Wot A Revoltin' Development

For a variety of reasons, I've had a bit of an odd March, hence the lack of posts.

I needed something fun to break me out of a bit of a funk and there is very little in wargaming more fun than cramming a load of goblins into a cobbled together vehicle and launching it at the enemy in the vague hope that they might achieve something.

This is a Rebel Grot Big Luggage from Gorkamorka, crowded with as many Rebel Grotz as I could lay my hands on - which turned out to be eleven.

As it happens I could have done a couple more, but I ran out of Gorkamorka bases, so those little runts are destined for other projects.

The Rebel Grotz themselves are great little metal models from the mid-nineties, armed to the teeth and all wearing armbands that affirm their loyalty to the Red Gobbo.

I think these are either variations on the standard Gretchin models, or they provided the inspiration for the current plastic models as they are very similar.

Whichever is true, these sculpts give the lie to the idea that newer and plastic is always better.

The banner is a second edition banner I've had lying around for many years. Technically it's a speed freak banner, but it fit the colour scheme I was going for and saved me a lot of effort.

The rest of the gang are regular Gretchin without armbands and equipped with less stuff. I think the chap with the catapult might technically be a Snotling, but I'm not sure I care enough to find out.

Like the Ork gang I made for Gorkamorka, I can easily use these chaps in 40k if I ignore the base size issue, however, I think some of the Rebel Grotz have weapons that aren't available as options outside of Gorkamorka.

The Big Lugga itself actually began with me having only part of the model: the base, the catapult, the propeller and three wheels.

I've constructed the canopy out of spare bits I had lying around, including undead banner sections to use as ladders, an engine block that came with a 7TV vehicle and a couple of Meccano wheels.

One of the elements I was sad to be missing from the original vehicle were the Snotlings pumping the clockwork propeller into action.

Even though I had the engine, I wanted to pay an homage to this by adding a Snotling whose job it is to hit the engine to make it go.

I'm really pleased by the final outcome for a number of reasons: I think I've done a pretty good job on the Rebel Grotz, which are great miniatures; the rescued Big Lugga is pretty damn close to what it should look like; and the whole gang can cram on board, giving me a second Gorkamorka gang should Matt never get round to finishing his.

It should be noted, that the arrangement to get them all on board is more than a little precarious. Given that in Gorkamorka (as in 2nd edition 40k) the transport capacity is whatever you can fit on board and models that fall off, fall off in game too, I'm looking at kitbashing a Grot Cutta (a smaller vehicle) to ease the pressure on space.

However, that's for a later date, as I've currently got a few other Orky projects waiting in the Mekboy's workshop.

Acquired:15

Painted: 95

Lead Mountain: 681

Old, New, 'Borrowed' and Blue

"If we wasn't meant ta loot it, it wudn't be where we cud find it!" - Death Skull proverb

I mentioned in my last post that I had an old tank I wanted to kitbash into an Ork vehicle, but I didn't know what to do with it.

Well, I decided.

I had been considering using the model as a Looted Wagon, either with an overly large 'boomgun' or a transport deck for my Goffs to ride in. Both of these ideas would have involved a degree of construction on top of the tank.

However, after perusing my bits box I realised that I still had a bunch of pointless mounted weapons from the Land Raider Spartan, including a heavy flamer.

A quick bit of research in the 5th edition Ork Codex revealed that flames, tracks and a little bit of extra armour on a buggy sized model could result in something that would pass muster as a Skorcha.

My Skorcha began life as a 'Tank in a Tin', a small gift I was kindly given by Mrs Cheaphammer quite a few years ago.

Due to the fact that it was an American tank in 1/72 scale, there was no opportunity to use it in Bolt Action or Flames of War, and so it has sat unloved and alone, as the 12 soldiers got transferred to 101st Binbound Regiment.

I had contemplated using as the basis of a mechanical Daemon Prince or some kind of Mechanicus construct, but these ideas never took root.

However, removing the turret and replacing it with a hatch and pintel mounted heavy flamer from the Land Raider Spartan crew I had something that could conceivably be a PDF or Arbites armoured car that's been 'liberated' by the Orks for use as a Skorcha.

Given that the Death Skull clan are known for looting pretty much anything not nailed down, I went with a chipped blue paint scheme and added a few bits to make it a little more Orky: spikes, grinders, bull bars, etc. and an undead shield design that passes for a Death Skull glyph.

The gunner was cobbled together from a Gorkamorka body, a couple of 2nd edition arms, a bit of Leviathan foot as a shoulder pad and a head from the 1987 Fantasy Regiments plastic box that I still had.

I decided to add the stowage on the back for a several reasons: I wanted to break up the blue paint; I wanted to lean into the Death Skull theme and add stuff they've looted, and I felt the vehicle still looked too imperial.

All in all, I'm really pleased with a vehicle that has cost me nothing, but adds to my army with a bit of humour and narrative. It's about the same size as the Trukk I painted last week, so it's pretty much the right size too.

The only downside side is that it is more anti-infantry weapons, meaning that I'm still not well place to deal with the Imperial Guard tank that all of my potential opponents now own.

Leaning into the lucky blue of the Death Skulls seems to have rubbed off, as Mrs Cheaphammer revealed that for some reason she had a £10 voucher from Games Workshop which was about to expire. Therefore I rushed off to the webstore to spend it.

It's VERY hard to only spend £10 in this manner.

Ultimately I decided to grit my teeth and pick up a Mek for the eye-watering price of £18 plus postage. I figured that after the voucher was deducted £10 was fine for a model I wanted for the army anyway and is only available online so discounts elsewhere weren't possible.

I do like the model though.

He's painted in Bad Moon colours to go with my Warboss and the largest clan in the army.

As part of the lucky streak, Mrs Cheaphammer and I were asked to take part in a survey on our local area and were each rewarded with a £10 Amazon voucher by way of thanks.

Fortunately (there's a theme here) I was able to find a very good copy of the 5th edition Ork codex for exactly that amount and free postage.

All in all, it's been a lucky week and most of that good fortune seems to emanate from Mrs Cheaphammer.

It seems I married well.

Acquired: -81
Painted: 58
Lead Mountain: 518

The Arms Race

For the past few months, our gaming group has had a bit of a focus on 5th edition 40k. I've enjoyed re-discovering that Blood Angels are a bit filthy, getting to use my Daemons and taking part in my first Apocalypse game.

However, inevitably a feverish escalation has begun to take place. Pete is churning out Space Wolves and Eldar, Matt is turning the contents of the Combat Patrol magazine into 5th edition forces, and even Wes has bought an Imperial Guard army.

As for me, well, I'm never one to avoid jumping aboard a bandwagon...or should I say bandtrukk.

As I'm all out of Marines due to my Badab War adventure, and I painted all my Daemons when I bought them, I turned to the Orks I've painted for 2nd edition and Gorkamorka.

Also, due to edition points creep, what had been a 1300 point force in 2nd edition had deflated to 850 points by 5th, and so I needed to add to the army to get it to a reasonable size for a game.

The most obvious initial target for my attention was the spare Gorkamorka Trukk I still had unpainted. 

I opted to go for paint this up as a Bad Moons Trukk as my plan was for it to convey my Warboss and Nobs more quickly into battle, where their Choppas could do the talking. Also l, this means that I have the option of fielding two mobs in Gorkamorka, should I want to introduce anyone to the game 

Vehicles are quick to paint for Orks: base coat silver, wash with Agrax Earthshade, pick our panels for specific colours, sponge weathering, paint the tyres. Easy.

The awkward bit was the crew, as I didn't have any, apart from a couple of torsos, which I think had been freed up from using metal bodies on my Evil Sunz biker and Trukk driver.

Therefore I began cobbling together my crew from the bitz box. The lehs are from the Maelstrom's Edge miniatures I used as Servitors for my Corpsetaker Apothecary (for some reason the sprue had four sets of legs and only two torsos), whilst the arms are a mix of Skaven and Zombie bits I had lying around.

The worst elements of this rushed kitbash are covered either by their cramped compartment or some improvised pads on the driver's shoulders.

All in all, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.

The other addition to the army was adding a Shoota to the back of one of my Nobz who was missing a ranged weapon (which I've realised still needs some yellow markings adding).

It doesn't change his profile, it just makes him more WYSIWYG.

I've got a range of bits and pieces to put together for the Orks. I've inherited a Rebel Grot gang for Gorkamorka (with an incomplete Big Lugga) that can be added to my Gretchin mob, although I'd need a second Runtherd. 

I also have a toy tank that I'm mulling over what to convert into: a Trukk for the Goffs, a Scorcher or a Looted Tank. It's a decision that will largely depend on the bits I have available.

Although none of these are particularly powerful, it should mean I can properly play a 1000 point game of 5th edition.

Acquired: 82
Painted: 56
Lead Mountain: 519

Green Troops

When the latest batch of old miniatures were returned to me after twenty five years in storage, they included a few bits and pieces to go with projects I thought I'd completed.

Namely a couple of Braves for my Necromunda Ratskins and a single Gorkamorka Ork.

As I've been focusing on quick wins, they pushed their way to the front of the queue.

The Ratskins were done exactly like the rest of the gang which I won't repeat here, but there's nothing too exciting to talk about.

The only real points of interest is that I gave them yellow hair ties to give me a way of telling the Brave with the musket apart from the other one with exactly the same pose. Also, I previously didn't have a blunderbuss armed model in the gang, however, I'm.not entirely sure how effective a 'move-or-fire' close assault weapon will work out.

The Ratskins did actually get their first run out recently against Matt's Orlocks. I have to admit, I was somewhat worried that my inexperienced gang armed with black powder weapons were going up against a gang that has already fought three or four times in our ad hoc campaign.

I was especially worried when we rolled up the 'Hunters' scenario, meaning that my gang would be spilt up and Matt's whole gang (the Tunnel Snakes - named for the Fallout reference) would be bearing down on just a single solitary Ratskins, whilst the others were forced to stand back and watch until the shoot out (execution) was over.

The poor soul selected for this suicide mission was one armed with a shotgun, which turned out to be fortuitous as I managed to get the drop on them and fire the first shot...a scatter shell.

Some how, the blast not only took out it's intended target, the Tunnel Snakes' heavy, but also punch a hole in the tightly packed Orlocks.

It should be noted that this formation had been somewhat forced on Matt by the terrain and the deployment rules.

To add insult to injury, Matt's entire gang's shooting only managed to knock the Ratskins down, and he was able crawl away to safety.

When the rest of the Ratskins opened up from cover, the Orlocks were thrown into disarray and put onto the back foot for pretty much the whole game. They perpetually has three or four gang members down and we're making bottle tests from about the third turn.

The leader of the Tunnel Snakes did manage to launch a counter attack by himself, partly through daring and bravery, but mainly due to his terrifying meltagun.

He took out three or four Ratskins by himself, before being ganged up on and defeated by the Ratskin Chief.

The rest of the Ratskins slowly tightened the net on the Orlocks, constantly peppering them with shots, whittling down their numbers and reducing the Tunnel Snakes' ability to provide meaningful answering fire.

Pinned down in a kill box, the Orlocks tried to withstand the barrage of fire, but really started to have trouble when the Ratskins Shaman got in range with his Ghost Walk ability (represented by the token below).

It turns out that there was a touch of cheating from me on this front, as I was getting the rules for this wrong. I still think the outcome would have been the same if I'd got this correct, but realising my mistake did take the shine off.

The Orlocks eventually bottled out, but not before both sides had been bloodied. In the post-game sequence injury was piled upon insult when a couple of the Orlocks died of their wounds.

For my part, the Ratskins came out largely unscathed, with plenty of experience earned. I was even able to move my hideout from a useless wasteland to a clean water hole. All in all, a good first outing.

I also painted an Ork this week. It is Orktober after all.

Acquired: -61
Painted: 346
Lead Mountain: 656

Of Runtz & Riderz

My second Ork odyssey comes to a conclusion with the completion of the final vehicle for my Gorkamorka gang along with a very old Ork indeed

The Biker was originally bought to be the leader of my gang until I read the rules properly and found that you needed an extra Spanner for every three bikes, meaning that unless you go big on bikes, an Ork biker is a luxury to be added later in the campaign.

I really liked the model at the time and I still do. It's clear that the Gorkamorka range pointed the direction that design of 40k Orks would move in over the years. Away from the brightly coloured clowns of 2nd edition to the brutal killers bedecked in rivetted armour of the current incarnation.

I'm trying to bridge the gap between these two aesthetics, keeping the bright colours, but rendering as chipped and worn.

I've not chipped the painting on the Evil Sunz logo as I think that would be the bit the Ork owner would take care of to ensure the favour of Mork so that the red paint makes it go faster.

Painting wise there's nothing different here from the last couple of posts. Over reliance on Agrax Earthshade and chipping with a sponge covers a multitude of sins and I'm really happy as a result.

That completes my Gorkamorka gang for now. I've certainly got plenty to be going on with and more than enough for the early stages of a campaign when we get round to it.

I still have another Trukk and the chassis of a Rebel Grot Big Lugga, but without crew for either I'm in no rush to work on them.

In the meantime, here's a really old school 2nd Edition Runtherd. You can see that difference in design through the facial expressions and pirate aesthetic.

This model is by far the oldest 40k Ork I own and turned back up in the recent haul got from a friend. I think I originally bought him to be a coach model for an Orc Bloodbowl team.

If returned to black and yellow from the red I've been using as a spot colour on the Gorkamorka stuff as the main force of my army are Bad Moons.

This chap will be taking control of the Gretchin mob in my 2nd Edition army, freeing up a Nob to rejoin the boss's mob.

Probably the best thing about including a Runtherd in my army is that along with the Mek, he allows me to include the frankly hilarious Shokk Attack Gun in my force, meaning I will now have to track one down.

Despite getting the Biker and Runtherd painted, my numbers have taken another hit this week as I was kindly given a 3d printed artist, which I intend to use in Carnevale as one of the Gifted.

Additionally, my 7TV Secret Santa gift arrived (I didn't realise what it was until it was open) and turned out to be a massive collection of scenic bits and bobs, most of which are from Mantic Terrain Crates, I think.

Pleasingly, lots of this is very generic, working for a range of periods in which someone's house has been wrecked.

And yes, that is the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

This awesome generosity means that the Mountain is getting even higher.

Acquired: 212

Painted: 291

Lead Mountain: 540

Pimp Our Ride

I'm picking up pace with getting through my Gorkamorka gang and have managed to finish off another vehicle and the rest of the infantry I have.

Enter the Wrecking Crew!

Trukks are important in Gorkamorka as they allow you to transport your Boyz into battle more effectively than bikes and buggies and trakks.

The rules in Gorkamorka allow you to transport as many models as you can sensibly load on the vehicle (hence the small bases) which makes for a far more satisfactory visual aesthetic for transporting troops than in most games and the Orks are packed in tightly.

At the moment, this Trukk can carry about five Boyz, alongside the driver and gunner, thanks to the extra gubbinz on board, although I suspect I could squeeze another one in if necessary.

I say this because starting mobz in Gorkamorka can usually only afford a single Trukk if they don't want to be perilously short on numbers, which means I will need to bear in mind that my initial gang probably has a capped size of 7 or 8 when we eventually start playing.

The Trukk itself is 'Wrecker Trukk' which I bought separately from the main game to add to the Trukk and Trakk I got from my half of the starter box.

It is essentially a basic plastic Trukk sprue with additional metal bits, including the wrecking ball, a ram, several glyph plates, an ammo box, a skull on a spike, a racked blunderbuss and an alternate torso for the driver. All of which add a bit of character and individuality to the Trukk.

If I'd thought about it more at the time, I'd have spread the metal bits out across my other vehicles to pimp out more of them. The ammo box might have looked better on the Wartrakk for example.

Despite the metal driver torso, the driver and gunner were a bit of a pig to paint. Their awkward poses,, poor detail on the gunner's body and head and the frankly shockingly bad assembly I'd done on fitting their arms to their bodies mean that I don't particularly want to look too closely at them.

Fortunately, once place within the vehicle a lot of their shortcomings disappear. I've left them loose so I can remove them as necessary in games.

I didn't do this with the crew of the Wartrakk because they are less likely to dismount, the rider was harder to get out cleanly and I didn't think about it until I'd stuck them in.

The process of painting is largely the same as I used for the Wartrakk. Black undercoat, sprayed silver, red bits and other gubbinz picked out, then a liberal wash in Agrax Earthshade before sponge chipping the red and going over other elements to highlight them.

I'm really happy with this approach and I'll be maintaining it for any future Ork vehicles I paint. The won't always be red, but most will be as red ones go faster.

The five Boyz I've painted are the plastic models from the starter set. They're not the best models in the world, but they are serviceable. There is enough variation in the arms and heads to make them look different enough from each other, and I've added to this by cobbling together the arm throwing a stikkbomb from a spare biker arm, and one of the blades is actually from a zombie sprue.

I now definitely have enough models to start playing and only actually have a biker left to paint for Gorkamorka. Playing games is now waiting on Matt digging out his stuff and painting it.

No pressure Matt.

Really, it's fine.

Take your time...

In other news I've sent off my annual 7TV Secret Santa parcel and will eagerly await what comes in return. I've not done any more counting of the models I'm keeping from the hoard as I've been a bit busy, however, I will get this done before the end of the year.

Acquired: 195
Painted: 289
Lead Mountain: 525

Rising Sunz

More Gorkamorka, and this time I've turned my attention to the Boyz.

This bunch are the blister pack of metal Gorkamorka miniatures I added to my plastics from the starter set twenty-five years ago.

The base game came with two Trukks, two Wartrakks and twelve boys, which were easy to split between us. I supplemented my half of the set with the metal boyz, a spanner (sort of like a mekboy), a biker and a Wrecker Trukk.

Only the spanner has not come back into my possession, so you can expect to see the rest popping up over the next few weeks.

This rather impressive fellow will be serving as my Nob initially, at least until different armour, equipment or bionics require an updated model.

I've painted my Orks using the same method I used on the small army I painted earlier in the year. A base coat, which is drybrushed in Ushabti Bone before being washed with Agrax Earthshade and then highlighted (the drybrush helps to guide the highlighting).

I've gone with red accents to make them match my Wartrakk, and also potentially make them into a small Evil Sunz mob in games of 40k Second Edition.

The definition on these old sculpts it really good and full of character, much more so than the plastics. However, the downside of metal sculpts of this period was the duplication of poses, as you can see with these two boys.

I've tried to use the way I've painted them to make them as different as possible whilst still maintaing a cohesive look.

In game these two will bring me slightly longer range shooting than is possible with the weapons available with the starting plastic gang. This will help when the Big Shootas on my vehicles inevitably run out of ammo the first time they fire.

Gorkamorka owes a lot of its design to Necromunda, and this includes the construction of gangs. In Necromunda young gang members are known as Juves, whereas in Gorkamorka these adolescent Orks are called Yoofs and are only able to carry pistols.

To create more variety, both of the models had one separate arm which allowed for a degree of posing. I can't remember if there were options for these separate arms.

You may notice that Gorkamorka models have teeny-tiny bases to allow more of them to fit inside the vehicles (which you to carry as many as you can cram in). I did initially put them on 20mm round bases for stability and to make them match my 40k army, but I struggled to get more than two in a Trukk without it looking silly, so I returned to the official bases.

Also, in attempt to make some quick headway into my massively expanding Lead Mountain, I did these eight barrels that cam with the original game.

They were done simply with a base colour, as wash of Agrax Earthshade and then stippling Lead Belcher with a torn piece of sponge to add the wear and tear. They will serve as terrain, cover and possibly objectives.

Despite this attempt to make inroads, I need to accept some more additions to my pile from the hoard.

I've added a whopping 45 monopose Empire state troops along with 25 Undead and Giant Bats, which will be featuring in an upcoming Warhammer Fantasy Battle project soon, and hopefully preventing me from buying Warhammer: The Old World. However, right now my numbers are getting ugly and there's more to come.

Oh well, at least I know what my New Year's Resolution will be.

Acquired: 198

Painted: 283

Lead Mountain: 536

WAAARGH-trakk

Here come the Orks again, perversely just after 'Orktober' is over.

Why?

Well, two reasons. Firstly, I was busy Zomtobering. Secondly, I didn't actually have any Orks to paint last month. 

However, things have changed...

As I'm sure you'll remember that I have acquired a metric ton of old miniatures from a friend, most of which I'll be selling on his behalf, but some (and it's a big 'some') which turned out to be my old miniatures I left with him when I moved out of London twenty years ago.

Amongst the heap were my original Gorkamorka gang from when the game was first released. Myself and a different friend split the box between us and then I splurged on a few additional purchases.

The only model in the gang with any paint on it was the Wartrakk, and although unfinished is a healthy reminder of how far my painting has come.

Therefore, with waves of nostalgia cascading over me, an Ork army already on the go in need of mobile fire support and a base coat (of sorts) already done, I set about finishing off a project that is over a quarter of a century old.

To keep thing simple and actually allow me to ignore stripping the model, I stuck with the original colour decisions, adding a layer of Mephiston Red over the chassis, Lead Belcher over the metalwork, and making some better decisions about the crew's clothing.

The entire model was drenched in Agrax Earthshade and then highlighted up where necessary; in much the same manner as I did the rest of my Ork horde earlier in the year.

I'm really quite happy with the result.

I do love the look of the Wartrakk.

Clearly based on the Kettenkrad light tractor, it harks back to the time when there was more than a little WW2 German elements in the 40k Ork range. The original metal model's driver was wearing a stahlhelm and the gunner had an officer's cap.

More politically aware times came along and these potentially problematic elements were phased out. I think the plastic Gorkamorka Wartrakk was the last of these elements to disappear into history (although I believe there still might be stats for it in the 'legends' category).

One thing I'm really enjoying about painting Orks is doing all the chipping and weathering. It's a really quick way to make it look like I've spent a lot more time on a model than I have.

The Wartrakk is an easy addition to my 2nd Edition army, adding a whole 50 points, mobility and some slightly heavier firepower. I'm not sure it's a game changer on its own, but it does mean I get to watch it blow up regularly.

Additionally, mentioning Gorkamorka has prompted Matt's nostalgia, and so we're both now busying ourselves in the Mek's workshop to get gangs ready.

Given the amount of miniatures I've now acquired, I felt the need to get an easy win in to, and so I've done this piece of scrap terrain which is also from the Gorkamorka game. 

Nothing fancy, just Leadbelcher drenched in Agrax, but it gives us something to crash into.

I need to start admitting how many miniatures I've acquired, but this will have to be in stages as I don't actually know the full extent yet.

So, just counting the Gorkamorka gang and vehicles, a Ratskin Gang for Necromunda and a load of barrels, that's another 38 miniatures to begin with...

...of which I've painted two.

Acquired: 128

Painted: 272

Lead Mountain: 457