Let’s go Waaaaggh!

So I got a little distracted by a small bit of coding … but I think it’s worth it.

https://dutchjafo.github.io/

Based on the info found on this website : http://www.otd.com/~paul/Vice/orky.html

It’s probably a bit over-engineered … but that’s how we roll (get it? … yeah)

The local painboy is doing a bit of kuttin’ and mendin’ … ‘cuz the poor Nob broke his arm in a recent fight.

Time to start assembling the Boyz.

First thing I notice is that these guys appear to be smaller than the Nobz.
This makes sense as in Ork Kultur the bigger meaner Orkz are the leaders …

It does create a bit of a size mismatch as the Nob leader may not be as big as the other Nobz. I’ll wait until all are assembled before I decide how to handle this. I may decided to either buy more Orkz (as if I needed a reason ;-)) or find a suitable replacement in my collection.

Best 40k Ork name generators so far :

• https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/warhammer-40k-ork-names.php
• https://www.realmofplastic.com/hobby-blog/character-name-generator-ironjawz
• http://www.otd.com/~paul/Vice/orky.html

I’ve seen others reference the ‘Ere we go’ book. I wish GW added those name tables in their codexes, because the only current source is a short random table in Killteam rules.  And that simply isn’t good enough if want to name the entire army, is it ?

I may have to look into rolling my own. I’ve got the sourcecode for a namegenerator that’s based on human names, which has a few thousand names (from a census list) as its source.

Now where does one get an Ork census list?
I doubt you can ask the local governor to check in their neighbouring ork tribes …

Only one with a kombi-weapon because the others didn’t fit.
In hindsight I should have done the weapons first and added the rest afterwards.

oh … and don’t worry about cutting things by accident or design.
That’s just battle damage 😉

Painting every bit of them is going to be a challenge, because not everything can be seen or reached with a brush.

Now all I need is a name generator, because they definitely need names.

The nobz box has one tiny ammo runt … and this is it.
Rules say that there can only be 1 runt per 5 nobz. I’d always imagine a horde of little grotz running back and forth to grab ammo for their big brothers.

Unlike previous pictures this was shot was made with a digital camera.
No fancy settings … but you can already see that unlike a mobile phone we have a background that is out of focus.

Olympus OM-D (EM-5).
Exposure time 1/250
F 10
ISO 200
Lens : 12-50 mm kit lens

This was the first version of their micro four thirds camera, water/weather proof (provided you the lens is too!) and built-in image stabilizer (you can get pretty good hand held shots in low light conditions).
One of the advantages of the micro43 system is that they’re very light weight compared to a DSLR.  Another benefit is that they’re not linked to specific brands so you aren’t stuck with expensive lenses if you ever decide to upgrade.
Expensive piece of kit, but it’s been worth every penny especially the light weight.

Review : https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympusem5
They’ve released new versions and the range now features a ‘cheap’ version with fewer features and a ‘pro’ version.
I recommend reading the Dpreview site if you are looking for a good digital camera.

The biggest orkses and second only to the warboss himself.
Armed with choppas and sluggas as default weapons they can get bigger gear … and what ork wouldn’t want that ?

Only two kombi weapons (one rokkit kombi and one scorcha kombi) in the box, so I guess I’ll have to make do. Then again … their stat card says they’re better at melee combat so it makes sense ?

I do get to upgrade one Nob to Cybork, so there’s that.
Lots of spare parts and bits so maybe the boyz can get lucky ?

Tiny bit of a snafu while building the Painboy.

The one tube connecting his right arm to the bit on his body didn’t quite fit … so I had to snip a bit and try again.

This should be painless build …

Da big book of Orks sez … *eh*
Nope, let’s stick to English because other people want to read what I’m writing.
That’s not to say the Ork ‘language’ isn’t funny, because it is part of what makes the green meanies fun. Isn’t it ?

Anyways … what’s this about ? Da big book of Ork aka Ork Codex
It mentions Ork 6 factions aka ‘clans’ that are known to exist.

• Da Goffs
  Favourite colour : black with a touch of red for contrast.
  The very essence of Ork-ishness
  Icon : bull
• Evil Sunz
  Favourite colour : red
  Feeling the need for speed!
  Icon : a big grining red sun
• Blood Axe
  Favourite colour : camouflage …
  Ork Army
  Icon : the (bloody) axe
• Deathskulls
  Favourite colour : blue
  Lucky sons of *beep*
  Icon : horned ork skull
• Bad Moons
  Favourite colour : yellow
  Lots of teef … (the ork equivalent of cash)
  Icon : large (yellow) Ork faced moon
• Snakebite
  Favourite colour : leather brown ?
  Primitive but still lethal
  Icon : snake
• Freebooterz
  Ork Pirates …
  Interesting aspect : they once were part of any of the previous clans …

(ok … so Orkz either can’t count .or the one writing the book couldn’t … )

If this was to be a tournament ready competive army then I’d have to pick a clan as a focus, because it reduces negative effect of competing clans within a single army and other benefits.

As this isn’t such a list (at least not at first) I’m just going to limit myself.

I do like the deathskulls, because who doesn’t want to be lucky ?
So that may be default choice.

Blood Axes would be an interestign alternative as they provide an excuse to paint an Ork army as if they were part of a regular force (a green imperial guard … ). If and when I extend my army with Ork units that are more like ‘proper’ army units this might be my choice. It is important to note that (a) Orkz being Orkz means that they don’t quite understand camouflage and any of this army thing.

OTOH … ‘Freebooterz’ are more or less a tournament legal excuse to mix various clans into a single army … And who doesn’t like pirates ?

Lot’s of stuff to think about as I build my army.

I wanted to make better photos so I’ve also invested in a few tools :

• a cheap tripod to hold my phone and/or camera
  Cullmann Alpha 2800 Mobile (cost 45 Euro)
• Caruba Portable Photocube LED 40x40x40cm (cost 90 Euro)
  A foldable photobox with integrated (dimmable) led light

As you can see in these pictures it’s big enough to show off the box, so it should be big enough for most things. Setting it up was a bit tricky as it didn’t come with a manual (why is it that things that could use a basic manual don’t have them but those that don’t have them ?).

Definitely better than trying to use whatever lights I had and I’m only using my mobile phone (Sony XPeria XZ1 Compact).

Things to listen to for proper Ork kultur :

• ‘Prophets of Waaagh!’ – Guy Haley
  An audio book with proper ork antics.

Ork Musik :

a 10 hour ork soundtrack … perfect

Might add more as sources are discovered.

In the beginning there was nothing …  until Rogue Trader aka 40k 1st edition was released.
Never got to building an army back then, but I did collect one of the big books on Ork Kultur that got released ( https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Waaargh:_Orks ). I didn’t notice it back then, but them boys were calling.

8th edition got released and I thought I could get into this 40k and start an army for real this time. However I couldn’t really decide which faction to choose, but was tempted by Space marines and Eldar.

Then this happened  :

And I could only think of one thing : I’m going Green.
As a result I’ve collected a few Orky things :

• Ork Killteam aka Lootas
• Ork killteam leader (current status : build, unpainted)
• Ork Elite killteam aka Flash Gitz
• the new buggies (Speed Freaks)

The 40k Hobby weekend was announced and the option to buy a digital ticket was hard to ignore, which meant I added the ‘Start Collecting Orks’ box.

All that’s left to do is to start assembling and painting (eventually).

Being true to the Ork spirit I am not letting Gork and Mork guide me.
As a result I haven’t even settled on a single Ork clan.

Just a word of warning …while I will be a bit more active during the hobby weekend (’cause that’s the point of buying a digital ticket ;-)) the speed of updates afterwards may be more like watching paint dry.