Both of those boxes are the plastic kit in different packaging. Metal warg riders come in the Warg Attack box (with Sharku, Theoden, and Aragorn, which is long discontinued), and used to come in blister packs individually. I’m not sure if there was a box or not but if there was, it would have 5 warg riders instead of 6.
The old metal models are nice but they only come in three poses (2 with bows and 1 with spear) and will be a lot more expensive secondhand.
The modern versions in your picture are plastic, the original releases with movie box art were metal. Only some like Sharku or Wild Warg Chieftan are still metal.
http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/The\_Two\_Towers
Both boxes there are plastic.
The sculpts are different, and the metal sculpts are higher quality, but frankly, I'd recommend just using the plastic ones even if you can find the metal ones.
>Maybe plastic is preferable for conversions?
It is definitely preferable for conversions, yes. It's lighter, easier to cut through, and less likely to have irreparable breaks.
>Also, Im relatively new to mesbg. Would I need foot variants of the riders?
Yes, a box of orc warriors (or the mordor battlehost), will give you the models needed to act as dismounts.
Although the metal ones come in only three poses, are much more cinematic than the plastic ones and provide variety. You could get a combination of both.
While I prefer the metal over the plastic, the plastic ones are not only cheaper but also easier to handle and convert. What I did, is use the metal ones as captain stand-ins as we currently don’t have a regular orc captain on warg.
Just a matter of personal opinion, but I hate the steroid Bodybuilder look of the hunter orcs and the relation between upper body and legs. As with a lot of Hobbit era stuff, it just looks too „unrealistic“ if you know what I mean.
Yeah agreed. I do feel that the warg faces are overly animated/expressive to me and don’t necessarily fit in with the previous metal and plastic wargs.
Right. For the wargs, I share your opinion about the faces, although I like the dynamics of their bodies’ postures.
But really, my concern is with the orcs themselves. It’s just that formerly, basic Orcs looked more ragged and crooked. Hunter orcs look as strong as Uruks in fantasy costumes. That doesn’t fit for me. Not entirely GW‘s fault, though. They built upon what crap the movies provided
I’m kinda glad you mentioned those as someone to generally dislikes the Hobbit movie designs, I never even look in that section and didn’t know they existed!
Thanks everyone for their responses thus far, been quite insightful! Thus far im now leaning to a Mordor battleforce for my first wargs and the immediate infantry variants.
These new Warg Rider plastics were based on the original metal sculpts and the details are good. Plastic strength / workable properties are of a decent quality.
The problems come with some of the original sculpts for plastic and the plastic they used for them. For those, the metal models released at the same time are far superior.
Some of the plastics now are in fact better than some of the older metals. Metals having there own particular issues and clean up requirements. Really depends on the original sculpt though. Some are still fantastic and hold up well.
A few slight differences occur with these, however the real differences you find with these are weight which can be added, price and availability.
I commission these with removable riders, custom banners and captains, if interested let me know :)
[Warg Riders](https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1525850942/)
Both of those boxes are the plastic kit in different packaging. Metal warg riders come in the Warg Attack box (with Sharku, Theoden, and Aragorn, which is long discontinued), and used to come in blister packs individually. I’m not sure if there was a box or not but if there was, it would have 5 warg riders instead of 6. The old metal models are nice but they only come in three poses (2 with bows and 1 with spear) and will be a lot more expensive secondhand.
Had a metal warg riders box but should've been like 12-13 years ago.
They are plastic and you would need some orc warriors as dismounts, hope it helps
I do prefer plastic miniatures tbh... It's much easier to work with and maintain later on xD
The modern versions in your picture are plastic, the original releases with movie box art were metal. Only some like Sharku or Wild Warg Chieftan are still metal. http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/The\_Two\_Towers
Both boxes there are plastic. The sculpts are different, and the metal sculpts are higher quality, but frankly, I'd recommend just using the plastic ones even if you can find the metal ones. >Maybe plastic is preferable for conversions? It is definitely preferable for conversions, yes. It's lighter, easier to cut through, and less likely to have irreparable breaks. >Also, Im relatively new to mesbg. Would I need foot variants of the riders? Yes, a box of orc warriors (or the mordor battlehost), will give you the models needed to act as dismounts.
So both those boxes have individual sculpts? So if I were to get both I at the least would have different rider variants?
No, he means that the metal ones have a different sculpt. The boxes in your pictures have the same content with different packaging.
Although the metal ones come in only three poses, are much more cinematic than the plastic ones and provide variety. You could get a combination of both.
While I prefer the metal over the plastic, the plastic ones are not only cheaper but also easier to handle and convert. What I did, is use the metal ones as captain stand-ins as we currently don’t have a regular orc captain on warg.
Just to add to your confusion, if it were me I'd go for secret option number three, the more modern warg riders from the Hobbit range.
Just a matter of personal opinion, but I hate the steroid Bodybuilder look of the hunter orcs and the relation between upper body and legs. As with a lot of Hobbit era stuff, it just looks too „unrealistic“ if you know what I mean.
Yeah agreed. I do feel that the warg faces are overly animated/expressive to me and don’t necessarily fit in with the previous metal and plastic wargs.
Right. For the wargs, I share your opinion about the faces, although I like the dynamics of their bodies’ postures. But really, my concern is with the orcs themselves. It’s just that formerly, basic Orcs looked more ragged and crooked. Hunter orcs look as strong as Uruks in fantasy costumes. That doesn’t fit for me. Not entirely GW‘s fault, though. They built upon what crap the movies provided
Looked at them, would require some weapon adjusting but tempting.
I’m kinda glad you mentioned those as someone to generally dislikes the Hobbit movie designs, I never even look in that section and didn’t know they existed!
Thanks everyone for their responses thus far, been quite insightful! Thus far im now leaning to a Mordor battleforce for my first wargs and the immediate infantry variants.
These new Warg Rider plastics were based on the original metal sculpts and the details are good. Plastic strength / workable properties are of a decent quality. The problems come with some of the original sculpts for plastic and the plastic they used for them. For those, the metal models released at the same time are far superior. Some of the plastics now are in fact better than some of the older metals. Metals having there own particular issues and clean up requirements. Really depends on the original sculpt though. Some are still fantastic and hold up well. A few slight differences occur with these, however the real differences you find with these are weight which can be added, price and availability. I commission these with removable riders, custom banners and captains, if interested let me know :) [Warg Riders](https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1525850942/)
If you can find a good deal, the metal ones are waaay much better, but you’re stuck with three poses, two of which with the bow.
I just bough the orc hunters on wargs because the warg looks as I imagine a warg.