Army Collection - Oathmark - North Star Orcs and Goblin Army
Army Collection - Oathmark - North Star Orcs and Goblins
After playing Warhammer for many years, I eventually discovered Oathmark. To begin with, I used my existing miniature collection to learn the rules, which proved to be a great way of trying the game without investing in a new army.
The more I played, the more I enjoyed the game. Before long, I found myself wanting to build a dedicated force using North Star's official Oathmark miniatures, which is the army featured in this article.
Click to view my Oathmark Goblin army using Gmaes Workshop miniatures
Click to view my other Oathmark Articles
The current army is made up of Goblin Soldiers, Archers and Wolf Riders along with some Orcs and Giant Spiders. With the exception of the spiders, which are from Wargames Atlantic, the entire army has been built using miniatures from the Oathmark range. The army currently sits at just over 1,100 points and represents my first dedicated Oathmark army and should provide the ideal sized force for an evening's gaming.
The kingdom behind this army was discussed in my Oathmark - Building an Army article, where I looked at the Kingdom system and explained why I chose these particular units.
Why North Star Miniatures?
I will freely admit that I am, and always have been, a Games Workshop fanboy. Most of my collection has been built using Games Workshop miniatures and I still think they produce some of the best fantasy miniatures available. However, in this instance I wanted to support Oathmark as a game and buy some of the official miniatures.
One thing I quickly discovered was just how easy it is to build an army using the North Star range. The boxes are reasonably priced, contain plenty of miniatures and it doesn't take long before you have enough troops assembled to start playing a game. In fact, one box contains around 400 points of troops (more in the case of Elves and less in the case of Goblins).
They are also very straightforward to paint. Most of this army was painted using little more than base colours, washes and highlights. Whilst they do not have the same level of detail as modern Games Workshop miniatures, they are ideal for painting in batches and getting units onto the tabletop quickly. For a game such as Oathmark, where armies and battle lines are the focus, I actually think this is one of their greatest strengths.
After a few games, I realised that Oathmark captured many of the things I loved about fantasy wargaming. The game focuses on manoeuvring units of troops rather than simply watching powerful heroes fight each other. This reminded me of 3rd Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the game that first sparked my interest in fantasy wargaming back in 1991.
The Army
The kingdom is primarily Goblin in nature. At its heart are twenty Goblin Soldiers and fifteen Goblin Archers supported by a Goblin Captain and a Goblin Champion.
The Goblin Captain normally accompanies the Archers and provides the command support to help activate both the Archers and Soldiers at the same time. Oathmark rewards good positioning and coordinated actions, so having a reliable source of command is important.
The Goblin Champion accompanies the Soldiers and gives the unit a little more hitting power in combat. Goblins are always low-quality but cheap troops on the battlefield, so every advantage helps.
Alongside the infantry are ten Goblin Wolf Riders. I have always liked cavalry in fantasy armies and the Wolf Riders add some much needed speed to the force. Whilst the rest of the army advances as a battle line, the Wolf Riders can threaten flanks, pursue broken enemies and take advantage of opportunities elsewhere on the battlefield.
There is also a strong Tolkien influence behind their inclusion. Ever since reading The Hobbit, I have associated Goblins with Wolves. The chapter Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire, where Goblins and Wargs hunt Bilbo and the Dwarves through the Wild, left quite an impression on me. As a result, Goblins never quite seem complete without Wolves.
The army also includes ten Orc Soldiers. Interestingly, there isn't a huge difference in appearance between the Orcs and Goblins in the North Star range. Rather than feeling like completely different races, they look like closely related peoples living within the same kingdom.
In many ways, the Orcs feel like elite Goblins. They are a little larger, a little tougher and a little more intimidating, but they still look like they belong alongside their Goblin allies. As a result, the entire force has a very coherent appearance when deployed on the tabletop.
I actually prefer this approach. It reminds me of Tolkien's writing, where the distinction between Orcs and Goblins often felt less pronounced than it does in many modern fantasy settings. In The Hobbit, Tolkien generally refers to Goblins, with, I think, Orc only being mentioned once. It is not until The Lord of the Rings that Orcs become the more prominent enemy, with goblins being their underground cousins. To me, the North Star miniatures capture that feeling perfectly, with Orcs appearing as a larger and more dangerous cousin of the Goblin rather than an entirely separate race.
The result is an army that feels like a single kingdom rather than two separate forces fighting alongside one another.
The Giant Spiders
One of the things I wanted from this army was some Giant Spiders, despite the fact that they actually appear in the Elven section of the Oathmark rulebook.
Ever since reading The Hobbit, I have associated Goblins with Giant Spiders. Whilst the Goblins and Giant Spiders do not actually appear together in the story, in my mind they have always gone hand in hand. If I am building a Goblin kingdom, then sooner or later there are going to be some spiders lurking somewhere in the army.
I also think every fantasy army needs a fantasy element. One of the things I enjoy about Oathmark is that it is about troops rather than heroes. Heroes are there to improve the performance of the units around them rather than overshadow them. However, I still want monsters in my fantasy armies and the Giant Spiders provide exactly that.
The spiders also help reinforce the character of the army. An Orc and Goblin attack should be something truly feared. These are savage creatures that seek to destroy civilisation. When I look at this army, I think less of the occasionally comical greenskins from Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Age of Sigmar and more of Tolkien's descriptions of the armies that marched at the Battle of Five Armies. The Giant Spiders help create exactly that feeling.
Unfortunately, North Star currently doesn't produce any Giant Spider miniatures for Oathmark, so I had to look elsewhere. Eventually I settled on the excellent plastic Giant Spiders from Wargames Atlantic. Fortunately, they fit remarkably well with the rest of the army. The spiders are well sculpted without being excessively detailed and have a similar design style to the North Star range.
The army contains six Giant Spiders organised into two units of three and I still have another six unpainted.
I decided to paint the two units in different schemes. The first unit was based on the common UK Garden Spider, also known as the Cross Orbweaver, resulting in a natural progression from dark brown through to tan. After painting the first three spiders in this manner, I decided I wanted something a little more sinister for the second unit. For these spiders, I took inspiration from the Australian Redback, creating a darker and more venomous appearance that contrasts nicely with the first group.
On the tabletop they operate on the flanks. Thanks to their Nimble special rule they can move quickly through terrain that would otherwise disrupt the advance of my battle line. Whilst the Goblin Soldiers, Archers and Orcs advance steadily forwards, the spiders can work their way through woods and rough ground before threatening vulnerable enemy units.
To me they are the perfect addition to the army. They add speed, a little hitting power and, perhaps most importantly, they make the army feel like the sort of dangerous force that might emerge from a dark forest before descending upon the kingdoms of men, dwarves and elves.
The Look of the Army
One of the things I like most about this army is its overall appearance. The miniatures have a dark ages aesthetic that suits the game perfectly. Armour is practical, equipment is simple and the army feels grounded in a way that many modern fantasy armies do not. To me, the miniatures feel like they belong in Middle-earth. They move away from the more exaggerated and occasionally comical look of Orcs and Goblins found in some fantasy settings and instead feel much closer to Tolkien's vision.
That aesthetic works particularly well because of the type of game Oathmark is. This is a game about units, battle lines and kingdoms rather than individual heroes dominating the battlefield. The army looks at its best when the units are deployed together. Twenty Goblin Soldiers advancing alongside Orc warriors, Wolf Riders and Giant Spiders create a spectacle that reminds me of the fantasy battles that first attracted me to the hobby. In many ways, Oathmark gives me the same feeling that I got from early editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Regiments matter, positioning matters and maintaining a battle line matters. That is one of the reasons I have enjoyed collecting this army so much.
Future Plans
Although I am very happy with the army in its current form, the kingdom is far from complete.
I still have twenty Orcs remaining from the box to increase the Orc contingent in the future and I need add some additional heroes, especially a spellcaster, to command the growing kingdom. There is certainly room for the force to expand.
More importantly, I need to find some more Oathmark players and get some games played. Building and painting armies is always enjoyable, but these miniatures were bought with the intention of seeing battle rather than simply sitting in a carry case.
Beyond that, I already have an idea for my next kingdom.
My next Oathmark army is likely to be a Dwarf kingdom. Whilst Undead may have been my first fantasy army, Dwarves were actually the army that I originally wanted to collect.
Like many people of my generation, my introduction to fantasy came through The Hobbit. The story of Thorin and his companions captured my imagination and I loved the Dwarves long before I discovered tabletop wargaming. When I entered the hobby in 1991, I initially wanted to build a Dwarf army. Unfortunately, as an eleven-year-old with very little money, collecting enough Dwarves proved difficult and I eventually switched to Undead instead.
More than thirty years later, I still haven't built the Dwarf army that I wanted as a child. Fortunately, Oathmark gives me the perfect opportunity to finally correct that. I have already painted thirty North Star Dwarves and they provide the foundation for what I hope will become my second dedicated Oathmark kingdom.
There is also something rather fitting about Dwarves following this Orc and Goblin army. Throughout fantasy literature, Goblins and Dwarves have often been bitter enemies. From The Hobbit onwards, Goblins have been invading Dwarven strongholds, whilst Dwarves have fought to defend their underground kingdoms from the creatures lurking beneath the mountains.
Building a Dwarf kingdom would therefore provide the perfect opponent for this Goblin force. More importantly, it would finally allow me to collect the fantasy army that I wanted all those years ago.
Final Thoughts
Looking back, I am glad that I built my original Age of Sigmar Goblin army. It allowed me to learn Oathmark without investing in an entirely new collection of miniatures.
This army, however, feels like my true Oathmark force. It was built specifically for the game, uses the official miniatures and gives me an army that I genuinely want to put on the tabletop.
The combination of Goblins, Orcs and Giant Spiders captures exactly what I want from an Orc and Goblin kingdom. It has battle lines, cavalry, monsters and just enough menace to feel like a genuine threat to the civilised races of the world.
With Oathmark Second Edition arriving soon, I suspect these Orcs, Goblins and Giant Spiders will soon be marching to war once again.
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Discussion
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Happy hobbying.
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