Friday 2 March 2018

Necromunda: House Orlock Gangers 02

Here I showcase all of my original House Orlock gangers, some of which were used in my friend Neil's Murder Inc. gang when I ran my first Necromunda campaign in the mid-1990's.
I start with four metal gangers produced by Citadel Miniatures. At the far left is Danny "The Kid" Orson, who is armed with a Shotgun and a Knife. He started out as a juve and got promoted to a ganger, hence his nickname. He ended up being the gang's medic. Next up is Dean Cray who is armed with a Las Rifle, a Las Pistol and a Knife.
Third in line is an unnamed ganger who was not used in my campaign. He is armed with an Autogun, a Las Pistol and a Knife. The ganger at the far right was also unnamed and unused. He is armed with an Autogun and a Slug Pistol. Note that he is the only ganger who is wearing a leather jacket instead of a leather waistcoat. I don't know why Neil never chose him. I would have made him my second in command.
Moving on, at the far left is Andreas "Hitman" Kazlowski, who is armed with a Las Rifle, an Autopistol, Frag Grenades and a Power Maul. He was the most experienced ganger in Murder Inc. Next to him is Jamie Jacobs, who is armed with twin Autopistols, Smoke Grenades and a Knife. His second Autopistol is in a holster hidden by his right arm. You can just spot it in the picture below.
Second from the left is Damian Cray, the twin brother of Dean. Just like his brother, he is armed with a Las Rifle, a Las Pistol and a Knife. At the far left is another unnamed and unused ganger. This chap is armed with an Autogun and a Club.
The following twelve gangers are all plastic figures, that came with the boxed starter set. These all had separate right arms holding an assortment of weapons. Only the ganger at the far left was named and used in Murder Inc. He is Andy Johannsson and he is armed with a Shotgun, Las Pistol and Sword. His sword came from one of my Goliath gangers' sprues and replaced his knife. The Goliath ganger got his Knife.
Seeing as the other five gangers were not named or used I'll just mention how they were armed. From left to right we have a Slug Pistol and Knife, an Auto Pistol and Knife, a Bolt Pistol and Knife, a Las Pistol and Knife and another Las Pistol and Knife.
These next six gangers were also unnamed and unused. At the far left I slightly converted this ganger to hold an Auto Pistol. He also has a Knife. The next two gangers are armed with a Shotgun and Knife and an Autogun and Knife respectively.
The three gangers at the right are armed with an Autogun and Knife and the two at the far right are each armed with a Las Rifle and a Knife.
The eight metal gangers are very good figures and are well sculpted. The plastic gangers are far inferior. Sure, they give you numbers but quality has been sacrificed for quantity. The new plastic Orlock gangers are in a different league and show just how far advanced the production of plastic figures has come since the mid 1990's.
To me, the Orlocks were a gang with no great strengths but no great weaknesses either. In my original Necromunda campaign they finished ninth out of twelve, losing more games than they won.

22 comments:

  1. Certainly a large gang Bryan, always found the metals to be better than the plastics in the older version

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    1. Thanks, Dave. The 12 plastic gangers boosted my Orlocks to being my largest gang. I agree with you that the metals were far better than the old plastics. Nowadays, however, I think plastics (and resin) are better than metal. How times change!

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  2. Thanks to your influence I raked my old rules out last night. I am still not sure about the new rules but as I do not intend to play at a GW store that is not a problem. (I hasten to say I have not read the new rules, just going by reviews)

    The orlock look good just as I knew they would. Just wondering what gang you might highlight next. But you could always stop on the best gang in the underhive by stopping now. LOL (I know you will not!)

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    1. I know you're a big fan of the Orlocks, Clint... and I certainly don't hold that against you! The new rules have changed from the old ones but are still good and very much feel like the old ones in flavour.

      The next gang I'll be showcasing will be my personal favourites - House Escher. This series is going to run for quite a while.

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  3. Another fine display of minis, yes the old plastics do show their age.

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    1. Thanks, Phil. The old plastics were okay at the time, but now they look rather pitiful.

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  4. Wow! What a staggering amount of Orlocks, Bryan. Very impressive indeed :-) I've not read the new rules myself yet either, but, like Clint, have not heard the greatest of enthusiasm for them, so I'm pleased you seem to like them (especially as you're clearly a big fan of the original).

    Interestingly, I did read an interview of the new version's rules designer the other day, who apparently left "GW" before the game was finished over creative differences and deadlines. As memory serves he was suggesting the game was unfinished/untested and buggy as a result, so I'd be interested if you've encountered any issues yet?

    Of course "GW" bashing is par for the course still, so it could be sour grapes. But I did see a suggestion on another rumour site (take with a pinch of salt) just yesterday that "GW" are going to pull "Necromunda" as its future expansions aren't working with the rules very well...

    Anyway, none of this has anything to do with your wonderfully colourful minis, Bryan, and they really appear as a glorious testament to your enthusiasm for the game :-)

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    1. Many thanks, Simon. I wasn't aware of the news about the former designer or of GW pulling "Necromunda." That latter rumour seems very iffy to me.

      I've only played the simple introductory scenario from the rule book - four Escher gangers vs four Goliath gangers and it went okay. The Goliaths won. I have yet to try out any of the proper scenarios because I wanted to wait until both gangs were fully painted. I have heard a number of people think that the game wasn't properly play-tested. A major gripe seems to be that the Eschers are under-powered compared to the Goliaths. If I find this is the case myself, I'll alter the stats for the Eschers.

      On the whole though, I think the new rules show a lot of promise, but I also accept that they are not perfect. Once I get a few games under my belt, which should happen soon, I'll be able to better comment on them.

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  5. The old rules and all the supplements are bouncing around the internet so an option is to use the nice shiny figures and scenery with those.

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    1. It most certainly is an option, Phil. I still have all of my old rulebooks and supplements, so if need be, I could use them. We'll see.

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  6. I loved the “Old Necromunda” so I’m trying not to buy into the new game until I know it’s solid. It’ll be interesting to see what you think Bryan.

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    1. I understand, Andy. Hopefully it won't be too long before I get a few games played now that I have the two starter gangs fully painted.

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  7. Another excellent showcase Bryan :-)
    There's definitely been a huge improvement with the plastic mini's, but I have to say these Necromunda offerings are themselves far better than the original old plastic Warhammer Fantasy offerings that GW introduced ;-)
    (and yes, I have some of them, and they STILL get used occasionally!)

    If it's your personal favourites coming up next, I'm sure we're in for some REAL eye candy :-)

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    1. Many thanks, Greg. Oh God, I too remember the old plastic Warhammer fantasy figures. I still have a load of them myself for various races.

      My original Escher gang is one of the most colourful you're ever likely to see. I can't wait to showcase them.

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  8. Sorry Bryan, no time to read this I'm too busy reading your WOIN blog, I knew it was a mistake to look at it:-D
    Cheers

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    1. Ha, ha, ha! That's a great excuse not too read this post, John.

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  9. Smashing work as always, as you said the Orlocks were always not really good or bad at anything, and as such were always a bit "hmmm" to me, that said you have done a great job of painting them, and I love the fact that you still know where they finished in your original league (I can't remember what I had for tea last night!).

    Cheers Roger (who should be writing his own blog at the moment!)

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    1. Much obliged, Roger. I guess you could say the Orlocks were good all rounders or jack of all trades but masters of none. I kept pretty detailed records of my original campaign and still have all of my old notes and gang roster sheets. If I had to rely on my memory I'd be in the same boat as you!

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  10. Awesome collection. The Orlock with double barrel shotgun is my favourite out of the whole range.

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  11. Yeah its the pose as if he is about to peek around a corner and loose off a blast from his shotgun.

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