How to Paint Ogor Mawtribes

Ogors are the best-value painting project in Age of Sigmar. A full army might be twenty infantry and a couple of enormous beasts, and every model is a slab of skin, fur and metal at a scale where a drybrush actually shows. If you want a finished force on the table quickly without cutting corners, this is the army that lets you.

The signature look

Big ruddy hides, brass and iron gutplates hammered flat over the belly, layers of fur and rope, and crude rusted weapons. The palette is warm and earthy throughout, which means the whole army holds together even if individual ogors carry different tribal colours.

Painting ogor skin

1. Basecoat Bugman's Glow over a black or grey undercoat.
2. Wash the lot with Reikland Fleshshade and let it settle into the folds.
3. Layer Cadian Fleshtone across the raised muscle - the shoulders, belly, forearms and brow.
4. Highlight the knuckles, nose and cheekbones with Kislev Flesh.

At this scale a fifth step pays off: stipple a little thinned Kislev Flesh across the shoulders and back to suggest weathered, sun-coarsened hide. For speed, Darkoath Flesh contrast over Wraithbone does steps one to three in a coat, and Guilliman Flesh gives a pinker, more raw result if you prefer your ogors freshly scarred.

Gutplates, fur and iron

The gutplate is the visual anchor. Basecoat Warplock Bronze, wash Agrax Earthshade, edge Runelord Brass and add a few dents with Runefang Steel - a beaten, hammered look suits them better than a clean one.

Fur takes Mournfang Brown, a wash of Agrax Earthshade, then a firm drybrush of Skrag Brown and a lighter one of Karak Stone on the shaggiest ends. Snakebite Leather or Gore-Grunta Fur contrast over bone-coloured undercoat is the quick route and reads perfectly well at arm's length. Iron goes Leadbelcher, Nuln Oil, a stipple of Typhus Corrosion and points of Ryza Rust. Bone charms and tusks: Zandri Dust, Seraphim Sepia, Ushabti Bone.

Mawtribe colours

The mawtribes are a good excuse to vary the cloth and warpaint without touching the skin recipe:

• Bloodgullet - deep red rags and warpaint. Khorne Red into Wazdakka Red.
• Meatfist - hides and browns, warpaint in Rhinox Hide.
• Underguts - soot-blackened iron and Abaddon Black cloth, with heavier rust.
• Boulderhead - stone greys, Dawnstone over Eshin Grey.

Beastclaw Raiders

The frost-touched half of the army wants a colder treatment. Skin goes Bugman's Glow shaded with Drakenhof Nightshade instead of a warm wash, so the hide looks chilled. Furs shift to The Fang basecoat, Russ Grey layer and a Fenrisian Grey drybrush, with Ulthuan Grey on the tips. Pylar Glacier contrast over white is a superb one-coat ice for Stonehorn plates and yhetee fur, and Valhallan Blizzard on the bases finishes the theme. A single army can happily mix warm gutbusters with frosted raiders if you keep the metals consistent.

Speed

This is a genuinely fast army and it is worth saying why: low model count, huge surfaces, no fine trim, and sculpts designed around drybrushing. A Stonehorn is a big model but it is mostly one texture. Two evenings gets a starting force to a good tabletop standard - see the drybrushing guide for the technique that does most of the work here.

Tips and common mistakes

• Do not over-highlight the skin. Two layers and a stipple is plenty; ogor hide should look thick, not polished.
• Dent the brass. A few bright scratches turn a flat gutplate into a used one.
• Drybrush the fur hard. Timid drybrushing on this scale simply disappears.
• Keep the metals consistent across warm and frosted units so a mixed force still reads as one army.

Test a tribal colour against the skin tone in the scheme generator before you start.