COMPANY OF HEROES - ORC CAPTAINS

I try to convert or customize every hero or captain I get for my army, as it just gives the whole force a bit more character and gives each model a bit of a story. The following models represent captains in my Mordor force.

The First captain I ever converted was based on the captain at The Battle of the Pelennor Fields in the movies. I named him Skully. He’s made from the first Orc Captain GW released, with a skull from an Uruk Hai Shaman on his helmet. His pick was extended using some copper rod. It’s interesting to note that 90% of all my conversions were made before GW released official models for them. I swear they’ve been following me for years…

My second captain was made to lead my Uruk Hai into battle. He was named Morg, the Depressor by my friend as a joke, and it just stuck. This guy is a monster in combat, with three strikes with a fight value and strength of 5, I confidently send him toe to toe with all but the best good heroes. He was made from the Shagrat model, with his duel axes being made from Easterling spear heads, and his head that of an Uruk regular, with an added mail bandana over his face. Mean.

Another Orc Captain was based on the Grishnakh model, who was souped up. I gave him a shield, an Isengard Uruk sword and the helmet off Frodo in orc armor. His name is Ratbag.

My force is divided into units. I never went in for the War of the Ring game, as opposed to the SBG, as I feel it defeats the point of a skirmish game, and is not why I got into this in the first place. Each unit in my army has 24 models, including one with a banner, led by a captain; three units of Orcs, one of Morannon Orcs and one of Uruk Hai. I also have a smaller Warg / Warg Rider pack and a unit of Trolls with full command. Anyway, another Orc Captain, Gorgeous George, was made using the new(ish) Orc Taskmaster. I wanted to have a brute orc who could carry a huge axe. I had to sculpt a lot of this model, including his entire left arm, covered in chainmail, and his right hand. I made the axe out of copper rod and a bit of sprue for the blade. I also cut off one of his ears and painted just one eye to give him a really grizzled look. I love the red skin, which is fairly unique to my army. He’s one of my favourites.

A captain I very recently completed was for my catapults. Evil players, never underestimate the ability of a catapult in battle. I know they're expensive, but when coupled with severed heads and a captain, maybe a troll for the larger battles, they can really mess up a good battle formation. Especially when you include a ringwraith or troll drummer to lessen the good courage... Anyway, Gorbag served nicely for this model, who I named Snaga, as he's supposed to be less able in battle, hence why he's been put in charge of the seige equipment. The only unique feature on him is the white scar on his face.

 

The leader of my Morannon Orcs. I caught a brief glimpse of an orc in Minas Tirith armor in one of the films and I thought that would make the perfect character for my army, as I mostly fought Gondorian armies. I named him Scrotrot for no good reason. He is based on one of the Minas Tirith Captains, with the head from Sam in orc armor. His mace was from an old conversion sprue I got in a Battle for Middle Earth magazine. Half of his right arm had to be re-sculpted. Long dreads completed the model.

The After I converted my new Gothmog model to be mounted on a great warg, I wasa left with the old miniature. I decided that after seeing his Uruk luitenant in the ROTK film in heavy armor, I would do the same. My current uruk hai captain with two axes needed a makeover. I used the body of the old Gothmog and onto that I glued Shagrat's head and left arm. The rest I had to fill wih green stuff, such as the shoulder armor on the left arm, and the long flowing blonde hair. The axes were harvested from my old conversion. He won't act as a seperate model, but as a revamped version of an old, faithful captain. I give you Blondie!