I'm planning to add an Orc Battlemage to the Council of Mages after the player is Arch-mage. Since Caranya and Irlav are dead, there are two vacancies, and this fills one. So now I'm selecting an outfit for him and would like your opinions.

Most mages wear a robe and rely on magic for defense. Battlemages all appear to wear the same uniform steel. But this is a Council of Mages member so he can be different.

My ideal would be a combination. A fancy robe when he's in council, some armor over that robe when he's in the field.

If the mod in question is going to feature him in action, you should look for an armored robe resource.

I say some kind of heavy, rough, armoured orcish robe.

I must admit I'm moving towards the armored robe idea - that is for "field work". He will be introduced before he become a council member and should see some action prior to the promotion, so armored robe, or heavy + hood, would be appropriate then. So really the question is whether he changes outfit when in the Council chamber, or retains the same clothing for continuity/recognition, and is there a good Orcish armored robe around, or do I have to make one?

I'd say that being an Orc in the council of mages he would be expert of some orkish tribal magic or something and he wouldn't care that much about fashion. His rough armoured robe would be enough for him.

How about the tribal orc priestess look, a la orc priestesses in Morrowind Comes Alive mod. (if you played Morrowind)

Orcs like comfort too you know, that might be why he's a mage, kind of depends what character you want to give him/her, if they are like Trayvond the Reguard in Cheydinhal (who is nothing like redguards) then you might want them to wear robes and a kind, caring, nurturing personality (aka very different from most orcs) otherwise, if he/she's you general rumble and tumble orc, then armored robes would do just fine.

If I give him any back-story in the game it will be that he got into magic to learn to enchant or summon his weapons, and silence magical opponents, and has some reason to dislike Necromancers in particular - so it's partially "know your enemy" as well.

I'm equipping him with a Silence spell and a bound weapon spell at least, so even his magical attacks will be counter-magical, if you see what I mean. As a Battlemage, he's leaning toward weapons rather than spells for direct use, with spells as support (e.g. dispel, silence etc to negate opponents' magical attacks).

How that affects his choice of attire when he's in the council chamber is still unclear to me, hence the poll. An armored robe is a good compromise outfit that he might not change out of, whereas full plate + hood could be a comfort issue.

Well, he sounds like your general "learnt something for revenge" kind of character so i'd be more inclined to give him heavy armor or a robed heavy armor, a helmet would overdo it though, you could give him a hood though, that would be interesting.

The way i picture him is either half heavy armor and half normal clothes (steel cuirass, steel boots, a good pair of pants, maybe a hood) or you could give him one of the robed armors from the battlemage robes mod with a good pair of boots.

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll54/pero_lozhach/WAC/www.jpg how it looks in WAC.
I imagine that Orc similar, with tan robe maybe like http://tesnexus.com/downloads/images/25309-1-1245612206.jpg with orcish armour instead of course.

I really like the Orcish armor-robe, but I also think that just Orcish armor with a hood like the other battlemages would be fine.

Whats WAC? Probally something im gonna facepalm over, and also where is that battlemage Armor from?

Looks like I'll make an Orcish armored robe. Pauldrons and some plating from the cuirass added to a base robe. If I keep the appearance of weight down, it can be an all-the-time outfit.

That sounds right to me actually. From your backstory, the guy is obviously a fighter, but the fact that he's on the council kinda suggests that over time he became the authority on anti-magic magic and battle equipment summoning.

I would think that such a fighter would tend to wear an enchanted light armor battlerobe, for the combination of protection and magical efficiency. Of course, given that he's an Orc, his light armor would be heavier than most people's heavy armor. A stripped down version of Orcish armor sounds like it would be just the trick.

Went for the Armored robe, just so I didn't have to make more than one outfit. Result http://dslcv1-458.fast.net/oblivion/docs/orgul.jpg - I think it suits him.

In my opinion orcs shouldn't be on the council of mages but if thats what you want...
He should wear robes.

I call racism! Incidentally, there's a whole thread in the lore forums about orc mages...

Looks great to me!