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Monday, 28 September 2015

Benjamin Orchard (Court of Owls)

Benjamin Orchard is a fairly recent addition to the Batman mythos, spinning out of the the mythology that has built up around the Court of Owls. I gave the Court of Owls storyline a try in collected edition format, and was intrigued enough to pick up the tpb's of the related Talon series, and that is how I became familiar with Orchard.

The game rules do not seem a very direct translation of the comic character's rules, as when we meet him he is revived with the powers of a Talon, which he was briefly in the 1930's, and as grandmaster he appeared in the modern-day Talon series; in addition, the other Talons were only active one at a time, each killing their predecessor when taking on the mantle, so having a crew of them also places them in the modern setting. Orchard's rules don't include the abilities of revived Talons.

The mini is very uninspiring for me, especially when compared to the various Talon minis. One issue I had was that the proportions seem odd, with an over-long torso and very thin stature, but that may be just me. In addition, the casting was not great, so in all a mini just to 'get done'. Therefore when it came to painting the mini I was satisfied to take a 'quick and done' approach, especially as after finishing Catwoman, I expect my BMG painting output to dwindle for a while.

I do want to get a Court of Owls crew painted, but right now their biggest limitation is that with so few models, the largest game size they can play in is 300 Reputation, and since local tournaments are usually 350 Reputation, I won't consider them until they have some reinforcements. That aid, as they are kind of undead characters, I may justify painting one or two for Zomtober...

BMG Painting Summary
BMG characters owned: 157 (added: Hugo Strange and Arkham Inmates crew, Clown and Sniggering, Riddler (AK) and Robots crew, Robots blister, Azrael (AK), Red Hood (AK), Hatley Thugs)
Percentage of owned characters painted: 18.5% (29 models)
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12 comments:

  1. Blaxkleric28 September 2015 at 11:00

    There's nothing worse than an uninspiring miniature to badly batter one's painting mojo Pulpcitizen, so many congrats on getting this one done and doing such a good job on him to boot. I'm a huge fan of the Court of Owls, having reviewed those issues recently, but hadn't heard of this character before your posting. He would seem a little unimpressive compared to Snyder's more modern-day Talons. Great job though :-)

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    1. pulpcitizen28 September 2015 at 12:01

      Thanks Blaxkleric.:)

      Despite being generally turned off by the New 52, I was intrigued enough on hearing about the Court of Owls premise to pick up the hard cover collections of Snyder's run, and also pick up Talon. Orchard appears in the Talon series.

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  2. Michael Awdry28 September 2015 at 11:33

    I have to confess that I know very little about the court of owls and even though you might find this one uninspiring I still think that you've done a good job on it.

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    1. pulpcitizen28 September 2015 at 12:02

      Thanks Michael. :)

      The other Court of Owls minis are much more to my taste, so that is a good thing. And if you are a fan of 'Gotham', apparently the Court will be involved in that show from season 2. :)

      Delete
  3. Kieron28 September 2015 at 11:49

    I'm not a fan of anything post New 52 as it's not really happening...

    However, you've done a cracking job on one of the weaker miniatures in the range.

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    1. pulpcitizen28 September 2015 at 12:09

      Cheers, even if you are looking at a character who clearly does not exist! :)

      I am glad I am not the only one who think it is a weak sculpt. :)

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  4. Simon Quinton 28 September 2015 at 14:01

    Nicely done dude. I do like the style of the Court very unique looking faction.

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    1. pulpcitizen28 September 2015 at 23:16

      Thanks mate. :)

      I like the rest of the Court minis a lot, so expect more at some point. :)

      Delete
  5. Carrion Crow29 September 2015 at 13:19

    New follower, Mr Pulpcitizen! For which you can blame Mr Moore over at Fantorical. I would agree that the Talons have a distinctive and cool look, like how I've always imagined Owlman should look like. This figure, however, just looks like a Tiki scarecrow. But an extremely well painted Tiki scarecrow. Lovely work.
    Regards Jez

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    1. pulpcitizen30 September 2015 at 11:23

      Thanks Jez/Carrion Crow. :)

      While I am not a fan of this mini in particular, I do like the Talons and look forward to painting them eventually. :)

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  6. FourEyedMonster3 October 2015 at 08:23

    Glad you got it done despite it being uninspiring. It looks great for a limited colour scheme. I understand what you mean as I have felt like just walking away from some projects due to how boring the whole backstory to them were (or more exact the non-existence of any backstory to them). I always need to know the story behind a mini or at least invent one if I am to be inspired enough to paint it.

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    1. pulpcitizen3 October 2015 at 11:16

      Thanks FourEyedMonster.:)

      Thankfully the back story is compelling for the Court, it was just the sculpt I thought could have been better executed. :)

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