WAAAGH! DA SNAKEBITES!

 A little later than planned but here's the photo feast for the third army I was able to get done in 2022. This lot got finished for a tournament at the end of November that unfortunately I didn't get to go to. Between sickness, ride shares and train strikes, it just wasn't meant to be. I'm hoping to get them to an event later this year, but we'll have to wait and see.

Following on from the Retro Goff army, these guys started out as a few add-on units to the Goff list: namely the Boar Boyz. I had a bunch of these ladz in the lead pile and with the (then) new codex focusing on Beast Snaggas I decided to build a few to try them out. Their colour scheme deliberately uses the same palette as the Goffs to keep the 2 armies coherent, but with a greater use of white with red patterns, rather then the Goffs' black and chess board.

As with the Goffs, I tried to build the army around it's 1st and 2nd Edition roots. Goffs used lots of Nobz and Skar boyz, Snakebites fielded lots of Boar riders and beasts with almost no vehicles.

One unit I had to have in the list was the Beast Snaggaz, but the older editions didn't have anything that fit their description. I was scrolling eBay when I chanced on a bunch of Madboys at a reasonable price for a change. They fit the bill perfectly; they were different enough from the normal boyz to standout and their extra strength and durability would be attributed to their odd behaviour. I could have made them actual madboyz in game, but then they'd be unable to ride...

                                       

The Kill Rig (or Wyrd Wagon as I call it) was the second unit to get finished for the army after the Boar Boyz. I couldn't do a Snakebite list without one of these monstrosities lumbering about and I was eager to build my own retro version. Originally, the crew were 3D prints of some old style Orks, but I had enough Mad Boyz to carry over onto the Rig. This was only done recently, mind.

The Squiggoth was another must-have unit, but was ultimately an eBay impulse buy from ages ago. I got a good price as he was missing the horns and howder. Glad I got a chance to finish him up.

These brutes formed the core of the army. What started as a four man squad for the Goffs to bulk up their fast attack game, stampeded into a full army.

Zodgrod was going to be a Beastboss to lead the army, before I worked out a plan for a Squigasaur.

The Nobz are a mix of Freebooter, Runtherd and Snakebite Nob models that were all chunky enough to be Nobz, but also looked the part for the army. Just as before, everyone got their own unique banner design, but I found these more fun to paint than the Goffs.

Old school Snakebite armies had plenty of Wyrd boyz, Runtherdz and Doks in their ranks in 1st and 2nd Ed so this was something worth carrying over. Most of the Runtherdz got to Nobz in the end as the Runtherdz aren't all that usful in modern Ork armies. The repurposed Orc Shaman rides the Wyrd Wagon most of the time. The Wyrdboy with his "fire  team" is one of my all-time favourite models from this era. It has so much character and I've had the model in my collection for years, so getting around to painting it was a goal for the year.

Finally the Beastboss that made the cut to be Warlord. He was the last model to get finished in time for the Tournament, and as a result has never actually been used in a game yet. If I'd had the time I would like to have added a back banner like the rest of the armies characters, but now he's done, I don't to risk ruining the paint job.

So there you have it. 2022 saw 3 armies brought to completion, only for GW to release points adjustments for every army. I imagine the Orks will see room for some extra troops and bits of wargear, but I won't be making any changes to them at this stage. the Imperial fists on the other hand will be getting plenty of reinforcements. before Xmas I bullied a friend into a bit of a painting challenge. getting our half finished armies up to 1500pts by mid March. For me that was going to be 500pts of yellow marines, but early predictions may change that to 600pts. On top of that I still have Into The West to prepare for at the end of January and a LOT of comic cons lined up for the year....

Guess I better get started.

WAAAGH! DA GOFFS

 I've put up a few pictures of these boys over the last few years or so as the project has developed. Now, at the close of the year I can show the army off in it's finished state. All 1500points of retro themed Orkish glory.

This Army was a blast to work on. It started a a fun little lockdown project to try and get through some of the lead pile, but it grew into a full fledged painting drive; leading to bigger conversions, multiple hand painted banners and then into making plans to build an army for each of the major clans (more on that next time). GW's points adjustments over the last year opened up space for more units and kept things interesting on the table top. The army runs slow, but hits like a train once it gets going and I can honestly say I'm not board of playing with it yet. But New Year and all that, I want to get the Snakebites on the table and play some games with them. For now, here's a boat load of pictures of my retro Goffs. ENJOY! 

The whole lot manages to fir in the one case as well, making transport and storage super easy. I'm aiming to do the same with each clan, complete with appropriate decorations.

Da Bosses, of course the 2nd edition Ghazzy was going to be in charge, how could I not use that adorable little tyrant. His paint job uses the 2ne Ed Ork Codex as reference as much as possible, eve featuring the squig hound and dead Dark Angel on the base. When I began the project, I was using the old Rogue Trader books to design the army composition, so the Dok had to be included, but since playing games, I struggle to build an Ork list without him. The Rocker was a fun extra and counts as a Waaagh! Banner in game.

No Goff army is complete with out a few 'ard cases to break heads, so plenty of Goff Nobz were going to make the list. Each of their banners is hand painted and no 2 banners have the same markings. It was a bit of a slog at times, but the results really make me smile.

Like the Nobz, the Megas all got the banner treatment. These guys do make me smile because of how small they look compared to the rest of the army. Even compared to the normal Nobz, these oldschool power armoured ladz have pretty skinny proportions.

The Dred was drafted in from my existing collection and given an upgraded paint job and a snzzy oldschool style banner. 

The Trak was a last minute addition as the GW points changes left me 100pts free in the list. I didn't fancy painting any more infantry or banners at the time so I added some high speed punch. In modern games it counts as a Scrapjet.

The Big Mek and the Wagons have done me proud in the games I've played, The Dred has usually got itself blasted in the first few turns, but when it does survive, it really does make a mess of my opponents.

The Storm Boyz were another last minute add on to the list. I needed more mobility in games, but wanted to keep within the Goffs themes. These guys were the obvious choice and tend to do quite well as rapid response in the later stages of games.

So there you have it. 1500pts of Retro Goff Orks were finished off this year. Alongside 1000pts of marines, that's 2 armies brought to completion in 2022. Pretty sure there was more.....

Fist To The Face

 Oh WOW it has been a while. I admit I've been very neglectful of this blog for over a year now. This has been due to my work life over that time (mostly) and a desire to put more time into other social/personal activities than blog writing. I know it might seem like a small thing to do, but at the end of long shifts, I was happier painting than writing. I wanted to finish my projects more than I could be bothered to document their progress. Thankfully, my Instagram allowed me to put up a few glimpses into what I ws doing, but that was due to the convenience of the platform. But times have changed and though a lot has happened in the last year I can say that some positivity has arisen, I started a new job that has provided me more free time to actually have a social life and pursue the more creative side of my life that, for so long now, had been almost abandoned due to scheduling conflicts and constant working weekends. 

NO MORE! Already I've built up a healthy calendar of events for the New Year and began work on the next string of sculpting and comic projects to get those creative juices flowing. With that in mind, lets take a look over the next couple of posts at what I've been doing during this busy time...

That right. As some of you who follow my Instagram have seen, I got caught up in the Horus Heresy hype earlier this year and bought the starter box. I never played all that much of 6th/7th Edition of 40k so the rules didn't hold too much sway over me, but I was hooked by the retro feel of the new beaky marine sculpts and I have always been a huge fan of the book series. After buying the starter box and randomly deciding a chapter I went to work.... and then I stalled. As the box sat unbuilt on my desk for about a month, I started to question the sense in what was ultimately a very expensive purchase. I didn't like the rules, I've always hated painting power armour, and the thought of THAT much yellow was a daunting prospect. In the end, I made a deal with myself. I would get a usable army (by 40k standards) painted by Christmas, or I'd sell the lot CHEAP as a personal punishment. 

Well, if that wasn't the kick I needed. I got my first 5 test marines painted and I was away. The army became oddly therapeutic to paint. The recipe for the armour was straight forward and looked cool, the character of the models was showing through with each new batch painted and I had learned how to use slide transfers properly after so long of avoiding them. And now, Christmas is just round the corner, and I have got 1000pts painted and ready to go.

The Terminators were possibly my least enjoyable unit to paint. I'm still pleased with the finish, I just don't remember having as much fun painting them as I did with the rest of the army.

I knew the dreadnought was going to make or break this project. It was a large model and I needed to see what the recipe for the armour was going to look like on the bigger models, especially when it comes to the tanks. In the end he turned out great, and is easily one of favourite pieces in the army so far.

I've not too much to say regarding the devastators. They were a necessary unit due to the Imperial Fist's army rule regarding bolter weaponry. Though, like the rest of the marines, they grew some character over the course of being painted

Finally the bosses. The Praetors form the HH starter box are lovely models. Covered in detail and carrying the weight of their respective titles well. It hard to decide what direction to go with them. I only need 1 Captain, the second model would be a sub commander by default. In the end I think this was the best choice. The Captain looks every bit the seasoned warrior and general, whilst the Chaplain holds a much less reserved pose, delivering inspirational litanies as a focal point for the troops

That's the army so far. As a means to stop me getting lazy, I have entered into a painting challenge with a friend of mine. This way I'm encouraged to finish up the rest of the army and he, like wise, is put to the task of finishing some of his own painting queue. We plan to have a battle in March to show off our progress, so when that comes around I'll be ready with the camera for a fully painted battle report.