toaae presents: WAAAAGH! Tortoof

[MithrilForge]

thanks for the feedback guys 

i see some  Bad Moons smasha's in my future and most likely some scratch built KMK's too thats the joy with making Ork stuff, it doesn't have to look perfect to work with them    

 

Cheers, Mithril 

[toaae]

Last week, I finished the remaining boyz I needed to round out the second Shoota Boyz mob. These guys had their skin done with the airbrush and I am super happy with how it turned out and how quick it was to do. In all, I feel much faster painting boyz than I did a year ago.

 

 

I still need 40 choppa boyz for the list I want to take to the LVO, so hopefully I can knock them out quick. I was assembling some of them this morning.

The other major thing I've accomplished is I've gotten the magnets I needed for the bases of my orks, and now have my TableWar case ready to go:

 

This is pretty exciting. I've been using the B&C bag from I think 2007, but I just don't like the foam for all these boyz. I'm looking forward to having an easier time pulling models in and out of the case. Luckily, I'm a tall, big guy, so the size of the case isn't a problem for me to lug around.

[toaae]

I wanna talk about bikers and Vigilus Defiant.

Without a doubt, the single unit that most interested me when I first picked up Orks were warbikers. It was 5th edition, and while Grey Knight Paladins had taken the wound shenanigans tricks Nob Bikers has first showcased and turned them up to 11, I was always enthralled by a big, fast, hard hitting unit of orks on their trusty steeds. Unfortunately, the dollar cost for a box of warbikers lead to me putting off building the lists of my dreams. And when 8th dropped and I decided was going to be an Ork player first, they were simply too expensive, points-wise now, to be effective.

Now, the codex came, and shaved a few of those points off. I still didn't look highly on them, primarily because they lacked offensive punch and still weren't durable enough to make up for it. But Vigilus Defiant brought Specialist detachments, and while most are merely fluffy and fun boosts to some units, the Kult of Speed may actually be a contender, competitively.

 

tl;dr: Kult of Speed may be good.

The warlord trait is cool, as fast moving units may move out of range of your leadership batteries (AKA, boyz), and the relic is cute, though Wartrikes are already overcosted. But it's the two stratagems that shine.

First, the big one: Turbo-boosters. This allows a unit to double their move characteristic instead of rolling a die for advancing. Critically, the stratagem lacks any restriction on charging, unlike the Evil Sunz stratagem, Drive-by Krumpin'. And at only 2 CP, I think Turbo-boosters may be the tool bikers needed. Doubling 14" to 28" is a tremendous distance, and the Evil Sunz trait adds an inch to the move characteristic, which makes that a whopping 32" move. Combined with 'Ere We Go, it would be a rare instance where a biker unit wouldn't be able to make a charge turn one, regardless of deployment type.
 

In fact, I like this stratagem so much, I'm thinking about skipping over Warbikers and going straight to the big-daddy unit: Nob Bikers. Warbikers still suffer from the problem of just being boyz  in CC, with 3 attacks and a not-very-substantial model count. Nob bikers aren't worred about that, with more base attacks, higher base strength, and access to more weapons. You can give nob-bikers two choppas and get 5 S5 attacks from each one. Alternatively, you can give each one a Kustom-shoota, and add 36 S4 shots while still rocking 36 S5 attacks. Make them Evil Sunz and not only do they get the extra movement, but they can fire their dakkaguns and kustom-shootas with no penalty after advancing.

 

What all am I getting at? I think Nob bikers could be back. Even if you don't like your chances at getting the first turn against an army rocking lots of 2-or-3 damage shooting, you can always deploy out of LoS and use the double move to still have a chance at a mean first turn charge, or play for board position. Hell, you could always choose to tellyporta the unit in, and save the CP spent on the specialist detachment if the match-up is dire enough.

 

The goal with this unit is immediate pressure and taking the initiative, hopefully creating an advantage that the waves of boys could follow up on. The second Kult of Speed stratagem, Charge Through 'Em, could aid in that. It's far more situational, but assuming you get a decent roll, you could tie up units behind the screens, or potentially tri-point a model to prevent fall backs.

My point is, I want this to work. I love bikes and I want them to be good. So my short term goal is to convert and paint up a unit of Nob bikers for the LVO and get the practice games in to get a strong feeling of the unit. Hopefully, it works out better for me than my Sanguinary Guard bomb did at SoCal.

[Hive Azmond]

I wanna talk about bikers and Vigilus Defiant.

 

Without a doubt, the single unit that most interested me when I first picked up Orks were warbikers. It was 5th edition, and while Grey Knight Paladins had taken the wound shenanigans tricks Nob Bikers has first showcased and turned them up to 11, I was always enthralled by a big, fast, hard hitting unit of orks on their trusty steeds. Unfortunately, the dollar cost for a box of warbikers lead to me putting off building the lists of my dreams. And when 8th dropped and I decided was going to be an Ork player first, they were simply too expensive, points-wise now, to be effective.

 

Now, the codex came, and shaved a few of those points off. I still didn't look highly on them, primarily because they lacked offensive punch and still weren't durable enough to make up for it. But Vigilus Defiant brought Specialist detachments, and while most are merely fluffy and fun boosts to some units, the Kult of Speed may actually be a contender, competitively.

 

tl;dr: Kult of Speed may be good.

 

The warlord trait is cool, as fast moving units may move out of range of your leadership batteries (AKA, boyz), and the relic is cute, though Wartrikes are already overcosted. But it's the two stratagems that shine.

 

First, the big one: Turbo-boosters. This allows a unit to double their move characteristic instead of rolling a die for advancing. Critically, the stratagem lacks any restriction on charging, unlike the Evil Sunz stratagem, Drive-by Krumpin'. And at only 2 CP, I think Turbo-boosters may be the tool bikers needed. Doubling 14" to 28" is a tremendous distance, and the Evil Sunz trait adds an inch to the move characteristic, which makes that a whopping 32" move. Combined with 'Ere We Go, it would be a rare instance where a biker unit wouldn't be able to make a charge turn one, regardless of deployment type.

 

In fact, I like this stratagem so much, I'm thinking about skipping over Warbikers and going straight to the big-daddy unit: Nob Bikers. Warbikers still suffer from the problem of just being boyz  in CC, with 3 attacks and a not-very-substantial model count. Nob bikers aren't worred about that, with more base attacks, higher base strength, and access to more weapons. You can give nob-bikers two choppas and get 5 S5 attacks from each one. Alternatively, you can give each one a Kustom-shoota, and add 36 S4 shots while still rocking 36 S5 attacks. Make them Evil Sunz and not only do they get the extra movement, but they can fire their dakkaguns and kustom-shootas with no penalty after advancing.

 

What all am I getting at? I think Nob bikers could be back. Even if you don't like your chances at getting the first turn against an army rocking lots of 2-or-3 damage shooting, you can always deploy out of LoS and use the double move to still have a chance at a mean first turn charge, or play for board position. Hell, you could always choose to tellyporta the unit in, and save the CP spent on the specialist detachment if the match-up is dire enough.

 

The goal with this unit is immediate pressure and taking the initiative, hopefully creating an advantage that the waves of boys could follow up on. The second Kult of Speed stratagem, Charge Through 'Em, could aid in that. It's far more situational, but assuming you get a decent roll, you could tie up units behind the screens, or potentially tri-point a model to prevent fall backs.

 

My point is, I want this to work. I love bikes and I want them to be good. So my short term goal is to convert and paint up a unit of Nob bikers for the LVO and get the practice games in to get a strong feeling of the unit. Hopefully, it works out better for me than my Sanguinary Guard bomb did at SoCal.

 

 

Thanks for posting this,

 

I've been busy hoarding stormboyz but this has changed my mind.

[toaae]

Thanks for posting this,

I've been busy hoarding stormboyz but this has changed my mind.

 

Stormboyz are great. I loved them in the index and have only stopped using them in favor of choppa boyz because I've been wanting to fill troop slots. I'll be honest, I think I'll be going back to Stormboyz eventually. Them and a grot unit are 90 points more than a choppa boy unit, but that super speed and/or the option to deepstrike the unit without tellyporta are very strong. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Stormboyz are the way to go with the nob bikers.

 

I converted up the first two Nob bikers and got them primed. Of course, I'll be out of town for Christmas, cause all I do is travel it seems, but I hope to have at least one test model painted and the rest converted before the year is over.

[toaae]

Progress on the two test nob bikers:

 

 

Since this picture, I've painted the boots and tires black.

I've opted to not put as much red on the bikes as you'd see from GW or others. This wasn't really a conscious decision; I had painted the first coat of Mephiston red on the bodies and decided that the bikes didn't need much more. Hope to get the rest of the non metallics done tomorrow, and finish these guys by the end of the weekend.

Also, I posted my list in the army list sub-forum, which you can find here.

[toaae]

Finished the first two (of nine) nob bikers:

 

 

I'm mostly happy with how they turned out. A few thing stand out, like I forgot to paint the grip on the kustom shoota, and the one with a choppa doesn't have his torso fully seated in him legs, leaving a black void between his belt and the strap for his belly plate. I also avoided painting too many details on the bikes themselves, as that is a task you could throw yourself into for weeks.

I had intended to use today to convert the other 7 nobs, but an episode of food poisoning has shot my whole day. Thank god for my wife, as my 11-month son has also been throwing up (I think unrelated to my illness), so she is taking care of both of us.

I did pick up something while at the FLGS this past weekend:

 

 

This is my insurance policy for my nob bikers, ensuring they will get a WAAAGH!!! buff to charge after their ridiculous movement. I've decided I'm going to use the driver as a nob biker, and just convert a regular warbiker boy to be the driver here. One thing I hate about the new kits is how they are lacking with customization options. It's a cool looking kit, but each one looks exactly the same, and that driver leaning out to fire that boomstick is just super obvious.

Hopefully it will be an easy kitbash switch.

[MithrilForge]

good to see you working on the Bikers and the Nob's look great! An easy fix on the Bikers Gap...greenstuff in the void of the seated Nobs next time and paint it green to show bellyfat 

 

OOH Deffkilla trike   good idea on swapping the driver out for a standard Ork.

 

Can't wait to see more !!

 

Cheers ,Mithril 

[toaae]

Thanks Mithril! I appreciate the comments.

 

I've been able to get a lot of work done since my last post. The Wartrike was assembled:

 

 

And is now primed. I plan to start painting it tomorrow. In addition, I've spent the weekend working of what is easily my most ambitious conversion project, ever:

 

The Warboss on a bike. This is a mean machine, and if the size doesn't give it away, I was working without any reference to any other model for inspiration. With parts from the Trukk kit, Deff Dread, SM Razorback, Dakkajet, Mek Gun and Assault on Black Reach, as well as a fair amount of cardstock, plastic pipe and greenstuff, this monster is ready for priming. I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but I am very proud. This guy will be my warlord for the foreseeable future.

 

Also, I only cut myself twice while converting it!

 

With a month to go, I think it's time to start VegasWatch™ 2019. Here is what I have left do to:

• Deffkilla Wartrike
• Warboss on Bike
• Weirdboy #2*
• Weirdboy #3*
• Big Mek w/ KFF*
• 40 Choppa Boyz
• 40 Grots
• 3 Mek Guns
• 7 Nob Bikers*

Key:

 

Underline: To acquire

Bold: To paint

Italics: To assemble

*=converting

 

Still a lot, and I am running out of time. Everything on that list will be painted up to a minimum level, acceptable for the LVO, and I'll use the spring to finish them up. It'll get done, but it's going to take a lot of hours of work. Thank god for such an understanding and supportive wife.

Edited January 7, 2019 by toaae

[FlamingDeth]

I think the boss would be improved with one of those zany new vehicle bases. He's looking a little cramped on there.

[toaae]

I think the boss would be improved with one of those zany new vehicle bases. He's looking a little cramped on there.

 

I imagine I'll eventually move him to a bigger base. Maybe a flyer base? The Deffkilla's base is HUGE, and this guy doesn't take that up. As it is, that's a 32mm base cut in half and extended. It's fairly durable and heavy, which is nice, since I normally put washers under my bases for counter-balance and I didn't have to do it here. Not that I could, with the support rods and green stuff sides.

 

I'm putting my bikes on the old style bases, not the new ovals the bikers in Speed Freekz came with, cause those are what I have. Hence why I tried to make a bigger version. But I agree with you, he's just too big for it. Also, it looks janky as hell. I had hoped that it'll improve once there's paint on it, but I may not get that far. I think I have a flyer base; I'll check tomorrow.

 

-------------

 

I also just remembered I set a hobby resolution for the new year: 300 days of hobby. I've made it a pretty regular thing to get up in the morning and work on stuff before my son wakes up and my wife goes to work, so I think hitting 300 days this year will be doable. It'll easily be the most I've ever done in any single year in the almost 16 years I've been in the hobby. I didn't want to do a concrete, "I'll get this many projects complete" goal because I know that I'm not a fast hobbyist, but setting a realistic goal of just putting in the time will result in lots of progress.

 

If anyone is interested in daily, incremental progress photos, you can find me on twitter @toaae6, and using the tag #300daysofhobby.

[Magos Takatus]

Wow! That's a brave conversion. It's coming along nicely. One minor criticism though. He's got a huge claw and all his guns on one side of his bike. With both on one side it looks a little unbalanced. If you're okay with that it's fine, but just something you might not have considered yet. I think this is going to be a real scary boss. Nice work so far. :)

[toaae]

That's a fair point. Originally, I had one gun on each side, but when I started to work on the boss himself, I realized his legs were blocking the barrels. At first I tried just extending both, but I didn't really like the look. Mounting them together on one side was the best option I had, though it does create the imbalance you point out.

 

Just thinking about it, I could mount them under his feet, one per side. I may try that.

 

Thanks for the critique!

[toaae]

So I did change the mounting of the guns, and it is an obvious improvement:

 

 

I did check about moving him to a flying base, but decided not to go with it. It is smaller than the Deffkilla's base in length, but the same width, and it's just too much deadspace. Maybe if the bike had a sidecar (an interesting idea for a conversion), but as it is, I just don't think it would work.

 

 

Speaking of the Wartrike:

 

 

Got it finished to my minimum standard and I'm actually pretty happy about that. It could obviously use a lot more, and it will get more after LVO, but I can't complain about the amount of time this took. I'm more optimistic about my chances of finishing what I need for LVO after knocking this out.

 

In addition, I converted the remaining nob bikers:

 

 

I used the driver from the wartrike, three boss torsos from the boys' kits, and 3 AoBR nobs, whom all required some pretty heavy converting to make work. I'm also pleased with these, as this is just as ambitious a conversion project as the biker boss was. A little post-painting greenstuff will be needed to fill in gaps after final assembly, but in all, I think it'll work well. So, an update to the list:

• Deffkilla Wartrike

• Warboss on Bike

• Weirdboy #2*

• Weirdboy #3*

• Big Mek w/ KFF*

• 40 Choppa Boyz

• 40 Grots

• 3 Mek Guns

• 7 Nob Bikers

Key:

 

Underline: To acquire

Bold: To paint

Italics: To assemble

Strikethough: Finished

*=converting

 

Lastly, just a picture of movement trays:

 

I got these from Every Little War, and they are perfect for my use. I am sanding them down a little on the inside because I don't want my rims to have their paint scratched, but it's only a little work (with a bigger file than pictured) and it'll greatly help with moving swarms of boys.

 

Next up: 19 of the choppa boyz, who I have finished the skin on today.

Edited January 15, 2019 by toaae

[FlamingDeth]

No base size between the two? Pity. In regards to a side car, it's a good idea. I had a concept I never got around to doing that involved a biker boss with a side car that looked like a doghouse and housed an attack squig. I'll probably never get around to doing it but feel free to loot the idea if it sounds interesting. Don't know how it'd interact with the aesthetics of your bike.

[toaae]

No base size between the two? Pity. In regards to a side car, it's a good idea. I had a concept I never got around to doing that involved a biker boss with a side car that looked like a doghouse and housed an attack squig. I'll probably never get around to doing it but feel free to loot the idea if it sounds interesting. Don't know how it'd interact with the aesthetics of your bike.

Not one that I have, but your question made me do some research. The Deffkilla base is 170x105mm (like Knights), and the flyer is 120x92mm. There is also a 105x70mm base that Cawl and Riptides use, and a 90x52mm that Bloodcrushers use. I could order those direct from GW, so I may consider it.

[Magos Takatus]

Wow, I really like the gun mounting now you've moved it. I didn't expect you to put them there and it took me a few seconds to spot them, but I realized they look a lot more like they are part of the bike now. Nice one. :) It also looks like the trike is coming along nicely. It's good to see things are progressing well.

[toaae]

A mini update. Got the first 19 choppa boyz to a minimum, but I'm not going to bother posting a picture of that, cause it's really poor. But I got to keep moving. Got the other 21 primed, along with the nob bikers and the biker boss, and have started working on that, with the skin work.

I have also had to make a plan on what I'm going to do if I can't get Mek Gunz. They've been sold out, and while they are available on GW's website again, I have to consider shipping time. As it is, I also have to wait till payday to place an order anyways, and all told, I might be looking at a few days to assemble and paint them to a minimum. Added to this is that the LVO is requiring lists submitted by Friday, 7pm PST. So, with that in mind, I've prepared an army list with just 3 guns (instead of 6), and a Warboss to replace the missing guns.

[Obscura]

If you have the spare Grots and enough bits, you can always make a go at kit bashing more guns.

[toaae]

If you have the spare Grots and enough bits, you can always make a go at kit bashing more guns.

 

I had considered it, and given more time, I would happily dive in. But I've got two weeks and still so much to paint, so I'm afraid I just wouldn't be able to either make good conversions or adequately finish. Instead, I remembered I live in LA, so I'm going to be making a bunch of phone calls to see if I can get my hands on a couple of guns tomorrow. There's enough stores within a reasonable drive of me, so I'm more optimistic than I was on Tuesday.

[Obscura]

Yeah, there's that. As for myself I've had enough bad experiences in LA traffic ( yay for visiting the Mouse Kingdom and relatives. . . ) that I'd build my own from scratch then go out into that cluster.

 

Hope you have good luck finding what you need.

[toaae]

Yeah, there's that. As for myself I've had enough bad experiences in LA traffic ( yay for visiting the Mouse Kingdom and relatives. . . ) that I'd build my own from scratch then go out into that cluster.

 

Hope you have good luck finding what you need.

 

Oh, don't get me started. My wife and I moved here for her career and I'm now a stay-at-home dad, so I avoid it for the most part. My wife has far more patience than me, as she puts up with it.

 

I lucked out, as I found several guns in local stores, so I'll be getting them tomorrow.

[Obscura]

Nice! Can't go wrong with that.

 

Those are relatively easy to build/paint so you're good to go.

[toaae]

Fun fact: of the 650+ lists submitted on time for the Las Vegas Open, I am the only person bringing Nob bikers. I get to be a special snowflake.

[Guest Triszin]

Fun fact: of the 650+ lists submitted on time for the Las Vegas Open, I am the only person bringing Nob bikers. I get to be a special snowflake.

you brought DA SPEED WAAAA