Da Boyz Toyz

Hey guys, in my last entry (which was horribly long and boring, I know, sorry), I posted some really poor pics of some Vehicles that I have been starting to add to my Ork army. I have found, in recent games, a necessity to change up my Ork mob tactic to better allow me to handle the Marine and IG MEQ armies and the Space Wolf inspired combined arms lists (Mix of mounted up Marines and Terminators supported by fast movers like jump troops, bikes, and out flankers).

The amount of vehicles I will be fielding has been steadily going up starting with no vehicles, just Deff Koptas; to Deff Koptas and 2 Trukks; to Deff Koptas, 2 Trukks, and a Battle Wagon; and now finally to Deff Koptas, 2 Trukks, a Battle Wagon, and a not quite finished yet Looted Wagon. I suspect another Battle Wagon or two are going to find their way into my list eventually, but I am going to stick with this for now.

In later entries I will discuss the different uses, wargear options, and craziness associated with Ork Vehicles but for now I wanted to share some better pics of these 4 vehicles in all their glory!

First up is the first Trukk I assembled, which when I opened the box I found to be missing a few parts, namely 3 wheel halves, the ork gunner for the big shoota, and the mounts for the boarding planks. A quick call to GW and they sent me a whole new Trukk (see Trukk 2 below).



Even with out these parts I could tell that this kit was going to be a tough build and I am not to ashamed to say that this is the first GW Vehicle Kit I have had to look at the directions to build in recent years. Wow this is a great kit, lots of option on how to assemble things, parts to put on or leave off, and pretty much all the options all in one box. If you look closely at the pic above and the pic of Trukk 2 below you can see there are some slight difference that while not major, really make the vehicles different and unique while keeping the overall Ramshackle yet similar look going. So needless to say I applied some of my conversion skills and over came the missing components by just leaving one of the two sets of back wheels off and hiding the missing set with some armor pieces made from the planks that did not have mounts and some glyph plate detail pieces that were on the sprues for the Trukk.

Trukk 2 (The Free Trukk!) offered me some new modeling opportunities as all the piece were there this time, so I went to work trying to build the basic Trukk the directions told me to build.



I did a few things differently. For starters I figured out something I had gotten wrong about the assembly of the crew compartment on the first Trukk, and did it right this time. Then I switched the sides of the Driver and Gunner. This is really one of the great things about the Trukk Kit, a lot of the pieces are modular so you can assemble them in different ways to get a unique feel every time. I also left off some the rear armor plating and one of the roll bars to give the back a more open feel. In addition I added on the boarding planks to each side of the Trukk this time, but cut them down to make them shorter to make them fit in with the Trukk a bit better. I did a few other cosmetic things too but they are not that important.

Next up we have the Battle Wagon!



This monster was another kit that forced me to break out the instructions as the level of complexity and detail rivals that of the Trukk. Sure it looks less ramshackle then the Trukk does but that is the point. This bad boy comes with most of the options too, plus a few new ones that the Trukk does not have (like the Grabber Claw that I decide to put on my Looted Wagon below). This beast has so many configurations and ways to assemble it that I am going to have to get 2 or so more just so I can try them all out. I decided that this time around I wanted to go for a lightly armed, low point cost variety Battle Wagon. So I kept things simple, the only weapons options on this bad boy are a zap gun and a big shoota (not shown). Add in some Armor Plates, a Nice red paint job, and you have a 120pt - 130pt monster that can take a licking and still get its up to 20 ork crew into battle safely.

And finally, the Looted Wagon.



Originally I had not planned to add one of these into my army, preferring the speed of the fast Trukks over the slightly better armor and weapon option of the Looted Wagon, but after learning that it is nigh impossible to get Trukk transports for units like Tank Bustas (one of the balancing factors of the Ork book) I decided I need one of these vehicles to get my special boyz into battle safely. This vehicle is about 60% done being converted. I still need to work on the exhaust system some, the details on the sides, and the interior detail too. In addition, the Grabbing Claw needs a ork operator, the other side needs a hatch, and I need to figure out what weapon options I want to add. The Looted Wagon has the option of having a Skorcha for 15pts and I am starting to lean that way though it will make this tank expensive. I had already planned to give it Armored Plates, Grabbing Claw, Red Paint Job (all ork vehicles should have a red paint job) and Grot Riggers, bringing its current cost up to 60pts already. Add on a Skorcha and 2 Big Shootas and we are looking at an 85pt Armor 11 Vehicle that isn't fast. Cool, fluffy, fun, but not that cost effective. I may have to rethink things some.

Well anyways, I just wanted to share the fun I am having with my new found passion, Ork Armor. Next time I will be talking about Ork Boyz and showing you the progress I have been making on getting the 80+ I have to paint finished.

Until next time...