Bad Moons Deff Dread

It took me way, way too long to finish painting this bad boy - but now it's finally done!

The color scheme used is pretty much the same as with my other Bad Moons, eg. Bad Moon Yellow contrasted with Tin Bitz and other metallics. The challenge with this model was to make it look rich and colorful without it getting too incoherent or rugged. I think we (that is, me and my awesome girlfriend) have succeeded in that - the colors are coherent and well contrasted, yet there are many "chaotical" places that remind us that this is an orkish Deff Dread, and of a rich, garish clan indeed.

 

I wanted the walker to look as if it is closing towards the enemy, its chainsaws buzzing, its pincers snapping and its weapons firing hell. Unfortunately, the pose didn't end up very photogenic and looks a bit static, too (making the Dread lean a bit forward would help, I think). Currently, the model is armed with a Skorcha (I love that one) and a Big Shoota, just in case it would get immobilized. Both weapons are magnetized though, so I might exchange the underwhelming shoota for another Skorcha, or perhaps a rokkit or even a CCW.

After spending so much time with this guy, I decided to name him - and what better name there could be for a behemoth like this than Gork. Now I'm seriously thinking about getting a second one named Mork! Regarding the gore on its left CCW, it has been made with liquid green stuff, bit of sand and static grass, plenty of red and a shiny finish of 'Ard Coat. It looks nasty.

The funny part about the model is the base. Yep, I'm talking about that one Grot Rigger (not about the butchered guardist corpse!). I bought the fantasy model for few cents at second market and simply had to convert it into a 40k grot! The goggles are made out of green stuff putty, while the hammer has been "converted" out of a sprue bit and a pin. He looks remarkably calm for someone standing in front of a giant killer machine - perhaps he is looking over the battlefield for possible loot, or he is just used to situations like these, like a propa' grot rigga' anyway!

Anyway, time for me to rest (and get to those Killa Kans)! As always, C&C is most welcome!

First impressions of the 6th edition

Just a quick (and lazy) post today. I had a chance to play game of 6th edition at a convention about two weeks ago and thought I'd share some impressions. I'm pretty much an unexperienced player, since my armies are still largely upainted (and I refuse to play with unpainted models), and I've never really cared of other tactica than space marine gunline. Unfortunately, my Genesis Chapter is still under 1.000 points, so I brought my Bad Moons Orks instead. Even worse, my Orks are going to be a mechanized army, and my opponent played Necrons.

Ouch.

 My army was largely inconsistent (I simply took most of my painted models) - a shooty Battlewagon, a Deff Dread, one Trukk full of angry Nobz with their Warboss, three Deffkoptas and a bunch of Lootas and Boyz hiding near my objective. My opponent had few squads of Necron Warriors and Immortals with Tesla weapons, two Annihilation Barges and a Lord. I knew I was pretty much screwed - especially with the new Hull Point rules - but I accepted it in an orky way and decided to have fun, no matter the odds.

 We played Dawn of War deployment, Emperor's Will mission (aka one major objective per player). The game was lost since the very deployment, since my low experience - in fact, this was the first time I had Deff Dread and Battlewagon in play, and therefore, they didn't do anything - they were wrecked soon by Necron Warriors fire. Defffkoptas proved to be more resilient and later on I had some luck with them - even scoring two 6's in a row and shooting down a Barge with a rokkit, no matter its Quantum Shielding.

These 'crons are scrap.

With Battlewagon and Deff Dread down, the only unit I could count on was the Warboss and his retinue. Their Trukk was easily destroyed by the Necrons, and the disembarked Orks were assaulted by Necron Warriors and their Lord, who challenged my Warboss. I accepted the challenge and passed the roll on Mindshackle Scarabs (with a roll of 9). I think my opponent underestimated me here, since his squad was quickly wiped out, including the Lord. My Warboss was left with one wound though, and died a turn later. The Nobs still had some luck though, as they succesfully took down the other Annihilation Barge.

At least I had beer.

Still, the battle was lost for me, since my enemy was left with too many Troops. My Waaagh! has failed and my Boyz were unable to assault an approaching Warrior squad, and that was pretty much the end of the game. I guess I ended with only one victory point (earned for taking down the Warlord) - not that I cared. When it comes to Warlords, I was quite dissatisfied with the random choice of abilities - actually, the command ability I obtained was useless against Necrons!

My overall impression with the new edition was very good though. The game felt much more realistic and epic - for example, while the new wound removal system is very disadvantaging for foot-slogging orks, it feels very atmospheric and forces the player to think about their special weapon positions. Defensive fire is very unpleasant as well, though my Nobz welcomed it (they have used their kombi-skorchas against the ambushers). Snapfire is something that's going to make Lootas even better than they are - why-oh-why do I have the feeling that they will be nerfed in the next codex. Challenges between individual characters are a very interesting addition though that will please many ork players. I love the way Challanges combine 40k-epicness with careful tactics and risk. The reduced cover saves are also something that will not please foot-sloggers; I guess this is weighted by the addition of hull points - everything is going to die more often, it seems.

All in all, there is more risk to all player actions now (thanks to warlord abilities, hull points, random effects and defensive fire) - and, when combined with the allowance of pre-measuring and alliances, I think this will lead to a much more tactical game. Bravo there, Games Workshop!

Anyways, back to finishing my Deff Dread and Typhoon. I hate myself for playing with an unfinished model!

Ork Bonebreaka Gunwagon finished!

Nearly a year ago I started working on a Bonebreaka gunwagon - second edition Epic ork tank armed with a Battlecannon and a Deffrolla. I made two posts with the vehicle, and now it is finally finished and painted. So, let's see the beast!

Luckily enough, I took the vehicle to a 6th edition test game on a gaming con, and a friend took some very nice pictures of the vehicle - this reminds me how important it is to have a good camera and know how to use it! I'll post about the game soon.

Since my last update, I have added a conical (or should I say "comical") turret and some more details - for example the mushroom-like exhaust pipe on top or the teeth-like plates on the deffrolla holding arms. I've decided to "barricade" any leftover holes with small pieces of plastic, so it looks like the Orks looted the original weaponry and did not care much about replacing it or fixing the damage.

Let's look at some more regular pictures of the vehicle:

I'm very proud of the paintjob, this must be the best looking vehicle I have so far (not that there are many). I actually mobilized my girlfriend for this one, and she has painted most of the vehicle! My job was mostly washing and highlighting the wagon, and adding transfers and dirt. And I think we both succeeded, the vehicle looked very good on the tabletop - pity it didn't kill anything!

I hope you like the wagon and find it interesting or even inspiring. I really think second edition ork vehicles such as Bonebreakas, Gutrippas or Pulsa Rokkits deserve a second chance - in fact, now I think I'll start a Bonecruncha project one day!

One last thing - this vehicle has been actually made with the Dakka Dakka Ork Vehicle Competition 2011 in mind. So if you like it, you can give it a vote here! It's also worth checking the poll for other vehicles, you can find some truly incredible orky contraptions there.

Thanks for reading and see you soon!

Bad Moons AOBR Boyz

I'm still alive! Not really active though, it's exams time after all. At least I have finally finished my Assault on Black Reach Slugga boyz... Most of them were painted over a year ago though, the squad was just waiting for last few boys, and basing.

The last boy painted is the one with yellow helmet, and he was really just speed-painted. I can't believe it took me two years to realize how good looking yellow helmets are for Bad Moons. Oh well, at least I know what I will do with my shoota boyz.

I'm not really satisfied with the squad, but it will do for tabletop. To be honest, I hate those models! Painting them was fun at first, but turned really frustrating later. Bad Moons color schemes are quite rich on colors, and these models are really repetetive; sure, they are full of details, but these details are all the same. There's little room for conversions, too. That just gets annoying after first ten models.

Anyways, back to focusing on those pesky RL issues. Hopefully I'll update soon with pictures of Deff Dread. So, see you!

Deffkopta Squadron finished!

It took a while, but all my three Deffkoptaz are finally finished! Let's take a look at them first.


I spent so much time on these that I actually don't know what to start with! Each of them was painted in very different circumstances and it can be seen on them. Let's look at them one by one.



The first one was actually the first vehicle (if you will) I ever painted; it was finished back in June 2010. Since then, I haven't improved it much. Main change is the basing - when trying it out in a test game, the holding pole broke and I had to improvise. So I took some sand and rocks, a piece of sprue and few toothpicks, and made the ruiny stand you can see now. Lately, I added a plant as well.



This is the Deffkopta my girlfriend was working on. She finished it this summer, and as always, her work inspired me. On this model, she extensively used Bad Moon Yellow, and in quite a different scheme than I did (I used to pay only little attention to engines, and this model proves that was a mistake).

The base was done by me last week. I bought a large terrarium plant for like 5 euro, chopped it up and planted it into drilled holes in the base. The result looks pretty good, I think I'll try to make a whole terrain piece (a small forest perhaps) using this method.



I painted this one recently; in September or October, I think. I like to compare it to the first one I painted; I definately made progress since 2010. There are more colors and the Deffkopta seems richer. It's the same model as the previous one, without any conversions, yet the two look very different from each other. The check pattern is fundamental for this model's individuality. The basing was done last week as well.



On the picture above, you can take a better look at the rokkitz and the basing. One more neat detail there: notice the right Deffkopta pilot's head. My girlfriend really did a good job there - something as simple as a yellow strip gives the model a lot of character!

Last picture is sort of a teaser:



Yep, I got a Predator nearly finished! Still have to paint some details and battle damage on it though.

To be honest I'm glad I'm finally finished with the Deffkoptaz. They are great-looking models, but painting them was annoying because of the two-dimensionality of Assault on Black Reach sprues. Anyways, most of my AOBR units are painted now - only thing left is a bunch of Boyz!

Anyways, I hope you liked the orky machines and the new basing. These things took so long to get finished, but I feel the result was worth it.

See you soon! I'll try to make another post within a week or two, to make up for November.

Bonebreaka WIP 2

I wanted to post pictures of my new Scout Squad today, but because the pictures didn't turn out good, I'll continue today with my Bonebreaka gunwagon project instead - sorry! Still, I hope the progress I made will make up for an interesting post.



Good thing is that I finally started working on a sratchbuilt Deathrolla, and it's actually already attached to the vehicle:



Yes, the Deathrolla is actually made out of a hair-curler! The "arms" that hold it with the vehicle are made out of a sprue, that is pinned together to prevent it from collapsing. Casings around the arms have been looted from the Battlewagon turret mount, from which I needed only the middle section - rest I used to make useful "orky" bits like these.



I also made simple exhaust pipes from drinking straws! Also, instead of putting lasguns at the back of the vehicle, I took some sluggas and put them there - unfortunately I already painted that part black so it can't be seen well; this, ofcourse, will change when the model gets a paintjob.



Last thing - I removed the imperial eagles from sides of the vehicle and replaced them with glyphs. This was a very harsh process and I still have to fine the damaged area, a lot.

I decided to join Matt Kingsley's Ork Vehicle Building Competition on DakkaDakka with this vehicle. If you are scratchbuilding anything orkish right now, be sure to join it as well!

Anyways, this is it for now. My plan is to add more details to the vehicle, and "orkify" it a bit more. I'm sorry that the pictures are too dark - it's rainy here for like three days in row! When the weather gets better, I'll make better pictures - and pictures of the Scout Squad, too.

Well, thanks for watching! I'll be back, soon.

Bonebreaka WIP 1

Hello there!

Maybe you remember the post about my love of Final Liberation ork vehicles. After hours and hours (or months and months) of thinking, I have finally decided to build a kitbashed Bonebreaka, which will serve in my army as a Battlewagon proxy.



Bonebreaka is equipped with a Deathroller and a Battlecannon, a perfect setup for a Battlewagon!

I was deciding between Rhino and Chimera body for the wagon and in the end I went for the Chimera - guardist vehicles look easier convertable into Orks thanks to their industrial feel (and bolts everywhere). I also bought a battlewagon turret from a friend, and I was lucky enough to get a Killkannon too - no deathrolla though.

Joining the chassis and turret mount went rather good. I had to out large section of the original Chimera turret mount - battlewagon turret simply needs a larger hole. I also used only part of the Battlewagon turret platform here, because the whole platform would be too large for the vehicle. Hobby driller helped a lot here.





I also had to saw off one of the corners of the turret mount, which wasn't hard at all. The newly modified platform fits very well on the vehicle.



Here is the vehicle with turret on it. Notice the deffdread Big Shoota on the turret's side. I decided to keep the turret rather simple, so it wouldn't get too large in compare to the chimera body. Pipboy101's article about The Zen of Converting Orks was a great inspiration here.



I love that little valve on the turret. It looks almost as if it is connected to the Killkannon somehow!

Right now, I'm trying to scratchbuild the Deathrolla. Don't laugh, but I'm thinking about using a hair-roller for it. That's right, Orks can loot anything, your mom's wardrobe included!

Also, more posts are coming soon. I have Genesis Chapter Captain and Scouts finished - the only thing they need now is basing, which won't take long. So, see you soon!

Lootas finished!

Well, it took way too much time, but my first pack of lootas is finally finished! No wonder it took so long, those guys have plenty of detail and I tried my best at the paintjob... not to mention the rather annoying assembly.

Anyways, let's take a look at them!



I tried to experiment with the color scheme and make everyone of them a bit personal - see the first one with a lascannon? He wears blue because he believes it will bring him luck in the battle. And see that other energy weapon, owned by that grinning ork on the right? That blue glow on the weapon is my first try on "dynamic lightning" ever. And the mek with the grot... I just love that model, so much character in it already.





And here are the deffguns itselves. I love those little addons on them - like that small rocket.



...And the other side. Can anyone identify the weapons? I can see a lascannon, lasgun, and some stubbers (I guess). Any idea what is the second energy weapon (the one I painted glowing)?

Anyways, thanks for reading! As always, any commentary/criticism is most welcome, I could sure use some tips!

Ow and... I have a question for you, dear random reader: do you prefer links to the dakkadakka gallery (which has some cool functions such as a very effective zoom), or to plain images files? Let me know!

Bad Moons Trukk finished!

Hello there and sorry for the long abstain - I have plenty of work IRL right now, and I'm working on so many 40k projects at once lately!

Well, at least I have finished my first Ork Trukk. I plan to have 2-3 trukks in my army, one well-equipped for my nobz, the other lighter for choppa boyz. The one I have finished is the heavy equipped one; so, let's have a look at it!





I love the golden wrekkin' ball. The weapon of a choice for a wealthy Bad Moon.



The moon is made out of a Green Stuff. It looks a bit blobby and whacky; I confer, it is my first work with GS ever.







To make the Trukk a bit more comfy, I added a set of drums to the back, and a drummer as well!





The drummer is easily removable, thanks to the use of pinning (and some paper clip bits):



I have to say that even though it took me weeks to paint this one, I can't wait to paint another. The kit is very variable and I would like to try assembling it in a radically different way.

Well, now I'll go back to the Lootas... Have just one last to finish, so I should be able to post them pretty soon. In fact, I have a Genesis Chapter Tactical Squad ready as well, all it needs is the chapter logo... Give me some time and I'll try to print my own decals, I promise!

Anyways, thanks for reading! Any input is most welcome!

Warboss Burstahed finished!

The warboss and his retinue proudly proceeded through the battlefield - only to stumble upon a falling back squad of red space marines. The bloodthirsty greenskins quickly assaulted the tactical team with their choppas and power klaws, and the fight has begun.

One nob has turned back though - only to face the four meters high chimera of green muscles and cybork technology, Warboss Burstahed himself. The Warboss laughted maniacally and shot the foolish nob to leg with his kustom shoota; there can be no remorse for the weak.

The eyes of one the marines met with the disturbing gaze of the greenskin leader. The holy warrior aimed his bolt pistol right to the face of the beast - too late, for Warboss Burstahed has already launched his attack. He grabbed the marine around neck with his razor-sharp power klaw and slowly snipped his head off.

And more beakie heads shall fall this day, the boss thought.

Alright, sorry for the badly written fan-fiction above, I guess I'm in that poetical mood again. As indicated above, I finally have my Warboss painted! Kudos to my girlfriend, as she has done a large part of the paintjob. Anyways, to the pictures:



Note that his skin is pretty dark. I like my Orks darker - especially Nobs, and the Warboss should be even darker, right? I might add a bit more highlight later on, though.

You might have also noticed the ponytail. I think it adds a nice piratic touch to him, as a Bad Moon should have.



I love those holstered guns. They have a golden coat, pity it can't be seen well on the picture.



And here is the shoota. I have already tested the Warboss in a small game and I have to say the model rocks. Not only it is already modelled with a power klaw, but it also has a twin-linked shoota, cybork body and hard armour as well! That's a nice setup for a starter-box warboss. I might add an Attack squid laters, if I ever get one.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one! Next to come: Tactical Squad and/or Lootas.

Two weeks pause

Hello there!

I have a near-finished Rhino sitting here and a mob of Lootas as well, but they still need some detailing so it would be too soon to post them all. I'm going for a vacation this friday and I'll be there for two weeks, which means I'll remain silent for a while now. Sorry :(

Meanwhile, here's one of the Lootas:



See you in two weeks!

Ork Names Generator!

I'd like to present you a small HTML project I made few weeks ago - an orky names generator.

How to use it:

Simply visit the website www.ergotoxin.webs.com. An orky name will be generated on each visit. If you want a new name, simply refresh the thing!

The purpose of this project is to make it easy to come up with interesting fluffy names for your nobz, warbosses, kommandos or who-ever. You can either use the generated names themselves, or use it as a source of inspiration for your own original name.

Some funny names generated:
Speed Freek Nascarr
Arch-Arsonist Burstahed (I'll definately use this one for my Warboss:)
Natzblasta

There are thousands of names possible. If you will find a bug in the code, or would like to submit some new syllables or titles, just let me know!

Also, I'm thinking of starting up either a Space Marine or Eldar names generator. Hell, even a Tau name generator would be possible, but I might need some help for that. Just let me know if you would welcome any one of these!

Hope you will enjoy this. Don't forget to leave a comment if you like the idea (or any of the ideas I mentioned), or if you would like to share some particularly nice name generated!

Bad Moons Deffkopta

Alright, quick update on the Bad Moons!

I have recently finished my first Deffkopta. I was thinking hard on the paint scheme - most people do Bad Moons vehicles with yellow all over the model, which looks cool (especially if heavy washed), but I prefer my boyz with a more serious face. Therefore I decided to heavily use black (made by mixing Chaos Black and Tin Bitz), which makes nice contrast with the yellowish details.

I chose the Deffkopta with dags (the dog-tooth pattern), since yellow-black dags were always favoured by the clan. Pity the other two Deffkoptas are clones. I'll try to be more creative next time.

Anyways, on to the pics:



It's a pity the flash I use is rather unforgiving on the yellow, making it look a bit brighter than it is. It is actually washed with Gryphonne Sepia, on all the right places.





Thank you for your time - any comments are most appreciated!