Snakebite Ork Boarboy

Slight diversions here...I had this guy on my shelf for a few weeks. I had been working on these Snake Bite Ork boys to go with my Deathskull Ork horde when the Horus Heresy box came out. I had this guy almost painted so I decided to finish him up while the washes were drying on my Ultramarines.

I really like the way the conversion came out. I want to do more with warpaint but I don't think it will work on this model with the way the armor covers the body. We'll see how the others in the unit come out.

Here is he, charging full bore. The parts are taken from various Ork boy and Nobz bits built onto the Warhammer Fantasy (or is it Age of Sigmar now? I'm not sure I care).

Rynn's World: Thrugg Bullneck, Hruk, and Pedro Kantor.

Getting back into Warhammer 40,000 has made me nostalgic, but in a different kind of way. Rather than going back to my wargaming roots with the original models I bought to play Rogue Trader all those years ago, I decided to give the old theme a new twist. I wanted to play the first wargame I had ever played, the "Battle at the Farm" from the original Rogue Trader rulebook, but with new models. While I have a fond nostalgia for my gaming origins, that fondness does not carry over to the models themselves. I know Oldhammer is big these days, and I get that. It's just that, well, to my eyes the old models suck. They haven't aged well in my opinion. They look like the lumps of lead from the 1980s that they were. And that's ok really. It's just not very aesthetically pleasing to me. I really like how the imagery of Warhammer 40,000 has progressed over the years (if not always what they have done with the universe-especially the Squats!). That doesn't mean I like the look of all of the new models. But I do think there has been a pretty steady development in the quality of the style.

Anyway. The Orks project I had started a few years back but just got rolling recently has gotten me in the mood to refight the old scenario. To that end I had finished a squad of Crimson Fists marines, but did not have a Pedro Kantor to lead them. I could have just bought the Games Workshop version of this iconic leader, but I didn't like how he was armed and it just didn't fit in with the style of the rest of my force. And while I had finished a whole horde of Orks, they didn't have a Thrugg Bullneck or his sneaky henchman Hruk to lead them either. I could have used the warboss I had painted up, but it just didn't quite have the right character for Thrugg nor was it armed properly.

So, I recently finished a few models to rectify this. Below are pics of my own conversions of Thrugg Bullneck, Hruk, and Pedro Kantor.

Here is Thrugg Bullneck. An ork nob of the Waaagh Snagrod the Arch Arsonist's forces during the attack on Rynn's World. I made a custom chainsword for him to wield and tried to capture some of the original pose and feel of the older model.

For comparison, here is the original Thrugg Bullneck (pic is from the Stuff of Legends website).

Here is Thrugg's sneaky git and right hand man, Hruk. This time I used pretty much standard Ork nob parts, but added a blade taken from an Ork Deff Dred power saw. I tried to keep the original pose and feel with this one too. I decided to keep the head simple because I didn't want to add goggles or the weird helmet crest of the original to keep it in the theme of my current Ork army.

And here is the original Hruk.

I owned this box set back when I first got into Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader. Thrugg Bullneck's Ork Raiders and the first Space Marine Box set (RTB01) were the first real models I painted (and painted badly).

Last but not least is Pedro Kantor himself: chapter master of the Crimson Fists as he was armed and equipped from the original Rogue Trader Battle at the Farm scenario. I used parts from a number of Space Marine kits both recent and old. The legs, shoulder pad, backpack and chest are from the Sternguard box. The helmet is old and I'm not even sure where it came from (it was in my bits box). The rest is standard Space Marine parts such as pouches and grenades. I gave him a Power Glove and a Bolt Pistol and a pretty simple pose. I hope he captures the feel of the original game (there was no specific Pedro Kantor model back then), but with a little updated look to set him apart from the rest of the squad.

And here is the force he will be leading:

I hope you enjoy this (slightly updated) trip down memory lane. I will be running the original Battle at the Farm scenario using Disposable Heroes: Point Blank modified for Warhammer 40,000. Once I paint these models and finish a few buildings that is...

Stay tuned!

(also coming soon...more Badab War stuff. Mantis Warriors, Sons of Medusa, Lamenters etc. Keep your eyes on this space!).

Killa Kan Mob!

Hello folks. Long time no update!

It's been a busy few weeks around here and I haven't had time to work on much. But here is a few shots of the Killa Kan mob I finished last week, including a sneak preview shot of two other models I finished putting together.

My first attempt at blood spray effect.

Stompa and Deff Dread ready for a few extra parts and then paint.

Deathwatch Kill Team in Action

A friend of mine has just finished a squad of Deathwatch Space Marines, and they are gorgeous models. We used them in a game recently and put them up against my Orks in an assassination scenario. The Kill team's objective was to teleport into an Ork settlement and find and eliminate a Deathskull warboss that has been building up forces for a WAAGGH! They did their job with deadly precision, cutting through my Orks like a razor. They landed right on target and easily cut down the few Ork mobs that approached them. The only tense moment was when the second Deathwatch fire team was attacked by a Killa Kan. The Ork machine killed one Deathwatch Marine with his huge saw blade, but was then turned to molten slag by a few well placed Krak grenades. Oh well, that's how it goes for the Orks. Even when they lose, they win because they can just come back for another go see.

Here are a few pics of the action.

The Ork settlement amid the ruins of a human factory.

My friend Derek's Deathwatch Kill Team. His painting is amazing.

A burna' boy runs out to try to set some Marines on fire.

When in doubt, take pot shots from cover...

The other half of the Kill Team.

Deep Strike right on target...

A Killa Kan charges from the warehouse.

Vicious hand to hand. One Marine dead, and a burning Killa Kan.

Descent Back Into Madness...

It has been entirely too long since my last blog post. I partly blame Facebook. It has distracted me from posting here due to the ease of posting to various groups I belong to (such as my gaming club) over there. Much of the posting I do on my phone. I apologize for the delay, and I do hope to get back to posting here more regularly. I got a new phone yesterday with a much better camera, so the quality of the photos should improve, if not the quality of their editing.

I have been quiet here, but I have been very busy the past year. Namely, as per the title of this post...I have delved back into a madness of sorts: Warhammer 40,000! I mentioned this in a previous post, but I have spent a lot of time since then painting miniatures and building terrain. I have thoroughly enjoyed this descent into madness and it has kindled anew my love of all things miniatures and wargaming and given me a new sense of enthusiasm that had admittedly been waning in the past year. Not that I don't paint or game historicals mind you. It's just that I have so many historical projects completed that I have not felt much drive to tackle anything new except to finish up a few older projects here and there.

Now, while I may have been delving back into 40k, I have not been using their rules. Myself and a few other friends of mine have been having WAY too much fun using a modified form of Disposable Heroes and Disposable Heroes: Point Blank to play with our 40k forces. It has been a blast. One of the best scenarios we played was the rescue of a downed governor and retinue at a crash site of an Imperial Aquila lander. Beset on all sides by Orks, the Imperial Guardsmen who rushed to the rescue had to survive long enough for Crimson Fists scouts to arrive and set up a teleport homing beacon to port them out. it was a very tense and fun game (pics to follow). It was a lot like a Black Hawk Down of the 41st millenium.

So what have I been painting? ORKS! A bunch of them. And some Marines...and Steel Legion...well, you get the idea.

Here are some pics of my completed forces so far and a teaser for a future project that is very very old.

On to the show:

The Warboss and his Boyz.

Shoota' mob #1

Burna' mob

Slugga' and Choppa' mob

I went old school and added back plates to all my Orks.

Da Warbosses Tribe, the Grimskulls.

The Nobz retinue. More backplates.

These Orks represent the Grimskull tribe of the Deathskulls clan under the WAAAGH of Snagrod the Arch Arsonist of Charadon. I attempted to add in the style and flavor of the old GW Orks as drawn by Paul Bonner in the 80s and 90s. This includes adding one of my favorite elements of the old Ork identity: backplates! These plates showed the Ork's tribal emblem and was his main form of identity and source of pride. A warboss showed his power and might by how many backplates he had on his bosspole, therefore showing how many tribes he had under his command. I plan to make a nob carrying the bosspole festooned with looted gear, trophies, and backplates of the tribes in the warband. I have also enjoyed recreating the color scheme of the old Ork warband I had when I first got into 40k. My warboss back then had a heavy flamer and a personal teleporter I used to love using in second edition with the wargear cards. I might have to try to convert a model of that as well.

Up next for the warband is a group of 3 mega armored nobs, more killa kans, and more boys. I want to add one of the new Gorkanaughts and a Dreadnaught. That will require some scrounging of teef though...

Enough about the boys. How about some Imperial stuff?

Forgeworld mk VI Beakie marines as Crimson Fists

I used these to play the old "Battle at the Farm" scenario from Rogue Trader

Scouts

Silver Skulls because...why not?

Steel Legion.

Some Imperial personalities. The Astropath, Governor, Confessor, etc. 

And...a Blood Raven for when I do some current fluff Marines.

As promised, here are some pics of the rescue the governor game:

The crashed Aquila.

Local Imperial Guardsmen arrive to secure the crash site.

The Orks begin arriving in force.

Guardsmen about to be overrun...but, they actually manage to fight off this wave!

Close combat. An axe to the face followed by a missile to the gut...

The scouts arrive just in time.

More Orks pour in...

WAAAGGH!

Sorry for the quality of those pics, they were taken on my old phone.

Below is a sneak peak of the big project I hope to complete this year...this is taking it back old school to one of my favorite armies from one of my favorite periods of the 40k timeline. Bonus points if you know the chapter and the war. It was the first full army of Marines I painted when I got into 40k.

And that's all for now. I will post more as these projects unfold. Thanks for stopping by!