Ogre Blood Bowl Team

Ogre Blood Bowl Team

Having just finished up my latest efforts with a Grey Knight 40K army, I knew I had to make an effort to relieve the 'bulging-cupboard-of-unpainted-shame' which was creaking under the pressure like my waistline after a Christmas dinner. With the impending release of Blood Bowl Season 2 I knew I had to get cracking as that cupboard would only get more stuff jammed in it!

Unfortunately, the likelihood of being able to get my pre-2020 '24x Races Played NAF patch' was looking very unlikely given the Covid situation, various lockdowns and tiering rules preventing social gatherings. I had already painted and readied a Nurgle and Khemri (aka Tomb Kings) but I still had a number of races to paint (and then play), so I had a look down the list, looking at those red cells on the right hand side and picked out Ogres...

I had bought a team of Ogres from Hungry Troll as the miniatures looked great. This was before the new Games Workshop Ogres came out, but I still prefer the Hungry Troll ones.

Ogres have a reputation for being one of the weakest teams in Blood Bowl - weird eh, given there are six Strength 5 Ogres on the team, and that's before you think about adding any Star Players. They are supported by Gnoblars (previously Goblins and Snotlings!) which are just another very small, weak and fragile greenskin type of player. With the coming of Season 2, I wonder if Ogres have improved at all, but I have to say I'm sure they will remain utterly frustrating to coach. That said, I needed to tick them off the list...

The Ogre Blockers and Punter

One of the reasons for choosing the Ogres was that I had painted a lot of metal just recently and I wanted to give something totally opposite a try, like lots of fleshy muscles! It's a struggle these days to try and come up with a unique colour scheme within my collection of teams. 

I decided on a 2 colour combination of Orange and a dark Turquoise which I hoped would compliment each other. The orange was based with Jokaero Orange and highlighted with Troll Slayer Orange, and the dark Turquoise was achieved with a base of Incubi Darkness and highlighted with Sotek Green.

As for the skin, I decided to mix it up a bit, as these Ogres have travelled from across the realms to form this team. I went with 4 shades of skin colour, with a very light to a black skin tone, with a couple of mid ranges in between. 

The black skin was achieved with a starting coat of Dryad Bark blended with Mournfang Brown, and the other skins were progressively dark to light blends of Bugmans Glow, Cadian Fleshtone and Kislev Flesh, with other layer paints and washes blended in for effect.

I think the end result was quite a subtle one, which doesn't always come out great on camera, but looks good to the naked eye (at least I think so!). I've seen techniques that are striking and pretty impressive, but I didn't want to go down a cartoony route - but it has to be said, they do look good in photos!

The Gnoblars

These guys are small. Fortunately I'd had the good sense to order metal figures so they have more weight to them. This was particularly important for the Punter (kicker) as the metal Gnoblar provided a counterweight, and therefore balance for the Ogre kicker.

As it happens I had painted the Ogre kicker (and accompanying Gnoblar) first as a test. While I liked the Ogres scheme, I thought the Gnoblar skin I had used looked really bland and washed out. At this point I grabbed the Ork Flesh Contrast paint and it looked far brighter. At least the little gits would be more obvious on the pitch!

All the Gnoblars had unique poses, and there were one or two nice little details, like the Gnoblar beckoning over an opponent with a knife concealed behind his back.

Bob B - Star Player (Likely Morg'n'Thorg)

Bob Bifford is a former Ogre star player turned Commentator along with Vampire colleague Jim. Sadly (currently!) there are no rules for Bob, but there is a miniature that makes an excellent stand in which I just had to get as part of my order! This guy would likely be the proper Ogre Star Player, Morg'n'Thorg.

As a Star Player, his base is painted gold, and I decided to give him a different colour scheme to that of the Ogre team. I ditched the blue & white scarf/scheme and went with the yellow & black of Watford FC.

I particularly enjoyed painting his flowing leather coat which seemed to come out quite well and seemed to suit the miniature as he seemingly got bored with punditry and decided to join in on the action...

There was also a nice little touch on the commentators microphone...

Sadly I can't give any 'in action' shots as there aren't any table top tournaments running, but that's probably a good thing with this roster! 

What next? Well, according to the list above, I've got Halflings, Slann & Vampires yet to paint. I will probably go with the Halflings as from what I've seen, they could be very interesting in Blood Bowl Season 2!!... but I also have Sisters of Battle waiting in the wings... decisions decisions!

Thanks for reading!... As always, comments and thoughts are welcomed.

In the meantime, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy & Covid-free New Year!