Tankbusta 5: Rip

This one looks a little less feral than most of the others. I wanted a few that looked like they had rokkit launchas capable of a bit longer range than the spear-throwers.

This seems like the type of helmet you would wear if you were going to be blowing up vehicles at point-blank range.

A nice fur to help stay camouflaged in the hills. And you can see the red button that means "boom"! 

The running pose came from chopping up and re-positioning Stormboy legs. I love the underslung rokkit launcha!

The hook is visceral and could be useful for climbing or helping to pry open hatches on vehicles to get to the good stuff. 

Five tankbustas done; two left to paint. I've been keeping a pretty good pace. At this rate, I should have the whole mob finished and based in another couple of weeks.

Tankbusta 4: Bones

One more savage tankbusta joins the growing mob: Bones. He is so fierce, he goes into battle almost naked with only a bit of scaly animal hide and some lucky bones to protect him.

He uses a hunting spear with the addition of a little warhead to help pierce the steel hide on those metal squigs.

Ork ass! 

There's nothing like a good, solid lead pipe for crackin' skulls!

Campaign Background Summary

Here is some of the key background from previous posts summed up. 

Almost 100 years ago, a massive Ork army from a space hulk was invading the planet Xhorik Prime. The Imperials were losing badly and they knew they needed to do something drastic to stop the Ork momentum from becoming a full-out Waaagh! that enveloped the entire system. So the Imperial Navy summoned every available ship and concentrated enough firepower to completely demolish the hulk. But because it was in orbit around Xhorik, the explosion created a massive cloud of debris that blocked out the sun over large swathes of land and led to an ecological disaster over the interior of the main continent. (The risk had been judged worth accepting as the planet was not deemed to have imminent strategic value.) The destruction of the hulk accomplished the main goal of stopping the Orks from moving on to other planets and also resulted in the destruction of their base of operations along with most of their advanced technology such as telly-portas and flyers and countless numbers of Orks. There was also some, erm, collateral damage to the remaining human population, but they were already written off as lost by the Imperial generals.

The Orks that survived the devastation turned into a tribe of scavengers picking through the ruins of a wasted world for weapons and supplies. But rather than feeling defeated, the Orks took an immense pride in the worldwide destruction they had caused. "Dose 'oomies may 'ave wrecked our ship, but we wrecked dere whole world!" From then on, they called themselves Da World Wrecka tribe.

Some of the original human population survived the Armageddon as well, but the high levels of radiation left them as genetically-mutated abhumans, condemned to a life of eking out a life on a ruined world. They felt abandoned by the Emperor, who ruined their world and their bodies. 

The coastal areas did not see the same levels of destruction and they were quickly repopulated by new Imperial settlers. The newcomers despised and native population because of their compromised genes and chased them out of the best remaining areas of the planet, but mostly chose to leave them alone in the worthless wastelands. However, the discovery of strategic minerals and gases under the vast, ruined interior of the central continent changed that dynamic as the Imperial settlers started building mining camps, drilling rigs and supply routes through the wastelands filled with savage Orks and abhumans. 

It is now several generations after the Armageddon. The savage Orks and abhumans war with each other and raid the Imperials colonizers. The new Imperials have an overwhelming superiority in firepower and technology and do not fear the Orks or abhumans, other than surprise raids against undefended targets. However, all that has changed with the arrival of a new warband of Orks, the Blitzdreg Boyz, an army of Evil Sunz rampaging through space who have been unknowingly, unconsciously making their way to this planet for years, drawn by the immense psychic beacon of Waaagh! energy that was building during the original invasion and magnified by the biggest, most destructive event in this corner of the galaxy. 

The Blitzdreg boyz have finally arrived as a mechanized, motorized, speed-crazed warband ready for the glorious and never-ending war they have been drawn to since the day they spawned. They made planetfall during one of the many meteor storms that systematically ravage the planet in order to avoid detection and certain destruction by the Imperial Navy. The Blitzdreg Boyz initially overwhelmed the unprepared Imperial garrisons with a level of speed and firepower that they had never before encountered. The Red Brotherhood chapter of Space Marines had a small garrison on the planet and they quickly called in reserves to make a counterattack that has stalled the Ork invasion as lengthening supply lines from the landing site start to rob the Orks of momentum. 

The next chapter of the campaign will involve my Blitzdreg boyz joining up with the World Wrecka's (after a good scrap, of course, to determine which Warboss is the toughest and most kunnin' and therefore chosen by Gork and Mork to lead). 

Also, unbeknownst to all, the Ork landing craft were infected with Tyranid spores that have found fertile places to spawn. Already, small packs of genestealers have been fighting skirmishes with the Orks and humans as they scout the biodiversity of the planet for the Hive Mind.

These pictures I posted are some of the World Wrecka tribe of savage scavengers. They lack the tools and skills to build the most advanced technology as most of their energy has been focused on simple survival in a harsh environment. But they have developed excellent skills in hunting, tracking and ambushes and they know the jagged, broken terrain of Xhorik better than anyone. Now that they have got their hands on some better weapons from their recently-arrived Orky brethren, they are ready to apply those skills and finally hunt those giant, metal squigs the 'oomies ride in, the ones they have been hiding from their entire lives. It is time for the Orks come back out from the shadows and re-start the glorious war of the past!

Tankbusta 3: Gutz

I call this one Gutz. It is hard to see in the pictures, but he has a big scar across the lower left part of his abdomen. While hunting a tusked beast, he was gored and his innards spilled out. With his weapon lost and the beast's tusks pressing into him, Gutz wrapped a loop of intestine around the beast's neck and strangled it. Now he displays the ragged scar proudly and uses the animal's tusk as a weapon so that everyone knows who he is. He has earned a reputation as one of the toughest orks in the tribe.

Savage enough for ya, Pete?

You can just see the famous scar right above the belt. And he has a tooth stuck through his lip as a piercing!

He uses the tusk for its intimidation factor. It lets everyone know who he is.

One extra rokkit because the first one might miss! 

The only thing better than hunting tusked beasts is hunting tanks!

While posting these pictures, I noticed a few small details I missed. These zoomed-in photos on the monitor are actually larger than the actual model and I always see imperfections when I look at them. I will touch him up and post the final pictures of the mob after I finish all the bases.

Creeping Death

The Space Marines of the Red Brotherhood Chapter field five Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts that they have maintained, refurbished, and re-piloted over the course of 10,000 years, since the Chapter first formed from the Imperial Fists. What was once twenty after the end of the Horus Heresy, has dwindled down to five, as countless battles and irreparable damage has forced the master techmarines of Carthage to slowly scrap one machine for the continued use of another.

Tankbusta 2: Shrap

Second tankbusta is done. This guy is a pretty straightforward kitbash, but I think he conveys the look I am going for. The goggles and bandana around the mouth definitely look like what you would wear in a desert environment prone to dust and radiation storms (if you couldn't find a gas mask to scavenge!). He has a tankbusta bomb and a choppa made from scrap metal to help him fight his way to the big, juicy targets! The running legs from Spellcrow were perfect because he should be sprinting forward ready to use that bomb up close.

A Native of Xhorik Prime

I'm currently working on converting some feral native Orks of Xhorik Prime as Tankbustas with a "techno-savage" look. They have a tribal culture and salvage their technology from the ruins of the deserts.

Here is the first one, affectionately named Chuck. I'll do all their bases at the end.

He prefers hunting the big metal squigs in the traditional way: with spears.

"This is my boom stick!"

I was going for a pose that looks like he is winding up and ready to launch his explosive spear.

Tanks and beakies beware!

I figure the fact that he is throwing a spear is covered by the poor Ork ballistic skill.

In the second picture, you can see he has metal studs stuck in his skin. When he blew up his first tank, several pieces of shrapnel buried themselves in his skin. Rather than remove them, Chuck pinned them in place as decorations, to show off his toughness and bravery.

I have six more modeled up and I will be posting them as I get them painted.