Orktober: Kommandos

Righty, the actual Orktober Project.

Much like Stormboyz, Kommandos are another old unit, historically having some overlap with regular Ork Boyz, if having a few tricks. Kommandos are amongst the most parodic of Orky concepts, as their job is a stealthy one, and Orks are to stealth what a a punch in the face is to diplomacy. There's at least one in-universe account of soldiers being executed because Kommandos happened, and the officer didn't believe them. I suppose it works because of the contrast and misdirection; Orks tend to be very obvious, so you don't see the sneaky ones. If you go looking, you can find some absolutely spectacular kitbashed examples, and I even did some in high-vis jackets because it was funny. While lacking in good models for years, Kommandos got revamped for the Kill Team skirmish game, and this seems to have been a great success. I mean, there's even an ork sniper model now, a walking oxymoron if ever there was one. Plus they turn up a lot in merch. I would make the observation though that it also made them very fiddly by Ork standards, with at least six specialist roles and two decorative models. They also recently got the option to split squads, which looks really useful, but doesn't make them less complicated.

As a kit, the modern Kommandos exist as three densely packed sprues, some bases, a transfer sheet, and an honestly mandatory instruction booklet. I don't like the design philosophy here, which is all about fixed poses and excessive detail. Orks are a horde army, let me personalise, and don't waste my time with bells & whistles. There's no modularity as such, each model going together a bit differently so kitbashing between is discouraged, but a majority do have alternate heads and weapons. Some a lot more useful than others. While I'm complaining, I'd like to mention the ever-present mould lines, and that complex bits like the Breacha ram fought back. On the plus side, there's no shortage of character and creativity here. I just wouldn't try to build three sets at once.

I ended up using the alternative heads where possible, omitting the occasional greebly, filing off the Blood Axe iconography, and adding some green stuff work in places. I found pacing myself with these to be rather difficult, trying to paint them over the month, and aiming for posting on the 26th. And like the Stormboyz, the amount of little things to do was a slog that I struggled to get motivated for. But I needn’t have worried, my obsessive nature had these ready for an ink wash on the 12th. The colour scheme was something I went back and forth on, and eventually gravitating to a mostly camo green, with occasional blue details as these are Deathskulls. While this probably makes them look more like the actual military than my actual armydudesmen, additional flairs crept in like mismatched browns,  yellow tan, and Looney Tunes dynamite. I’m going to justify this by pretending that the lads had heard of camouflage, but didn’t quite get the concept. The fabrics are mostly sensible colours, but not in this combination, and I ended up having to go back and change some of these later on.

As tends to happen whenever I try new infantry in a new way, these went through a prolonged “oh these are gonna suck, they suck”, before entering “hey, maybe these are OK”, and ending in “oh that effect looks nice”. Ink washes tend to smooth out my limitations as a painter, while Citadel technicals and contrasts add highlights. I do like how the Soulstone Blue goggles pop against the drab green, and how the blood effect paint works against dull metal.  The flame on the benefitted from Iyanden Yellow; I’m very pleased with how well that turned out. I need to get better with eyes however, I had trouble with the squig.


While rough around the edges, these  turned out OK. I may talk about them again when/if I get to field them in battle. But, damn, I need another project now.