One week into our 2021 Hobbying Sprint, I'm still on track to have 750 points of Orks converted & painted for a mini-tournament in May.
Here's a recap of the 11 models I set out to build, paint, and base by the end of January:
In order to stay on track, I hoped to spend the first week building the models & bases, the second week painting the bases, and weeks 3-4 painting the models. On that note: I'm happy to say that I finished building everything for January today!
I first started by sketching out some tentative ideas for each model to get my plans onto paper:
I've already posted updates on the Warboss, his first two Nob bodyguards, and the Killa Kan elsewhere, so in this post I'll focus on the rest of the January wave of Orks that haven't been described in earlier posts.
Before that, though, here's a picture of everything drying on my hobbying table:
Time to paint them up!
The mob getting the most attention in January was my Slugga Boyz. The Boss Nob, a Boy with Tankbusta Bombz, and a regular Choppa/Slugga Boy were all on the docket for this month.
This unit will be a lightly armored, rag-tag mob of melee enthusiasts. I'm going for a theme of chainsaws/chain-axes throughout the mob and want their poses to be dynamic, as if they're rushing into combat.
The Slugga Boyz mob will be themed around an industrial chemical plant, so their bases will feature metal pipes, grates, and platforms with some running water.
Here are some of the W.I.P. pictures I snapped while putting these Boyz together:
I wanted the Boss Nob to embody the themes of the mob as a whole: fearsome, reckless, and jumping into melee. To accomplish this, I attempted a bit of a tricky conversion. I fused a Nob torso to Stormboyz legs to give the Nob the appearance of literally leaping towards the enemy. I capped off the conversion with a massive double-edged chainsword pole-axe as a Big Choppa and a bull skull Bosspole to drive home his feral vibe. Finally, in order to field him with both a Big Choppa & Choppa (for that +1A from the Choppa, of course! What self-respecting Nob needs ranged weapons, anyway?), I added one of Kromlech's resin Ork Chain Axes to his belt and modeled a leather loop out of green stuff to hold it in place.
The regular Slugga Boy also used a couple Kromlech resin bits, including a chain-axe and one of their running Ork bodies. He is going to be slightly angled on his base in order to give the appearance of swinging his Choppa down at an enemy.
I went all-out on the Boy with Tankbusta Bombz, loading him up with all of the Stikkbombz and other explosives I could get my hands on. These pictures don't do justice to his pose, which will be stepping onto an oil drum buried in rubble while throwing a Tankbusta Bomb.
The Slugga Boyz weren't the only Troops mob getting attention this month. I was also adding two generic Shoota Boyz to the core of my army... but the term "generic" only goes so far on a website dedicated to converting every single model!
In direct contrast to the Slugga Boyz, the Shoota Boyz will be heavily armored and holding static firing positions in a ruined electrical powerplant. I wanted every model to have a red helmet, at least one shoulderplate, and some additional ammo or bullets somewhere on their model. Their bases are going to feature ruined building elements with large power cables, metal crates, and other rubble.
Here are some W.I.P. photos:
These Boyz sourced their bitz across various 40k Ork plastic kits and some Kromlech resin components (like their kneeling Ork legs or their awesome "bullet spitter" shootas). As a fun aside, the helmeted head on the kneeling Boy came from the charioteer from the old Warhammer Fantasy Orcs & Goblins Boar Chariot.
Given the emphasis on multiple small unit (MSU) lists and smaller table sizes in 40k's 9th edition, I've known for a while I wanted to convert a Kommandoz mob to infiltrate behind enemy lines and harass their ranged threats.
Converting these Kommandoz from scratch presented a great opportunity to assemble a unique & thematic unit that might look great on the tabletop.
I wanted these Kommandoz to look like they were emerging from a city canal and stepping carefully into the ruined outskirts of a city block. This meant I was going to be modeling some Orks as if they were partially submerged in water, which was something I had never tried before!
As for the actual models, I wanted to use strictly bladed (non-mechanical) choppas like knives, swords, etc., as they would be quieter and preferred for stealth. I also wanted to add some stereotypically "sneaky" Kommando components, like backpacks, stikkbombz, gun silencers, and heads with goggles.
Here's how the first two turned out:
