Constructing an Orky Settlement

Inspiration!

Back in the early '90s, I pored over these sorts of images for ages in White Dwarf magazine, imagining how these battles played out. I loved seeing the wacky, colourful Orks facing off against the puny humans or poncy Eldar, particularly when they were defending their ramshackle townships (probably erected in the ruins of whatever Imperial settlement the Orks had recently razed to the ground). Although it's easy to always see Orks as the perennial invaders, I loved the idea of recreating an Ork settlement and thinking about what that would look like. These blocky, sand coloured buildings always stood out for me and, though junk buildings made out of scrap have become a bit more the norm, I really wanted to have some of these for myself. 

Objectives

I had a few objectives in mind for making these buildings:

• Make them quick and easy to build using polystyrene I already had knocking about
• Replicate that old '90s look
• Be simple buildings to block line of sight and provide good gun emplacements, so good for gaming
• Provide an opportunity for my young daughter (she was 2 at the time) to paint them with me 

So nothing too fancy, cheap and cheerful and fun for gaming. I don't think there's anything overly complicated about constructing them, but I thought I would do a sort of step-by-step in case anyone needed inspiration. They certainly made a good project to do with a toddler, succeeding in entertaining the toddler and giving me something I could use in my games of 40k! 

Construction

I had a bunch of blocky polystyrene in the shed to use up. I cut it with a mixture of a big sharp knife (one I actually forged myself!) and a hot wire cutter. The hot wire cutter is an antique relic from the old days of Games Workshop that I still had in my toolbox! I found that the knife was generally better for getting flat surfaces on the big blocks, but the hot wire cutter is good for smaller bits. 

I roughly planned out three buildings of different sizes and shapes (Ork architects don't conform, of course!). I used PVA for sticking the blocks together, with cocktail sticks stabbed in for additional support and holding the pieces together. These worked very well - you could almost get away without the glue. Obviously I kept the toddler away for this stage! 

For this first bunch of buildings, I just wanted them to have a stone parapet round the outside. I had some thinner polystyrene sheets as well, so I used those to encase the larger blocks to make solid walls from ground up to the parapet. I used the Ork models to make sure they were about the right height for providing cover but letting the boyz shoot over the top. Nothing too precise, again, but fairly uniform.   

 

Painting

I used super cheap poster paints to do these. I mixed up tubs of paint, PVA, sand and water to get a consistency I liked, then used that straight onto the polystyrene. The sand gave it a good texture, the PVA stuck it all together and helped fill in any gaps in the polystyrene blocks. The mixture also made the outside tougher, good for gaming. They dried out in the sun and I was really pleased with the results - looked just like what I was after. The little squig had a good go at painting them as well, she enjoyed herself. 

After they had dried, I stuck on some doors, trapdoors and ladders that I made out of lollipop sticks and painted brown. Then I painted grey on the bases to match my gaming mats and did some simple black and white patterns. A lot of the inspiration pictures have more colours on them than this, but my main klan is Goffs so I kept it simple - just pushing the boat out by doing one of them with dags instead of checks! Again, being that it would have been Orks painting it, I didn't measure or draw guidelines, just got the poster paint out and slapped it on! 

Second Generation

I had a couple more polystyrene blocks that were a bit more dense and just the right size for some Orks to stand on, so I made a couple more buildings! This time, I wanted to try using some scraps of wood for palisades round the roof, so I chopped up some lollipop sticks and made some rough walls. These were all glued together using PVA and left to dry before painting them brown and then attaching to the painted buildings. I used PVA again, as well as securing them into the polystyrene with small nails - if these showed on the outside then they would look like whacking great Ork nails anyway! It definitely helps to think a bit like an Ork when doing things like this, and not getting too bogged down in details. The PVA was still drying when I took the photos, I'll have to take some more when I finish doing the bases of these ones, but as they stand I reckon job's a good 'un! 

Final Thoughts

These buildings will easily fill enough of a decent table (along with some suitable scatter terrain) to provide plenty of cover and an interesting battlefield to fight over. They were super cheap to make and good fun with a little helper. I might come back to do a little more details in the future - maybe some more colourful patterns, possibly some graffiti, maybe a bit of a wash on the bases and woodwork. But I'll see, part of me is really happy with them as they are, super simple and effective. They don't need to be overcomplicated. Besides, the boyz wouldn't be bothered about that sort of thing! 

Badtusks on Tour!

Warhammer 40,000 Ork Crusade

We’ve started a Crusade campaign at the club (well, it’s sort of started, been a bit slow kicking off properly but there have been a few games now). I had been debating about using Imperial Knights or Orks for the Crusade. I did play one game with the Knights, but starting with low PL limits meant I could only fit 2 Questoris Knights in my list, so it was no good for securing objectives… I figured I could get away with ignoring objectives and killing the enemy, but it was against Tyranids and their ridiculously overpowered rules that meant they were basically unkillable, so that was it for that game!

So I stuck with the good old Greenskins. Which was just as well as we’re basing the Crusade on the Octarius campaign, centred on the Ork-held world of Badsquig, so it feels right to be using my Orks. I decided to base my force on Beast Snaggas, hopefully getting some time to get the new models painted up.

Road to Apocalypse: 10. Where Next?

Road to Apocalypse: 10. Where Next?

13 February 2022

👈 Part 9: The Final Battle

Da Boss lookin' fer da next skrap

So this was it, the final battle. It had all been leading up to this for the last few months - all the painting and practice battles. The Modelling Exhibition at Midhurst, the final showdown between the forces of the Imperium and the WAAAAAAGH! that had been steadily growing. Of course, the Orks won in the end - they always do! And if they don't then they can always come back for annuver go, so it doesn't count... or, if they're dead then they're dead, so that doesn't count neither. But this time they did win and soon there'll be a tide of Greenskins invading planet after planet - good job boyz! 

The question is, what's next? I've got a tonne of old Orks that need painting up. This sort of game is a great way to get enthusiasm and inspiration to get things painted up, and playing that massive game with fully painted armies looked fantastic. So, I definitely want to keep some momentum going and paint the rest of my Orks (though there are a few other games taking my eye at the moment as well...). In addition to that, I would definitely like to play more Apocalypse games, and I have some plans for some more large vehicles to add. The Big Meks will be busy on Midhurstian Prime for a while building these engines of destruction!

I got this Micro Machines fire and rescue plane, which I think is going to look great as a large Bommer (just look at it compared to my Dakkajet!). There's no rules for a massive bomber, but I'm sure something could be worked up. Perhaps modify a Marauder bomber's stats... Anyway, it should be cool. 

I've seen a couple of great conversions using different AT-AT models. My vision for this one will be to make a mechanical Gargantuan Squiggoth. The only problem with that is using it in regular 40K, because they seem to have nerfed the big Squig and taken away most of its guns... in that case it could possibly be another Stompa. The nice thing about Orks is just building things and making them work as SOMETHING!  

Talking of Stompas, I've wanted to scratch-build another one for ages. This one is going to be a Kustom Stompa (or Mekboy Stompa) with a Lifta-Droppa arm and a big Belly Gun. I'm going to model it largely after the old Great Gargants in Epic, but it won't be much taller than the 'normal' Stompa.   

Finally, there's something I've been keen on doing for a long time. Tom managed to get his Battle Fortress assembled from a Baneblade for the Midhurst battle, and it looked great. It didn't perform particularly well, though it did soak up a lot of firepower. Perhaps it needs to be used more like the Stompas, grinding forwards with a load of Orks inside? Because it has so many guns, the temptation is to sit it on Aimed Fire orders all game, but as with most Ork shooting it can often be lacklustre. But, with a decent transport capacity, that might be the way forwards... Anyway, I'll be using bits from this kit on the other conversions, and turning this into something that hopefully looks good.   

I definitely need a bit of a break from Apocalypse and some time playing something else. But I'm looking forward to playing it again. There are many aspects I like, and I think it will be a good way to play smaller games too - just to get models on the table and keep things simple (playing with some other friends like Robert, who has a lot of Space Marine tanks that will be perfect for this sort of game). It will be worth trying out One Page Rules as well, that is getting a lot of traction at the club right now. They have a regular 40K game as well as an Apocalypse-equivalent. 

A good goal would be to try and get more of my boyz painted up, some of these conversions, then play a big game with me controlling all the detachments! Maybe taking on Dave's pointy-eared Eldar some time down the line... that would be interesting! 

FIN  

Road to Apocalypse: 8. Goff Aggression

Road to Apocalypse: 8. Goff Aggression

12 February 2022

👈 Part 7: Job's a Good 'Un

👉Part 9: The Final Battle

Brother Lytharus groaned in pain as he looked towards the horizon. Belching black smoke told him that the Orks were in pursuit. The rest of his Deathwatch Kill Team had been eliminated by the foul Greenskins, and now it was down to him to try and relay what he had found out to his superiors in the Ordo Xenos. Unfortunately, something about the strange technology the Orks were using was causing trouble with his long-range vox transmitter, so he had been unable to send the data packet off-world. He just hoped that his distress beacon could still be located - not for his own benefit, but to accomplish his mission. He had seen the gathering Ork forces, and this was no ordinary invasion. More than one of their degenerate 'Klans' were present on the planet, a sure sign that a particularly dangerous Warboss was leading the Orks - it was the only way that the animosity between them could be kept in check. Yes, this was the beginnings of a true WAAAAGH!, and there could be dire consequences for this whole sub-sector if it wasn't dealt with quickly enough. 

The Deathwatch Marine coughed up blood into his helmet. He could go no further. As he slipped in and out of consciousness, he said a prayer to the Emperor to ask for forgiveness for failing in his mission. Greenskins were coming to finish the job, and he had not the strength to resist... but, what was that? The unmistakable trails of drop pods in the sky. Could it be? Yes, the blessed Emperor had answered his prayers - his brother Astartes had located him! Lytharus tried to stand but could not. He would have to wait right here and hope that his rescuers got to him before the Orks did... 

Road to Apocalypse: 6. Reflections of a Warboss

Road to Apocalypse: 6. Reflections of a Warboss

👈 Part 5: The Meat Grinder

👉Part 7: Job's a Good 'Un

I'm FINKING!!!!!!

That Meat Grinder mission felt brutal.... our Council of Warbosses discussed it afterward, and we all felt like the battle was going pretty well. The Orks were largely in control of the objectives, we'd killed off a fair number of the enemy. We probably weren't going to win after our Super Heavies exploded and took out most of the Deffskullz, but for the score to end up as 8-4 didn't really seem to reflect how we felt the battle had gone. It felt like a draw or a narrow loss, rather than the Marines getting double our score! So what went wrong?

I think that Orks have a really tough match-up against Space Marines in Apocalypse. The Marine shooting is so effective compared to ours - everything on base 3+ to hit, easily boosted to 2+ on Aimed Fire orders (which is possible from Turn 1 because everything is starting within 24"). And on top of that they have plenty of characters buffing them with re-rolling 1's or re-rolling misses. They can start pouring highly effective fire onto our troops straight away, whereas we have to be quite kunnin' to pull off a first turn charge - either through lucky Stompa deployment or picking Da Jump psychic power. All the time they are pouring accurate firepower onto the Orks, they have a chance of putting a few blast markers on here and there, even with low strength weapons. 

Then that leads to the next Ork problem - morale. All it takes is one or two blast markers on a unit in the first turn, and the Orks are likely to fail their leadership test and take additional damage from morale. Conversely, I don't remember the Marines failing a single morale check in all the Apocalypse games we've been playing. Yeah, that's good and fluffy as they are the Emperor's Chosen and all that, but it does seem pretty tough on the Orks to have no way to avoid your units just bleeding away. 

Of course, we have the numbers. Who cares if that unit of weedy Grots runs away, we've always got more of them, and here comes some Meganobz too! That's great, it's the Ork way - life is cheap, there's always more, why send one Dredd when three would do. We can choke the objectives with bodies and still give the enemy a good kicking when they get close enough. But that doesn't work in Meat Grinder. Because it is counted in 'number of units destroyed', it is easy for the Marines to kill off some chaff units that don't matter, but end up killing more units in the turn so getting the points for that. And, in this mission, they get 2 VP per turn for doing that. It's quite brutal when controlling the objectives only gives 1 VP. 

In this particular game, 1 VP is also awarded per Super Heavy that is destroyed. To my surprise, Gorkanauts and Morkanauts are 'Super Heavy'... some other units that are just as big don't seem to have the same keyword. Likewise, the Impulsor Primaris Tank doesn't have the Super Heavy keyword, but the firepower it can dish out is obscene, and definitely comparable to some Super Heavy vehicles. It wouldn't matter, but because of the VPs awarded for destroying Super Heavies, the Space Marines have an opportunity to get a few more points by focusing their fire on our walkers - and the Gorkanaut isn't particularly survivable (and also suffers from the morale issues mentioned above). It almost feels like including the Super Heavies in this sort of mission is giving the Marines more targets to get VPs from... but what is Apocalypse without huge vehicles? 

Funnily enough, in the previous mission against Tris (4. Junkyard Brawl), my use of big walkers really worked well for me. He struggled to deal with them. Perhaps he would have done better to focus some of his small arms fire on the smaller walkers, as just a few blast markers on a Deff Dredd can take it out. But that game did feel a bit like he had brought a knife to a gun fight, particularly once the Stompa had chopped up his Hellhammer. I think he felt that game was pretty unbalanced and an uphill struggle for him due to our list choices. I guess it has felt a bit the other way in the larger games we've played so far, where the Orks are always on the back foot and struggling to deal with the Marines. Perhaps in the smaller game, it accentuated the Rock, Paper, Scissors aspect because we both had smaller forces. If Tris used the force he had against an infantry-heavy Ork army, he would have come out on top quite easily. Alternatively, if he had a vehicle-heavy Marine force that was dedicated to killing armour, he could have wiped out my Dredd Mob. In the bigger games, we've had a much wider selection, and the shooting ability of the Marines has really come to the fore. 

In the Meat Grinder, things were much more even apart from when it came to the score. It struck me that there should be a better reward for holding the objectives - perhaps boosting the score for holding most objectives to 2 VP a turn would redress the balance and make it more worthwhile to chase board control? If that had been the case in this game then the Marines still would have won, but only just! 

The other weird thing with objectives in this game was the fact there were only 4, and the Defender gained the points in the case of a tie. That makes no sense to me. The Defender is the force with the lower PL total, which could just be 1 or 2 PL - not enough to make any difference to the force balance, but gives a big advantage when working out victory points. Having a fifth objective to allow a proper majority would be good. I also think that it would be better to have some fixed locations for objectives, rather than placing them wherever you want. I think it's supposed to encourage moving into the centre of the table and having a proper fight, but the Marines were able to just sit tight on their objectives in their deployment zone and let us get to them - I mean, yeah of course we wanted to get to them for some proper fighting, but in terms of game balance it makes things feel like an uphill struggle to advance into the teeth of all that shooting to try and steal the objectives. 

I know that Apocalypse is based on the old Epic 40K ruleset. I wonder if it would work better at that smaller scale because there would be more movement involved, rather than just sitting and putting Aimed Fire orders on detachments from Turn 1 (which is a bit boring!). But I do love the opportunity to get some big models on the table! There are many things in the Apocalypse ruleset that I like (alternative detachment activation, the blast marker mechanics so everything gets to activate, the streamlined rules compared to normal 40K), but there are some things that I think could be tweaked to make it feel a bit more fair. It's all just about fun, moving big models around and chucking dice, but it is better when it feels that both sides have the opportunity to win with a bit of luck and kunnin'. I'll definitely be looking to play more Apocalypse in the future, possibly giving the One Page Rules version a shot at some point. The even more simplified rules might make it more possible to finish a game - the most we've managed so far is 3 turns. I do wonder if the Meat Grinder mission might have ended differently if we had finished all 5 turns... if we could have kept our stranglehold on the objectives, returned a detachment or two to the table (bringing back Ghazghkull and the Stompa!), perhaps we would have been able to get the win. The length of time to play these games is pretty prohibitive, it would be brilliant to play somewhere where it could be set up all weekend to come back to the following day. We're doing better now we're more familiar with the rules, but it is still quite a long process to get through the Damage and Morale phases and get any more than three turns out of the game. 

It really has been good to get locked into one game for a while and focus on it so much, learning how it works and being inspired to get more things painted up that have been sitting in boxes for a long time. I think the final battle at Midhurst should be quite a spectacle! 

👉Part 7: Job's a Good 'Un 

Road to Apocalypse: 9. The Final Battle

Road to Apocalypse: 9. The Final Battle

13 February 2022

👈 Part 8: Goff Aggression

👉Part 10: Where Next?

We's gonna stomp you!!

So this was it, the final battle. It had all been leading up to this for the last few months - all the painting and practice battles. The Modelling Exhibition at Midhurst, the final showdown between the forces of the Imperium and the WAAAAAAGH! that had been steadily growing.  

+++++ INCOMING TRANSMISSION +++++
+++++ PRIORITY: ALPHA +++++

+++++ CLEARANCE LEVEL: VERMILLION +++++

+++++ STRATEGIC VALUE: ABSOLUTE +++++

+++++ THREAT IDENTIFICATION: XENOS | ORKOID +++++ 

+++++ PRIORITY DISPATCH REQUIRED TO MIDHURSTIAN PRIME +++++

+++++ ORK WAAAAAAGH! DEVELOPING ON MANUFACTORUM WORLD +++++

+++++ MUNITIONS PRODUCTION OUTPUT CEASED +++++

+++++ SUB-SECTOR SECURITY THREATENED WITHIN 5 STANDARD DAYS +++++

+++++ ADEPTUS ASTARTES SURGICAL STRIKE REQUIRED +++++

+++++ ADVISEMENT: SIGNIFICANT ARMOURED VECHICLE PRESENCE +++++

### CUT OFF THE HEAD AND THE BODY WILL DIE ###

Road to Apocalypse: 7. Job's a Good 'Un.

Road to Apocalypse: 7. Job's a Good 'Un

👈 Part 6: Reflections of a Warboss

👉Part 8: Goff Aggression

After a few games of Apocalypse to hone the list a bit, I was feeling pretty good about where to focus my painting efforts. Yes, it would be great to get more of my dozens of boyz painted up, but it was all about clanking vehicles - Dredds, Dredds and more Dredds! I also knew I had to get Ghazghkull painted up, and the Mek Gunz had proven invaluable for their accurate (for Orks) shooting. Plus, I knew the Imperial list in the final battle was likely to be very flier-heavy, and there aren't many anti-air options available to the Orks. 

These are all just some quick snaps with the phone as I was finishing off these models. I'm going to get them in front of a proper camera with lights and things when I get a chance, and I think I might even do some step-by-step WIP posts on at least some of them - I have a load of pictures of the models during assembly and painting, so when I get a chance I'll do something with that. For now, here are the things I was getting prepared for the final couple of battles! 

The Final Army List

+++ Waaaagh! Da Goffs (Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse) [150 PL] +++

++ Supreme Command Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +

Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, Prophet of Da Waaaagh! - Warboss of Warbosses: Kustom Klaw, Twin Big Shoota. WARMASTER. 

Ork Mek Boss Buzzgob - Big Mek: Kustom Force Field, Mek Arms, Nitnuckle and Lunk (Grot Oilers).

Gulskrag Thraka - Warboss: Boss Weapons. 

+ Elites +

Gulskrag's Tuffgitz - 6 x Ork Meganobz 

+ Lord of War +

Da Great Green Gitkilla - Stompa: 2 extra Supa Rokkits. 

++ Spearhead Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +

Buzzmek Geargrinda - Big Mek: Kustom Force Field. Warlord.

+ Elites +

Old Man Lo-Ghaz - Nob with Waaagh! Banner 

+ Heavy Support +

Orktimus Prime - Deff Dread: 2x Kustom Mega-Blasta, 2x Dread Klaws

Gitslasha - Deff Dread: 2x Dread Saws, 2x Dread Klaws

Buzzmek's Ruzzbot - Morkanaut: Kustom Force Field

++ Spearhead Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +

Deadeye Dregmek - Big Mek: Shokk Attakk Gun. Warlord.

+ Heavy Support +

Dregmek's Wagon - Gunwagon: Kannon.

Lifta-Droppas - Mek Gunz: 2x Traktor Kannons

Pulsa Rokkit - Mek Gunz: 1 x Bubble Chukka

Da Kannons - Mek Gunz: 2 x Smasha Guns

++ Battalion Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +

Da Amayzin' Bozgit - Weirdboy. Warlord.

+ Troops +

Dagratz Ladz - 10 x Slugga Boyz.

Snikrot's Sneaky Slittas - 10 x Slugga Boyz

Snotty Grotz - 30 x Gretchin

   

Road to Apocalypse: 5. The Meat Grinder

Road to Apocalypse: 5. The Meat Grinder

29 January 2022

👈 Part 4: Junkyard Brawl

👉Part 6: Reflections of a Warboss

WAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!

The WAAAAGH!! energy burned bright, shining out into the void, and it was drawing more greenskins towards it like moths to a lumen bulb. Some of them came without realising what it was that called to them. Others listened to the gibbering insanity of their Weirdboyz and understood that there was some propa fighting to be done. And one Ork, one great green-skinned menace, knew just where he needed to be, because Gork and Mork had told him themselves. Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, the Prophet of the Waaaagh!, the Beast of Armageddon, 'ardest boss in da ooniverse. He heard the call, and he grinned.     

Road to Apocalypse: 4. Junkyard Brawl

Road to Apocalypse: 4. Junkyard Brawl

15 January 2022

👈 Part 3: The Dread Mob

👉Part 5: Meat Grinder

Big Meks love their Kustom Force Fields!

Buzzmek turned the wrench one more time then stepped back to admire his handiwork. Dat wizzy fing was just what his Ruzzbot needed. Of course, Buzzmek had no idea what it was going to do when the driver pressed the new, shiny red button, but he had a feeling in his gut that it was gonna be good!

Warboss Gulskrag had left the Mekaniak behind to fix up his walkers while he and da boyz went looking for a scrap. The scramble back to the Roks and Landas to escape the dying planet had taken it out of the clanking machines, and the Boss wanted them running in tip-top condition in case those Beakies caught up with them again. Buzzmek and his crew of Grots had been hard at work on tuning up the Dread Mob before his natural inclination for tinkering had distracted him, and he had left half the Dreads and Kans immobilised on the landing field while he began dismantling bits of spaceship to make some new worky gubbinz. Given enough time, the Mek would have completely disassembled all the grounded spacecraft, expanded his junkyard as far as he could see, and constructed a horde of walking death machines to stomp across this planet in an orgy of destruction. Gulskrag would probably be back before then, and he might not look so favourably on his space fleet being dismantled... he'd probably rather let those thieving Deffskullz loot whatever they could from the planet's inhabitants and use THAT to build more war machines. Buzzmek didn't have that sort of foresight, that was why Gulskrag was Da Boss!

He might have had plans for the Deffskullz, but Gulskrag still didn't like being around the gitz; it was tiring to always be on the lookout for their grasping hands trying to nick anything that wasn't nailed down. The Evil Sunz had managed to rejoin the WAAAAAGH! during the escape off-world too, but he didn't like them much better... days of them riding their bikes round and round the cargo holds on the journey here had made Gulskrag dizzy. He'd sent the lot of them off in the opposite direction when he'd jumped into his battlewagon and trundled off to find trouble, leading his Goff boyz tramping across the plains of this new world. He'd told them it was a Grand Plan to spread out and find more enemies to kill - the sort of genius plan that Ghazghkull himself would be proud of! But, really, they were doing his head in and he wanted some peace and quiet. With the promise of some proper violence for him and his ladz, of course.   

  

Road to Apocalypse: 3. Dread Mob

Road to Apocalypse: 3. Dread Mob 

👈Part 2: ApORKalypse

👉Part 4: Junkyard Brawl

Classic! I would love to have one of these bad boys!

Our initial practice Apocalypse game (the ApORKalypse) had gone well from a 'learning the game and having fun' perspective, and from a 'stomping lots of Space Marines into the dirt' point of view. But, in terms of the Orks getting points and focusing on the objectives... not so well really. Typical Greenskins!! 😁 

We've got a month until the big game at the Midhurst, so we're looking to get some more practice games in so that we're more familiar with the rules. Combined with a reduction in the total PL per side, we should (fingers crossed!) be more successful in completing the game, as we only managed 3 turns the other day. 

I think there's one other 2 v 2 Apocalypse game going on at the club (Black Hole Wargamers) on Saturday morning, and I'm going to take on Tris and his Imperial force. I'm not sure exactly what he's bringing, other than he said that he would have a Hellhammer Super Heavy Tank, so he asked me to bring a Stompa... I was more than happy to oblige! In fact, I decided to do the entire 100 PL (like I said, just a very small game) as a Dread Mob - so a single Big Mek with Kustom Force Field (to ride in the Stompa), with as many other stompy things of various sizes as I could fit into the points limit. 

My narrative for the game is going to centre on the fact that Gulskrag and his ladz made it to the chopper in time (OK, spaceship) and escaped off-world before the nasty Space Marines blew the planet to pieces. They've landed on another planet, and while Gulskrag has led the boyz out to find a bit of a scrap, he's left Buzzmek behind to give the 'eavy armour a bit of a tune-up. Then, whatever Tris has got rolls into view and there's killin' to be done. 

Something like that anyway! 

So I'll have to look at the book before Saturday and find a good mission for that. Might mean that the Orks are defending again, which is sort of weird unless the planetary defence forces catch them unawares while Buzzmek is mekking away... or maybe he manages to sally forth from his junkyard with all the walkers that are functional and attacks the enemy that he's seen through his spying scope. Something will work.

Anyway, I think this is a pretty cool little force, should be really fun having one of each type of (non-Forgeworld) walker in there! 

+++ Da Mekyard Clankers (Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse) [100 PL] +++
++ Spearhead Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +

Buzzmek - Big Mek: Kustom Force Field. WARMASTER.

+ Heavy Support +

Orktimus Prime - Deff Dread: 2x Kustom Mega-Blasta, 2x Dread Klaws

Grimgob Irontoof - Deff Dread: 2x Big Shoota, 2x Dread Klaws

Grod Stompas - 3 Killa Kans: 2x Grotzooka, 1x Rokkit Launcha

Stompzilla - Gorkanaut

Buzzmek's Ruzzbot - Morkanaut: Kustom Force Field

++ Super-heavy Auxiliary Detachment (Orks) ++

+ Lord of War +

Da Great Green Gitkilla - Stompa: Commander

👉Part 4: Junkyard Brawl

Road to Apocalypse: 2. ApORKalypse!

Road to Apocalypse: 2. ApORKalypse!

1 January 2022

👈 Part 1 - Mustering
👉 Part 3 - Dread Mob

Everyone arrived nice and early to start setting up the huge battlefield and arranging their troops on tables around the hall. Unfortunately we didn't have Tom and his Evil Sunz Speed Freeks, but we had plenty of extra Goffs and Deffkulls to make up the numbers! Around 600 or so PL per side... it was going to be a huge battle!  

Forces - Orks and Chaos

My Goff Orks

Dave's Deffskull Orks (1/2)

Dave's Deffskull Orks (2/2)

Andrew's Chaos (Deathguard and Thousand Sons)

Forces - Space Marines

Patrick's Space Wolves

Mark's Crimson Fists, Space Wolves and Deathwatch

Sam's Black Templars

Tris' Blood Angels

Road to Apocalypse: 1. The Mustering

Road to Apocalypse: 1. The Mustering

👉 Part 2 - ApORKalypse

Down at Black Hole Wargamers, we're  preparing for the Midhurst Modelling Exhibition on Sunday 13th February, something we've been going to regularly for quite a few years. We've found in the past that the crowd is a bit more train- and Meccano-oriented, not so interested in rolling dice on the battlefields of the 41st Millennium, so instead of trying participation games we're doing a showcase of Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse. (There had been more success with smaller bespoke games in the past, but we're not really in a position to do that this year). 

I've been keen to give Apocalypse a go for a long time. I bought the box when it came out (during the previous edition of 40k), but not had a chance to use it yet. It would be a good opportunity to get out my Stompa and other big machines of Orky destruction, and we figured there were enough Ork and Space Marine players to get a proper good rumble going (and stomp some humies!).

We had the opportunity to book the hall for an extra-long session on New Year's Day (we would have been doing the morning as normal on that day anyway), and so decided to run a game of Apocalypse as a bit of a practice run ahead of Midhurst. We had four Marine players signed up, to fight against three Ork hordes and a Chaos warband (it seemed that perhaps the Chaos boys had been stoking up trouble for the Imperium, and the Orks would always be up for a good scrap!). We knew the Chaos warlord was going to have to leave at lunchtime, as was one of the Marine players, so that would balance out pretty much. 

We were at something like 600/620 PL per side in total - a pretty huge total for a game of Apocalypse (higher than the suggested limits in the book!). One of the lessons of the game was that we should lower the total PL a bit for Midhurst, as that was a bit much for a single day... 

I had planned to take a force of mostly vehicles, dreads, kans, 'naughts and a Stompa - lots of big stompy stuff! As it turned out, one of the Ork players dropped out ahead of the game, so we split the additional PL between the other two Ork forces and I spent the day before adding in a load of infantry and other bits, increasing from about 160 to 260 PL. 80 Ork Boyz and 60 Gretchin added quite a lot to the amount of stuff that needed to be taken down, filling up the wife's car! 

This is the list I ended up with. The plan for Midhust (as it is a modelling exhibition) is to ensure that all the models are painted. My smaller list was pretty much all painted, but this one wasn't. As we'll be dropping the points anyway, I won't be taking so much to Midhurst, but there are a few notable pits I'd like to get painted up over the next month in preparation for the game - it's a good incentive! 

My trusty old Warboss conversion would be the Warmaster for the combined force. He was essentially my take on Ghazghkull (before the old metal Ghaz in Mega armour came out), but he quickly became my own warboss, Gulskrag Thraka - Ghazghkull's cousin or brother or something, depending on whether he remembers his story when someone asks! I think he was present on Armageddon and likes to tell Da Boyz he has some connection to Ghazghkull to help keep them in line... He leads a big battalion of Goff boyz and Meganobz, supported by a Gorkanaut and a Morkanaut. His battlewagon was an old conversion of mine, based on a land raider. It needs some modifications though - I was building it in the era of Gorkamorka where the rule was that you could fit as many boyz in the transport as could physically stand on the model, so I super-sized the land raider a bit to allow 20 boyz to actually fit. The newer battlewagon model clearly isn't really big enough for that, and I've since learned about the scale of vehicles in 40k, so I think I'll cut it down a bit and finish it off... It also has some weapon options that are no longer permitted. 

Anyway. other than that I had another battalion with a dread mob in it, some heavy support in terms of big guns, Snikrot and his Red Skull Kommandos (because I painted them for Kill Team), two planes and of course, the Stompa. It's a fun lot of stuff covering most of the bases, though far from everything I have for my Orks. One day they will all be painted... one day! 

+++ Goff Orks (Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse) [257 PL] +++

++ Battalion Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +
Gulskrag Thraka - Warboss: Warmaster
Da Amayzin' Bozgit - Weirdboy

+ Troops +
Dagratz Ladz - 30 Slugga Boyz: 3x Big Shoota
Skarfist's Choppaz - 30 Slugga Boyz: 1x Big Shoota, 1x Rokkit Launcha
Snotty Grotz - 30 Gretchin

+ Elites +
Gulskrag's Tuffgitz - 9 Meganobz
Makari da Magnificent - Nob with WAAAGH! Banner

+ Heavy Support +
Gulskrag's Wagon - Battlewagon: 4x Big Shoota, Zzap Gun
Stompzilla - Gorkanaut
Buzzmek's Ruzzbot - Morkanaut

++ Battalion Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +
Buzzmek - Big Mek: Mega Armour, Kustom Force Field: Warlord
Grukk - Warboss

+ Troops +
Hedbasha's Boyz - 10 Slugga Boyz
Grimdakka's Shootas - 30 Shoota Boyz, 1x Big Shoota
Grotty Snotz - 30 Gretchin

+ Heavy Support +
Deff Dreads
Attak Trampla / Skorcha Torcha (AT/ST) - Deff Dread: 2x Skorcha, 2x Dread Klaws
Grimgob Irontoof - Deff Dread: 2x Big Shoota, 2x Dread Klaws
Gitslasha - Deff Dread: 2x Dread Saw, 2x Dread Klaws
Orktimus Prime - Deff Dread: 2x Kustom Mega-Blasta, 2x Dread Klaws

Kans
Grod Stompas - 6 Killa Kans: 3x Grotzooka, 3x Rokkit Launcha

++ Super-heavy Auxiliary Detachment (Orks) ++

+ Lord of War +
Da Great Green Gitkilla - Stompa

++ Spearhead Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +
Deddeye Dregmek - Big Mek: Shokk Attack Gun: Warlord

+ Heavy Support + 
Big Guns - 2 x Kannon
Mek Guns - Smasha Gun, Bubblechukka, Traktor Kannon
Gunwagon - 4x Big Shoota, Kannon

++ Vanguard Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +
Boss Snikrot: Warlord

+ Elites +
Red Skullz Alfa Skwad - 5 Kommandos

Red Skullz Beeta Skwad - 5 Kommandos

Red Skullz Delta Skwad - 5 Kommandos

++ Air Wing Detachment (Orks) ++

+ Flyer +
Baron von Blueback - Burna-Bommer: Skorcha Missiles, Commander
Da Hurrykane - Dakkajet

👉 Part 2 - ApORKalypse