Welcome to Conflict Valorax, an open-ended narrative campaign for Warhammer 40,000 set deep within the Ultima Segmentum on the Eastern Fringe of the galaxy and close to the limit of mankind’s domain. The purpose of this campaign narrative is to richly detail the setting and history of the Valorax star system in order to bring a depth and storyline to ongoing games set within the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Games of Warhammer 40,000, Epic, Inquisitor, Aeronautica Imperialis, Space Crusade, Space Hulk and Battlefleet Gothic are all set within this greater context, each conflict adding detail to the ongoing plot.

Thursday 24 November 2011

Spotlight On: Ork Kum Bukkitz

Many years ago, not long after I started to love Little Men I got into Orks. 

At this time I had a good ol' giggle about the fact that one of the units were called Nobz. 

(Smirk) 

Inspired by this frivolity I christened my Ork warband the Shaggin' Dogz. 

... and proceeded to give all the units amusing (to me) names. 

Meet the Kum Bukkitz:


(Shakes head) 
I went to a gaming evening and had a game with this guy, determined to stretch as much humour out of this concept as possible. To this end, as I moved each unit I "happened" to mention their "amusing" name at the same time. 

Boy, was I giggling to myself. 

Unfortunately my opponent didn't giggle. Once. He did the opposite of giggle. 

Giving kinky sex names to wargaming miniatures obviously wasn't his idea of a good time. 

So I stopped mentioning it and concentrated on getting my ass kicked in the game. Perhaps concentrating more on tactics and less on silly names might have been recommended.

  

In other news, how cool is this guy's power claw?! 

When I opened the blister ten years ago I actually thought this was what it was meant to be but if you look closely you'll see that part of the finger holes are actually sprue and wire curve things. 

Though I think my scissors are better. 

I'm playing a game with my friend Peter with my Orks in the near future. It will be interesting to see whether he is amused by my Ork kinky sex names as I am...

Or whether he decides I am plain sick and refuses to ever play with me again.

Tuesday 22 November 2011

Spotlight On: Ork War Buggies

Once upon a time I was so poor that I had to bulk up my armies with ingenious proxies purchased at the local car boot sale in order to keep up with my burgeoning passion for army expansion. 

At about the same time, I read a tactics articale abotu Ork Buggies. 

The article talked about maxing out on Ork Buggies. It said they could be used as moveable scenery to protect the Ork Boy advance and they even suggested using them as a wall right across the enemy eployment zone to block ebnemy moving and shooting! 

It was all pretty devious. 

Anyway, inspired by this deviosity, I ran right out to G&Ts and converted up NINE Ork Buggies!



Each was based on a little toy car. I added odd-shaped cardboard squares for Orky armour plates and to block up the windows and strapped on either a big shoota or a rocket launcha. I had a lot of spare weapons from the toy tanks I'd bought to save money on my Imperial Guard.


In fact, to play with, they were quite annoying for a long time as the old vehicle rules meant they were forever getting in each other's way. With the current squadron rules meaning buggies can shoot "through" one another, this is avoided and they're a little bit better.


As with all my Ork vehicles, they are self-powered. Just pull them back and watch them go!

Note: This can annoy one's opponent as they gleefully ram through their miniatures.

The armour was painted Boltgun Metal | Flesh Wash | Boltgun Metal | Chainmail and the gold bits were Dwarf Bronze | Shining Gold.


My Ork army is still a bit thin on the ground for men so I often continue to need my Buggies.They aren't as great in the game as I imagine they could be but they do look cool, and hey! What's more important than that??

Thursday 17 November 2011

Spotlight On... Gorgamungus!

Take a look at this!


This is Gorgamungus! 
He's a big gorilla that I bought from a sale that Asda were having and converted up to be an Ork Gargantuan Squiggoth. 

He was a major work of patience. I wasn't able to finish him in one go before my motivation ran out. It took me another couple of tries over the months until he was finished. 


The original  model came with the plastic harness thing you can see under the howdah and the cannon on top (which actually shoots by the way). I added the howdah, the armour plates, the funnels, the smaller weapons and the rope ladders.


 The howdah was made from (very) thick card with cereal packet squares cut to cover it (painted with Tin Bitz). On the sides of the howdah, gold painted plates were added haphazardly for that Orky look.

I had two goals here: to make it split level, to improve the asthetic design, and to have enough room to place the full complement of Orks on the back.


The banner was made from torn pieces of toilet paper dipped in watered down wood glue. That's Bleached Bone with a brown wash and rehighlighted and a two tone red to match the patchy warpaint on Gorgamungus's face. 


The crew add a nice touch. Both models were ones I'd created for other things and hadn't used. They fit in nicely here so I glued them in. 


The rope ladders were made from string with little wooden rods. I trickled super glue down it then bent it into shapes to get the sense of movement. 

Man! You don't want to know how many times this stuck to the wrong things! I was covered in super glue by the end of it! 

I got the Ork to hold onto the ladder by use a spear arm with the ends cut off. Glued into place and painted the same colour as the other rungs it's hard to see any difference.

 

Heh heh.  I love this little dude. 


And here he is with the guys on top. In the game, this guy is amazing! Not only is he really great himself but the guys on top can safely put out a massive amount of firepower while remaining immune to reprisal. 


Each model in the unit bears the same warpaint as Gorgamungus himself. 
The Big Shootas were from a bunch of cheap toy tanks I had lying around. Note how the gunners arms are set to hold the guns. I used two arms from the Shoota Boyz sprue that would normally hold a gun for this. They look great there but a bit weird when they dismount. I usually kill them off first. 


Here's  good old Spunkmeista, the Nob of the squad. Back in the days I made him I couldn't afford a real Nob so I converted him up from a normal Boy. Notice the guns attached to his waist. There used to be an accompanying model who stood behind him who was the one who actually pulled the triggers. 



You've gotta love Orks!


And I do love Gorgamungus! 

By the way, if anyone can help me identify the source of this monkey I would be very grateful as I'd love to find him on eBay and do a second (or third!) one. 

Comment below if you know!