Project Tankbustas: Part 4

Part Quattro Bajeena...

The warrior elite of the Ork race, Nobs are either found leading mobs of their minions, or in dedicated squads of asskickers. This makes them the rough equivalent of Sargent-types in other factions, although the mechanical execution is a bit different. Nobz don't actually improve the leadership or morale if the squad they lead, rather they are large and in charge. Physically bigger, generally better stats, and wielding a big axe or power klaw. It's a bit less special these days, but Nobz had W2 on their profile, which had them encroaching on the old HQ slot in terms of raw talent. Even in 10th, the presence of a Nob is often an active ingredient in a mobs melee potential. As the name implies, they tend to be dicks. When it comes to Tankbustas, things go a bit askew. Tankbustas we're originally about using Tankbusta Boms, guess what they did, up close. Having a Nob in that situation was beneficial, but over the editions the unit instead became mainly a shooty one, with unfettered access to rokkits, and Tankbusta Boms basically vanished. Factor in the "exactly what's in the box" unit design of 10th, and we have a melee-centric leader with no melee options and the stock ranged weapon of the unit. Yay. Maybe he and the Tankhamma lad should swap weapons? You could just put a rokkit on a big choppa. Not that the Tankhamma lad by himself makes much sense when the rest of the mob is shooty. An entire mob with them? That would be hysterical, lethal, and brief. One by itself? No.

 

As the somewhat testy tone of the above paragraph might imply, I was feeling a touch uncertain about this one. I had previously used up a lot of nob bits in another project, and I wasn't keen to buy more or cannibalise something. This left me with two broad options; A) cut up a set of big choppa arms, changing the pose so it's less axe-like, and adding a boomy bit, or B) going one-handed for the rokkit launcher, and then figure out something for the off-hand to do. I went for A, and the entire process proved to less of a ball-ache than I feared. The trick is to pick ork arms with gloves or obvious cuffs, and cut at that border. You then take a really small drill bit to drill holes into either side of the stump, and glue a little bit of paper clip into one bit. This gives you a supporting armature, and as long as you are careful with the glue, you should be able to test fit things before finalising the whole pose. I will admit to not being 100% happy with the pose and the length of handle, which gave me a few second thoughts. But, I had limited bits, and I wanted this to be "extra", so I stuck with it, attempted to position the head to better match the arms, and opted to mull over how best to detail it. However, as the tricky bit was now done, the Tankhamma lad was now looking a lot less challenging. I quickly found two choppa arms that roughly matched, snipped off the axe heads, and rotated each so both handles could be joined toether. Some slight bodging later, and that was done, merged with a few choice bits to speed the process along.

Due to an unexpected turn of events, it was a few days before I got around to the matters of detailing and sculpting, but that also went smoothly. I took the same approach as the boyz I did last week, adding a mixture of straps, plates, and handles to things. This turned out sufficiently well for me to decide in favour of a break. These two need some additional finishing and tweaking, but I think I’m best off putting them aside until the painting stage. i.e. a minimum of 3 weeks away. Things have gone better than expected, but I don’t want to speedrun this. Having fresh eyes, after making some squigs, is probably a good idea..

Resin: Killbotz (Ramshackle Games)

A little while ago, I apologised for a certain Gaslands fixation. That's not so much stopped as pushed to the background as I work on a project I can't share yet. One thing that has however come out of that is my re-acquaintance with Ramshackle Games, a small provider of resin models based in Nottingham. I've had several dealings with Mr Fell's products over the years, as my interests ebbed and flowed. It's cheap and cheerful stuff, and a boon to kitbashers. So after I did my Orky cars, I put an order for some stuff, and here we are.

The Killbots are spin-off of Ramshackle's line of robot models, a mix and match selection of approximately 28mm scale. These feature new bodies that resemble nothing so much as artillery shells with orky faces on, or something from Enter The Gungeon. The idea of an Orkish robot is both old and obscure, these being a thing in first edition, but were dropped in favour of the Dreadnought Concept. You are encouraged to be free form with their build, RG being in the habit of providing more bits than you are likely to use in one go. What I ended up doing was roughly approximating Meganobs, with a top-heavy humanoid look, with one melee arm and a twin machine gun arm. I did get pretty creative with a couple though, creating a mecha-squig, and with one wearing the lid off some super glue as a hat. I call him Mr Pointy. With respects to Xenos Rampant, I see these as some form of Elite Infantry with Mechanoid, Super Heavy Armour, and maybe Unstable plus a weapons upgrade. Elite robo-infantry do sidestep downside of Unstable, so I'm not sure how balanced that it is, but I can see this unit being in real trouble if forced to do actual activation tests. I must remember to run the numbers...

There's a few things I want to mention here. First off, a completely resin model is a slightly different matter from just using one of their bitz kitz. You need to pin connections with a bit if paperclip, which requires a small drill bit. That isn't ideal, as you don't want to breath that dust in. You'll also need to take a bit of time to prepare parts and use a filler or two when things don't line up. None of this is remotely insurmountable, but it's worth mentioning given the extent to which I post about Gunpla and Plamo. Don't go thinking this is gonna be as straightforward as those, it's a different skill set, and closer to my scratchbuilding. In fact, hot glue and bicarbonate of soda returned to help things stick. The matter of painting is probably a bit over familiar to the 3ish people whom read these, it's almost exactly the same as recent Gaslands projects. I just used “Blood for the Blood God” technical paint in places. It works though, and the pictures speak for themselves.

Job's a good 'un.

 

 

Gaslands: Deathskull “Burny Wagon”

Yes, yes, I know. I know. There was a time when this blog did something other than Gaslands. It's just that they are so fun and quick to make. I do have some more involved projects on the back burner, but as those are fairly time-consuming, I had to revert back to the Battletech style "one model a week" format. Expect more varied content once the buffer is built back up.

 

OK, we cool? Right. I don't think it's especially unreasonable to suggest that Fire Engines, or Fire Trucks, are an inherently awesome thing. Big things with flashing lights that stop your house from burning down? Or possibly it's what comes to cut you out of your car? Or, stereotypically, rescue a cat from a tree? It's the embodiment of domestic heroism. And one small pleasure of my childhood was the fact my dad was a Fire Fighter, and thus I got to ride on several. While I wasn't searching for one, a chanced on a damaged toy example, and a thought presented itself. Let's make it a literal fire engine. And then go that one step further by painting it blue.

Now, this Carousel/Tesco toy isn't super big, scale goes a bit funny with such things, and you'll often see trucks shrunk down to fit the standardised packet. Nor is it a good visual  match for british fire engines. But it's close enough. The cabin also put me in mind of the Ork Battlewagon, and as I had a few of those Ramshackle Games bits left, I went to town. Specifically, I used an orky ram I'd been saving for another project, and built-up what remained of the ladder into a flamer turret. This was a very free-form project, and I didn't have a plan beyond "weaponised fire engine with two heavy machine guns up front". In terms of game mechanics, it's probably not too good, but it has dakka, rammy, and burny in bulk. It's there to crash into people before gate 1, and then punish anyone ahead of it thereafter. Once the gubbins were layered on, I painted it in my usual manner. In that process, I then dropped it, and was reminded why it's bad to do that with resin bits. It survived, thankfully.

 

This probably came out too rusty, but damn if if this wasn’t fun.

 

 

Orktober Project: Live, Larf, Loot

 Have you ever finished something and said to yourself: "This is either the best idea I ever had, or the worst. And I can't tell which."?

 

Explanation? Well, I had some time off, I usually do in the winter, and wanted to do something special for Orktober. That's the annual holiday for Ork players/modellers, if you are unfamiliar. I ended up doing two projects, this being a relatively quick one while the other was drying. The inspiration was an Ork meme, a spin on the motto "Live. Laugh. Love." A spin by the Deathskulls clan, whom like to steal things. And then the nails that were holding those things down.

I was kinda doing this in secret, so there's no in-progress pictures, but the construction went something like this. It's mainly a foam sheet that had been roughed up, and then backed with a brochure & scrap plastic. If you are doing something similar, I'd recommend choosing a more solid material, like an old placemat, as warping was an issue. The letters are wooden ones from a hobby shop, the most expensive part of the build by far. These were given plastic rivets, and a rough application of wall filler for texture. The glyph and secondary panel were cut from a thinner foam sheet. Finally, it was painted with drybrushing, stippling, and washing techniques.

I'm not gonna say this was a particularly deep project, but that's to its benefit. If you're a parent whom wants a project to do with your young child/yoof, I can imagine you having a good time. Foam, card & PVA glue are probably OK on a rainy day...

Scratchbuild Experiment: Deathskull Ork Battlewagon

As I mentioned at the time, the Grot Tank was an interim project. A stepping stone to something more involved, a Battlewagon. There's a fair whack of history involved the concept, with Battlewagons being the Ork heavy transport, beyond that things get muddy. There was a 1st edition kit with no actual weapons, which went out of production, and bunch of related vehicles in the 6mm Epic system kept its spirit alive. The Battlewagon still had 40k rules though, but by the time we got the modern Battlewagon in 2009, it had long been the domain of conversion projects. Even after having been split into the Gunwagon and Bonebreaker variants, the battlewagon is an unusually malleable vehicle by GW standards. This prompted me to spend a long time mulling this project over, both in terms of tactics and build. Eventually I settled on a Dethrolla and Killkannon variant. The Dethrolla I should not need to justify, but the gun does need a justification. You can make the case that any ranged weapon is not cost effective on a Battlewagon and the Killkannon limits passengers. The thing is, I had the mental image of those Epic models and wanted to put my own spin on it. Amongst other things, this meant tank treads. 

 

Now, the design and production of those tank treads proved challenging, although I think I got the hang of it by the end. My initial design wasn't working out, and I eventually opted to recast my prototypes in a two-part Oyumaru mold. It took a while to figure out, and much finishing was required, but things came out better than the previous one-part blue stuff attempts. The wheels meanwhile where built up from wooden discs and washers, and I found some useful bogie parts in the bits box. The method of assembling the tracks was largely the same as the Grot Tank, just bigger, although I did feel the need for additional wheels after the fact, to help fill gaps. I'm pretty sure I can attempt interlocking tracks next time. 

 

The actual hull was a far simpler matter, being mainly a trailer toy stripped and then built up with flat packers and bits. Of great help was what remained of a firetruck, which worked great for the front end. The turret was built up from offcuts and an aerosol lid, while the gun was a bit of a spray bottle. I made the dethrolla by hot gluing bottle-tops together and then wrapping it in a foam sheet and too many rivets. This was probably one of the rougher aspects of the build, as while I've made rollas before, it was quite a while ago, and I didn't really have a plan for mounting it. This prompted some changes up front, as I tried not to make the vehicle too long, and opted to connect it to the wheels, bulldozer style. It worked, although I had conceal a few sins with weathering paints. Around the same time, I also realised that it's possible to inscribe panel lines into foam sheets with a craft knife, thus allowing me to add detail after gluing. It's my new favourite technique. On the downside, I feel I phoned in the detail around the turret base. Maybe that would have benefited from some more riveting, or possibly a bit of wall filler to add texture. That worked well on the back/right panel. Painting meanwhile saw the return of the Pébéo Studio Acrylics stuff I used on the Grot Tank, but remixed a tad in the case of the silver to darken it.

Nit-picking aside, I was really pleased with how this turned out. An "enter into a modelling competition" sort of pleased. I'll update this post if I get anywhere. 

 

Update: I was a runner-up, awesome!

Work-in-Progress Pictures

 

Plamo: The Orktober Gunwagon

Well, my current trajectory of liking 40k, but not trusting myself with the actual game, continues. Given my obsessive nature, it would be all to easy for me to fall down into that time/money sink, when I should be trying new things. However, Orktober is Orktober. And there are few greater joys than a scratchbuild build. So, I decided to mark this annual event by doing something for as little money as possible. My bitzbox, my build pile, is so out of hand that I don't actually need to buy anything.

This Gunwagon started life as an aborted Bonebreaka Battlewagon project, circa 8th edition. At the time, such units were popular, but this was shortly before I stopped playing and my heart wasn't in it. I forget precisely how I got it, but I was in possession of an incomplete Land raider, mainly the tracks, and such things are great for Battlewagon style builds. As the connecting plates were missing, I built up the hull with off-brand lego, to be dressed with plasticard and bits. This is still largely how I would do it today, but I'd probably make the front less boxy. Upon re-evaluation, I ditched the Dethrolla, and decided to build something I didn't technically have, the Gunwagon variant of a battlewagon. Orks don't really do battletanks, mostly they do heavy transports and super-heavies instead, but the Gunwagon is about as close as it gets. It's a concept I've wanted to explore for a while, and the rules haven't really encouraged it, but if I'm not actually playing? Competitiveness can go hang.

My build lent towards the modern interpretation, AKA non-Forge-World, and probably the most complex part of it is the turret. In my hubris, this ended up as a sequel to the Junkernaught, using largely l the same "hot glue and hot resin" technique. I did however make use of leftover gap-filler from the Space Hulk project, to, well, guess. I suppose green stuff could have worked as well, but this stuff is soft, plentiful and cheap. After building up from the top of a deodorant spray, I added two big shootas, one back, KV-1 style, and one coaxial. These were minor conversions, using tiny tokens from a poundshop connect 4 game. Another little thing I'm disproportionately proud of is the use of paperclips for cabling on the engine block. Tip: if uncertain where to drill the holes, cut the clip in a J shape, insert the long leg into the first hole, and use the other leg as a guide.

Painting followed in my usual fashion, where I used dry-brushing and every single metallic weathering method I was able. Yes, it's predictable, and I over did it in places, but it's how I like it. I should probably have used more blue, but at least I varied the technique a little there. It was drybrushed in two shades, but avoided the edges in places, so the metal showed through. I. E worn/crappy paint. I actually painted the turret separately, which worked out well until I tried to attach it the hull, where a design oversight became apparent. Following some bodging, I hot-glued it in place, but I'll know better next time. I also made a point of painting the guns, tracks and some riveting with different tones, as while it is very easy to do dirty metal, you shouldn't have just one type of metal. Especially on something this big. 

 

Paint List

Humbrol Acrylic Spray Dark Brown - Basecoat

Citadel Paint and Ink

Morefang Brown – whoops, the spray didn't get this bit

Brass Scorpion – metal base

Leadbelcher - main metal colour

Gehenna's Gold – metallic contrast colour

Calgar Blue – Deathskull blue part 1

Lothern Blue – Deathskull blue part deux

Xereus Purple- cables

Abaddon Black- viewsilts

Agrax Earthshade – Gun and track wash

Vallejo Game Color and Ink

Silver – chipping highlight

Gunmetal – guns & tracks

Orange Fire – rust highlight

Brown- thinned ink wash

Citadel Techicals

Stirland Mud - messy bits near the floor

Typhus Corrosion – too many places, mainly the orkish components

As projects go, this proved to be fairly enjoyable. Its not quite what I originally had in mind, but it all came together once painted. I just wish I could get better pictures...

Work in Progress Pictures

 

Plamo: The Junkernaught Scratchbuild

Yes, yes. I know there's a new Ork Codex. And I'm just sitting here. Scratchbuilding...

Anyways, Ramshackle Games is Nottingham's other-other local model company. Its a small, workshop-based enterprise specialising in made-to-order resin. Nice lads, as I recall. In the before times, I visited their business to collect my orders, and got to have a look around. They do their own designs but my main interest, and probably yours too, is their Ork-adjacent stuff. In addition to whole models, Ramshackle offers endless armour plates, wheels, tracks, and gubbins, which are excellent for conversions. I made a fair few Grot Tanks and Trukks that way. Of course, resin is a rather different material when compared to Games Workshop's fine plastic. There is a certain degree of extra preparation needed and the potential for miscasts or something just shattering. That said, if you're doing something orky, such imperfections may be welcome.

 

The Junkernaught is not a kit by itself, rather a demonstration of how to use a bits multipack by one Curtis Fell, Ramshackle's main dude. The basic idea is similar to Ork walkers like the Gorkanaut, Stompa, & Gargant, although smaller. You have a blocky, vaguely humanoid robot with a low center of gravity and a "belly gun" Inverted commas are there because the first Belly Guns were placed very low indeed, almost as it they are meant to represent something else. I took a look at the build and decided to give it a try. I didn't merely wish to replicate the example though, I wanted something more "friend-shaped" with more defined feet, and the suggestion of an armoured skirt.

My Junkernaught was built around the top of a spraycan and two bottle tops. Armour pieces were then layered on top, with some off-brand Lego for additional support and the feet. I ended up flipping whole thing early on, as it looked better upside down. I attempted the "scalding water" technique to bend a few resin panels, and this the first project where I've had call to use my new glue gun. It's a tool you really don't want to misuse, but it's great for filling gaps securely. I cheated somewhat for the claw arm, using some gunpla parts for the skeleton, and part of a Warlord Games Ghar for the grabby bit. It did come out really nice though, so I'd do it again in an instant! Mwahahaha! Meanwhile, the autocannon type thingy and the head came in the kit, along with the occasional greeblie from my bits box and some wire I chanced upon.

Painting was another exercise in weathering techniques, like the Grot Tank, or the more recent Scopedog. The main colours where achieved by drybrushing metallics over a dark brown undercoat, with an Agarax Earthshade wash. Ryza Rust and Valleojo Silver were used to pick out old and new wear, respectively. The feet and undercarriage got some Stirland Mud, with the model as a whole getting Typhus Corrosion'd in the gaps. Its my current favourite paint. I resisted the temptation to weather the blue too much, as I like it to be bright as a contrast. I eventually had to stop myself from painting it.

 

All in all, this project went very-very well. I think the whole "armoured shirt & feet" aspect is a bit too subtle, but it's fine as a first attempt. Now? I just need to stop myself from building an army of 'em. This made me remember how much I love making Orky vehicle conversions, and that's an expensive habit.

Battlefleet Gothic: My Thoughts on BFG:XR

So, I had this idea to write a series of tactical analysis articles about a dead game I've hardly played, and am not likely to play for the foreseeable future. Why? Well, its something to do. I'm building some Ork Ships, so why not use the creative energy that's there?

With the completion of Gorbag's Revenge, I find myself having come to the end point of collecting an Ork fleet. I have a more than adequate selection of vessels, painted and built to a standard of "table-worthy" . I've even mastered techniques I didn't know before. The next logical step is to find someone to play against, something hampered as much by my own social awkwardness as pandemic restrictions. I miss gaming, and while this was meant to be a purely creative exercise, it would be nice to have a go. But you might say, "Dude, BFG is a dead game, nobody is playing. You say as much up top. ". Well, apparently not. There are various fan communities with their own rules, such as today's focus, BattlefleetGothic: XR. Now, as the XR ruleset is several hundred pages long, while play-testing is difficult, my observations will be somewhat shallow. I did try and write a full review of things, but decided against it due to inexperience. My general impression is that the rules have diverged so far from the source as to count as a new edition, although this shows an active community for it. This is particularly pronounced in the case of the Xenos Factions, especially Eldar. As I understand it, I'm broadly in favour of how they remodelled the Ork fleet. It seems the basic ideas of 2010 Clans list have been walked back a little, making the older material seem amateurish. So, on the one hand, you've got a convenient and actively-maintained living rulebook. On the other, by definition it's unofficial, and people can be funny about that. I will now discuss what this may mean for my fleet.

With both Gun Batteries and Heavy Gunz reworked, Ork Kroozers are now significantly more broadsidey. Randomised Gunz are now mainly a feature of prows, with flank examples having a standardised minimum of 6FP. I view this as more of a time saver than anything else, but at least you will have fewer RNG embarrassments and it stacks well with other weaponry. Heavy Gunz meanwhile are very different, have a 30cm range, no hit doubling, but a higher strength value within 15cm. The mathhammer comparison for this change is tedious, but you aren't really loosing anything, and gaining more in in the 30cm bracket. I admit that this is probably less interesting than the previous, but these revisions grant the common Ork capitals a basic competency they didn't have before. They also have Lance equivalents now. Zzaps are a little odd in that they damage on a 5+ and suffer infrequent misfires that cause blastmarkers on their parent ship. This makes them less useful than the basic Lance, although you are still looking at an answer to 6+ armour with consistent performance. If you're wondering what this means for the Slamblasta? Well, you get more shots into the bargain. Zzaps also turn up on the Onslaught as an upgrade. This plays into a general reworking of the escort category, a dense topic by itself, but the short version is that Onslaughts are more like Imperial frigates, while the Brutes focus on thier headbutting. So, there's new stuff to do, but its been done in a relatively clean way that feels in line with the original rules.

Does any of this actually count as "good" in the BFG:XR Meta? Maybe not, but is something. There is still a strong justification for aggressive movements towards enemy however. Weapon batteries of any flavour work best within 15cm, and almost everything gets a reinforced ram for happier ramming. But there's the thing; I can easily imagine people complaining because they feel Orks should be terrible, it happened a lot when I played regular 40k. Another example is the characteristic issue with Bombers, which remain, but come across as somewhat more fun. Orky turrets only hit on a 5+, but you have more, and get to fire at all tokens regardless of type. This means bomber tokens are still a worry, but it's not one-sided and boring. If anything, it presents the image of every Ork on board firing their pistols out of the airlocks as something gets close. This amusing mental picture is however swiftly followed by another of someone whinging that they can't destroy a Kroozer in a single pass any more. Given the extent attack craft rules seem to have been rebalanced over the years, this perhaps isn't a uniquely orkish topic, but if anything was gonna provoke a "Sorry, what?" from a foe, it would be the news that you've got 3 turrets. I never did like having to explain to an opponent something they should already have been aware of...

Wrapping thing up

I'm not quite sure what I'm doing next, on the BFG front. This may well be the last article on the subject for a while, assuming I don't feel the need to build some ships. That said, if I were to play, I'd probably play with the XR rules.

The Mecha Hack: The Orks Of Warhammer 40,000

Orks, orks, orks, orks, orks, orks, orks, orks, orks. Periodically, I try to force all my obsessions into a huge great nerd sandwich of a thing. So, this article happened. About how you could run Gorkanauts and Morknauts in The Mecha Hack. You might ask, why not do Imperial Knights, or Titans? Or T'au Battlesuits? Or Marines? Surely if you wanted to do a 40K game in The Mecha Hack, there are other more obvious candidates? Well, perhaps, but Orks are the faction I play,  so they get rules instead. What? There's a new codex soon? Oh, its just a happy coincidence, as I've been sitting on this one for months.

A Word On Scale
The Warhammer 40,000 setting has almost every conceivable weapon of sci-fi war, but its treatment of giant robots does not line up easily with the Japanese Mecha genre. On the one hand, we have what are basically mini-mecha with an infantry support role or western-style walking tanks. On the other? Mobile Fortresses big enough to appear on a map, which will be redrawn after they've done firing. These rules aim towards the larger end of category one.

Notes on Converting the 'Orkanauts
Morkanauts and Gorkanauts carry a wide variety of secondary guns just basically because they can and its awesome. It's a mess of rokkits, big shootas, skorchas, & kustom-megablastas. While mainly mentioned for purposes of flavour, they may be collectively represented by a light ranged weapon that does not count towards the hand limit, termed “Ovver-Gunz”. Gorkanauts and Morkanauts also have interior space for 6ish Orks in cramped conditions, the “Belly Cabin”. This is an opportunity for tag-along NPCs, consumables, and tag-along NPCs that work as consumables. I mean, where else is a Snakebite gonna keep his herd of angry squigs? While there is an obvious overlap between a Gorkanaut and a Morkanaut, I've tried to retain the different tactical roles they fill in 40K. As such, the Gorknaut is great at killing Swarms, but mediocre at  ranged combat against other mecha. The Morkanaut is the more rounded of the two in this ruleset, as it was the anti-tank variant, and slightly less melee focused. It comes with a Kustom Forcefield, because of course it does.


Clan Kulture Modules
Ork mecha may at the time of creation choose a single clan affiliation as a module, and once selected, this cannot be changed. If a player decides to defer this decision, it is a big thing, they must instead choose one at level 3. If in doubt, choose Freebooter. The inspiration was the 8th edition clan rules.

Bad Moon: If you have not moved this turn, ranged attacks become critical successes on a roll of 1 or 2.

Blood Axe: You have Advantage on tests to find/use cover, hide, and lie like the sneaky git you are.

Deathskull:  You may reroll dice rolls of 20 on all tests.  

Evil Sun: Once a Moment you may take two standard moves as a single action. Then roll your Reactor Die.

Freebooter: If a friendly ork mecha has already killed an enemy this Moment, gain Advantage on your first attack.

Goff: Melee attacks become critical successes on a roll of 1 or 2.

Snakebite:  You may reroll your Hit Dice when resting, and levelling up. You may also reroll your starting HP.


Gorkanaut Chassis
Hit Die D10  Damage Die D8 Reactor Die D6

STARTING HIT POINTS
1d10 + 4

WEAPONS AND ARMOR
All armor, all weapons, shields

LEVELLING UP
Roll your hit die to gain new hit points. Roll to see if attributes increase, rolling twice for Power and  Presence. At levels 3, 6, and 9, gain a new module.

STARTING EQUIPMENT
Comlink, Klaw of Gork (light melee weapon), Dethstorm Mega-Shoota (light ranged weapon), Ovver-Gunz, light armor (+3 AP), Belly Cabin.

WAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!
Announce the name of this ability. As a Move action, immediately move to a Near enemy and make a melee attack against them. Roll your reactor die.

BIG BULLY
This mecha inflicts +2 damage on Swarm enemies. However, when making a ranged attack with its Dethstorm Mega-Shoota at another kind of target, it is resolved as d6 damage instead of a d8.

Morkanaut Chassis
Hit Die D10 Damage Die D8 Reactor Die D6

STARTING HIT POINTS
1d10 + 4

WEAPONS AND ARMOR
All armor, all weapons, shields

LEVELLING UP
Roll your hit die to gain new hit points. Roll to see if attributes increase, rolling twice for System and  Presence. At levels 3, 6, and 9, gain a new module.

STARTING EQUIPMENT
Comlink, Klaw of Mork (light melee weapon), Kustom Mega-Zappa (light ranged weapon), Ovver-Gunz, light armor (+3 AP), Belly Cabin.

WAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!
See above.

KUSTOM FORCEFIELD
As a Use action, create a barrier of 2 AP, usable by yourself or a Close mecha against Ranged Attacks. The barrier lasts until you dismiss it or until the AP is spent. Roll your reactor die.


Sample 40k unit to Swarm conversions
For this mod, I have decided to use the Swarm Enemy rules to represent things smaller than a Morkanaut, as it makes the most sense on the face of it. That said, you may have to do some fine tuning. "Hack" games are very stripped down and minimalist. Warhammer 40k can be somewhat  minimalist for a 28mm war game, but suffers from rules bloat and fanboyism. As such the rough conversions I present below can only be abstract approximations subject to my biases. My assumption here is that infantry should present no real threat to your average Gorkanaut, but the challenge is doing it fast enough. You'll also note that as HD/HP goes up the Swarm die goes down, as a LOT of Infantry in 40k tends to wear armour needing an anti-tank round to bypass, while things like Terminators can happily bludgeon tanks to death. Proportionally, as they get more powerful, the better targets they are for mecha, and the less the Swarm die is necessary. Whatever you end up doing, aim for fun, instead of a slog.


Light Infantry, I. E. Boyz, Termagants, Guardsmen, Cultists etc: HD1, HP3, 1d4 damage, max Swarm die: 1d12.
Medium Infantry, I. E Fire Warriors, Nobz, Scions: HD2, HP4, 1d6 damage, max Swarm die: 1d8.
Heavy Infantry, I. E most Marines and Necrons: HD2, HP5, 1d6 damage, max Swarm die: 1d6, plus an appropriate ability.
Light Vehicles and Elite Infantry, I. E bike squadrons, Battlesuits, Meganobs: HD3, HP8, 1d6/8 damage, max Swarm die: 1d6, plus an appropriate ability.
Actual Tanks, greater daemons, dreadnoughts, your typical "Shoot The Big Ones" Tyranids: Not a Swarm.


Going Further
While certain modules or concepts don't necessarily fit the setting, like handheld shields, most can be renamed with no issue. For example, you can simply rename the 4 basic pilot types as Boss, Mekaniak, Git, and Mouth. Another thing you could do is is adapt the new Hybrid Chassis into a Gargantuan Squiggoth. You'd just have to swap out the Mawbeam ability for WAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!.

If you end up using these rules, do let me know how it turns out.

Blog: Spring/Summer 2021 Status Update

Well, as we enter the summer, and I begin to receive my Covid vaccination, it seems a good time to discuss the blog and where I am as a person.

 

The biggest thing that happened to me recently, excluding a recent wisdom tooth removal, was the closure of my toy selling business. I'll admit that this closure was a gut punch of thing, but it had been on the table for a while. The pandemic was just the last straw. It wasn't profitable, and my own interest in the Transformers brand had declined so it no-longer felt like a hobby. Its a shame, but I realise that I started the business for the wrong reasons. So, as I approach a big number, entering the realms of the old fart, I find myself pondering the big questions and having more free time. This isn't great, because, and I don't know if' you've noticed this lately, it's very easy to find an external factor to worry about instead, just by touching the news cycle. It's not all bad however, as this represents a chance for a fresh start, whatever the hell that may involve.

This blog is of course a distraction as much as it is a creative outlet. I'm usually running a month ahead, because depression and creativity tend to be on the same see-saw, so even if I'm feeling bad, I keep to the timetable. One thing I have noticed is a desire to get back into the wargaming scene, I'm an Ork at heart, while at the same time my Battlefleet Gothic fascination has largely ran its course. With the pandemic hopefully coming to an end, actually playing the game is possible, but it's not necessarily a step in the right direction, more of a relapse into an old habit. I also find my Mecha Hack writing to be reaching a natural pause. I have at this point published 6 articles of homebrew, including one personal best, and I find there's little more to say. This isn't a sad event however, as I will shortly be gamesmastering again, which will no-doubt be a source of inspiration. I will however need to find something to write about soonish, lest I fall behind. The blog will continue, one way or the other, until morale improves.

 

Here's a preview of what you might expect in coming weeks:

A dirty, dirty, dirty Leo.

An article on BFG:XR.

An article I've previously held back on, Orks in The Mecha Hack.

An article on how do Real Robots in The Mecha Hack, as opposed to “super” ones.

Possibly something on those new Beast Snaggas.

Something from the pile of unfinished kits.

Maybe an article on Transformers, as I no-longer have a conflict of interests there.

 

Plamo: Gorbag's Revenge (Battlefleet Gothic)

Well, technically not plamo. This is a white metal release. Metmo? Sounds like a Pokemon. Why do I scratch-build ork ships? Well, a lot of it is because I can, and I'd say quite well, thanks. But, honestly, there's a cost aspect to thing. Battlefleet Gothic is long since out of production, and Orks were a metal fleet. Well, obviously everything in 40k apart from the T'au is pretty METAL, I mean that Orks never got any ships in plastic or resin as far as I know. Humies and Spikey Boyz however got plastic cruisers in the box. This means its relatively easy to find those models, even as that number decreases through attrition, and if not? People do 3rd party options these days. With Orks it's somewhat harder, as while you can easily find the escorts, the capital ships are stupid money, and so you'll have to consider making your own. Maybe its time to play around with a 3D printer...

Today's subject is the Gorbag's Revenge, a metal model like those above. I got it as new around the time of release, and didn't actually finish until now. And it's good that I did save it, as these go for the aforementioned stupid money on ebay. I'm honestly surprised nobody has reversed engineered any of this.... the weapon bays look easily re-castable for bits. Did nobody but me care to? Or do I need to research more?

I don't have a huge amount to say about the creative process on this one. It's a straightforward assembly and paint job, using the techniques I favour. This is meant to be a specific vessel, so there's little room to go nuts. I will instead take the opportunity to point how metal is probably the worst material for models like this. The Revenge weighs more than my Space Hulk while being a quarter of the size, which makes it a liability on the standard GW flying base. I broke three bases before drilling into it to make a better mounting point, I remember having exactly the same issue with the smaller kroosers. As a medium, white metal is so tough you need serious tools and a vice to cut it up, but not so tough those tiny prow gun-barrels stay on.  Then I broke another flying stand when photographing it. I don't mean to be salty, but this was a right nuisance, and I've drawn a line under this whole project.

While significantly more annoying than it should have been. Gorbag's Revenge basically turned out OK. I just cannot get over this stand issue.

Battlefleet Gothic: The 2010 Ork Clans Review

 So, I had this idea to write a series of tactical analysis articles about a dead game I've hardly played, and am not likely to play for the foreseeable future. Why? Well, its something to do. I'm building some Ork Ships, so why not use the creative energy that's there?

Well, I've put this off for long enough. I still can't play this game, but as I've researched and written more on the topic of Ork fleets, I've kept coming back to the 2010 Compendium Clans List. It just adds a lot and was apparently tournament legal. Given that Ork ships have a “mixed” reputation, this has a certain appeal. What follows are my thoughts on the rules, such as they are.

Big Picture Stuff

Fleet composition is rather involved by BFG standards, based around a revamped Warlord system. Players take 2 Squadrons per reroll, one of which is always Tiddlers AKA Escorts. A Warlord and his ships are basically fleets in their own right, meaning these rerolls can't be shared around. This is a little unwieldy, but is compensated for by the fact a Warlord is free, and grants a one shot +2 bonus to boarding actions. A Warlord still does not offer a higher leadership value, but you can swap crews and get numerous inexpensive rerolls under this system, which is nice. Fortunately, while you are mandated to field Escorts, these have received a few buffs. These get +1 leadership if in high numbers, and you can get freebie scrubs if their leadership was terrible. Escorts also gain access, like your Kroozers, to a dramatically expanded selection of upgrades, affecting largely all aspects of ship performance. This does however tie into the Warlord thing, so you can't apply these freely. Finally, there's the titular Clans, and a few new ships, two of which I've already talked about. The overall approach is not to expand the number of ship classes, but to maximise the functions of what's that exist already. There is also a slight trade-off in Boarding Value in exchange for this greater utility,as you aren't gonna be rocking the 20 any more, but between the Goffs and other newness, its not really a compromise.

 

Gubbins

A direct expansion of the original Warlord upgrades, these are given a single price for individual capital ships and whole squadrons of escorts. In practice, Gubbins end up being applied to your 3 or 4 most important/only capital ships in much the same way as other Ork Fleets. You'd probably only see these applied to escorts if A: you've purposefully placed a Warlord there or B) its actually a Clan thing, more on that in a mo. You'll also find not all ships benefit equally from some gubbins, like in circumstances where Heavy Gunz get replaced. Basically, if the ship was pretty good in the first place, think for a moment, but if its unpopular, the only way is up. I'm not gonna list all of them, but my picks for most interesting and/or useful are as follows.

Assault Karrier: a freebie sidegrade for when you want to spam assault boats and boarding torpedoes. Does cut into your air cover however.

Extra Turrets: a reasonably pricey solution to a Kroozer's bomber issues, but also applicable to escorts. While the bonus is reduced, a Grunt or Ravager would have 3 turrets this way, which is hysterical. Maniak Turrets also exist as a cheapo version.

Looted Lances: Orks have always struggled with 6+ armour, and these present a solution. And a reason to try Savage Gunships again as those get a strength 2 Lance at 15cm. However, as these replace all of a ships Heavy Gunz with a flat bonus, probably the best fit is the Kill Kroozer.

Klaws: thanks, Tyranids. These are looking a lotta fun.

Ram Prow: makes a ship more likely to ram, and does a minimum of 1 damage if it connects. Good synergy with Goffs.

Shock-Attack Lance: another freebie sidegrade, with a few quirky limits on this use, but yes. This is a space use version of the infamous Shock-Attack Gun. This doesn't do actual damage, but it does inflict nasty leadership penalties. Pick a target with its Shields down, take moment to explain it to your foes, and enjoy. 

 

The New Ships

This list features the Grunt and the Lite Kroozer, two ships which I'm sure have a prior history, but I first encountered them here. I have also talked about both previously at some length, so I'm not gonna do so again in much detail here. Both benefit greatly from Gubbins like Klaws, although I'd be inclined to say the Lite is the weaker of the two. It's more a slot filler, while the Grunt brings something new to the table. It also presents the “ZUKOV'S KLAW ORK ASSAULT KROOZER", a heavily customised Terror Ship. Unless I'm misreading it, this is slightly undercosted, and serves as an example how to maximise boarding actions.

 

 

The Clans

Here we go, the main event. This system overlaps with the new ship upgrades, as two/three of them are those upgrades with an actual new coat of paint, and I'm not overly keen. You can have a clan bonus without interfering with your gubbins, which is nice, but the costs are usually the same, and it forces the ship into a particular play-style. The usefulness of the individual Clan gets very subjective very quickly. Goffs are impressive right out of the gate, as boarding better is good, as is easier rams. It is however outmoded by Holofields, but you can't have everything. Evil Sunz merely go faster, but it's cheaper than the Gubbins version, which it stacks with. Bad Moons is Maniac Gunners via another door, so a bit meh, but powerful on the right ships. Deathskullz is similarly looted stuff in greater abundance, but you end up paying more for torpedoes for SOME REASON. Snakebites get a free leadership bonus to Brace, but only use Roks or Hulks, so not much application there. Finally, Blood Axes get humie escorts and refits, rather than stealth. Freebooters don't exist. 

 

 

 

OK. Can you tell why I'm lukewarm on these? There's no reason to take certain ships for certain clans, because you are paying for a bonus you can't use. This puts me in mind of the original Ork codex, where you were expected to mix & match Clans according to their speciality, where more modern spins on the concept don't cost points and tend to be less rigid in applications. While this, and the painting requirements, is rather frustrating to me, its not all bad. In fact this is the simplest way to to improve your escorts en-mass, while your Warlords sit on the big ships. The cost of a Clan is roughly one gunship, so you may end up trading one model for a significant performance boost, only to get a bonus ship anyway due to poor leadership. I don't normally advise picking a clan purely on performance, but if that's how the list actually works, so be it.

Conclusion

Well, there's good and bad here, but this is probably worth a try. For all its apparent complexity, the Clans list is mainly an equipment based expansion with quality of life improvements. Discuss it with your foe, but I don't think people will mind.