HARD ROCK HALLELUJAH - Jon's Space Ork Wrap-Up

Well: we made it.

Fun fact: there is absolutely nowhere to set up the classic "behind the army" mugshot in my house without moving furniture.
I love you people, but not that much.

My mission, should I have chosen to accept it (and I did) was yes, to produce a 1000 point army for second edition Warhammer 40,000, but on a personal level it was "finally paint up that Land Raider I'd had on the shelves since 2015", "beat the standard established by the Orks' previous owner" and "perchance give a damn about painting again."

The Army List

I deliberately haven't taken any Wargear cards (no points inflation on my watch) and only the one vehicle upgrade (because it's represented on the model). I did at one point want to do one of those old-fashioned army collecting writeups, but I don't actually have any of the fun stuff like Oddboyz that makes them interesting, so... here it is.

Characters

Bad Moon Warboss with power fist, plasma pistol and 'eavy armour: 86 points

Blood Axe Nob with bolter and 'eavy armour: 21 points

Blood Axe Nob with bolter and 'eavy armour: 21 points

Goff Nob with power fist and 'eavy armour: 30 points
Goff Nob with power fist and 'eavy armour: 30 points

Mobs

Bad Moon Nobz Mob: 5 Nobz with 'eavy armour and power axes; 2 also have plasma guns: 157 points

Bad Moon Boyz Mob: 10 Boyz with bolters; 2 also have heavy plasma guns: 182

Bad Moon Boyz Mob: 6 Boyz with bolters; 2 also have heavy plasma guns: 130

Bad Moon Boyz Mob: 6 Boyz with bolters; 2 also have heavy plasma guns: 130 points

Blood Axe Boyz Mob: 5 Boyz with bolters; 1 also has heavy stubber: 72 points

Blood Axe Boyz Mob: 5 Boyz with bolters; 1 also has heavy stubber: 72 points

Goff Boyz Mob: 4 Skarboyz with power swords; 5 Boyz with chainswords: 146 points

Support

Looted Land Raider: Heavy Flamer: 230 points

Grand Total: 1307 points

How would it play on the table? Goodness alone knows, but the absence of the usual forty or more Gretchin to act as skirmish screen, Dreadnoughts, Wartraks or Ghazghkull (all staples of my original second edition army) lead me to believe "not very." I do (somewhere) have most of a Shokk Attack Team that's not painted up, and if the army was ever to see an actual battlefield I suspect that would eat the majority of the remaining points. Because I need more heavy weapons, obviously.

Now let's talk about the personal objectives.

Paint That Land Raider

Yep. That's done. I'm also rather pleased with it, considering it's the first tank I've painted in close to a decade (and the last ones were weird Necron skimmers, do they even count?). Its original owner has seen it and given it the traditional metal-horns salute of confidence too, so I think he's satisfied. I would actually like to paint more tanks in future, given how much fun I had with this one.

Beat The Teenager

 

I think I managed that! These are at the very least grade two paint jobs, saved by the liberal application of vintage Citadel ink. I think those were the biggest surprises in terms of paint: I'd forgotten just how dense and glossy they were, and how they might need to be thinned and guided instead of just slopped on like the Liquid Talent from the current range.

Give A Damn About Painting Again

I learned a lot from the last six months. For all that I haven't gotten on with either the models or the style in which I chose to paint them, I have at least figured out what it was about them I didn't like. I know more about my painting style now; this bold stark heavy red period stuff with bright colours all over doesn't do it for me, I need some nice drabs on the body of a figure so the bases, faces and blades really get to stand out.

 

Beyond that, I've also been working on my Wood Elf army in parallel to OWAC, and it was touch and go as to whether either project would be ready on time (at time of writing I still have twenty Wood Elf spearmen who aren't even primed yet). Given that I'm not an enthusiastic painter I really need to get my head down and bully through one job at a time.

And finally, there's the small matter of variety. The Orks have been very samey in terms of the kind of model I've painted, the Wood Elves have been very samey in terms of what colours I've painted them, and I think one or the other needs a bit of a jiggling up.

Would I do it all again next year?

You know what? I would. I really would. But I'd have to change up the project a little bit, to suit those lessons learned above.

• For style, I need models that are mostly drab, so I can focus my limited enthusiasm on the important eye catching bits and let the rest slide.
• For focus, I need a project I'm going to be playing games with in the summer, rather than doing weird side projects that detract from my grand purposes as a hobbyist.
• For variety, I need an army with more than one troop type in it, so I can shake myself up and keep myself going.
  

Fortunately, the very bottom drawer of my hobby cabinet has these evil little sods in it. 

That's about 1500 points of Macrocosm Miniatures Chaos Dwarfs, plus Hobgoblin bowmen by Heresy Miniatures. And I have an idea of how to paint them, too... somewhere in that same cabinet are half a dozen Liquitex inks I bought around the same time I did the Orks, and I have an almost Stillmanic desire to see how such super-strong inks behave over next to nothing in the department of primer.

If I end up wanting yet another new WFB army for next year's summer events, and if the mighty Overlord will have me back of course, then this is what I'll be bringing. In any case, bravo to everyone else who's made it. It's been a pleasure. Yes, really. Really. Except those rubbish Bad Moons I did in the second month. Rackum frackum this is what happens when you use paints named after Space Marine Chapters...