Sunday 6 August 2023

Kitbash: Another Deathskull Ork Trukk. Plus Nobz


Well, here we are. Trukk #5. Like the last one, this is a modernisation/repair job, although the first I've made in the 10th edition environment. I made it because a) trukkz seem pretty useful just now, and B) it would be handy to have some "official models" in the event I somehow end up playing in a GW shop. Time for a ramble.

 

 

With this one, I had slightly less material to reclaim, but all the essential worky bits were there. This required a new flat bed, and frontend. The latter ended up with a resemblance to a piece of farm equipment, which wasn't quite what I was aiming for, but OK. Of note is the gunner and wrecking ball. The gunner had previously had a rokkit launcha converted from a big shoota, which I would now convert back. Full circle, and all that. And yes, as I initially suspected, its very much a “present” weapon in 10th. Meanwhile, the wrecking ball is something I absolutely would not have added in previous editions, as it is physically fragile and had some mediocre rules. Right now? Its a freebie that works very well with the tankshock stratagem. I will possibly add similar gubbins to my other trukkz, but it's not a priority. Painting proceeded in my usual rust bucket style. This generally came out OK and up to my usual standard, people seem to like it a lot, but I will admit that the big shoota looks a bit off.

 

This trukk was attempted concurrently during something of a hyper fixation, where I had decided to paint some more infantry because I had the models,  I needed something to do and I’d probably need them eventually if I ever decided to actually play. This, to be brutally honest, is the drudgery of liking orks for me. As my recent Iron Brothers detour proved, its entirely possible to do humies with a low effort colour scheme. With Orks, you’re looking at a lot more bare skin and colour variations, and that’s before you get into the GW penchant for over-complication. This was not fun, but I think I’m getting close to a refined technique that works OK and doesn’t bore me. As they say “Good enough is perfect.”. So I did a bunch of Boyz like the last lot before onto some Nobz. Wielding some Big Choppas.




These were a selection of models that I’d had in storage or in pieces for a long time, a roughly 50/50 mix of 3rd ed metals and 5th ed plastics, with bits from more modern plastics, like the Ammo Runts. These were fairly uncomplicated as a project, although I was painting these in groups of six so I could see results sooner. Getting there… I think. What’s interesting about these guys is how their equipment was amalgamated for the new edition, with a few edge cases dropped completely. Previously, Nobz had the option for regular choppas, and the two-handed big version. The regular version was unpopular as much better weapons were present and often were better calls, with the big version eventually joining the ranks of “better”. Now the models for both get the same statline, which I suppose is fair enough given that the regular choppas Nobz tended to use feature blades about as large as your average human torso. This has allowed a lot of otherwise redundant parts to be used here, and in a way that seems to be mechanically useful. Big Choppas have S7 and D2, making them valid against a lot of targets, if not excelling at anything specific. This ties into some synergy with Warbosses, which possibly makes them more appealing than Meganobz just now. Meanwhile, the Ammo Runtz were holdovers from previous editions, its not something the squad needs, but they are free, so why the zog not?



If I’m totally honest though, the real reason I made these is so I can say “My nob has a big choppa.” in absolute seriousness.


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