Spikey Bits

Well I'm still brainstorming over the new orks since the drop of the FAQ a few days ago.  I've heard good things about burna drive-bys so I thought I'd work up a super aggro list.  While I'm sure it will do fine against mech and marines, long range standoff may be its undoing.

Again this list has mucho threats; Ghaz, Nobz, Battlewagon of Burnas, Kans w/ both Rokkits and Powa Claws, and ground pounding Boyz.  Still I think the Lootas will be vulnerable a bit because they have to be set up alone to get good fire arcs etc.

I made a mob of Boyz Battlewagon-able just in case there is a good mid table objective that the burnas can hunker down at and fend off. I think between them and the Lootas they can handle a lot.

The order of battle will be to hide the wagons behind the Kans for a turn while they move up and stay in forcefield range. Next turn hopefully they can peel off and the wagons can smash home.  It may not quite work this way, but least I got a plan.  I dont know if holding the wagons back from moving their 12" is a good idea or not.  I know if the order of battle is to turtle this will make a convincing firebase.  Maybe a better list is to drop one squad of kans, put the nobz back on bikes, and flank with two wagons and nobz, and pound up with 2 boyz squads and 1 squad of kans.

What are your thoughts?

-MBG

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HQ: Ghazghkull Thraka (1#, 225 pts)
   1 Ghazghkull Thraka @ 225 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 58 & 96); Power Klaw; Big Shoota; Stikkbombs; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Prophet of the Waaagh!; Adamantium Skull; Bosspole; Cybork Body; Mega Armour)

HQ: Big Mek (1#, 110 pts)
   1 Big Mek @ 110 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 34 & 97); Burna; Kustom Force Field; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!; 'Eavy Armour; Mek's Tools)

Elite: Lootas (12#, 180 pts)
   12 Lootas @ 180 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 43 & 100); Deffguns; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)

Elite: Burna Boyz (8#, 120 pts)
   8 Burna Boyz @ 120 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 45 & 100); Burna; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)

Troops: Boyz (19#, 149 pts)
   18 Boyz @ 149 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); Shoota; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)
      1 Boyz Nob ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); Power Klaw; Slugga; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)

Troops: Boyz (20#, 170 pts)
   19 Boyz @ 170 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); Big Shoota x2; Shoota; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)
      1 Boyz Nob ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); Power Klaw; Slugga; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!; Bosspole)

Troops: Nobz (6#, 421 pts)
   4 Nobz @ 421 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 34 & 98); Count as Troop Troops; Big Choppa x1; Power Klaw x3; Slugga x3; Shoota/Skorcha Kombi-weapon x1; Feel No Pain; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!; 'Eavy Armour x4; Ammo Runt x2; Bosspole x1; Cybork Body; Waaagh! Banner x1)
      1 Painboy ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); 'Urty Syringe; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!; 'Eavy Armour; Cybork Body; Dok's Tools)
      1 Battlewagon ((C:Orks, pp. 55 & 102); Big Shoota x1; Armour Plates; Deff Rolla; Grot Rigger)

Heavy Support: Battlewagon (1#, 130 pts)
   1 Battlewagon @ 130 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 55 & 102); Big Shoota x1; Armour Plates; Deff Rolla; Grot Rigger)

Heavy Support: Killer Kans (3#, 150 pts)
   3 Killer Kans @ 150 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 53 & 102); Dreadnought CCW; Rokkit Launcha x3)

Heavy Support: Killer Kans (3#, 150 pts)
   3 Killer Kans @ 150 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 53 & 102); Dreadnought CCW; Rokkit Launcha x3)

Troops: Gretchin (11#, 40 pts)
   10 Gretchin @ 40 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 50 & 100); Grot Blasta; It's a Grot's Life)
      1 Runtherd ((C:Orks, pp. 50 & 100); Grabba Stikk x1; Slugga; Furious Charge; Squig Hound)

I got a lot of comments on my Slitherguard recently, and everyone said they were a little lean for their namesakes, Tyrant Guard.

I agree too, so I decided to beef them up to look like the bodyguards they are. I searched though my bits, and found some Carnifex torso plates that would work just fine.

I had to cut them down a bit but they fit the back of the model well.  When I glued them down, there was a small of a gap around the neck, but I tidied it up with some putty.

So here they are now slitherguard 2.0 bigger, faster, stronger. What do you think?

I thought I'd celebrate the recent Deff Rolla FAQ ruling with a walkthough of my Supa Battlewagons.

When the Ork Battlewagon kit came out I knew I had to have a few. I opened the box up and furiously started assembling it.   When I was done I have to admit I was a little let down, it was barely bigger than a Trukk.

While it's a well made kit, with lots of options, I just didn't like the size. You may remember back in the day everyone converted these things up from Land Raiders and Leman Russes etc.

The next day I walked into work at TheWarStore, and my friend Mr. Don had done something extraordinary, he had made his Battlewagon bigger by combining two kits! There was much rejoicing, and I went home with two more kits and started anew.
This time it took a little longer because you basically have to saw the two vehicles in half and then assemble them down the middle. The hatch over the driver compartment and the rear armored top, require even more work and dry-fitting to get right.  But when the main body is together it looks great!

You can see in some of the shots above how we made this conversion.  I also made a custom front gob out of plastic card cause the front tends to look a little janky when combined side by side.

Before I had the time to paint these guys, my friend Pete put the idea in my head to make a custom Deff Rolla just out of various bits cobbled together. I kinda looked confused for a minute until he handed me a cylindrical plastic shelf leg, and then it was off to the bits box
I ended up using a combination of plastic card, plastic rivits, and various armor plates from different 40k kits to make the two Deff Rollas. I magnetized them so I could actually store these monstrosities, and give them a little more support structure wise.

Then I went to work giving the Battlewagons a little character.  I love having grots running around up to no good on my vehicles.  On one wagon I made a chain-gun big shoota from some defiler bits, and added a cheerful gunner. His buddy is in the back on another big shoota, but he forgot to strap in...
The other Battlewagon has a gunner team, one to point and one to light the Kannon.  If I was the Boss I don't know if I would trust them to get it right.
Here is a shot of the whole model. It breaks down nice and easy. I usually store the turrets in the cabin area, and take apart the Rollas for foam stowage separately.

So here are my two finished Super Battlewagons, what do you think??

Back a year or so ago I had a pretty good hybrid Battlewagon Nob Biker list going. Of course it worked good till the INAT game out and nerfed it. But now it's back and with a few tweeks I think still competitive.

The main tactic of the army is to either pincer with the Battlewagons, and the nob bikers OR use the Battlewagons to block LOS to the bikers themselves, until it's too late.  Secondary roles of the wagons are to crack armor open for the rest of the mob to get stuck in with.

The Trukks are mostly expendable just there for playing grab ass with table quarters or to pick on smaller squads and lightly armored threats.  

I mostly used the Grots to come on from reserve to hold objectives / screen the Lootas.

What I like most about this list is that their really is a lot of threats to be dealt with. Do you shoot the Wagons and get hit back with the Lootas, or shoot the Lootas and ignore the Wagons?  Plus the Nobz are no joke themselves, and you can't really let two Trukks of Orks zoom around untouched.

The only draw back IMHO in this list is that the Lootas are almost always vulnerable because they will be on their own, either on a flank to shoot around the wagons, OR in the backfield shooting past them. 

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1850 Rolla Mob

HQ: Warboss (1#, 155 pts)
   1 Warboss @ 155 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 32 & 97); Power Klaw; Shoota/Skorcha Kombi-weapon; Twin-linked Dakkagun; Stikkbombs; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!; Attack Squig; Cybork Body; Warbike)

HQ: Big Mek (1#, 90 pts)
   1 Big Mek @ 90 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 34 & 97); Choppa; Kustom Force Field; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!; 'Eavy Armour; Mek's Tools)

Elite: Lootas (12#, 180 pts)
   12 Lootas @ 180 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 43 & 100); Deffguns; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)

Elite: Lootas (13#, 195 pts)
   13 Lootas @ 195 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 43 & 100); Deffguns; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)

Troops: Nobz (5#, 390 pts)
   4 Nobz @ 390 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 34 & 98); Count as Troop Troops; Big Choppa x1; Power Klaw x3; Slugga x3; Shoota/Skorcha Kombi-weapon x1; Twin-linked Dakkagun; Feel No Pain; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!; Bosspole x1; Cybork Body; Waaagh! Banner x1; Warbike)
      1 Painboy ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); 'Urty Syringe; Twin-linked Dakkagun; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!; Cybork Body; Dok's Tools; Grot Orderly; Warbike)

Troops: Boyz (20#, 165 pts)
   19 Boyz @ 165 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); Big Shoota x2; Shoota; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)
      1 Boyz Nob ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); Power Klaw; Slugga; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)

Troops: Boyz (20#, 165 pts)
   19 Boyz @ 165 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); Big Shoota x2; Shoota; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)
      1 Boyz Nob ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); Power Klaw; Slugga; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)

Troops: Gretchin (11#, 40 pts)
   10 Gretchin @ 40 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 50 & 100); Grot Blasta; It's a Grot's Life)
      1 Runtherd ((C:Orks, pp. 50 & 100); Grabba Stikk x1; Slugga; Furious Charge; Squig Hound)

Troops: Boyz (11#, 95 pts)
   10 Boyz @ 95 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); Shoota; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)
      1 Trukk ((C:Orks, pp. 41 & 100); Big Shoota x1)

Troops: Boyz (11#, 95 pts)
   10 Boyz @ 95 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 40 & 100); Shoota; Furious Charge; Mob Rule; Waaagh!)
      1 Trukk ((C:Orks, pp. 41 & 100); Big Shoota x1)

Heavy Support: Battlewagon (1#, 140 pts)
   1 Battlewagon @ 140 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 55 & 102); Big Shoota x1; 'Ard Case; Armour Plates; Deff Rolla)

Heavy Support: Battlewagon (1#, 140 pts)
   1 Battlewagon @ 140 pts ((C:Orks, pp. 55 & 102); Big Shoota x1; 'Ard Case; Armour Plates; Deff Rolla)

Thoughts on the new orks?

-MBG

Well we were able to get more done on Warhound #1.  We're working on the torso now, and while its not quite as hard as doing the legs, it's still important to make sure everything lines up correctly. I also plan on going back and painting the interior. I just want to get the outside painted first because we have an Apocalypse game coming up in a few weeks that I need this guy for.

We started with the power-plant piece that connects to the hips. If you remember from the last article I magnetized it so we could separate and rotate the torso in game. I got a lot of comments saying to protect the magnets themselves from shattering under their own attractive force, and I have to concur with that recommendation. I plan on either putting thin card or a small layer of resin on top of the hip magnet to give it some protection. So good heads up to all that commented on that!

Back to the torso- It's best to lay everything out first, and then dry fit it all together before glueing. First I attached the powe-plant to the forward hatch area. Then I glued the servitor arm sockets on. It's very important to make sure these are level, otherwise your titan arms will be slouching.


After that is all assembled I added on the back shoulders and filled the gaps in the pieces as best I could with some gap filler CA glue. Dry-fitting the top carapace here is a must. I realized after doing this that the right arm was a little off, but manageable.  The top servitor hatches glue to the carapace and have to line up with the recesses on the torso assembly. Be sure to double check that and the overall fit of the carapace carefully, you don't want your centerpiece to look like the hunchback.

Next up is the cockpit, and unlike its Imperial cousin, there is almost no assembly involved.  All you have to do it insert two control sticks onto the forward control panel, and a support collar to the back.  Then you just glue the whole thing to the torso.  So I slapped it together and attached it to the torso.

It was kinda hard to figure out the correct positioning of the head without the arms, so I used the feet as reference. Hopefully everything will flow together when I get to the arms.

You'll notice the center compartment bulkhead isn't glued in yet. I kept that out so that I can paint the interior later. It really would have jammed me up if that was in there when I went back to paint there.

So here's a good progress shot of Warhound I along with a shot of the flexibility of the torso when its magnetized. The center of gravity of the torso seems to be working out well with the positioning of the feet.  It worked out pretty good I think.


Next up, pistons and weapons!

-MBG

Awhile ago during the scary days of Lash of Slaanesh, I set about making a sweet Daemon Prince model to lead my chaotic forces into battle.  What I thought would be just a simple conversion ended up turning into something more; Lor'Maxxim Lash Prince of Slaanesh. 

To make my Lash Prince I used the classic Bel'kor model from Chaos Fantasy, and sculpted on power armor, a breast, and of course the Lash itself. And if that was not enough, I also added a custom lava base with some source highlighting.

Here's a rough guide on how I did it.

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I started out with the Bel'kor model. I really liked the pose and the overall dimensions of the figure, so he made a great base for this project.  Then I added the most Slaaneshi looking head I could find, which ended up being the one from the spawn box.  I had to file down the neck, and putty up a new one for the head to fit on, but I think it ended up looking pretty natural.  Don't forget the biggest pitfall of modeling heads; make sure the head follows the action suggested by the pose of the body. I can't tell you how many Space Marines I've seen looking back and away from where their bolter is pointing, lol.

Since this was going to be a 40k model, I really wanted it to have some resemblance or remains of power armor from it's past life still visible on the model. So I sculpted up the chest armor and breast, and added some Marauder Shoulder Pads to accent the chest and leg.  I also added the clasp and tabard from the Terminator Lord onto the waist. I waited for the putty to dry and then went back and sculpted the chaos spikey trim onto the armor, and the tabard rope around his waist.  Last but not least I sculpted a small ring of trim around the breast, and the nipple itself.

Next I puttied up some tentacles holding the Lash itself.  I figured you really couldn't have a proper Slaaneshi model unless you gave him a booby and a tentacle, so there you go I think I have met all preconceived criteria.
Plus the tentacles covered up the fact the Lash, from the Hive Tyrant, is on the wrong hand. It was just the only bit I liked for the project- I didn't care if it was from the wrong hand lol.

Now it was time for the base, and I was ready. I had seen a great article by Lemmingspawn on DakkaDakka with some great homemade lava bases, so I thought I'd give it a shot. It ended up being pretty easy to do. I just make the actual "land" out of cork. Then I rolled up a few green stuff balls of various diameters. Once they dried I cut them in half to make the base for the lava "bubbles".  Once I had them glued down to the base in various spots, I added 5-10 washes of wood glue.  What this did was give the bubbles a rounded fillet with the base that made them genuinely look like a liquid bubble. Plus it did the same thing for the land mass by simulating lava splashes on it.  Last but not least I added some Vallejo Black Lava Paste (ironic?) to the rock to give it the texture I needed.

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So now it was time to paint my creation in traditional Slaaneshi colors; supple skin, and bright bold armor.

I used a mix of Hormagaunt Purple / Astronomicon Grey for the skin spread out over about six highlights. Then I washed the skin with thin washes of Leviathan Purple.

The armor itself was mixes of Foundry's Shadow Pink Triad, and the trim was done in NMM using Scrofulous Brown highlighted up with Golden Yellow, and then finally some Skull White. I then washed it a couple times with watered down Gryphonne Sepia to get the cracks. After that I went back and painted satin varnish onto the armor plates to make them gleam.

Next I painted the lava rocks on the base with a quick drybrush of Fortress Grey. Nothing fancy just needed some color. With the lava detail I again referred to Lemmingspawn's post, and used orange up though yellow and added just a smidgen of white to the mix at the end. The key is to keep the paint thin almost like a wash, but kinda the consistency of milk with you are doing this. It takes a lot of coats, but ends up looking pretty good I think. Then I hit it with some gloss varnish to make it shiny.

Here is the final product from various angles. What do you think, does he represent Lord Slaanesh well?

I had the pleasure of participating in an extremely well run GT called Cabin Fever back in January. One of the components of the tourney was a 75 question "pub quiz" style test. Now I know that kinda sounds harsh and brutally long, it actually wasn't that bad.

Each question is worth about 1/5 of a point, for a max score of 15. Some of the questions are designed to trip you up from 4th to 5th Edition, and some are just as they sound. It was designed by Rich Ditzler of Adventurers Guild and various GT's fame, and I have to say he did a good job on it.

So if you want to brush up on the rules, or see if you got what it takes to be a rules lawyer, take the test.  You may use a copy of the 40k rulebook, a No. 2 Pencil, and your nugget.  There is also a 15 min time limit, muahahahahahaha.

Take the test.
Answer Key

-MBG

Well I couldn't help myself. Being a long time follower of all things Chaotic, when the Forgeworld Chaos Reaver  Titan hit I just had to have it. But I was afraid that he would be a little lonely by himself in my display case so I bought two Warhounds to keep him company as well. It seemed like a good idea at the time....

Thus my Chaotic Demi-Legion was born, to ravage apocalypse and gladiator games to no end.  However in order to make this plan come to fruition, I had to get my arse in gear and assemble these puppies.  Fortunately I have cohorts that are eager and willing to help for their share of plastic toys!

So with a watchful eye and a devoted helper the Legion began to emerge.

One last piece of advice. Magnetizing or pinning the leg assembly to the torso will not only give you the ability to move you titan left to right ( and make cool machine gun noises when you shoot), but lets you transport your bad boy easier as well.

I used two 1/2" rare earth magnets here. You have to try and make sure that even with the magnets attached that the two pieces they are connecting remain flush to transfer the force of the Torso assembly to the legs. These magnets will not do all the work by themselves!

So that's it for now, hopefully if the freakish snow lets up we can get more of this done, and move on to the big boy himself, Mr Reaver. The journey of three titans has begun....

Hello again from Central Virginia, where the snow keeps falling so I keep modeling. I'm keeping steady so far with my Tyranid Waterbugz converting up some Slitherguard aka Tyrant Guard to keep my big bad leader bugs safe.

This time I modeled them in the same style as my Slithercannons from before, but with a little bit of a twist to the head and spine. I tried to make them show a little movement, like they were cracking their whip and the other sets of arms were supporting that movement. It was hard to pull off I think with 6 sets of appendages, but I'm happy with the results.


I started out with a normal metal Ravener torso, and added plastic Genestealer Rending Claws, and a Venomthrope Tendril to make a Lash Whip (hey for 5pts why not).  Then I rounded off the head spikes with clippers and puttied up a scarry domed alien head to emulate the guard a bit.  Last but not least I clipped down the back spines and filed them nice and flat.
 So up next is the Hive Tyrant him/ herself. It's gotta slither, so should I start the conversion off with the Trygon, or go for the Slitherfex look?

Hey guys, well I was snowed in today so I managed to crank out some Hive Guard to match my Waterbugz theme. I'm tryin to have evverything look like its coming up out of the water, like they would have done during the first contact battle on Tyran Prime.

I have a lot of metal raveners lying around now that the new 'dex is out so the plan is to convert them over to Warriors, Tyrant guard, and Hive guard.

I pretty much have my non competive 1850 list flushed out, and am working on a GT aggro style list.  Either way I'll need the Hive Guard and Tyrant Guard for both lists so they are first on the conversion table.


Okay so first I started out with the metal bodies, the Impaler Cannons from the real Hive Guard, and the old Ravener heads. I knew right away the heads had to go. I really wanted people to see these guys and know they were Hive Guard from the feel, not just cause they have the gun.

So I clipped down the heads to make them more rounded, and re-postioned the rending claws from the Genestealer sprue.  I puttied up the heads to make them more Hive Guard like, and put an armor plate on the Impaler Cannon arms.  Simple but I think pretty effective.

I think these guys will work out nicely. Now to make 3 more lol.  What do you think about the conversion?