I've been taken by the idea of doing a number of small allied forces to supplement my Guard regiment, and thought a small force of Ork mercenaries could be amusing. The last several times I've done Orks they've ended up being Bad Moons, so I wanted to go in a different direction this time - mercenary Orks are traditionally Blood Axes who commonly ape the more regimented guard in their dress and mannerisms, and I've long had my eye on the rather excellent alternate pseudo-germanic/WWI orc range from Kromlech. Thus begins the saga of Da Deff Korps uv Krieg!
While the various packages are winging their way to me, I figured I'd document the process from beginning to end. First up was the army list - as an allied force I decided that I'd restrict myself solely to the limitations of the Allies FOC. That meant 1 HQ, 2 Troops, and 1 each of Elites, Fast Attack and Heavy Support. ...And that's it. Small, and simple. There's no way this will become an 8000 point debacle of an army. Hey, why are you laughing? Heh.
The HQ choice was simple. Gotta have a Warboss! I love the character in this sculpt, though I'll likely swap out his shotgun with something a bit more suitably imposing as befitting a big boss!
Two Troops choices to fill, but I wanted to keep things simple (and didn't relish painting a huge tidal wave of green), so a pair of Trukkboyz mobs would fit the bill nicely. Kromlech sells a nice 10-man squad, so I picked up a pair of them. I'll likely buy a few extra torsos and whatnot to round the squads off to 12 at some point in the future.
To cart the two squads around I'm intending on picking up a couple of these from Forge World, as they have a nice pseudo-Germanic vibe to 'em.
For the Elites choice, it's hard to go wrong with a unit of Meganobz, and the Kromlech equivalents are absolutely beautiful! I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on these. They'll be getting a relatively basic battlewagon to cart them around, using one I happen to have found lurking in the CoD.
For a fast attack choice, I was torn between going with a unit of Stormboyz (who are generally blood axes) or adding a flyer of some sort, and after the fun I had building and painting the previous Dakkajet I settled on doing a Blitza-bommer this time around. The intent is to build it in such a way as to be reminiscent of a Junkers CL.I, which is thematically appropriate I think!
Heavy Support will be a unit of 3 Big Gunz. Now there are certainly more powerful unit choices in the codex but I really think they suit the theme I'm going for, and for 70 points or so for the three of 'em, they're dirt cheap! Besides, I LOVE these gretchin artillery crew figs, they're simply hysterical. I'm still scheming on colors for the army - I plan on them being relatively subdued color-wise much like their guard namesake, but I'm torn between german greys or leathery browns for their stormcoats. We'll see how the mood takes me when I have the models in hand, I suppose!
Gearing up for the Heresy Weekender in Memphis this coming weekend, it's going to be a blast - expect tons of pics to follow!
Kromlech stuff kicks so much ass, especially the Ork stuff. Love the idea and I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
ReplyDeleteGW has so badly missed the mark with their current version of orks. Yeah they look all mean and stuff, but they ALL LOOK THE SAME!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the distinctly different orks of the 90's? Bad Moons with their flashy gear, Evil Sunz zoomin' about on bikes and buggies, Snake Bites trying to fight Space Marines with stone axes..... Fun times. Better times.
Thank Gork n Mork for companies like Kromlech. I'm not an ork player, but were I to start a collection, they'd be my first port of call to fill out my units, and their (not)Blood Axe figs are my favs of the lot.
You going camo or what? This is a really cool and fun project. Bravo.
Didn't you just finish up Iron Hands? You're shaming me!
ReplyDeleteI like the theme behind it and I think this will be a very fun one to watch come together.
ReplyDeleteHell yeah! I am really looking forward to seeing this project develop!
ReplyDeleteOh, and let me just take the opportunity and plug Brian's excellent tutorial for painting Orc skin yet again:
http://agentlemansones.blogspot.de/2012/08/recipe-ork-skin.html
This approach will make painting greenskin ...skin fun. Trust me!
Looking forward to seeing this too; Kromlech has really done a nice job with their ork models, and it'll be good to see them painted up.
ReplyDelete@Jugger: Totally! I've been looking for a good excuse to try some of his kits!
ReplyDelete@Dai: I couldn't agree more! I love all the bits and whatnot the current ork kits provide, but they are a little on the generic side - there's only so much one can do with a paint scheme. Still sorting out the plan for the color schemes, I'm thinking dark brown leathers for the stormcoats, but German grey on the vehicles, and likely some form of camouflage as the Blood Axes really go in for that sort of thing!
@ScottShoemaker: Heheh, to be fair the Iron Hands painted up absurdly quickly and painting to a deadline really kept me in high gear. I'm planning on dawdling for a while now. :)
@Zab: Indeed! I wanted them to be something beyond "some more orks", and the Kromlech kits just ooze personality (or is that squashed snotling?). :)
@KrautScientist: Very cool! I hadn't thought to start with a brown basecoat to the skin, it really warms up the color. Definitely going to be trying that out! Thanks!
@#2501: Cheers, man! I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in on the project. [Cue the faux-cockney chortling.] :)
Sounds awesome, look forward to the project developing!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant !
ReplyDeleteFrom the psuedo German Kromlech Orcs to the DKK like choice of Hvy Support. Quite charming and I hope you have fun with it.
My one suggestion would be for the plane to be "Da Wed Bawon", but hey, it's your party, I can see your choice blending in thematically, but thought it worth chucking in here.
@SonsOfTaurus: Should be a fun little project!
ReplyDelete@Zzzzzz: Indeed! Can't wait. I like the idea of the fighter ace, used "the red barun" name in my last army. I wonder if there's a famous Junkers pilot whose name I can Orkify... Off to do some research!
If I had the money I would get a lot of their stuff for my orks, sadly that is not the case...
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing them though!