Orkish Humans (Diorama)

DBadger · November 27, 2019

I wanted a project, and I fell in love with the general Ork theme. But as I absolutely detest Orks, I wanted to try and come up with a viable human faction but with an Ork setting.

The general idea is something like this: a group of humans who have never encountered the outside world. I don't know how they got lost, but they did, and have just surfaced. They have various interactions with other humans and xenos, but these are small, inconsequential runnings that hint at things to come - the band themselves are unaware of the monsters awaiting in the near future.

Of course if they ever went into battle they'd be done for, except that because of their lack of awareness of their situation, they're more likely to use tactics that the others won't be expecting, and guerilla warfare if not.

First up was the Mekboy Workshop, which is going to form the basis of a diorama I'm building to house my first run of models. I want to do this right so I'm putting a lot of time and effort into this one... or at least, planning to until I inevitably get bored. I'd like to think my modeling and painting is improving over the years but there's still a long way to go, and I haven't got over my shaky hands.

Not much done so far, have merely constructed the base and lain a few basic colours here and there. Red and yellow are such annoyances that I am just going to get them down solidly first and then reprime everything else after, so at the minute I'm not doing very well at painting within the lines. The workbench for one is awkward because all the tools are already stuck to it, so I've had to paint everything brown ready to pick out the details in black again later.

Here's my diorama base so far:

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That's not the whole Mekboy Workshop - I'm keeping the rest for future scenery or bases as needed.

Spikey Bits

I plonked some figs on as I was placing bits so that there is space for the actual models to go, but the models will be on their own bases.

As for the humans themselves, they are going to be made up of a mixture of:

- Necromunda Orlock gang figures (have ordered five)

- Wargame Exclusive girls (will try and make them less boobful)

- Various bits I've acrued over the years

These are the models I've ordered. I may have made a mistake with the female comissar, she's so... well, she's a pin-up, isn't she. I fell in love with the idea of someone scrounging around for scraps and coming across the corpse of an inquisitor who had come to find out why this bunch of humans haven't been assmilated yet. She likes the look of his gear so picks up his hat and cloak. But maybe she didn't need to be naked first... I'll try and model my way out of it somehow.

The others aren't too bad.

Anyway. We're on the cusp of this group of humans being discovered by basically everybody. As mentioned, the Inquisition have shown interest, but also other factions and xenos are on their way. So one day one finds a creature outside and takes it home as a pet... and arrives at a pet termagaunt. Another day a group of Tau come for reconnaisance, and one of them tags along to the tribe to learn more about prehistoric humans. They've obviously come across Orks hence the inspiration for their signage up there.

That might lend some way to making this a viable army in the long future, with the tag-alongs providing the firepower. Maybe the gaunt is domesticated to some extent (but will eventually eat everybody in sight) - for now it's loyal and will do their bidding. The Tau becomes a good friend and ends up fighting alongside, etc. I don't play enough 40k to come up with a scenario where they'd fight in to be honest.

I like the idea that to these guys, the Imperium are the Big Bad Guys. They'll probably succumb to the Tau if anything... If Chaos doesn't find them first.

Gonna see how it/they turn out. If I like the look of the army I'll probably continue it, get some vehicles, etc.

DuskRaider · November 27, 2019

Ahh, so Diggas. Sounds cool, can't wait to see how it turns out.

The Ergonomic Enginseer · November 27, 2019

Some Gorkamorka style Diggas would look awesome.

Can't wait to see a War trukk made.

Cadius · November 28, 2019

well here are some drawbacks if they have met orks before they would be obliterated, if they happen to be on an Eldar maiden world they'd be obliterated.

DBadger · November 28, 2019

They're gonna get obliterated whoever they meet to be honest.

Xenith · November 28, 2019

If you havent encountered Diggas before, theyre along the lines of what youre looking for - Humans trapped on Gorkamorka who have had to adapt to orkish ways to survive:

https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Digga

Edited November 28, 2019 by Xenith

DaBoiKyknos · November 28, 2019

DIGGANOBS!!!

grailkeeper · November 28, 2019

I would say that the Goliaths from Necromunda, and the pretty old looking catachans might be the most Orky looking humans. Maybe combine them with some flagellants/cawdor for the ragged look.

Xenith · November 29, 2019

But maybe she didn't need to be naked first... I'll try and model my way out of it somehow.

Lovely model, but maybe not quite 40k tabletop aesthetic. Just take the Callidus way out and paint the bare skin a black syn-skyn. Contrast would probaby do a great job on it.

Cadius · November 29, 2019

I would say that the Goliaths from Necromunda, and the pretty old looking catachans might be the most Orky looking humans. Maybe combine them with some flagellants/cawdor for the ragged look.

Orlocks from Necromunda might work, not Ork like but a bit dated in clothes, Cawdor are even more ragged.

Kolgrim DeathHowl · December 2, 2019

That's a really cool idea!

DBadger · December 3, 2019

So I tried to assemble some Orlocks. The shoulder pads are non negotiable unfortunately, which will make them at odds with the girls, which I didn't really wanna do. But I'm getting big Firefly vibes off them, which is good.

Tried modeling one with an Ork power tool but in gonna say it's... "Comically oversized". Huge. Might look alright. The dude looks like he's struggling anyway.

Other than that there are generally some nice poses in the set.

Done some more painting but it's just dry brushes and washes at the minute, which I'm trying to avoid overusing... Had some luck with contrast paints over metal, which is looking rusty and orky. The techies are gonna be really anal about their tools so I'm keeping them all shiny, which will help to pick out different aspects on what otherwise is just a scrapheap.