Monday, July 18, 2011

Project Orks: Part 2 - Da Kunnin' Plan!

As you know from the first article in this series, I have decided I was going to focus on building an ork army for the rest of this year, with a completion timeline of February for 1850 points, plus a 400 point sideboard.

The Ork Waaagh!! so far. This is what is already painted and included in the sideboard.

I spent the latter part of June inventorying the models I had, and figuring out a decent 1850 point list that I could muster from those existing models. This does mean my list was somewhat restricted to what I had, but I have so much that I only really need a very few things to fill in the gaps in the future. What I needed then, was a proper plan to build and paint this Waaaagh!!

So, without further ado, here is...

Da Kunnin' Plan!

*Legend*
Planned, Complete, Late

June:
  1. Muster Forces – Inventory all models and create force org list. - Complete June 30
  2. Create Army List – Complete June 30
  3. Create Side Board List – Complete June 30
  4. Create Additional Side Board Project List – Complete June 30

July:
  1. Repair, clean and paint: 30 Gretchin, 3 Runtherds
  2. Clean and paint: Deff Dread
  3. Photos Pending

August:
  1. Build and paint: Big Mek Shokk Attack Gun - Did not paint due to illness
  2. Clean and paint: 30 Ork Boyz unit - Did not paint due to illness
  3. Extra Sideboard: If time permits – My choice

September:
  1. Clean and Paint: Weird Boy Warp Head
  2. Clean and Paint: 10 Ork Nobz unit
  3. Extra Sideboard: If time permits – My choice

October:
  1. Clean and Paint: 11 Ork Boyz unit
  2. Build and Paint: Trukk
  3. Extra Sideboard: If time permits – My choice

November:
  1. Clean and Paint: 5 Burna Boyz, 5 Stormboyz w/ Zaggstruk
  2. Extra Sideboard: If time permits – My choice

December:
  1. Paint: Battlewagon
  2. Extra Sideboard: If time permits – My choice

January:
  1. Clean, magnetize weapons, and Paint: 5 Deffkoptas
  2. Extra Sideboard: If time permits – My choice

February:
  1. Build and paint: Big Mek Shokk Attack Gun
  2. Clean and paint: 30 Ork Boyz unit
  3. Extra Sideboard: If time permits – My choice


Related Articles:
Project Orks: Part 1 - Mustering Da Waaaagh!!
Project Orks: Part 2 - Da Kunnin' Plan
Project Orks: Part 3 - 'Ere We Go!

Links:
Games Workshop
The Freebootaz
The Custodes
The Independent Characters

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Project Orks: Part 1 - Mustering da Waaaagh!

As some of you guys and gals probably know, I've been trying to do Orks for some Motivational Challenges on various forums (The Freebootaz, and The Custodes), but have just been feeling blah about the whole thing. As a result, I spent the last two months not thinking about these challenges at all, and just doing things that I felt like doing, hobby wise. And I found that not painting my own personal hobby related items to a preconceived guideline that I have little control over a lot more enjoyable.

Yes, there were commissions among those projects that I had to get done, but having my own personal projects unfettered made me feel a lot better about attempting to get back into the Orks that I was building for Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000. This, combined with a challenge on The Independent Characters forum, where the build and paint plan is entirely up to me, and has some flexibility, really has got me ready to get back to them. Another factor that is inspiring me here is that my friends and I decided to play a 6 month campaign, culminating in an Apocalypse game in December, so we will be helping motivate each other as we play and check out each other's progress.

As for the other Motivational Challenges, well, I still intend to continue working on them again, but they will take second fiddle to this project, as I find time. They will also give me the opportunity to work on other projects that are in the sidelines and are different from Orks, to give me some variety and help me stay interested in painting Orks!

As of now, I have inventoried and listed all of my Ork models. I have also put them all into an army list, and it comes to about 7000 points worth, and that's without tooling them up very much. Sooo, I obviously have a lot of work ahead of me.

The Waaaagh!! so far!

Fortunately, this part of the project is only to complete 1850 points by February (in time for Adepticon, though my ability to attend remains in doubt). A secondary goal is to also paint a sideboard. I'm including the orks I have already painted over the year's Motivational Challenges as part of the sideboard, and who knows, maybe I'll get more orks done for the ongoing challenges as part of the sideboard as well. I've left February open with only a sideboard project planned. This is to allow for slippage if life gets in the way and I can't complete a project on time.

Here is my 1850 point list:
HQ – Weird Boy, Warp Head
HQ – Big Mek, Shokk Attack Gun
Elites – 10 Nobz w/ Stikkbombz, 3 Power Klaw, 7 Big Choppa, 1 Bosspole
Elites – 5 Burna Boyz
Troops – 30 Ork Boyz w/ Stikkbombz, Big Shoota, Nob, Power Klaw, Bosspole
Troops – 11 Ork Boyz w/ Shootaz and Stikkbomz, 1 Big Shoota, Nob, Power Klaw, Bosspole
Trukk w/ Grot Riggers, Stikkbomb Chukka , Boarding Plank, Reinforced Ram
Troop – 30 Gretchin, 3 Runtherd w/ Grotprods
Fast – 5 Stormboyz w/ Boss Zagstruk
Fast – 5 Deffkoptas w/ 5 Twin Linked Rokkit Launcha
Heavy – Deff Dread w/ Big Shoota, Skorcha, Armour plates
Heavy – Battlewagon w/ Killkannon, Deffrolla, Grot Riggers, Stikkbomb Chukka, Armour plates, Boarding Plank, Kannon, 4 Big Shootas
Here is my sideboard to date:
HQ – Warboss w/ Power Klaw, Twin Linked Shoota, Bosspole
Elites – 5 Nobz w/ Stikkbombz, 5 Big Choppa, 1 Bosspole
Troops – 20 Ork Boyz w/ Stikkbombz, 2 Big Shootas, Nob, Big Choppa, Bosspole
Fast – 3 Deffkoptas w/ 3 Twin Linked Rokkit Launcha
Superheavy – 2 Ork Stompas
So, with the army decided upon, The next step was to create a plan, which I will discuss in part 2 of this series.

Related Articles:
Project Orks: Part 1 - Mustering Da Waaaagh!!
Project Orks: Part 2 - Da Kunnin' Plan
Project Orks: Part 3 - 'Ere We Go!

Links:
Games Workshop
The Freebootaz
The Custodes
The Independent Characters

Monday, July 04, 2011

GW Accepts Role as Mr. Scrooge?

Games Workshop has just released some more tidbits on the Storm of Magic for Warhammer, due on July 9th in stores near you.

The headlining picture of their blog talking about today's news seems inspired by a certain classic novella by Charles Dickens!

Three wizards looking strikingly like the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future....

With all the bad publicity and negative reviews of Games Workshop over the last few months, is it coincidence that this picture bears a striking resemblance to the three Christmas spirits? So.... is GW the Scrooge they are here to save this Christmas?


*Legal Disclaimer* Picture copyright Games Workshop LLC and used without permission.

Sunday, July 03, 2011

Base of the Matter

Recently a friend of mine asked me if I would paint up some bases for him. I quickly accepted, and before I knew it, the bases were in the mail and arrived the next day from Winnipeg to Toronto overnight. Incredible! Ah, but that was before the 1 month postal strike/lockout...

The bases he sent me were a sampling of bases from a company called Battle Ready Figs, who my friend says sounded a lot like a Basement Business when he met the owner at Adepticon. They are mostly 25mm bases, with a 60mm base, which my friend is planning to use for his new Tau army that he is painting in a bright tan, blue, grey, and white scheme. He had no specifications for how to paint them, so I decided that to help make his Tau pop I would go for something dark. And the bases he provided definitely suit the darker colours.

Bases as I received them, primed and with a few thin washes.... ready to be painted!

When I first opened the little bubble pack mailer, I was not very impressed. Not because my friend already tried his hand at painting them and got frustrated, and for which he was embarrassed, but because the bases were actually quite simple. And the pictures at the website of painted versions really were not inspiring. In fact, I think the colour schemes selected for the manufacturer's store were not well suited, and actually clash.

But I could see the inherently simple designs could be turned into some really nice bases, and when the models get mounted to them, the simpleness of these bases would actually help. I figured, by restricting the colour palette to a few basic colours, I could make them work.

For the tiles and cobblestones, I chose naturalistic colours, working up from Games Workshop's Charadon Granite, to Scorched Brown, Calthan Brown, Graveyard Earth, and a variety of other tans and greys. This I overbrushed in multiple layers, blending the colours here and there to create uneven aging and colour patterns.

The brick and gravel I painted with Games Workshop's Scab Red over a base of Adeptus Battlegrey. I then highlighted with Astronomican Grey and Dheneb stone.

This helped give each base type some colour variety. But because of the commonalities, they all work well together. But ruined cities like this are often dusty and grimy, and tend to get a uniform colouration regardless of the material as dust settles on everything. So I gave everything several thin washes of Devlan Mud, followed by Badab Black, which muted the bright colours enough to make it look aged and ruinous. I finally finished up by giving everything a light drybrush dusting of Astronomican Grey followed by Skull White.

I also picked out some of the extra details, like the girder and the sewer grate. I took them as an opportunity to add another complimentary colour to the naturalistic tones on the bases. By rusting out the girder and sliming up the grate, I was able to introduce some additional visual interest to the bases.

This is the end result.

Completed bases. Though they are simple, they have a couple of surprising little details, like the grate, and the girder...
Overall, I'm satisfied with the bases. They may seem too simple at first, but while painting them I noticed the quality of them was actually quite good and they had a couple of nice little details. The castings are generally clean, with very little in the way of flash.

The overall quality of these bases is quite good. The manufacturer took the time to sand the bottoms so they are flat, though some concavity was noticed. This also helps reduce the rim flash commonly found on "Garage/Basement Moulded" bases. There was very little evidence of airholes, also common in resin casting, except in the areas were dirt and debris were piled, as the texture tends to trap air. But with simple drybrushing, they have little effect on the overall finish.

Now, I'm off to the post office to get these back to my friend. I hope he likes them!

UPDATE: Battleready Figs no longer seems to have a web presence, and do not seem to be in business any longer. If you have information contrary to this, please comment below with their contact info or web address and I'll update this post.

Links:

Games Workshop
Forgeworld

Friday, July 01, 2011

Forgeworld New Release: Contemptor

Today, Forgeworld has posted on their website the latest Space Marine model, the Contemptor!


Forgeworld's new Space Marine Contemptor
The Contemptor is an interesting model. It looks like an over tall dreadnought. With those long armour clad legs, it looks like it can stride across the battlefield with ease..... but.... as a friend of mine pointed out, it is reminiscent of 80's anime mecha legs.

I don't think that was intended, but I see his point, and when I was checking out the pictures, it actually negatively affected my initial opinion of the model. Then I saw the red blood angels version, in dynamic "I'm coming to get you!" pose, and my opinion immediately changed. Especially when I noticed the details on the legs which were reminiscent of Space Marine leg armour, and I realized that the intent was to appear more marine like. And when I saw those similarities, I immediately liked the model a lot!

Then I started seeing the potential for this model! When the Grey Knights were first released, and the Dreadknight was announced, I was a little underwhelmed by the overall model. Now, it has grown on me a bit, especially having seen some in person, but I still feel it resembles an original Eldar War Walker too much, where the pilot rode on the front like an infant in a child carrier.

But, I also see an opportunity. And it's the Contemptor that changes all that. It has lines that resemble the Grey Knight terminator torsos, and looks like it would be a perfect swap for a Dreadknight with the appropriate weapon swaps, you could do conversions with just the torso, or use the whole model. Ultimately, it brings a bevy of options to the modeller and converter who wants something a little bit different!

It would also make for excellent swap fodder with regular dreadnought parts. In fact, I did a very quick mash-up using the Forgeworld comparison picture with a regular dreadnought to show just how the torso would look on regular dread legs, and how the dread torso would look on the Contemptor legs. It gives you an excellent idea of scale, and how the overall model could work in such swaps.

New Forgeworld Contemptor and potential conversion ideas for Dreadnoughts and Dreadknights.

And after having done it, and also seen the Blood Angel version on the website, I have to say, I've grown to love this model. The legs are no longer a concern for me as they are reminiscent of space marine legs...at least that's what I think they were going for...though I do see some of the 80s anime imaging that my friend mentioned.

If I had a picture of a Dreadnight to scale, I would have done a mashup with the contemptor torso, but I think this does give you the overall impression. I would probably use the Contemptor for a Dreadknight straight as is, and just swap some arms, etc.

If you are a Grey Knight player, and want an alternate Dreadknight, this model is just for you. If you are a Space Marine, or Chaos Space Marine player and want alternate dreadnought torso reminisicent of pre-heresy dreadnought variants, than this model might be right for you!

Now that I've set that catalyst for creativity, go out there, and start converting and mashing parts together. I would love to see what kind of conversions you come up with, so don't forget to link them in the comments section below. And for anybody who can get their hands on one of these, if you are converting it to a Dreadknight, I would be especially interested in seeing that!

Links:
Games Workshop
Forgeworld


Copyright Notice: Original Photos used for this article are owned and copyright by GamesWorkshop PLC, and used without permission. Photos modified are for the express purposes of distributing hobby news, freely promoting the hobby, and the free exchange of hobby related ideas. No challenge is intended.