LotR - Ash, Iron, and Rust: The Uniforms of Gorgoroth

A Load of Old Toby - Musing on Miniatures, Middle-earth, and the Machinery of Mordor

Ash, Iron, and Rust: The Uniforms of Gorgoroth

Painting the Dark Lord’s War Machine

The Witch King of Angmar

Now that we’ve stripped away the clean, 19th-century European military terms and mapped out the true industrial ladder of the Dark Lord’s forces last week, from the lowliest Scud sniffing out a trail to a world-ending Legion breaking down gates, it’s time to talk about the physical reality on the hobby desk.

My version of Azog 

If Mordor is a bureaucratic machine, then its uniform is the grease, rust, and ash of Gorgoroth. When painting a massive host, whether be it the miniatures from Copplestone Miniatures or a sprawling tide of Wargames Atlantic heavy infantry, you need a palette that feels cohesive but allows the internal, tribal chaos of the lower rungs to peek through.

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For my money, nothing beats the Vallejo Model Colour range for getting that matte, sun-baked, industrial filth look. In each occasion below I have undercoated the sprue in a matte black and dabbed on colours with an aim to cover 70-80% leaving black in the recesses. Here is the palette to bring the host to life.

Gothmog

The Flesh: I wanted to avoid a mass of too many healthy greens. So instead, use three different base colours German Camo Green (70.833), Cavalry Brown (70.982) and Pale Blue (70.906). This gave a vibrant mix of coloured orcs and at this 10mm scale it produces something for the eye to look at. Some sun-kissed and some sickly, pale, subterranean look.
 

The Rags: Here I have used the rags as a type of uniform and painted these to corresponding to the relevant part of Mordor or leader that the Legion is a member of, for example Minas Morgal in Lime Green (70.827), verses Gorgoroth Plane in Scarlet (70.817). (I have added some of my commanders to view this week, and as you can see this painting part isn’t really visible so any colour will do).

 

The "Gorgoroth Iron": Mordor steel isn’t bright silver; it’s crude and poorly refined. Basecoat all weapons and shields with Natural Steel (70.864), then small highlights of silver. To add some variance I painted some of the Armour in Copper (70.999) as a basis of heavy rust before washing. 

 

The Leathers & Wood: To tie the Swarm together without making them look like a modern regiment, give them all a unifying leather tone. Orange Brown (70.981) is perfect here, bright at the scale but dulls well with my wash. 
 

The 'Ash' Dry Brush: Using Ivory (70.918) I applied a very light dry brush over nearly all the models to make faces and highlights pop. You can leave them here or wash and add extreme highlights if you like, but at this scale its not needed.
 

The 'Rust' Wash: Using a 50/50 mix of Matte Medium and Reikland Fleshshade from GW, I splash the whole lot liberally to create a muddy brown wash. They should look like they sleep in the dirt, because they do.

The Highlight: If you choose to do this step its simple 50/50 mix original colours with glaze medium and go over the top of the extreme tops of each raised area this way there’s a nice blend from the mud to the light.

The Heraldry: When painting the Eye or the Moon onto shields and banners, don't make it neat. A bureaucrat counted the shield, but a trembling Orc painted the sign. Scarlet (70.817) for the Red Eye in a wriggling eye style.

The Tabletop Takeaway: The Bases are the finial element, PVA and sand, then once dry I used Daler Rowney Grey to darken all the sand. Then dry brushed up to Deck Tan (70.986). I add fa bit of scorched grass and dark tufts to finalise.

Gorbag

What are your go-to paint recipes for the hosts of the Dark Lord? Do you prefer the sickly greens of the mountain tribes or the pitch-black of the deep volcanic pits? Let me know in the comments below!

Thank you for taking the time to read, next week I will try and show case the army as a whole and talk about game systems a little.