A Return to Orks (Ork Kill Team Part 1)

As another part of my previously-mentioned (see: Blog Post - "I mean, what's a couple of years when you're playing the long game?") desire to get in a happier place with my hobby, I'm also trying to focus on projects that are a joy for me to work on rather than feeling like I'm constantly slogging through something that feels more like a job. A sort of organized way of following my muse rather than a disciplined "must paint whole army now fun be damned" approach; which, of course, is also an approach that will require more stringent discipline in other places (aka quit buying frigging armies all at once and creating huge backlogs that ultimately feel like work and cause me to lose the passion necessary to complete the project).

40k has never been the game at the center of my hobby universe. I've read quite a few novels for its fiction, have collected several of the rulebooks over the years, etc., etc., but it's never been my "thang" when it comes to rolling dice. Honestly I'm not sure I've played more than 5 games of it ever. It's a large commitment in a battle where I've already committed to quite a few other theaters (seriously, I have a problem) and I've just never taken the time to make it happen.

BUT! 

Kill Team, as a small skirmish version, is something I can totally commit to. It encourages fun, unique hobbying opportunities for your miniatures because there are so few of them, and the nature of the game allows each miniature to become more narratively-fulfilled while playing, which is super important to me. I'm a "cinematic moments" kind of player rather than a "strategy and winning" player, in a way that I'd rather create a ridiculous and memorable moment in a game than always just play to win.

So, after some consideration and some urging from friends I haven't see in far too long (namely Da Masta Cheef) I decided I would work on an Ork Kill Team. Building Orks has long been my favorite thing to do within the realms of GW's universes, and this seemed like the perfect excuse to finally getting around to working with the cool stuff I started with GorkaMorka a few years ago.

I sat down this past Friday night, intending fully to spend a solid 15 minutes cleaning up my desk and arranging some pieces in preparation of getting started. What felt like a short time later, as I looked dazedly down at my hilariously messy workspace filled by a Dakkajet and five completed Orks, I thought to myself, "Damn it's probably been a couple of hours by now, I need to get up for a minute." As I stood up, I nearly toppled over, my legs totally asleep. I'd been sitting at my table, in a silent little "office" (that's basically a glorified closet) for nearly 5 hours!

But hey, progress is progress. Let's check this shit out.

So first of all, the Dakkajet. Now you might be saying to yourself, "But WaaarghPug, you moron, there are no flyers in Kill Team!" and frankly, you'd be correct. I bought a Dakkajet years ago simply out of love for the kit, and have had it on my shelf ever since. (This is the original Dakkajet, mind you, that could only be the fighter plane or the bomber). However, in starting this endeavor, I wanted to make a vehicle because dammit it's, like, my favorite thing. Plus I needed to know what bits I could rob from the sprue for my KT!

*badass jet plane sound effects*

Yes, the wings ARE on backwards, you astute reader you! Back at Da Shop, da boyz thought it "looked kooler dis way" so they added jets to the middle and end of each wing! Suck it, physics!

First up for the Kill Team members, we've got my Kommando Boss, designated with the codename "Leg Day":

One of my only photos mid-build.

"Get wif it, boyz!" he screams in a fierce whisper.

You're damn right that's a Knight Titan's face as a shoulder guard.

Next up, we've got the as-yet-unnamed Burna Boy, rocking the monowheel:

This dude definitely loves his job. What a smile!

Good side shot of the wheel.

Power system for the wheel.  I like to imagine it having those big dumb blue batteries that go in Power Wheels riding toys for children, lol.

Third, there is the Demolitions specialist Kommando, Harambe:

I wanted a bomb squad suit kind of look, and this chopped up armor from an AT-43 miniature worked perfectly! 

I'm trying my best to make sure each team member has WYSIWYG equipment for their roles, but I feel like this guy would just bludgeon fools with his stikkbombs rather than use a choppa.

Odds are this dude blows himself up immediately.

Fourth, we have the Ork Loota named "Deddshott" wielding this friggin huge deffgun like it's nothing more than a slugga:

Deddshott was maybe the most challenging of the bunch, needing some extensive surgery to remove enough plastic for the gun to fit in his grip.

The goal was to have him holding the gun up close to his body and appear to be lining up his shot, his forward foot braced on the rocks.

Moar sights is moar betta!

And last, but certainly not least (although, well, kinda least), is Scrappy, my stand-in for a Loota Spanner.

Scrappy is a small lad, but with big dreams.

Using an old Ork motorcycle, some plane parts, an old metal banner from the GorkaMorka kits, and a gun from some spess mahreen robutt, he has constructed a device that puts him on the field with da big boyz.

My headcanon is that it sounds like a very loud RC car.

The Kill Team so far:

Back left is a regular Kommando, using a model from Scibor, and bottom right is a re-based Kommando I made for Mantic's Deadzone game. 

Part 2 should see the completion of the team, and hopefully I'll even start painting them!

Can't See the Forest for the Trees (Part 1)

It's been something of a joke for a while now that desert settings for my table is just my "thang." Whether it's an arid, alien world or simply a trash-filled wasteland, it's just what I've always gravitated towards in my terrain building and my paint schemes.

Deciding that I needed to branch out a bit (and because I didn't want all of my fantasy terrain to be in the desert, too) I tried to break it down into the most crucial elements for each/any setting.

For example, in a desert, I would say that big rocky crags, like you would find on a canyon wall, are the most striking and obvious element to use for non-specific terrain.

So, I began work on two tables:

 - A "green" table, with trees and plant-life
 - A "cyberpunk" table, devoid of typical landscapes tropes in favor of concrete/rust with neon accents

This is the first post in a series about working on the primary element of the "green" table: Some big, badass trees.

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For starters, I went out on Pinterest (which is a fantastic resource for examples) and began a search for cool looking trees on tables. The problem, as I saw it, was that trees in miniature gaming terrain are either too small/dinky, they're unsightly plastic looking things, or they're awesome fixtures of a permanent table. I need something that hits a comfortable middle ground; trees that are big enough to feel important and substantial, and still have a good model-train-feel to them, but that I can move around and set up differently on a gaming surface.

And as luck would have it, I came across this promising tutorial:  https://www.beastsofwar.com/terrain/terrainscaping-awesome-tabletop-trees/

The example picture I originally found on Pinterest

There would be a few changes here and there, but overall I really liked how durable this would be and yet still create a substantial table presence.  A quick trip to Home Depot and HobbyTownUSA later, and it was off to the races.

(I'm not going to re-list everything from the article out here except where there are notable exceptions)

 Having never used spray glue myself, let me first say that I've discovered cheaper = better in this instance. I started out with this expensive, super adhesive blah blah blah... but it sprays very thick and clumpy, and is not ideal for this purpose. I went back and picked up the cheapest can of aerosol adhesive and have been much happier with it!

No! No gloopy jazzm sprayer! No!

 I also decided to pick up some Woodland Scenic armatures along with the flocking material, so I could make some smaller trees with less foliage for variety. (I did get the biggest armatures I could find, though)

These things are sharp on the edges of the plastic when you bend them up! Death by a thousand cuts...

And then, the best discovery of all for regular use of these materials:

So gud.

Seriously, this wood filler is really thick and easy to work with straight from the carton, and it dries very hard even before applying a coat of watered-down-wood-glue to everything. This should be in every terrain builder's inventory.

So here are some progress shots of the first steps, which was mainly just attaching the dowels/armatures to the washers (though I used hot glue rather than the foam padding in the article) and then building up the trunks. I'll save the rest for next time.

Gon' be a big treeeeee...

Don't forget the wood glue over all of the built up trunk when it's finally dry a couple days later!

The next step will involve spraying everything brown, getting the trunks painted up, and then adding some foliage!