Scratchbuild: Another Ork Battlewagon

 Yes, I sometimes repeat myself.

With the new edition, I inevitably began thinking about modernising my forces. And how certain units seem to have been reshuffled Given my specific cocktail of neurodivergence and neurosis it's very hard to put things like that aside, so once I did those Grot Tanks, I decided to take a swing at doing another battlewagon.

The weird/annoying thing about battlewagons just now is how they interact with the "exactly what's in the box" design philosophy found in the index lists. This is because the kit spent two editions representing 3 distinct variations, one doing the classical 'wagon, one being about the deathrolla, and an unpopular cannon one. (There's also Forgeworld units, but honestly I don't care.) Putting guns on one wasn’t usually viewed as an especially practical option given A) ork marksmanship, and B) how these act as an ork party bus. With this in mind, creating and pricing the unit on the assumption that people would build one with all possible options is daft. Experienced players wouldn't have done that under the previous points systems, as the options are contradictory in purpose to an extent, while beginners would have to look up the difference, and thus likely came across the opinions of the former. So, for this new project I took a "can't beat 'em, join' em" approach. I'd build a wagon with all the guns, and most of the melee options. The Wrecking Ball option is not actually in the kit, I assume that was a concession to kitbashers, so I skipped it. The choice between Firing Ports and Ard Case meanwhile is still largely a matter of side grades and what dakka if any the passengers have. I went for Ard Case as it simplified the build. As to how practical such a battlewagon is, I'm unsure. Putting a lobba, kannon, and 4 big shootas on a single platform means it can unleash 40 odd shots in a single volley. I dunno if that's good on something that carries troops and likes to pancake people. You'd be looking at 14ish S5 hits, which isn't bad, but it's the sorta thing you can get elsewhere. I see this as a tactical battering ram and distraction.

 

 

Having done… frankly too many such modelling projects, this thing went together with relative speed and a lot of hot glue. I decided on a wheeled design fairly early on, first going for eight wheels, and then realising that was far too big even by my loose standards. In terms of techniques and materials used, I’d call this a “pragmatic” scratchbuild. The wheels, weapons, and details like exhausts were pre-existing bits, either plastic or resin. That’s the sort of thing I could try doing myself, and have done, but I have the bits, so why not? The majority of the hull however was more mixed material; bits of toy, flatpackers, chipboard, scrap plastic, and EVA foam. The curved shape comes from what remains of a fork-lift toy. It was then painted in my obsessively rusty style.

I’m very pleased with one. I’ve been grinding away at lot of rusty projects over the last year or so, and it seems to be paying off. I should probably stop putting off the infantry though.