Norsgard Games: The Orcs of the Scarlet Watch!
Here's an obscurity I stumbled across years ago, forgot about, rediscovered, then misplaced.
I want to say that the Scarlet Watch models here predate the first of the Norsgard kickstarters. I believe I got these from a CMON Black Friday sale at one point or another. Maybe circa 2014 or 2015? A few years back to say the least- maybe it was even earlier?
To my recollection these were some of the first "new wave" style orcs I can remember coming across- less junky and primitive, more upright and cultured, but still just as mean and ferocious- looking as they need to be. I feel they set the precedent for what companies like Yedharo are currently doing with orcs, but was probably continuing with the style of some of Confrontation's later orcs like the Trackers or the Behemoth followers.
While there's certainly a place for Kev Adams style Greenskins I certainly appreciate that Norsgard tried to do something different. A shame the game didn't seem to catch on, and the company website leads to weird pop up ads needing to be clicked, which I'd rather not even play with.
These guys are supposed to be an organized religious order of warriors- the flavor text mentions them being a sect of templars. Not a role you usually see orcs filling in most game worlds.
Models are big and sharply cast. They're metal, which is an issue for some, I know, but it's not like they were difficult to build- outside of attaching the horns on the spellcaster guy's cloak, which was mostly due to small contact points. They all are on 40mm bases and you could probably get away with using them as ogres in Vanguard or as Ironjawz perhaps if you wanted to proxy them in to AoS. Perhaps the beginnings of a larger sized Frostgraev warband? Maybe they'd make good hobgoblins since they seem more cultured and civilized than the average RPG orc?
I do believe some of the other figures in the line were also cast in resin. I've yet to come across those in person, and even on the second hand market these guys seem pretty hard to find (especially anything from the kickstarters).
They had some very Rackham influenced wolf people as well as some oddly proportioned barbarians. I'm genuinely curious to track down more about both the game and the models. If you guys have any leads, be sure to let me know!
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