Return of the Warbikers

I have updated my warbiker mob. 

Here are photos from a recent battle report:

I started this biker mob back in 3rd Edition as some of the original ork models I painted when getting back into the hobby in the 2000s after losing all of our old models in the late 90s. The original four bikers with the famous winged autocannon were built using a lot of metal Gorkamorka bits. One guy even uses a metal spear from the old 2nd Edition boarboyz. When we got back into the hobby for the third time in 7th Edition in the 2010s, I added the resin nob biker from Forge World and then two custom converted bikes. 

They were mounted on the old rectangular cavalry bases since that was all there was when the original four were built and painted. The nob was on an ugly custom base I made from a cavalry base stuck between two halves of a 40mm round base, making a sort of cartoon cock-and-balls shape for the three wheels. 

I decided to give these biker boys a facelift before they joined the Rynn's World campaign as allies to Uzrog's Deathskulls. I gave them new bases to match the Skulltakaz and then touched up some of the paint on the original four bikers, mainly the metal and skin, which were pretty rough. The new bases make a huge difference and I am excited to get these wild riders back on the tabletop!

I've always loved ork warbikers. Their rules have changed pretty dramatically over the various editions. In 4th Edition, they are a fast but short-ranged shooty unit. They are a bit too small to be effective in assaults in general, but can be a threat to targets of opportunity thanks to the nob's power klaw. Using them effectively can be a challenge because while they are quite versatile with decent mobility, shooting, assault, and survivability, they are not great at anything. It is easy to rush forward, fire off a salvo that does not destroy its target, and then find yourself getting charged by a swarm of angry gaunts and being overwhelmed. But their speed means they can quickly get to wherever they are needed, and they can start threatening your opponent's line right from the start, taking their focus off your main mobs.

Game rules aside, nothing beats the sight of a big mob of speed-crazed orks on motorcycles, careening toward the enemy, engines roaring, guns blazing and toothy mouths open wide with the glee of it all! 'Ere we go! 

Rynn's World Battle 1: The Approach to Krugerport

"...Gonna burn dis burg to da ground, an' kill anyfing dat fights. Yous all gonna be slaves an' when we done ya gonna say 'thank yoo boss'..."

-Warlord Snagrod, the Arch Arsonist of Charadon

Background

Welcome to the first battle in our campaign to recreate the Rynn's World Incident, one of the oldest and most iconic stories of the 40k setting.

For an overview of the campaign and Andy Chambers' excellent lore:

Bloodied Fist: The Rynn's World Incident - Campaign Outline

For links to all the related posts in this campaign:

Rynn's World Incident Blog Index

Scenario: The Approach to Krugerport - Seek and Destroy 

This battle would represent the Crimson Fists 4th company making their way from their Thunderhawk landing sites to Krugerport and running into an ork patrol on the way. As this is an escalation campaign to allow us to build up our forces, this first clash is only 500 points and represents just a small skirmish before the marines reach their main objectives in the settlement.

This was a warmup game just to get familiar with the 4th Edition rules again so we played the Combat Patrol scenario with the simple objective of trying to destroy the other army and earn the most Kill Points. Game Length: 4 Turns

Belligerents:

Crimson Fists 4th Company [Pete]

• Brother-Captain Ashor Drakken
• 5th Tactical Squad: 7 marines, heavy bolter, melta gun, veteran sergeant with power sword and plasma pistol
• 4th Tactical Squad: 6 marines, flamer, veteran sergeant with power fist
• Rhino transport with storm bolter

Da Skulltakaz, Deathskull Warband [Phil]

• Uzrog Mag-Kull: Warboss, slugga, power klaw, cybork body, eavy armor (100 pts)
• Snagtoof's Sluggas: 21 x Ork Boyz: slugga, choppa, Nob w/ power klaw, boss pole (166 pts)
• Gargut's Bullet Boyz: 21 x Ork Boyz: shoota, 2 x big shootas, Nob w/ power klaw, boss pole (176 pts)
• Da Bonepickaz: 16 x Gretchin: blasta, 1 x Runtherds (58 pts)

Total: 500 points

Our armies consisted of all the painted models we had, except I had to leave out a few grots to get down to 500 points.

Battle:

Drakken's men picked their way through the rugged terrain, making for Kurgerport.

In the low light and dust of Badlanding, the Crimson Fists encounter an unexpectedly large ork patrol.

Gargut's Bullet Boyz catch sight of some new enemies and bellow out their war cries. 

The ork patrol has the initiative and they surge toward the marines. 

The Skulltakaz warband splits up to maneuver through the broken terrain.

Tactical Squad 4 advances cautiously in their Rhino, firing their storm bolter. 

Tactical Squad 5 takes up a defensive position on a rocky outcrop. 

Uzrog sends Da Bonepickaz ahead of his boys to soak up the incoming fire.

A few greenskins are whittled down.

The orks continue to press the advance, getting ever closer. 

The Skulltakaz warband approaches through the barren woods of Badlanding. 

Snagtoof's Sluggas push the hapless grots toward their target. 

4th Squad disembarks to face the oncoming orks. 

The thin blue line of marines launches another salvo, felling a slew of grots. But the large mob of orks remains intact. 

Orks roar out in pain as they are burned to slag by a gout of flaming promethium. 

The two squads find themselves separated and vastly outnumbered. 

Gargut's boys close in on 4th Squad.

Snagtoof's Sluggas violently shove the gretchin aside as they charge up the hill. The grots are more than happy to oblige and scamper off to the side to avoid being trampled. 

The marines fight valiantly but are overwhelmed by the aggressive savagery of orks on the charge. 

A brutal melee erupts on the outcrop!

Sergeant Werner and 5th Squad defend the hilltop against the green tide.

It quickly becomes apparent the Crimson Fists cannot hold off the ork assault as Uzrog drives his boyz forward. 

4th Squad is forced to grab their wounded and leap aboard their Rhino to escape the rampaging orks. 

Captain Drakken is forced to disengage, leaving several dead marines behind. 

Aftermath:

The Crimson Fists clearly did not expect this level of organization and aggressiveness from the orks of Badlanding. Drakken realized too late that these were not just typical ork pirates pillaging for fun that could be dispersed with some disciplined bolter fire. These greenskins were part of a much bigger ork force that was gearing up for a Waaagh! that would threaten the whole sector. This would be critical information to pass along to Chapter Master Kantor. He knew he must complete his mission to gather information on their strength and do what he could to disrupt and delay their buildup. 

Uzrog Mag-Kull was pleased with the new opponents his boyz had found. As he looked down at half a dozen dead orks, he nodded appreciatively. These beakie 'ard boyz had put up a much better fight than the human defenders of Badlanding. It must be the lucky blue color of their armor, he surmised. It was a shame there were so few. He let his Deathskulls loot the battlefield and then gathered them up to leg it back to Krugerport as quickly as they could in order to get in on what sure to be the best scrap available on this desolate rock of a planet. 

Post-Game:

That was an overwhelming victory for the orks. The marines couldn’t dish out nearly enough damage from a distance. And most of the shooting they did only thinned out the grots, leaving an unstoppable number of boyz to charge into close combat. This was only a practice game to get used to the 4th edition rules with small armies that didn’t leave a great deal of room for tactics. But I believe Pete made the classic mistake of splitting his fire between different units, weakening several but not sufficiently crippling any. He could have used his Rhino to transport 4th Squad to support 5th Squad, forcing the shoota boyz to spend an extra turn or two closing the gap to the hill. Most likely it would not have made a difference to the outcome as the ork numbers were just too overwhelming for a handful of tactical marines to tackle. The marines will have their work cut out for them in this campaign!

We both really enjoyed the 4th edition rules after playing mostly Heresy for nearly a decade and 7th edition before that. The rules are simple and intuitive, turns are quick, there are a minimal number of special tables to consult and rules to check. It feels like positioning of your units and target selection are critically important, rather than special rules and buffs. I love this version of the ork codex for its simplicity (elegant army-wide rules; minimal unit special rules to remember) while having a great versatility of army compositions possible. We also both realized we had put our characters in the rear of our units because we were conditioned to the casualty removal rules of other editions, but 4th edition allows you to remove any models in range and line of sight so it doesn't penalize leaders leading. It actually encourages you to put your characters near the front so they can participate in melee (both of our independent characters were left out of the central brawl).

Most importantly, it was amazing to see the legendary matchup of orks vs Crimson Fists! Badlanding, Rynn’s World, Captain Ashor Drakken… these names bring back nostalgic memories of our early days in the hobby and an excitement the current lore just can’t match. 

This should be a great campaign!

Ork Structures of Krugerport

When Uzrog Mag-Kull's orks took control of Badlanding, they immediately set about rebuilding the ruined city in a more proppa way. The first structure to be thrown together was a barracks for housing the boys. Needing something quick and dirty, the barracks is built from scrap, including the remains of some Crimson Fists vehicles. They then added some Deathskull colors and iconography. Second was the power station to provide electricity to the expanding settlement. 

The barracks was thrown together from scrap but includes some defensive features around the roof.

The main entrance is fortified with a tank hull to make it easy to defend. Numerous glyphs and icons tell the orks about this structure. 

I am particularly proud of how the rust turned out on the edge of the tank hull. 

The orks added their own decoration to this wall, next to the large, barred window. 

The other side also features some windows for ventilation.

The rear has several fortified window slits and a sewage pipe to allow drainage from the floor to outside. 

Another early building in the settlement is the power station, providing energy for the settlement.

The icon on the front makes clear the building's purpose. And the door is secure to keep out unwanted visitors and also possibly to contain the blast when things inside inevitably blow up.

The rear has a ventilation fan and roof access.

Orky electrical know-wotz. The smokestack is appropriately askew. 

Power generation requires water pumped in from underground reservoirs. 

The Deathskulls start to make their imprint on Krugerport.

Some WIP photos to give an idea of the type of materials used. 

Building and painting these were a lot of fun. Another excuse to really dump out all the bitz I have been accumulating for years and let my imagination go to work. I did not have a clear plan or vision when I started and just let these come together in whatever way felt right. The power plant started as a mek workshop but morphed into a power station as the various attached bits started to take shape. Painting was also an experiment. A brown undercoat drybrushed with lighter brown and orange gave a nice rusty look. I then just had to pick out details in metallics, Crimson Fists navy, and Deathskull bright blue. Then a heavy dose of weathering to make everything look appropriately grimy.

In addition to using these to help make Krugerport feel more occupied by orks, I can use these in the future if we ever want to play the Raid on Kastorel-Novem (IA8), another of my hobby goals as a collector of both drop troops and orks.