Da Skulltakaz Deathskull Warband

 "Da Skulltakaz" Deathskull Warband

 Army List:

Da Skulltakaz 

• Warboss: slugga, power klaw, cybork body, eavy armor (100 pts)
• 21 x Ork Boyz: slugga, choppa, Nob w/ power klaw, boss pole (166 pts)
• 21 x Ork Boyz: shoota, 2 x big shootas, Nob w/ power klaw, boss pole (176 pts)
• Da Bonepickaz - 29 x Gretchin: blasta, 2 x Runtherds (107 pts)

Total: 549 points

Unlike my previous Ork army (and indeed pretty much every army I have ever collected), I decided to start by building and painting an entire legal force before getting sidetracked on other units. (What a concept!) I really owe it to the Contrast paint range as it lets me knock out big blocks of infantry much faster than before so I can get big units done without losing my excitement (and sanity!). 

This gives me a solid core for my army, wherever I decide to go next. Two big mobs of boyz should be the heart of any respectable warband. With 44 Wounds at Toughness 4, they should be able to withstand some punishment. One mob is armed with shootas and two big shootas to keep the army from being completely one-dimensional, but I definitely don't want to get into an extended firefight with marines. A big blob of gretchin gives me lots of bodies to absorb damage and tie up enemy units, or they can be split into two legal 15-grot mobs if I need to spread out to grab multiple objectives or table quarters where the mission calls for it. And the Warboss with S10 power klaw gives me my hammer to smash up any 'ard stuff.

While I have a lot of bodies, the army is lacking mobility, firepower, and armor (is that all?). Next, I need to add some vehicles, walkers, and big guns!

Skulltakaz Warboss - "Hacksaw" Gnash Gitrippa

Gnash Gitrippa was an aspiring nob of the Skulltakaz warband making a name for himself as a dead 'ard fighter when he was badly mauled while hunting a massive Horned Squigmaw. Despite having his right arm ripped away by the sharp horns, Gnash was able to cleave the Squigmaw's head in two with his trusty choppa. Even with the traumatic injury, he somehow slogged back to camp, where he was forced to cash in all the teef from his kill to get a painboy to stitch him up before he bled out. However, he chose to keep the massive horns for himself rather than trade them for a crude bionic arm made of rusted scrap. He mounted the impressive horns on his helmet as a symbol of his toughness and for the good luck they would surely bring, coming from such a worthy adversary.

This meant he was forced to learn to fight one-handed and over the months he proved adept enough to survive in a kulture of combat, but was never successful enough to scrape together the teef required for expensive bionics. But with the mustering of the Skulltakaz as part of the mighty WAAAGH! led by Snagrod, the Arch-Arsonist of Charadon, his luck would change. 

In his first action during the invasion of Badlanding, he was part of his warboss' retinue that got into a good scrap with a unit of Imperial walkers. During the fighting, Gnash was charging one of the walkers when he slipped in a pool of blood from a dead guardsman. At just that instant, a plasma cannon blast that had been aimed squarely at his head before he fell missed him and instead vaporized his unsuspecting warboss! Picking himself up, he tapped his lucky horns and then leapt at the offending walker. He grabbed its chainsaw arm and directed it into the walker's own leg, severing it easily and toppling the walker. He was then able to rip open the hatch and get at the squishy pilot with his choppa. 

The loot from this conquest of so many walkers was impressive and Gnash Gitrippa immediately laid claim to the magnificent chainsaw that proved so deadly. Using his share of his now dead boss' teef (like a true Deathskull, he was not above looting any corpse, no matter how esteemed), he was able to get the chainsaw and its engine mounted as a massive oversized bionic limb. Thus armed, he was able to win the inevitable challenge for leadership of the Skulltakaz warband, earning the moniker Hacksaw in the process for the way he hacked off opponents' limbs with his saw. 

And as for the corpse that inadvertently saved his life with its pool of slippery blood, he claimed the skull, had it cleaned by a grot, and now wears it around his neck as another lucky talisman. With the boldness of one who believes he has Mork's own luck combined with the improvisation learned by a one-armed fighter (and of course his massive chainsaw arm!), "Hacksaw" Gnash Gitrippa had the makings of a truly deadly warboss who would cause havoc for the Imperial forces during the Rynn's World campaign. 

Da Bonepickaz - Gretchin Mob

As expert scavengers able to get into tight spots and out again with an armload of interesting bitz, Gretchin play a crucial role in Deathskull kulture. Being equally adept at nabbing shiny gubbins from other orks as looting mangled corpses, they help ensure the right components get to the right meks to construct the tribe's war machines. The Skulltakaz employ a considerable number to also help collect and clean the skulls that give the warband their name.

Da Bonepickaz:

About 20 years ago when grotz only came in monopose metal, I bought a box of WHFB goblins to convert into 40k Gretchin to bolster the ranks. I finally implemented my idea, using some small metal gun sprues that may have originally been from Necromunda, although I have long forgotten where I got them. The goblins are a bit bigger than the plastic grotz, but it ends up just looking like the natural variation in size in a highly variable race. The banners help convey the sense of large units and both use the skull/bone motif of the Skulltakaz. 

I made 30 grotz and two Runtherds. In 4th Edition, you need one Runtherd per 10 grotz, so I could field these models as two units of 15 with one Runtherd each, or one unit of 29 with two Runtherds. This gives me some flexibility to field small mobs, such as for when there are many objectives all over the battlefield, or one larger mob that can soak up a fair bit of firepower before dispersing. 

I painted them with a more yellow-green than the mossy-green of the orks, to indicate they are smaller, younger, and generally weedier than their brutish cousins. The Warboss in turn will have browner skin than the orks. 

I was struggling to get good photos that show the colors accurately with my phone. I may have to invest in a proper camara with a lens and stand at some point. 

Looking forward to seeing them out on a battlefield sometime soon, swarming all over a beleaguered squad of marines! 

Crimson Fists Test Model

 Pete painted up a test model for the upcoming Rynn's World campaign using Fourth Edition rules. I added the decals and the flock. I think it came out pretty well.

Word Eaters Tactical Squad

 

V Legion Falchion: Monh-Baatu

The V Legion Falchion Monh-Baatu was the most renowned of the few super heavy tanks employed by the Loyalists during the Second Xhorik War. 

In the tongue of Chogoris, monh roughly translates as "of the spirit world" but when used as a given name means "spiritual" implying one is in tune with or connected to spirits. Baatu can mean "loyal" when used as a name. However, it equates to something closer to "dependable" or "guaranteed" when used as an adjective. Thus, the name Monh-Baatu could translate as "the loyal and spiritual one." But when used to describe an object such as a war machine, it can also imply the name bearer is of the spirit world rather than the physical, and that it is dependable, or even guaranteed as an ally. The White Scars saw Monh-Baatu as a spiritual protector and even adorned her with the banner of the Brotherhood of the Wind.

The name would take on a different meaning for the Traitors. 

Significantly outnumbered in armor in general, and super heavies in particular, the White Scars realized early in the campaign that a stand-up tank battle on the open Valbaara Plateau would be a disaster. Rather than stubbornly fight to the last man against unwinnable odds like some Legions, the V Legion elected to stay mobile and use their few super heavy tanks to destroy targets of opportunity. The crew of Monh-Baatu excelled in this role, often emerging from the morning mists at the head of a Chogorian Brotherhood raiding party, easily destroying the lesser tanks arrayed against it. When the Traitors responded in force, the Falchion would disappear like the wind, using its overcharged engines and extra fuel tanks to quickly outdistance any pursuers. 

As the war for Xhorik Prime wore on, the few other Loyalist super heavy tanks were eventually destroyed or disabled. Thanks to skill, luck, or perhaps spiritual intervention, the Monh-Baatu fought on and on, never able to seriously threaten the Traitor war effort but tallying up 37 confirmed kills in the process. Traitor forces reported her destroyed or disabled on at least three occasions, but she continued to reappear from the eastern sandstorms or the mountain passes to strike at vulnerable positions. This earned her the moniker of "The Spectre" from the Traitor legions for the way she seemed to repeatedly come back from the dead, take her vengeance, and fade away. 

In reality, the White Scars became adept at scavenging spare parts and making field repairs from temporary bases in the caves of the Uhrtar Mountains and from hiding places among their allies of the Stone River Sept in the eastern wastes. By the end of the campaign, she was patched and worn, but still had the speed and firepower to be a major threat. 

4th Edition Space Marine Chapter Selector

Seeing Pete building up a classic marine Crimson Fist army has given me some inspiration and excitement to paint up my remaining old “firstborn” marines as well. I figure they could participate in our campaigns, either against Tyranids or Traitor Guard, or if Pete feels like trying out Orks, or even as allies to the Fists.

The question is, which chapter to paint?

Criteria to Consider:

Painting: Fun to paint (somewhat efficient, easy-to-use colors, looks cool). 

Modeling: Conversion ideas, unit types that I like to build, fits with the models and bits I already have. 

Lore: Participated in classic 40k campaigns, especially Rynn’s World and Third War for Armageddon, that we would like to play. 

Distinctiveness: Different colors from our existing armies. Unique look as a chapter. 

Retro cool: Chapter highlighted in the old codices, rule books, and White Dwarf magazines of the 90s and 2000s. Color scheme reminiscent of this era. 

I will assign each chapter a score of 1 - 5 in each category for a total score of 5 - 25.

Chapters Under Consideration:

Storm Lords

Painting: They look awesome, but painting looks challenging with the split scheme, especially trying to get a freehand straight line between two contrasting colors on vehicles. White is a challenge, but I’ve developed some decent techniques for it. Painting white over red (to fix mistakes) is not fun. Red is one of the most fun, striking, and beautiful colors Citadel makes. The yellow helmets look fun. I am just not sure I can do another white army. 

Score: 2 

Modeling: As a White Scars successor, I can use some existing bits. Interesting potential to work in thunderbolts and storm motifs. Chapter shoulder pads exist. 

Score: 4

Lore: They are the only chapter that I’ve found that has documented lore of their participation in the War of the Beast, Rynn’s World, and the Third War for Armageddon. Also, a White Scars successor famous for fighting Orks. 

Score: 5

Distinctiveness: Red and white have been common with Hydra Legion, White Scars, and Blood Angels. Yellow helmets and split scheme would help them pop. 

Score: 2

Retro Cool: Halved paint scheme? Different color helmet? Definitely checks the boxes. They show up in Codex Armageddon, 4th Edition Codex, and 7th Edition Codex. 

Score: 5

Total Score:  18

Mantis Warriors

Painting: Yellowish pale green seems reasonably easy to paint. Green is one of the nice colors you can highlight up and shade down or use Contrast paints. Yellow accent color would take a bit more work but adds a nice pop. They look fairly cool. Not as bold and dynamic as some chapter colors.

Score: 4

Modeling: As a White Scars successor, I can use some existing bits. An insect theme could result in some interesting modeling opportunities. They have a sort of Ninja vibe: individualistic, sneaky, ambushing, going on a quest to reclaim their lost honor, etc. That theme could open up some more ideas that we have not done yet. Old Rouge Trader art shows them wearing camo (gasp!). Chapter shoulder pads exist. 

Score: 4

Lore: Not at Rynn’s World or Armageddon. Fought in Badab War, which is a pretty iconic campaign featured in Imperial Armor books 9 and 10 (authored by the immortal Alan Bligh just before the first Horus Heresy black book). They turned traitor during that war, which could setup some fun games with an excuse for marine vs marine action. Afterwards, redeemed through a 100-year crusade, which could bring them to Rynn's World (Badab War ended in 913 M41 while the Rynn's World invasion was in 988 M41 with the retaking of the planet in ~990-991 M41). White Scars successor via the Marauders. Not founded yet during War of the Beast. 

Score: 3

Distinctiveness: We have no other armies using light green as army colors, although it is sort of close to Ork skin. No one using yellow as accent color so that should pop on the table. 

Score: 4

Retro Cool: They are not in any of the old Codices, but they are in the Forge World Imperial Armor Badab War books, some of the pinnacle publications of the Warhammer hobby and released just before the game started to go off the rails in 6th Edition. Sadly, I don’t have those particular IA books (yet). They have been around since the Rogue Trader days, first appearing in White Dwarf in 1988.  

Score: 3

Total Score: 18

White Scars

Painting: I have some recipes that are not too painful, but overall white is a challenge to paint and I’ve been painting it for years so I’m pretty tired of it. It would let me field Heresy units in 40k in order to have a bigger army faster.  But if I want to paint more Scars, I can do so for Heresy. Fun factor drops the score to 2 at this point.

Score: 2

Modeling: I love the Scars motif and have loads of bits already. Even though most are Heresy, old armor and shoulder pads can be mixed in. Lots of bits are available. But I’ve been doing this theme for a long time and I would be replicating some stuff I’ve already done probably. 

Score: 4

Lore:  Fought at both Rynn’s World and Armageddon. Haven’t seen anything on the War of the Beast but given that it was a major conflict across the galaxy and the Scars existed at the time, they definitely would have fought in it. 

Score: 5

Distinctniveness: Obviously not distinct from the Heresy army. Among the 40k armies, only the Tyranids have a lot of white. The semi-retired Hydra Legion has off-white. We have two other white Heresy armies with World Eaters and Death Guard.  

Score: 2

Retro Cool: They appear in most of the major rule books, codices, and publications. Never as big a part of the lore as the Big Four: Ultras, Wolves, Dark Angels and Blood Angels, but in the next tier. Because their scheme continues to evolve with the new editions of the game, I would call it timeless rather than retro. 

Score: 4

Total Score: 16

Blood Angels Successor: Angels Encarmine or Flesh Tearers

Painting: Red is very satisfying to paint and not super difficult. Black is not too bad if there isn’t too much of it; it just requires finicky, sharp edge highlighting. Red always looks great on the battlefield. 

Score: 4

Modeling: I have Blood Angels metal special characters and metal Death Company that were gifted to me. I could use them with a successor. Tons of Blood Angel bits are available, but not much for these successors. Seems like either one would be very assault heavy, which are fun to model and different from my White Scars and Sons of Horus. 

Score: 4

Lore: Angels Encarmine fought at Rynn’s World and Flesh Tearers at Armageddon. 

Score: 4 for Encarmine and 3 for Tearers. 

Distinctiveness: With Blood Angels already in our games, either of these chapters would look almost identical.

Score: 1

Retro Cool: They both show up in multiple old publications. Bold red with high contrast trim and Aquilas are very reminiscent of the old days. 

Score: 4 

Total score: 16

Hawk Lords

Painting: Purple looks interesting and seems like it should be similar to both blue and red, which are relatively forgiving colors to paint. Gold trim would not be hard. Yellow would take a bit more work. The whole marine being a single color makes things easier. But it would probably take some edge highlighting to make the purple pop, which is a pain. Painting a new color would be fun. 

Score: 4

Modeling: I could use just about any bird or feather themed bits; there are plenty of those. Not much that I can find specific to Hawk Lords. An aerial themed force with lots of speeders and jump packs could look quite striking. The only chapter on this list that is not a White Scars successor.

Score: 3

Lore: They are reported to have fought in the War of the Beast. They are not listed as participants in either the Rynn’s World Campaign or Third War for Armageddon or any of the Imperial Armor books as far as I know. 

Score: 1

Distinctiveness: We have no purple armies so far. These guys would stand out in any game and on any battlefield. However, they do look a lot like Heresy Emperor’s Children. 

Score: 4

Retro Cool: Although included in a few old sources such as the 4th Edition Codex, they never really got much attention and didn’t show up in any of the classic battle reports or army photos that I remember.  They seem to actually be a bigger part of the lore now than in the 3rd-4th edition days.

Score: 3

Score: 15

Sons of Jaghatai

Painting: As stated above, purple would be interesting and different. And I like the bone secondary color better than the gold/yellow of the Hawk Lords and it makes them more distinct from Heresy Thousand Sons. I bet I could use Contrast paints to paint them quickly and they would look decent. 

Score: 5

Modeling: Another White Scars successor, I assume, even though it is not confirmed in the lore. They seem to have a bit of a Turkic theme so I would go that route rather than anything ninja or samurai themed. No shoulder pads or decals or bits that I know of. They appear to use back banners so that would be fun and retro.

Score: 3

Lore: Basically no official lore. They were created for a White Dwarf article on how to create your own Space Marine chapter. 

Score: 1

Distinctiveness: We have no purple armies. Even if Pete eventually paints Heresy Thousand Sons, these guys would still be distinct, unlike The Hawk Lords.

Score: 5

Retro Cool: They show up only in White Dwarf 299 and How to Paint Space Marines, as far as I know. The scheme is reminiscent of their time, but they were never part of the old 40k artwork or campaigns.

Score: 2

Score: 16

Scoring Summary:

Storm Lords: 18

Mantis Warriors: 18

White Scars: 16

Angels Encarmine: 16

Sons of Jaghatai: 16

Hawk Lords: 15

They are all surprisingly close. The White Scars are out because if I want to paint more of them, I can work on my Heresy army. I really love the Storm Lords and they fit the lore perfectly, but I do not know if I can take on white and red again, especially the vehicles. I am leaning toward Mantis Warriors or Sons of Jaghatai, mostly to paint something different because the painting is where you spend most of the time in this hobby.

Midhammer Rules Release Timeline

Some dark corners of the webway refer to the glory days of the "Third Edition Paradigm" (3rd - 7th editions) as "midhammer" 40,000 to differentiate from "oldhammer" (Rouge Trader and Second Edition) and the current editions.

With our Third Xhorik War campaign using 4th Edition rules and our upcoming Rynn's World campaign also planning to use that ruleset, I wanted to document when the various rules and supplements were released in order to help determine which rules are most appropriate. 

The books we have are in normal text; those we do not are in grey. The books we are using will be in bold red. 

Third Edition Rules: October 1998

Codex Space Marines (3rd): 1998

Codex Blood Angels (3rd): 1999 

Codex Imperial Guard (3rd): 1999

Codex Eldar (3rd): 1999 

Codex Assassins (3rd): 1999 

Codex Orks (3rd): 1999

Codex Armageddon: 1999 

Codex Tyranids (3rd): 2001

Codex Chaos Space Marines (3.5th): 2002 

Codex Imperial Guard (3.5th): 2003

Codex Witch Hunters (3rd): April 2004 

Fourth Edition Rules: August 2004

Codex Space Marines (4th): 2004

Codex Tyranids (4th): 2005

IA3 Taros Campaign: October 2005

Cities of Death: June 2006

IA4 The Anphelion Project: December 2006

Apocalypse: October 2007 

Codex Orks (4th): January 2008

Fifth Edition Rules: July 2008

Codex Space Marines (5th): October 2008

Codex Imperial Guard (5th): May 2009

Codex Planetstrike: 2009

IA8 Raid on Kastorel-Novem: May 2010

Battle Missions Scenarios Book: 2010 

IA9 Badab War Part 1: October 2010

IA10 Badab War Part 2: January 2011  

Sixth Edition Rules: June 2012 

Codex Space Marines (6th): September 2013 

IA3 Taros Campaign (2nd Edition): October 2013

Seventh Edition Rules: May 2014

Codex Orks (7th): June 2014 

Codex Space Marines (7th): June 2015 

More Skulltakaz! Shoota Boyz!

I finished my second big mob of Deathskulls for the upcoming Rynn's World campaign using 4th Edition rules. Any ork warband without at least two huge mobs of boyz is not worthy of the name, I say. Just like last time, I assembled 20 boyz before I remembered the nob so once again, I have 21 in the mob. Oh well, unlike humans, orks do not care about neat organization into multiples of ten. The nob leads as many boyz as he can inspire (and bully) into following him!

I kept the same paint scheme and once again, everyone gets a skull - or part of one - for good luck. But I updated the bases. The previous version was a little too muddy looking. I went with a drier frozen base and a black rim for visual dead space between the base and the board. I am happier with the result. 

M32 Battle Report 3: Blood Angels Raid on Ork Fuel Depot

 "Surprise insertion. Eliminate all six targets. Rapid extraction before the enemy can respond."

-Captain Garo, Blood Angels Second Company

Background:

The Ork invasion of Xhorik Prime is well underway. Battles rage across northern Bhorivor and northeastern Kozar. After a number of early defeats, including the loss of Vayya and its mines, the planetary defenses are stiffening as reserve regiments are mobilized to the front lines to stall the ork advances. But with Imperial garrisons under pressure along the entire front, and no effective reserves arriving from Unimund, any hopes of an effective counterattack by the humans are still far from realistic. The priority for the Imperial forces is to slow the Orks and buy time for reinforcements to arrive. 

Scenario:

We played the Raven Guard First Strike scenario from IA8: Raid on Kastorel-Novem. The space marines would be arriving Deep Strike and had to destroy at least four of the six ork fuel tanks. The fuel tanks count as immobile vehicles with AV12 and any Vehicle Destroyed or Explodes! result would destroy it. Alternatively, all attacker units are assumed to be equipped with demo charges which can be attached by assaulting the fuel tank, causing them to automatically explode at the end of the assaulting player's next turn. Night Fighting would be in effect for the entire batttle. 

Belligerents:

Blood Angels Space Marines

• Captain
• Terminator Squad
• Assault Squad
• Assault Squad
• Tactical Squad
• Tactical Squad
• Tactical Squad
• Dreadnought

Orks

• Warboss
• Meganobz with trukk
• Tankbustas
• 'Ard Boyz
• Slugga Boyz
• Slugga Boyz
• Shoota Boyz
• Warbikers