Plamo: The Big Mek Dakkarig (Armageddon Release)

 

And now for another installment of Project Legs11. Today, we focus on the only actually new thing in the Armageddon box: the Big Mek Dakkarig.

 

Ordinarily, I'd like to place a model such as this in its proper, or proppa, context, but the Dakka Rig is so new as to almost lack one. It's simply, and obviously, a gatling gun on legs. It's all about the Dakka, it's in the name. Perhaps it will gain said context with the 11th edition codex. I don’t know, I didn’t get the book until this model was done, and its only had rules in general for a matter of mere weeks. It seems to be positioned as a de-facto HQ choice for Dreadbash and Mek-centric armies, as it's the personal conveyance of a Mekboy. Other than putting a lot of bullets into something, it also carries rokkits, but unlike ever other Ork walker, it's mêlée functions are kinda minor. More importantly though, this is very much within my hyper-fixations, which is why I put off doing it until now.

As a build, this is very much in the same fixed pose style as everything else in the Armageddon box, if maybe less irritating due to the larger size. This still is a case where you're gonna need sub assemblies, some gap-filling as it turned out late in the process, most notably with the Mek whom needed painting separately. In three different parts because he's grabbing the controls with both hands. In all fairness though, that's as annoying as any of it got, because a rusty scrap robot is so massively within my comfort zone that it's like a soft cushion. I added a few extra panels, greeblies, and roughed it up, before doing all the major colours in a lazy afternoon.  I find that doing metals is so much more immediately gratifying than infantry, and this project was a gentle confirmation of that. Then came the Mek, and assorted details, before washing and basing. I had wanted to use to a transfer on the banner, but realised too late that I didn’t have a suitable one. So I freehanded a rather-bad “Kan” gylph. That’s the symbol for ork walkers that sometimes looks like a robot doing the robot. It looks more like a cheeky gremlin thing, but its fine.  A bit of whimsy. I also tried using old, dried-out mud paint to make new mud paint, which produced some nice textures. The whole thing came out quite well. And eventually, I got the codex.

As I now have the codex, and it has been collectively discussed to death, how do I feel about it? Well, I'm not fond of how this codex and indeed 11th in general have been communicated. Those data cards I got in the Armageddon box? Aged like milk. The Ork codex looked, if anything, over-tuned, but then news broke of Marines experiencing an even more extreme rebuild, loosing a bunch of units into the bargain. It follows that every faction will receive a similar revamp, but as this is being done via a codex cycle, not the index method, it's gonna take a while. As a result, game balance will be unstable for a long time, not least because marines are half the game. Furthermore, there is a trend for the initial codexs of an edition to be cautious and maybe a little awkward as the designers feel things out. So however impressive Orks look now, it may well be a different story next year. I acknowledge that there is a strong "First World Problems" feel to the above comments, but this is still a very rough transition from 10th, as it's not a clean break. More like unpicking stitches from a wound. It makes me disinclined to any deep analysis until things settle. And they took a bunch of units away too, and faffed with the Battlewagon again. That said, let's talk some positives. I do like the modularity of the detachment system. I mostly play at 1k, so having the vast majority be 1DP is good for me. I like how the designers seem to have gone out of their way to make most weapon options valid, a topic I've had a lot to say about in the past. I don't think they got it 100% right, but it's a lot harder to dislike big shootas now. The presentation is pretty solid, as is the rules language. So, generally a good first impression.

Up next: Probably some Boyz.

Plamo: Primaris Intercessors (the Armageddon ones)

And now for another installment of Project Legs11. Here, I’m trying some beakies.

It is a self-evident truth that everyone involved in 40k, will have, at some point, painted a space marine. It's just a thing that happens, like playing Ryu in the latest Street Fighter game or buying white sliced bread. I'm not gonna say I have hard numbers, but when half the game, a majority of starter sets, and the entire Horus Heresy setting prominently feature marines, it's a thing that happens. Invariably, these form the basis of somebody's first army, and/or sold on to bulk out someone-else's force, and/or sold on to start the cycle anew. And just as invariably, those marines are the basic troops choice of the time, in this case, Intercessors. AKA the unpopular and "boring ones". Marine players always seem to have a bit of resentment towards their rank and file. I suspect part of it is, is that basic marines aren't great at killing other marines, which is most of the game. Although that may be changing soon. Or everyone just runs to the cool stuff that kills other stuff best. Good thing these are a modeling project first.

As I said way back when I started Project Legs11, I was concerned about pacing and burn out. At time of writing I had been working on the Armageddon box for about a month, and had done some of the more interesting Ork stuff, but the impending Ork releases gave me pause. I had time off for TFN, so marines instead. And just the Intercessors so I get a handle on the Crimson Fists colour scheme. I had some problems though with assembly. One leg somehow vanished, another had a breakage, so I opted for a squad of five rather than ten. Lest I loose my temper and undermine any therapeutic value in this. This largely proved to be a good call, at least until I managed to glue one to the table. And then the “big real life issue” hit and my  motivation basically evaporated, my progress becoming slow and irregular. So, as a mental health maintenance exercise, this was something of a washout. I'm not a fan of how these went together, and I'm not really looking forward to the Boyz.

 

Anyway, I eventually got over that. I'd done some research, and Crimson Fists looked to be a fairly no-fuss colour scheme, that might work with my preferred trench brown undercoat. I opted to overbrush Kantor Blue on the model, it's like dry brushing but less selective, before going in to pick out specifics like the undersuit and gun. The backpacks were kept separate until after the overbrush to simplify matters. Once the big colours were done, and some the fiddly bits, a Nuln Oil wash was applied, followed by a light drybrush of Macragge Blue, and basing. This worked well enough, I suppose. As a colour scheme test. In so far as getting a table-ready standard. When marines consist mainly as one block colour, as they do here, the main difficulties become getting that colour right, and the fiddly bits. I’m not totally happy with the blue, but its fine as first attempt. But the fiddly bits were just kind of annoying. That’s why I skipped transfers and squad markings at this stage, as in addition to the transfers being a limited resource, I didn’t want the hassle. My style is, perhaps, a bit sloppy for marines. That said, if I wanted hassle-free models in one block colour, I’d have probably chosen something from the Silver Drybrush Brigade. The point was to mix things up, after all, I can get better. I’ll hopefully come back to these at some point.

I wrapped this in mid-August, shortly after my decision to pause the blog. In between that and publication, the hype cycle for the new Ork Codex finally began, long after that leak. And then much of it leaked before the preorder. By the time this goes up, the codex will have been out for 24 hours, I got mine at closing time last night, and we’ll all have a solid idea of what’s happened, but its clear the Orks have been reworked from top to bottom. As have the marines. The implications of all this will be massive. I'll decline to comment more deeply than that just now, as I'm not able to match the news cycle, and I don't want to just parrot the opinions of other people. And I got sick of rewriting this bit. Commentary will follow once I've actually read it, but I do like what they've done with the Kans...

 

 

That said, about the modelling side. The Boyz unit got a lot more complicated, but thanks to that earlier leak I'd got a lot of the necessary gubbins together to update existing units, and expand the newer Armageddon Boyz. There is a grand kitbash tradition to draw on here. Big Shootas are pretty easy to do; if you don't have a whole Ork with one lying around, you just put a barrel extension on a regular Shoota. Rokkits are doable if you have a tube and/or suitable bead for the warhead. Think bazooka or panzer faust. For the Ammo Runts you need a grot and a sack or box of some kind. Burnas are a touch trickier, but if you have a humie flamer, some wire and an oilcan you are probably OK. Or you can just use Burnaboyz now they’ve been sadly removed. I will. What ultimately defied my bitzbox, and possibly everyone, was the Boss Nob. And indeed the dedicated Nob unit. Through a deeply curious oversight and/or suspicious marketing choice, these don't carry sluggas anymore. Only the assorted kombi-weapons and kustom shootas which had been unpopular in 10th ed because they blocked out all of the melee options. In terms of boss nobs, this would be an easy errata, or a modest inconvenience for what I already field. I tend to use boss nobs with two-handed big choppas, and that’s still a legal option. But Nobz Mobz got a complete rewrite, and so a complete rebuild there is obviously needed. I’ll do the boyz first.

 

 

Up next: The Dakka Rig, the codex, and probably some boyz.

Plamo: The Armageddon Kommand Krew (kinda)

And now for another installment of Project Legs11. After a vehicle, now for some HQ type guys.

OK, an explanation. This isn't the Kommand Krew just yet. But it will be. These models will be released separately from the Armageddon box, under that name. Which is great if you missed out, and it's a convenient way to get some character models. On the other hand, it does mean you're  locked into three specific models, with no equipment options, and you may not want all of them. Personally, these three were something I wanted, but there's one you'd obviously want over the others, the Painboy. If you're running a lot of Boyz, you probably will be wanting several of these to gain the desirable Feel No Pain rule. The other two are maybe more niche. Returning from Legends with a new name, the Bannernob seems to be competing with the Painboy for a support slot. He likewise significantly buffs the durability of the unit he joins, just differently, and has a lot of OC. The Bigboss meanwhile is something that's been missing for maybe 8 whole editions, possibly longer than many players have been alive, a lesser Warboss comparable to a Primaris Lieutenant. There used to be grades of Warboss, and this provides an inexpensive alternative.

Now, as models these are a mixed bag, if pretty. The fundamental downsides of fixed pose GW infantry are very much on show here. Admittedly nice to look at, the sculpts seem hostile to customisation, while  being so individual that fielding multiples would look odd. The Painboy was particularly irritating here, with that outlandish overarm pose, that delicate cable, and I managed to break the Grot Orderly. These all peg into the bases, and the force required caused me to snap his foot off at the ankle. I fixed this, and added a shoulder pad to the Painboy. He's kinda scrawny otherwise, with a peg leg and an ill-defined power klaw equivalent. He's the problem child of the set. The Bigboss was a touch more conventional, accepting a headswap and a new bosspole with minimal difficulty. The new head is off an old metal nob, and doesn't perfectly match the proportions or pose, but works well enough. He doesn't look flashy, and I i wonder if he's due more weapon options later, but he does look like a Warboss in waiting. Maybe he's born with it, maybe it's the tactical rock. The Bannernob almost got a headswap too, but the bandoleer complicated matters. I actually ended up removing details here instead, taking off the topknot and tassels for a simpler look. Sometimes less is more. He also has an even bigger tactical rock than the Bigboss, which would be problematic to replace as his toecaps are cast in the same piece. Also, due to a typo, my Bannernob is now called BannerBOB.

 

Painting was interrupted by real life issues and the resulting exhaustion, and was done in the same style as the rest of this project. I don't want to get into the specifics, but I've been very distracted. The main issue here was the banner, which would require either transfers or some serious free handing. There's a few glyphs sculpted in, but otherwise it's clan agnostic. That's good, otherwise I would probably discarded it, but it was a challenge requiring further research. I eventually settled for a white fabric for the purposes of contrast, where I lucked out with a pre-existing paint on the first try. It's a dirty off-white, not a good bright white, but works well enough for my style. I tend attempted a freehand logo, and some transfers, to mixed success on both. That said, all of these are fine as gaming pieces, really coming good towards the wash stage.

  

In other news, further details about the new Boyz kit came to light while I was working on these, prompting a rewrite of this paragraph. Things seem to have gone a bit kill team, with a lot more unit options, and special rules. In addition to the shoota thing, a Boyz mob will now routinely feature an ammo runt, and multiple ranged weapon upgrades, without sacrificing their choppas. This obviously makes the Armageddon Boyz less desirable, and notably increases the modernization work required for my existing units. As my bitzbox is huge, and my boneyard significant, so I'm pretty sure I've got this covered. But my concerns about dull, busy work have been more than justified. Gonna need to pace myself, especially with the real life situation being uncertain just now.

Up next: Maybe Intercessors as a change of pace? 

Plamo: Ork Wartrakk (the Armageddon one)

And now for another installment of Project Legs11. Having done some grots as a warm-up, I moved on to the Kult of Speed.

Possibly the most nostalgic thing in the very nostalgic Armageddon box, the Wartrakk goes right back to 1st edition,  the original being cast in lead. It's one of those units that existed, at least partially, due to technical limitations of the time. Plastic moulding wasn't quite there yet, and a two seater half-track was about as big a vehicle they could cast in metal. Eventually, they got done in plastic for Gorkamorka, although these aged like milk, and we were stuck with them for donkey's years. The Ork fondness for kitbashing was largely mandatory. These were retired in favour for the Orktober buggies, so it's a surprise to see the unit back. Ruleswise it's surprisingly simple too, much more minimalist than say a Megatrakk Scrapjet. Where it is like an Orktober buggy though is it's crew. Said crew don't have any alternative heads or such, so doing three of this would get boring real quick.

As a model it's a fairly basic thing, a single runner segmented into three, and its the simplest of the vehicles in the Armageddon box set.  This obviously means it goes together quickly, but probably you're best off painting it in segments before final assembly. The driver is very much an integral part of affairs, although the gunner/rokkits may be left unglued for ease of transport, but I would decide against that later on. The complication here is that the orks simply have a lot of detail that just has to be done prior to final assembly, otherwise you can’t get a brush in there. The modularity and pushfit nature of the kit bodes well for future conversions though; if you can replace the gunner you're golden. He’s built like a nob BTW, maybe that’s a nod to the original version? I opted to head-swap the driver, and trimmed some extraneous bits off the gunner, and gave him a jerry can, to personalise this a touch. I will admit that some of these charges will driven by glue mishaps or gaps beings revealed at spraypaint stage. I'm still getting used to the pushfit style and I dislike the absence of simple, standardised connections. Your mileage may vary on that one though. I'd also make the observation that the Wartrakk has a notably hollow chassis, and seems to rely on it's connections to it's base for structural purposes. Just maybe file those pegs a bit? As getting this onto the base was a bit of a struggle.

I then undercoated and painted the kit in four segments. Thinking about it, this sort of thing would have annoyed me so much more in the past. So either I am doing better, or this is just less annoying than the Kustom Boosta-blasta or the (current/old?) warbikes. That’s not to say it wasn’t without its challenges,  and I ended up gluing the gunner into place. Despite my best efforts, painting had shifted a few tolerances, but nothing insurmountable. A good little kit, mind you. I’m happy with how it all turned out.

Up next: some character guys, but maybe something else first...

Plamo: Ork Gretchin (the Armageddon ones)

And now for an installment of Project Legs Eleven. As I work my way through the Armageddon box, I start with the smallest models to ease into things.

Worked into the Boyz sprue around the edges, these feature 5 main bodies, and 6 head/weapon pieces to personalise them. Each body can take two different combinations, which as far as pushfit monopose models go is quite acceptable. One segment even features what looks likes the star of the Grot Rebellion, which pleased me immensely. I did however lightly kitbash them anyway for the sake if variety and pride. Assembly was largely stress free, although you do have to be mindful of tiny gaps occurring between pieces, which caught me in a few places. Trim the pegs, and use the special plastic glue to melt things together. Comparisons to the Gretchin kit I've written about previously are kinda of a wash. There's an obvious technological improvement, but we're comparing pushfit to a "proper" release so it adds up to a sidegrade. Painting was largely an exercise remembering how to do this, trying not to melt in the June Heatwave, and not feeling happy with them until the inkwash stage. The details can be a bit fine as well as being small, and my old eyes had to squint. I also tried out some, heh, Armageddon dust, for the bases, as I'd picked it in a painting set and wanted to give it a go. Things are rough around the edges, but as a warm up this was quite useful. I did manage to do the eyes on most of them. I wonder what's going on with the runtherd there though…

As these are fairly simple models that were done as a shakedown, to find out if any paints had ran out, I don't have much more to say. So I'm gonna pivot to talk about the Summer Preview that happened as I was working on them.  It seems the Codex might be sooner than I expected, and we're seeing something of a paradigm shift with how units are equipped. Boyz have received a glow up on in pretty much all fronts; better stats, more weapon choices, with instances of (limited) Lethal Hits and Cleave being plentiful. This makes them a lot more offensive, and makes me wonder about their eventual unit costs. That said, giving the Shoota family of guns Lethal Hits against squishy targets was probably the minimum to make them functional. Orks will consistently find their opponents in cover and thus hit on a 6, and the probabilities just get depressing from there; upwards of 1/36 odds to wound a beakie and you'd need to do it twice. Lethal Hits would at least mean it feels like you are doing something each time, skipping a dice roll. Rokkits meanwhile have been totally reworked, and kombi-weapons have distinct stats again. I will be very interested to know how all this is priced and what you can actually have in each mob.

In related news, despite my earlier statement that I likely wouldn't need to make any more Trukks, GW has remade the trukk too. It's got more guns and more melee stuff, looking more like a mini-battlewagon. I don't thing I urgently need to replace my existing trukks, the size is about the same and I can just say it's a "counts as". But if I did? Oh. Woe is me. I'll have to scratchbuild a bunch of Ork vehicles. I am forced to do one of my absolute favourite things. How sad.

 

Up next: summat bigger.

Warhammer 40K: Introducing Project Legs Eleven

So here's the thing, despite some reservations, I ordered one of those 11^th edition Armageddon boxes. I hope to have it today. I could easily blame the FOMO, (new previews and rules every day!) but truthfully I needed something to do. You might also argue that a loss leader starter box that will probably take me months to finish probably isn't a bad deal. There's a lot of new Orks in it, and I'm not opposed to having a paper rulebook either. That just leaves the marines, and I had considered just flogging these on eBay, I think I'll paint some of them too. As Crimson Fists.

You may not have heard of the Crimson Fists, because they are basically the snobbish hipster's beakie chapter. Turning up occasionally to please those in the know, they were on the cover of the very first WH40k rulebook, and featured in the very first scenarios, against Orks. It went badly for them, because they accidentally blew up their own fortress monastery with an air defense missile, trying to fend off an Orkish invasion. That was a tragic accident, apparently, and I will now allow the reader to take a leisurely 5 minutes to laugh about that one. 

We good? OK, let's continue.

As a result, the Crimson Fists are mainly known for being very few in number, and having an intense hatred of Orks. Oh, and having red hands. As an Ork player, such folks amuse me as foes. And they present a potentially interesting change of pace as a modeling project. I'll see how a few feel to paint, and if I don't vibe with it I'll move the rest on. The Ork angle meanwhile is more straightforward. Their presence in the starter box bodes well for rules support, although my existing army is quite complete. Unless the codex does something notably unexpected, the new stuff here is pretty much all I want. What I expect any new Ork codex to do is give me a lot of busy work as the Boyz, Grots, and Nobz kits get refreshed, likely reflecting the example set by this launch box. It has been stated that Rokkit Launchas etc for basic Boyz aren't going anywhere, but at time of writing, I strongly suspect that I'm gonna need to rebase a few things and such. This will be dull, so having marines as a palette cleanser won't hurt.

So, I'm gonna take my time here, and be a bit more relaxed about this as a project. I'm not forcing myself to do weekly updates, but it will likely be that if things go well. I’ve still got a  modest buffer of articles, so there’s no real reason to hurry. But I am planning on the following rough steps.

Stage 1: Gretchin and New Box Smell 
It's been a hot minute since I actually painted Orks, so a gentle warm-up won't hurt. If only to discover which paints need replacing. I'll probably dry-fit a few models too, as I'll probably want to play the game soonish. Does anyone know what's happening with runtherds BTW?

Stage 2: Shinys and Maintenance - Early July
Here I pick either one of the Ork vehicles, or one or two of the characters to work on. If anything is broken, I'll fix it then, as well as modernise my army lists etc.

Stage 3: Ongoing Alternations - July/August
Having got back into the groove, I putting the more basic marines into rotation, aiming for one unit at a time. I want to avoid burnout and take my time. I will most likely batchpaint the Boyz, but that's potentially a slog that my brain would rebel against, so I gotta pace myself. If something performs well on the table though, it's probably jumping the queue.

Stage 4: Blingy Beakies and the Book - September
Assuming things like the Intercessors went OK, I now move onto the more elaborate marines. These get quite fancy, and fancy it's not something I normally do, so I want to work up to that. Otherwise, if I didn't like the beakies? The Landspeeder might get looted, and the remaining bits go on sale. By this point the ork codex will likely be imminent and any rebasing or retooling etc that needs doing can be done at this stage.

Wish me luck.

WH40K: Why I’m not buying that new Armageddon book (yet)

Righty, a bonus article. Part blog update, part opinion piece. If you follow 40k news at all, you might have noticed that things seem a bit hype lately. We've had a few campaign books, with new units added, the most recent being the for Armageddon front, the famous orks versus guard meatgrinder. This one is almost perfectly tuned to interest me, but like the 10th ed Ork codex I'm not indulging. Why? Because 11th edition has been announced, and we've got maybe six weeks before it goes live. Yes, I probably could get some new models painted and get a couple of games in, but I'm not playing 40k regularly just now, and I have other commitments. It's an expensive and silly idea to even try. I need only to point to my Astra Militarum experiences as to why being an early adopter with FOMO is bad idea. Truthfully, my plans with respects to 40k are to wait for 11th edition, get a deal on a launch box, and paint it as a long-term project. It should be easier to find new sparring partners around then too, as everyone will want to learn the new game.  This Armageddon book will either be a flash in the pan, made obsolete before the end of the year, or an expense I can defer for a while. As the actual data sheets and detachments are free to download, it's not like it's urgent. Its not like the lore matters...

All that being said, I didn't want to let Armageddon pass without comment. And I currently have a suspiciously coincidental 6 week buffer on articles, so you get a bonus post, to help make it i vaguely topical. Presenting room temperature takes on the stuff that interests me.

 

Commissar Yarrick: Possibly the best single retcon in a setting made of retcons. So good to see this guy back, and I'm so glad he has interesting and powerful rules. As opposed to "anti-ork 2+" or some other targeted bonus, that kinda thing is deeply boring and can feel like a fuck-you. See the assorted Imperial Oddments factions for where this can go wrong. I dunno if his power in ordering infantry will last, nerfs are probable, but if I did indulge in named characters, it would be he. I'm looking forward to fighting him with my Orks, and he is supposedly amazing in Recon Element, where he would lead scores of hard-to-see infantry.

Commissar Graves: I don't think anyone was actually expecting a deranged lady commissar on a pimpmobile, but I think we're all happy she's here. It takes a lot of charisma and novelty not to be immediately overshadowed by Yarrick in this context, but I'd say yeah, she's doing OK. Who doesn't like an efficiently priced vehicle that does good support work and some melee? Definitely of interest in mechanised forces, although the on-foot version suffers from similar design issues to the generic commissar. I also expect fan art and memes, but I'm not gonna go looking...

The Centaur RSV: Yes, it's a fine Ork Trukk! I will be doing that eventually, as will about 100% of all Ork players. As a guard unit, it's definitely a welcome tool to have for objective play. It's current price is perhaps not ideal though, coming in at the same cost as the Chimera for a much less durable and less well-armed platform. What commentary I've read on this suggests that we'll see this unit as a ride for heavy weapon teams, Ogryns, or Kasrkin, which would be kinda boring, but ok. I'm not a huge fan of when Orks try that trick, trying to form a light tank or mobile bunker from a transport, and I don't think it fits the guard vibes either. Catachans and Combat Engineers probably have a nice new ride though. 

 

The Hippogriff AFV: And speaking of light tanks, we have this. I like the look of the Hippogriff. I like it's fire & fade rule. I also like how that new Armoured Infantry detachment plus this tank, means that guard can do more mobile styles of play, like mechanised but more agile. But I don't like the mislabeled weapons, and I don't like the price comparisons. For most things you want this tank for, you'd just take a Scout Sentinel, which is cheaper. Hellhounds and Chimeras are also potentially unfavourable contrasts, those being more established with the option for HK missiles. I do really want this unit to work though, and it looks to be a great board control piece. I suspect we won't have a good handle on this unit though for a while. Probably not until 11th is established and we know what is "optimal" weapon fit is. Is it all melta? Or does the cannon/stubber option have legs? We just don't know. 

Wazdakka Gutsmek: Yes, it's grand to see him with an actual model after all this time. And the model is incredibly extra.  Not my current vibe for Orks, and I'm not into Epic Heroes as mentioned, but I see the appeal. I would have liked more Orks in the Armageddon book, TBH, but if we're in the 11th edition starter box we're probably fine.

The Various New Detachments: Yeah, these look fun, especially the Superheavy Tank one. I'm not touching any of them until the meta settles though.

And to end on a sour note...

The Steel Legion Controversy: For heaven's sake, could we fucking not? I get it. I'm angry about the loss of the generic infantry squad too. And it makes sense that you'd want actual Armageddon troopers for an Armageddon campaign book. But Krieg started out as player 2 colours Steel Legion, just reverse the trick. Or look up Death Fields, maybe? I think the Catachans need the attention more.

 

Kitbash: Another Deathskull Looted Rhino

 

I will admit to being tempted by those new Red Corsairs. Sometimes... you just get bored, and space pirates are fun. Then that mutated into a more general interest in capital C Chaos, as a modeling project. I even got some models to test out a few paints, but it didn't quite come together. That might be for the best. At time of writing, mid-March, it's clear 11th edition is  approaching and it is therefore massively dumb to start anything 40k related, but I still needed to do something. Then I tried a freeform scratch build, and that didn't come together either. So, I went back to something I'd shelved.

 

You see, as much as I love Orks, I've basically done everything. Not beast snaggas admittedly, but near enough, and I dunno if 11th ed will change that. Although Yarrick is back, that's pretty cool. Really brightened a Monday. Anyway, that leaves either reclamation/modernisation projects like today's subject, or more modern and thus more expensive plastics. The former isn't that exciting, and it's hard to justify the latter. Especially as I'm not playing 40k regularly just now. So, the best thing I could find to do was rebuild an old predator/rhino hull into a "counts as" trukk. This would bring my count up to 6, which is likely to be as many as I'd ever need, and, you know, having a couple of rhinos makes sense for Deathskulls. As Warboss rides and such. Fortunately, this proved to be a fun little distraction of a project, that people seemed to like too.

 

As I'd already orkified this once, the main things I had to do here was expose the crew compartment and to add a wreckin' ball.  This makes it a less thorough rebuild than the last one, but truthfully less structural work was needed. This was then painted in my usual manner, if only to stay in practice. I mixed my own metal paints for the hull, and mud paint for the undersides. Perhaps the most significant thing I did was paint in the grilled(?) headlights with a tiny wee brush, which is the kind of detail I’d avoid in the past. I didn't do it that well, now I look at the photos, but paint mistakes are fine with orks, I suppose. I touched those up later on.

Job’s a good ‘un.

Plamo: Orks Runtherd and Gretchin

 

I didn't have a great time in early January. I'd survived December, but I was struggling with respect to life goals and various petty annoyances. Then I got a head cold. Yay. So, a new project was needed, and thus today's article.

Anyway, I'd been meaning to pick up some more grots for a while.  It's not because they are especially good, or even competent, it's because they can do the boring objective holding stuff, while generating Command Points, and generally being a nuisance to remove. Gretchin die to almost any attention, but die so quickly any attack feels like a waste of bullets. Also good for screening and movement-blocking purposes. There's definitely diminishing returns with these little blighters, but they do tend to create dilemmas.

Dating from 2009, this kit is probably the realistic plateau for plastic grots. These are mostly fixed pose models, although many have alternate heads, with a random assortment of weapons. There is just enough flexibility to prevent them from getting boring, and there is compatibility with Ork kits of the same generation, something I used for the Runtherd. While obviously smaller than most, these go together with minimal fuss, and generally hit the goldilocks zone. It's also arguably a budget release, offering significantly more points per pound than either of the two Ork Boy kits, although that's approximately £1.45 a model in real terms. I do hope that GW doesn't get it into their heads replace this with something needlessly complicated and/or extravagant.

I didn't do anything fancy with these, merely experimenting with fabric colouring and some highlighting. I did find some of the details a touch soft, so maybe a few of these guys have trousers where there were no trousers before. Getting into the right headspace was in some respects more difficult than the actual painting. I don't think I'm actually getting better, but I am becoming more efficient with what I do, something I felt with my more recent Guard units.

I probably need to find something more interesting to do, but these are OK for now.

Plamo/Kitbash: Ork Oddments

 

 

Now, I'm playing 40k with less regularity than I used to, as I am trying to do new things. When I have played however, my Orks have over-performed. I've done so well, that I'm worried about getting cocky. Taking a bunch of Boyz in trukks was a pragmatic choice given what was table-ready. I kinda thought that this was a basic bitch set-up that I got lucky with. But with subsequent additions I seem to have unconsciously gravitated to some of the more efficient units. Maybe playing guard so much taught me about objective play, I dunno. However, I didn't have a solid 2000 point list ready to go, I needed a project, and so here we are. A bunch of things that don't really justify an article by themselves.

I rummaged through the bitz box, and bodged together another mob of ten Boyz. Boyz seem to be good Battleline units, although compared to your average tourney list I seem to be taking a lot more than most. Maybe it's a holdover from earlier editions, but it feels somehow uncomfortable not to have as many Boyz as I can. I wanted another 10 so I might more easily scale up to 2000 points. There's few things to briefly mention, like I was trying a few new paints. The presence of stikkboms is a vestige from the 7th codex IIRC, where tankbusta boms where a distinct upgrade, foreshadowing 10th ed box locking. Speaking of Tankbustas, I'd initially planned to reuse one for this squad, but it broke, so I had to kitbash another lad with a rokkit launcha. I think I could easily make another squad of ten if I wished, but beyond that it's either paint stripper or new plastic... Anyway, these are fine. I always find that starting these is more difficult than finishing, but this was an OK thing to dip in and out of. I did however have issues with the gun barrels though.

 

Speaking of new plastic and paint stripper, I also sourced some "new" Black Reach era Nobz. I’ve used these a lot for conversions over the years, as their moulded weapons have never been viewed as optimal. I wanted a few more to replace some troublesome metal ones, while taking the opportunity to give them Power Klaws. While Nobz with big choppas is both effective and funny, Klaws hit an important breakpoint. These Klaws were mainly salvaged parts that had been Dettol-ed, although one was recut, and the biggest was a Ramshackle Games piece. This required pinning the joins, and concealing them with green stuff. There was also some modest head swapping and personalisation. You don't get much variety with these, but I wanted to get what I could. I did however have the same issues with the gun barrels though. Maybe I need a new drill bit. These were painted in the same optimised manner as the boys, but only after I decided to do something else for a bit. 

Said thing was a Trukk. This was a more thorough salvage job, as it was an old kitbash that had not endured storage well. The wheelbase and flatbed was intact, but the frontend and weapons were a total loss. Rebuilding it as a closed cab style vehicle was the path of least resistance, requiring the hot glue gun and other scratchbuilding techniques. While paint brings it all together, I do acknowledge the slight mismatch between the scratch components and the GW ones.  People seem to like it though.

Hmm, while a worthwhile distraction, I find myself at little introspective about all this. The most satisfying aspect of this was undoubtedly the trukk. Not only did I have the most fun making it, social media feedback suggests it was the better of the three, not that the other two are bad. None of these three mini-projects are especially clever, see the first paragraph, but the vehicle kitbashing seems to play to my strengths. So either need to find a way to make the actual orks in my orks more interesting, or I need to go heavy on the hulls. Something to think about.

 

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.

Orktober: Stormboyz

Here we go, some Orktober content. Although possibly not the Orktober content. I'm trying to get that done before the end of the month.

Stormboyz are a very old ork unit, not the oldest, but definitely something that was there when Space Orcs became proper actual fungus football hooligan GW Orks, and never really left. These were the orky equivalent to Space Marine jumppack units, Orks that wanted to get stuck in faster by flying. This was useful, although these were a close relative of the basic Ork Boy, functioning the same in many ways, just erratically airborne. Much like the Shokk Attack Gun, they were much more random in ages past, having a mishap chart due to the inherent dangers of a rokkit pack, not least of which being that Mekboyz find the accidents funny. Playing into that was the old lore that Stormboyz were teenage Orks that were doing the teenage thing of rebelling against thier society by forming organised groups, dressing alike, and marching in formation. Doesn't that remind you of something? Initial gameplay experiences suggest these work best as disposable deep strike assets in 10th Ed, adding more pressure on your foe.

I got these models sufficiently long ago that I don't remember how I got them. Probably eBay. These were assembled by their original owner, with the main thing I did being bigger bases and some minor tweaking. Way back when: I remember trying to heavily kitbash boss nobs for these, but it didn't work out. For this project, I ended up just adding power klaws to models instead, tooling for two squads of five, and made sure everyone had a unique head. Also some gap filling, and pennies to balance the bases a touch. One observation I would make here is that these models are very individualistic and busy. Mainly they stay on the good side of characterful, but these don't have the regimented look of older lore. Possibly there's hints of pilot suits in there, bomber jackets, goggles etc., but it's all over the shop. And that adds to the painting time, especially with all the "tactical rocks" which are being used to suggest flight. But at least they don't look as much like fucking Nazis, which is a plus. 

 

I think these turned out okay. My main difficulty was getting started again after stopping for a week. Basing these and doing touch-ups was a bit of a slog.