Reaper Bones: Big, Mean, and Green

A few weeks ago I celebrated the arrival of my Reaper Bones models. I wanted to dive right in and decided that beginning with the Orcs from the Orcapocalypse box would be the way to go. These guys are big and need 40mm bases to fit them.  There's a perfect level of detail on them too, neither too little nor too much. I figured painting them would not take too long. I didn't want to bog down in a big project, seeing how I'm in the middle of working on my 15mm WW2 Pacific forces.

Here they are. Twenty-six Orcs, five of each type and one leader. They make the perfect sized warband. I like how these models turned out.

I'll give some details of each troop type below. Working with these models was a breeze. The weapons on many of them were bent, especially the spears. I just dipped them in hot water, then cooled them in ice water, and they reset. Quite easy to fix. I primed them black, just because of the colors I wanted to use. Bones don't need primer. Orcish color schemes are easy, nothing too bright and make them look dirty. 

Reaper models are some of the best out there. My only complaint is they don't make too many "troop" type of models. They all tend to be heroes or individual models. Their Warlord line sort of addresses this, but the troops are usually just three model poses. In the case of my Orcs, there are five different types, but all of the same pose.  I guess I can't complain, since all you see here was just $10!

Here are the different troop types, starting with the leader.

He did not come as part of "Orcapocalypse" but as part of the regular Vampire level box. He was a natural for a leader model. Below are his troops: soldiers, spearmen, berserkers, bowmen, and great weapons.

Once Reaper puts these up for sale I'll probably buy a few more of each type so I can add variety to the force. What I really should've done was add another box of 25 during the Kickstarter!

The Bones I have remaining will give this group all sorts of cool allies, from ogres and trolls, to gnolls and bugbears and other monsters. Now these guys need some Dwarfs or Elves to beat on!

40K Ork Boyz

With GW cranking up prices, it's an odd time to be posting my 40K stuff.  I'm not really playing traditional 40K with these models anyway. But I still enjoy the 40K universe and I think their models (when not in "failcast" or "finecrap", anyway) are excellent.  So I've found other ways to enjoy the game.

Last Christmas I got the Black Reach boxed set and a box of Ork Boyz. It has been long in getting to these models, but I finally tackled the Orks. Despite being "push together" models, they are well-done and highly detailed. It took two weeks of my painting time to complete 20 Boyz and one Nob that I assembled from extra box of Orks.  I concentrated primarily on their flesh tones, which took the most time.  I think they came out looking good, and hopefully the pictures show it.

Here's the group shot, 18 Boyz with slugga and choppas, 2 big shootas and a Nob to lead them.

I wanted a more natural looking green, or at least something more subdued then the regular Ork paint jobs. I used Reaper Master paints Olive Drab triad and some washes to get the look I wanted. So there's several layers to build up to the highlights. Here are some close ups on a few of the boyz.

The picture of the Nob was out of focus, so I didn't post it. He's not too much different from the others anyway. I wanted to do something new with my basing colors too. So I have them on an "alien planet" on what is either red stone or clay. The colors went well with the models.

If I were painting a massive army of Orks (are they ever not massive?) I doubt I'd spend the time on the flesh tones like I did for these.  At 21 models, this is still not even a full squad. I have neither the inclination nor the money to do a full Ork army with 30 boyz per squad!

Outside of these, I have the warboss and five nobs to complete my Ork force. I'll hold off on the helicopter things until later. This is good enough for what I want to do.

So what do I want to do? Basically, I've created a solid adaptation of the Flying Lead rules by Ganesha Games. I bring in some special rules from their other games (I have all of them) and I've got myself a skirmish level game that plays fast. All Ganesha Games are easily solo friendly, and only require a few models per side. I think my "40K" adaptations only ever get to 8-10 models per side.

I've played this adaptation solo and with others, and it plays nicely. It's NOT 40K, but Flying Lead with a 40K inspired background and model abilities. So Orks act like Orks, Tau like Tau, etc. I've run the game with Tau, Necrons, Sisters of Battle, Tyranids, and Space Marines. The Nids need some work and I've yet to test the Orks. But otherwise, it's solid.

But beyond adapting other games, 40K is still playable and affordable at the lower points levels. I don't know why people who say they love the game but hate the price of it struggle with this. You don't have to play at 2000 points. You don't have to stick to the force organization chart. All of that is for competitive play or pick up games. If you're playing with friends, just play what you want. If morale gets tricky at small sizes, cook up a simple house rule or adapt from another game. It's not that hard. I think back to the Battle for MaCragge set and the scenarios they provided in the intro rules. That's what hooked me on the game, but I've hardly played that kind of game since.

Well, I bet no one read that rant. I don't blame you, actually. I'll shut up now and get on with painting the next project on my table: