavy armour and spear make him look like a crude attempt at a knight. The shield came out particularly well.

Orc Warriors The left hand figure is plastic - a Drastik Plastik head (first Citadel plastic figures) on a Warhammer Regiments orc body. You got 60 plastic figures for £10. Those were the days, eh? The other is metal. His natty helmet crest took some careful drybrushing with a small, but knackered, brush.

Half Orc The red and white striped trousers are a particular favourite of mine, I struggle not to overuse them. Another near cliche are the nasty pink spots on his yellowy-brown skin The figure is a Citadel one from the mid-80's.

Black Orcs The heavy hitters of the orc army, they were the only ones who would do some damage without running like a bunch of girls. Black skin looked a bit crap, so I used dark green. The shield design of a claw crushing an eyeball is taken from a WFB III image of a unit called the 'Mothercrushers'.

Uruk Hai Another early Citadel figure from their original Lord of The Rings range. These Uruk Hai look like half-orcs so this is how I have painted them. Logical really - Tolkien describes them as a cross between orcs and men.

Troll I can't help noticing that this ugly swine is on a 25mm base not a 40mm one. Maybe they hadn't worked out the rules when they put a slot on the model. For me the highlight of this model is the leather waistcoat with random studs and bits of metal on it.

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