Da Ork Project Part 3 - Da Big Metal Stuff

Hello!

Another easy stage of the Ork project - sorting out all the vehicles and their guns! No bases required changing, (though I did add a bit of static grass here and there) but there were a few breakages to fix and I had some plans to expand the current level of magnetisation. Here's what we were looking at to start with (after fixing a Kan back onto it's base):

At this stage all the gun arms on the Killa Kans (not pictured here) are magnetic, and the Battlewagons have interchangeable small turret options, plus the big turret can be removed. Some options there, but I could do with more...

Here is where we are now. More magnets added, more weapon options painted up and a bit of a rework of the Deffdread.

Deff Rolla wagon with a double big shoota turret option. In a pinch this could run as a Bonebreaker, but the lack of roof on the back puts me off this idea.

The Killkannon wagon. This time loaded up with a grabba klaw and four big shootas. As you can see, I've replaced the periscope and stikkbomb chukkas with magnets for versatility. If required I can go back and add some more vehicle upgrades later. Again, this could be a Gunwagon but for the lack of 'ard case upgrade. I may add a magnetic roof option at a later date for these wagons, but for now I don't see it as particularly thematic to the army so I'm not in a hurry.

The badly photographed (even by my standards) Deffdread. He's had a bit of a makeover, removing his chest skorcha and the remains of a broken wrecking ball from his roof, and ramshackle shoulder pads added with magnetic weapon mounts. Seen here with a pair of Rokkit launchas. I also added a few more weapon options so it can go double skorcha or big shootas. No extra melee weapons at the moment, again, maybe something to come back later.

And finally the Kans. No real change here apart from a few more weapon options and a bit of grass. Since the melee weapons now make a difference, I've tentatively organised them into two mobs, one with klaws and the other with buzzsaws.

Next step will be Da Big Boyz - a bit of a fixing and maybe a touch up for the Stompa and Squiggoth! And after that I'll have run out of things that don't need a base resize. To that end I've just made an order with Tabletop Adapters for 250 25 to 32mm base adaptors. That should make things nice and easy. Maybe.

Mini Battle Report - Orks and Deathguard vs Chaos Space Marines

Hello!

Yesterday I brought my Orks along to a local gaming night run by Grim Dice Tabletop Gaming, where I played in a 2 vs 2 game, 1000 points per person. Sadly the game was cut short a little so didn't get to reach it's natural conclusion, but we did have a good laugh at some very epic/silly moments.

I took an Ork list featuring a Warboss, Weirdboy, about 60 Boyz, 5 Flash Gitz, 4 Deffkoptas and a Lobba. I was teamed up with Mike with his Deathguard list of a Lord of Contagion, Malignant Plaguecaster, 3 squads of Plague Marines, 2 Blight-haulers and a Bloat-drone. He's new to the hobby and is still learning the game so he has an excuse for unpainted minis.

Facing us were a team of regular-opponent-John's Emperor's Children (Lord, Sorcerer, Exalted Champion, Noise Marines, 2 Cultist squads, 2 Sonic dreadnoughts and a Rhino) and Colin's Word Bearers (Lord, Dark Apostle, 3 Cultist squads, missile Havocs, 3 Contemptors and a Maulerfiend). Colin has been playing for decades, so he has absolutely no excuse for unpainted minis!

We played Strategic Gamble from Chapter Approved 2018, where you have up to 3 maelstrom cards, and you can discard 2 to draw another one, that if you can score that round is worth double points. John and Colin went first...

Deployment was based largely on convenience, I lined up the Boyz opposite John while the Word Bearers and Deathguard faced each other. My Deffkoptas started off the board. In turn 1 the Noise Marines disembarked and the Emperor's Children formed a firing line against my Snakebites. The Word Bearer's walkers stomped up the middle towards Mike's force. Some fire from the dreads killed a few plague marines, while most of the guns went into my Orks, killing off the Flash Gitz (I was looking forward to using those...) and dropping one of the Boyz mobs down to 4 models. They scored a couple of points, but nothing major. The Rhino also shot off to the flank to defend an objective.

In our turn we got a very nice draw. Two objectives to secure that were currently swarming with Boyz, and a third that was being defended by the Rhino...

Da Boyz moved up, and I spent three command points on the Unstoppable Green Tide to bring the unit with 4 models left back onto the board at full strength next to the Rhino. The Deathguard shuffled back from the approaching wall of red/grey and blasted a few wounds off. The drone made a move into the centre to spit plague onto one of the Contemptors. In the charge phase I made an 11 on the charge roll to get da Boyz in, killing the cultists supporting the Rhino and claiming the objective, while denying our opponents the defend card! That was a clean sweep of cards this turn, and first strike!

Colin and John looked to hit back hard in turn 2, though they drew poorly and would not be able to score many points this turn. The dreads continued moving up while the Noise marines once again lined up shots on the Orks, butchering a full unit of Boyz, while the Havocs thinned down another with their frag missiles. John sent his Lord and one of the Sonic dreadnoughts over to deal with my encroaching boyz...

After shooting and melee, that's a lot of dead boyz! Just the Nob left on one wound, until John remembered to do the tongue attack from the steed, which killed him!

Elsewhere the Word Bearers Contemptor charged the Bloat-drone, taking a handful of wounds in overwatch, before the Maulerfiend piled into the last Boyz unit. Sadly for Colin it was built in a previous edition where magma cutters were good, so it was unable to put much hurt on the remaining Boyz. The Warboss bashed some 'eads to keep them in line. Inevitably the Contemptor smashed the drone, but Mike played the Death Guard stratagem to make it explode automatically, doing a mortal wound to the Dread, the Mauler and the nearby Dark Apostle!

In our turn 2 we drew an Ork card that called for my Warboss to kill a unit, and a couple of difficult ones, which we discarded and drew No Prisoners for double points. With lots of slightly damaged Contemptors about the shop, we could potentially score very highly this turn.

Smites and Pestilential Fallout from the Weirdboy and Plaguecaster dropped the Maulerfiend down by a significant amount, while also causing a wound on the Death Guard psyker thanks to a double 6! Shooting from the Deathguard was much more effective this turn, getting their plasma guns into rapid fire range of the dreads and using Veterans of the Long War on one of the double blight launcher units, as well as a maximum damage multimelta hit from one of the Blight-haulers. They downed two of the Contemptors, causing one of them to explode and hurt the Dark Apostle again, as well as my Weirdboy (who got a bit lucky in surviving, since Hellforged units deal d6 damage to psykers when they pop) while my Koptas arrived to chunk some wounds off the third.

In the assault phase my characters piled into the daemon engine, and thanks to the Warboss striking with 5 attacks at strength 6, he managed to bash the last two wounds off the beast! The fiend then exploded, thanks to a command reroll, which killed off the Weirdboy! I wasn't too bothered since this gave us 3 killed units (including one by my Warboss) and after the D3, 5 points that turn, putting our total up to 9.

With time running out, and Mike and I far ahead on points, Colin and John drew their cards and made their moves. Amusingly one of their objectives was to kill a psyker, which they had just done about two minutes ago. My remaining boyz and exposed Warboss did not last long, though the Deathguard proved resilient. (Disgustingly so). The Havocs managed to get shots off at the Plaguecaster, though he took the krak missiles to the face and only lost 1 wound. Elsewhere a few wounds were plinked off the haulers.

In the charge phase the injured Dark Apostle attempted a charge on the Nurgle psyker, who overcharged a plasma pistol, rolling a one. Mike used a command reroll, turning it into a six! One wound roll and a failed save later, 2 damage killed off the Apostle! On the right flank Colin's last Contemptor attempted a multicharge (at John's suggestion) into a Plague Marine unit and the Blight-hauler. Of course, Mike rolled another 6 for over watch with the Multimelta, dealing another 6 wounds, just enough to finish it off! John's Lord made up a little for the embarrassment by charging the Plaguecaster and turning him into rotten Bolognese with his lightning claws, but in doing so he had to leave an objective unsecured.

With that we ran out of time. The Chaos Space Marine alliance had done some significant damage to my force, but the Death Guard were holding strong. John still had most of his army left, but Colin's force had been gutted. So roughly even in terms of models, but we were still way ahead on points, and had a turn in hand, so it was a victory for Da Green Team!

Great fun game, thanks again to Grim Dice for hosting, and hopefully we can do it all again next week!

Da Ork Project Part 2 - Da Easy Bit

Hello!

Operation Ork is underway! When I got all the boyz out of their boxes to start the project, I made a bit of a roster of what I've got based on their positions in the photo so I can easily see what still needs to be done.

Well that's a lot of stuff to do! Let's make myself feel better by ticking off all the stuff that's basically done or only requires a minor fix.

Please excuse the bed sheet background - the room is full of Orks for some reason...

Firstly, some big bits. The Gorkanaut, a slightly modified Trukk and a scratchbuilt Battlewagon by legendary mekboy Kr00zA. It was originally built to be a trukk in the old days before the current models were out, and the Ork community generally built their vehicles to be bigger. These days it is much closer in size and sturdiness to the battlewagon than the trukk, so that's what it'll be run as.

Next it's the Big Gunz. An index choice now, but still some nice cheap heavy support units that could fill out a brigade. I've got 3 Kannons, 2 Zzap guns and a Lobba in there. The Zzaps are old school Traktor Kannons and previously I have used them as such, but these days I think they are a bit small so I think they are better as the 'generic energy weapon' Zzap gun.

Next up, Meganobz! Older metal ones with a few conversions - most notably the guy with the helmet that opens up.

Flash Gitz! These were a relatively recent job, half of them are made from the 'new' kit, while the others were older conversions that have been tarted up a bit to fit in.

Lots of Deffkoptas. Mostly rokkits, but a couple converted to big shootas, one of which is also armed with a 'buzzsaw' made from the Killa Kan drill.

Two index warbosses, Mega Armour and 'Biker'. Both pretty heavy conversions. I think both could make a reasonable claim for Da Killa Klaw relic as well.

Two 'regular' Warbosses. Metal on the left, plastic on the right. Both converted a bit. The extra well painted one on the left was actually painted by the wife, and is called Blootoof.

Some metal Big Meks. They aren't very thematic for the army, but I do like them. The index choice kustom force field is almost an auto include in most lists, while the Shokk Attack gun is in the codex but barely ever sees the table.

Finally, my weirdboyz! These guys are lovely and fluffy for the Snakebites, and are a solid choice. The one on the right is the standard model, but with a hat. The left one is converted from an old savage orc shaman plus lots of snakes. He was originally built to represent Old Zogwort, an old Ork special character who could turn enemies into squigs, which was awesome!

So, there you have it. A good chunk of the Orks already done! This is easy, I'll get the army done in a few weeks at this rate, right?

Aximillion and Friends - Kill Team Rogue Trader

Hello!

Hey, you know that cool boxed set that's been hyped up with the all the niche 40K characters including a Rogue Trader and their unusual allies, plus a swarm of Chaos enemies? No, not that one, this one! Yes, Kill Team Rogue Trader! Well, I painted it!

I'll be honest - I've no real intent on actually playing Kill Team, I was mainly sold on getting the set based on the cool trailer and of course Aximillion the Canid aka Goodest boy in the galaxy. I do have plans to use these models both in regular 40k (the Rogue Trader crew will be fun allies for the Explorator Fleet, while the big chaos boys will make good spawn for the Alpha Legion) and for playing Wrath and Glory (when the book eventually arrives!)

I painted the Gellarpox Infected first of the two teams, and I gave them a fairly rough, quick scheme of mostly drybrushing and washing. Partially because the little guys at least didn't really inspire me and partially because I wanted them to fit in with my existing chaos cultists and spawn which were painted in a bit of a hurry. For this reason I also wanted to paint them in a manner that wasn't so obviously Nurgle. In the end I think they turned out looking appropriately filthy, especially the big guys, who were a lot of fun to paint in an excessively messy manner.

I tried to put a bit more effort into Elucia Vhane and her crew, and I think I did a pretty good job on them. I chose the colour scheme based both on what would fit alongside my mostly orange Ryza Ad Mech without looking like they are the same organisation, and also inspired by some of the John Blanche concepts.

While I constantly change which mini is my second favourite in the set (currently Knosso Prond the Death Cult assassin), there is no competition for number one - it has to be Aximillion. I dream of him one day doing something epic like knocking the last wound off a Chaos Lord, but I'll be happy just to take him out for walkies on the battlefield every now and then.

So that's the set, I hope you like them. I'm happy with how they came out, if not the camerawork. So I'll leave you with a few more pics that I messed with for all of 30 seconds...

Seraphon / Lizardmen / Kobolds

Hello!

Quite some time ago, I decided to branch out into Warhammer Fantasy with a Lizardmen force. I played precisely zero games before Age of Sigmar came along. Now I have a Seraphon force apparently. They have been fielded in infinitely more games in AoS - one, and that was way back before the game even had points! They also occasionally get a gig as kobolds or Lizardfolk in D&D. What I'm saying is these cold blooded guys don't get out much, which is a shame, because I think they are cool (one for Stylus) and I'm very pleased with how they turned out.

So, here they are:

It's a small force, but it's got a good chunk of core units that I can expand upon at a later date if I get into playing AoS or even old school Warhammer. I don't really know how Sigmar works, so I've no idea how much would be needed to get to a 'normal' army, perhaps one day I'll grab the not-codex/not-chapter approved and work out how many points it is.

Skinks! I do love these little guys, especially the old metal characters. The skull-headed priest is my favourite of the bunch. They are a nice sandy colour for camouflage in the desert or sun-drenched plains, but I couldn't resist giving them slightly orange crests, which I tied in to the colour of their shields. 

The big blocks of Sarus and Temple Guard are a kind of dark grey/brown colouration that was inspired by monitor lizards. Painting the Sarus was a bit of a chore to be honest, but not as much of a chore as ranking them up! Thankfully no need to do that for AoS! The Temple Guard were a bit more fun thanks to the skulls and all that lovely gold, which required a soothing wash with the venerable chestnut ink.

It's no secret that the Lizardmen Cold Ones have always been a bit rubbish, and lag behind their much cooler Dark Elf cousins. I did my best with them to make them a bit unique, giving them feathers like the dinosaurs they are, and converting up a couple of Skar Veterans to lead the force. Again, not having to rank them up does make me appreciate the models more.

So there you have it. I do really like this lot, and I'd love to use them sometime, but I don't really have the opportunity at the moment. I might still expand the force as a painting/modelling project anyway, I think I've got enough little things, and I'd be looking to get a few big dinosaurs and maybe a magic frog.