ISSUE 21

21ST June 2014

Editor: Jes Bickham
jes@whitedwarf.co.uk

Assistant Editor: Matt Keefe
mattk@whitedwarf.co.uk

Senior Staff Writer: Adam Troke
adam@whitedwarf.co.uk

Staff Writer: Daniel Harden
dan@whitedwarf.co.uk

Production Lead: Rebecca Ferguson
rebecca@whitedwarf.co.uk

Digital Editor: Melissa Roberts
melissa@whitedwarf.co.uk

Lead Designer: Matthew Hutson
matt@whitedwarf.co.uk

Designer: Kristian Shield
kris@whitedwarf.co.uk

Designer: Ben Humber
ben@whitedwarf.co.uk

Photo Editor: Glenn More
glenn@whitedwarf.co.uk

Photographer: Erik Niemz
erik@whitedwarf.co.uk

Photographer: Martyn Lyon
martyn@whitedwarf.co.uk

Distribution Lead: Andy Keddie
andy@whitedwarf.co.uk

Publisher: Paul Lyons
paul@whitedwarf.co.uk

One argument has rung loud and clear throughout White Dwarf towers this week – which alien race is better in a fight, the Orks or Tyranids? In light of the new Ork Codex, out next week, Adam and Andy thought they’d settle things once and for all with a no-holds barred alien-bash, with the Bad Moons taking their Waaagh! right into the mandibles of Hive Fleet Sotha Maximus (Adam’s own Tyranid force). Who will win? You’ll find out in a few short pages.

Regardless of the result, Adam’s been sufficiently inspired by this week’s new releases – the Ork Mek and Painboy – to dive into the background of the Oddboyz. This peculiar strain of Ork is imbued with an innate understanding of things, which manifests itself in mechanical inventiveness or, in the case of the mighty Weirdboyz, pyschic powers. We’re also proud to present a brand new Datasheet from Jervis and the rules team: the Looted Wagon. It’s high time I ‘orkified’ an Astra Militarum Hydra, I reckon…

I hope you enjoy the issue!

Jes Bickham - White Dwarf Editor

Armed with blood-caked saws, rusty scalpels, ’urty syringes and sadistic curiosity, Painboyz are the brutal surgeons of the Ork race, possessed of a natural aptitude for hacking and sawing at their patients in an effort to make them ‘better’.

Orks are resilient creatures, able to survive injuries that would kill a lesser being. Even a bad case of severed head can be ‘cured’ if it’s found in time and stitched back on by an accomplished Painboy. But, despite these remarkable skills, even other Orks are unlikely to visit a Painboy willingly. Like all Orks, Painboyz are brutal and pragmatic, using whatever tools they need for the job, even if that’s a hammer. In fact, many Orks will try to cover up the loss of a limb rather than have a Painboy use it as an excuse to experiment on them. An Ork with a missing hand is as likely to wake up with a pair of telescopic legs or a full frontal lobotomy as the new mechanical fist he really needs.

This new plastic Painboy is a walking advertisement for his craft, sporting a mechanical hand, a sophisticated bionic eye and an augmetic leg that doubles as a clamp for pinning down his patients when they resist his ministrations. When a Painboy decides to join a scrap, he takes the tools of his trade with him, a bewildering array of hacksaws, hooks, hand drills, scalpels, circular saws, shears, and pipes conveying dubious liquids to syringes and canisters situated about his person. Strapped to his back is a respiratory ventilator, a leering Grot orderly perched on top armed with an ’urty syringe. With all these ’urty gubbinz, if the Doc can’t fix da Boyz, at least he’ll be able to do something useful with all the bits he’s got left over. DH

Top left: The Doc’s tools take the form of an oversized metal gauntlet covered in blades and syringes. That the Painboy can use it for surgical procedures is a testament to his skill. Or the hardiness of the Ork race. Or a combination of the two.

Top right: The Painboy carries an array of ’urty syringes. Designed to pep up an ailing Ork, this horrendous cocktail would prove fatal if administered to almost any other creature. The calibre of the needle alone is enough to cause concern for would-be assailants.

Bottom left: Undoubtedly the creepiest Ork to terrorise the galaxy, the Painboy has his beady eyes set on his next victim.

Bottom right: Experimental surgery is all part of being a Painboy. With few willing volunteers, the best Painboyz will experiment even on themselves.

Able to build or repair virtually anything out of anything, Ork Meks are an invaluable asset to Ork Warbosses. Whether bodging together a Battlewagon or kustomising a mega-blasta, their spannerz and welding torches are always in demand.

Meks are a kind of Oddboy, a class of Orks who live outside the normal structure of Ork society. Like all Oddboyz, Meks are born into their role, possessed, in their case, of an irresistible urge to tinker with gunz, gubbinz and anything else mechanical. Meks are viewed with suspicion by other Orks, who see them as ‘not one of da Ladz’ due to the fact that they are rarely at the forefront of the fighting, where all self-respecting Orks should be. However, they do make snazzy gunz, so most Orks are willing to ignore their eccentricities. When they’re not creating kustom weapons and Trukks for the wealthiest Warbosses, Meks can be found dashing around the battlefield fixin’ their latest creations before anyone notices they’re broken.

This Mek is clearly ready for action, carrying all manner of equipment with him with which to effect a battlefield repair, or unleash yet more mekanikal madness upon the enemy. On his back he carries a hefty generator for powering his hodgepodge collection of Mek’s tools, including his skorcha-like welding torch. The frame includes two options for the Mek’s right arm, a hefty wrench or a killsaw. A Mek will have no qualms about bludgeoning foes to death with his wrench but the killsaw is even more suited to the task, able to tear through armour, flesh and bone with equal ease. Disconcertingly, such a weapon is actually a precision tool to a Mek, fixin’ things and krumpin’ them being much the same to an Ork. DH

Top left: It may look like an unsophisticated instrument, but the Mek’s welding torch is more than up to the task of welding an axle or gun back together in the heat of battle.

Top right: The Mek wears a pair of augmetic goggles over his eyes to better see what he’s fixin’. He holds a bolt in his teeth, a vital spare or just something to chew on. The Mek’s head has the same fitting as those of other Ork Boyz, meaning you can swap it for another head should you wish.

Bottom left: Part slugga, part blasta, the Mek’s pistol is a dangerous fusion of two seemingly incompatible weapons.

Bottom right: The killsaw is the alternative arm for the Mek. It also has a universal fitting so can be exchanged with arms from other Ork sets.

Orks are bred for violence, a barbaric race whose only goal is to see the galaxy descend into total, endless war. Codex: Orks presents these aggressive brutes in all their destructive splendour, including full rules for using them in your games of Warhammer 40,000.

As numerous and widespread as the human race, Orks would have dominated the galaxy long ago had they put their minds to it. Fortunately for the galaxy’s other inhabitants, Orks care nothing for grand schemes or building great civilisations, living only for the thrill of battle. When they run out of foes they simply fight each other for entertainment. Such is the way of Orks, the galaxy’s most unpredictable, and arguably most dangerous, inhabitants.

Codex: Orks is the definitive guide to the Ork race, 104 pages of background information, rules and full-colour galleries packed with pictures of Citadel Miniatures. It’s also the first of a new breed of Codexes for Warhammer 40,000, featuring a new layout that makes navigating it quick and easy. The army list is now presented as a series of datasheets, one for each unit in the Ork army. Each datasheet is all-inclusive, containing the unit’s rules, points values, a picture of the models in the squad and a wedge of background information about them. All the new units and wargear are included in the book too, such as Morkanauts and Mek Gunz. Simply pick your army list from the datasheets and get ready for Waaagh! Codex: Orks fits perfectly with the new Warhammer 40,000, the Unbound army rules enabling you to field a bewildering range of Ork forces, from Speed Freak motorcades to hordes of Boyz. Choices are made even greater with the inclusion of the Stompa as a Lord of War and swathes of new wargear options. It’s never been a better time to be a greenskin. DH

Above: Illustrator Ray Swanland does what he does best, the front cover of Codex: Orks dominated by a massive armour-clad Ork Warboss.

Above: The background section explores everything from the origins of the Orks to Ork Kultur (yes, it does exist) and Ork Clans.

Above: Each unit is presented as a datasheet entry, complete with weapon options and upgrades.

Also released this month is the ultimate edition of Codex: Orks, the appropriately named Warboss edition. Inside you’ll find everything you need to launch your own kroosade across the stars, including a copy of Waaagh! Ghazghkull.

Ork Warbosses rejoice, the mightiest volume of Orky joy ever made is upon you. Codex: Orks Warboss Edition is a formidable item for your collection, presenting two books, an art wallet, tactical objective tokens and a pack of Ork Datacards all contained within an impressive cardboard storage chest. The outside of the chest is emblazoned with the symbol of the Goff clan, complete with chequerboard patterns for effect.

The two books are Codex: Orks and Waaagh! Ghazghkull, bound in matching style. The first contains all the same great content as the standard Codex released this week while the second, Waaagh! Ghazghkull, is a Codex supplement containing the history of the galaxy’s greatest Ork Warlord, with rules, scenarios and datasheets enabling you to unleash his Waaagh! on your gaming table. These limited editions are available exclusively in this boxed set – in the case of Waaagh! Ghazghkull, this is the only place you’ll find the book until the standard edition is released in a couple of weeks’ time.

The other treasures include six numbered objective markers – weighty metal coins decorated with the Goff skull – Ork Datacards (see page 11 for more on these) and an art wallet featuring classic Ork artwork. These are fantastic collectors pieces in their own right, completing this brilliantly Orky set perfectly. AT

Left: There are two volumes within the Warboss Edition of Codex: Orks, the first of which is the special edition of the codex itself, detailed with a large Ork skull glyph.

Right: Also contained within the Warboss Edition is Waaagh! Ghazghkull, the definitive guide to the rampages of the mightiest living Ork Warlord. This is bound in a matching colour scheme to the Codex, emblazoned with the Ork glyph for Da Boss.

Above: The Warboss Edition also includes an exclusive art wallet with eight art prints. These are the covers of previous Ork books, from ’Ere We Go and Freebooterz to the latest Codex: Orks.

Above: The Warboss edition features these special Ork objective markers, kunningly numbered from ‘wun’ to ‘lotz’.

Datacards: Orks contains 43 large-format cards to make your Waaagh! more effective than ever.

7 Ork Psychic Power Cards &
36 Ork Tactical Objectives Cards

The Orks are as violent and unpredictable a foe as you are ever likely to meet. They put no value in the tactics of Men or Eldar, but instead live to fight and kill.

Datacards: Orks contains 43 large-format cards – specifically, 36 Tactical Objectives and seven for the Waaagh! Psychic Discipline. The Tactical Objective cards are for use in Maelstrom of War missions, and feature six unique Ork objectives such as ‘More Dakka’ or ‘Get ’em Boss!’. The Waaagh! Psychic discipline cards enable you to reference all of the Ork powers with ease, and serve as a fantastic aide-memoir during your games. While all this information is found within Codex: Orks, having the cards on hand makes life easier, and has a delightful tactile quality. AT

Need a bit of extra advice to get your Orks painted? Look no further than this digital guide.

How to Paint Citadel Miniatures: Orks is a whopping digital volume available for iPad and Apple devices, which contains detailed stage-by-stage painting guides for a host of Ork models, from Morkanauts to Kaptin Badrukk and Flash Gitz.

The guide covers invaluable topics for painters tackling any Ork project, such as painting Ork flesh, battered metal, teef and more. It also has specific colours for the Bad Moons clan. Each of the models in this guide has been painted by the talented team of Studio army painters, and following the suggestions, colour schemes and clear pictures found within, you’ll soon be painting your Orks up to an excellent standard. AT

With hundreds of worlds conquered, the Lord Commander’s crusade begins to falter.

By William King
Hardback | 320 pages

The Macharian Crusade has bludgeoned its way to victory against countless foes, both alien and heretic, and the drive and determination of the Warmaster remains as formidable as ever. But forces conspire against Macharius, both within and without the Imperium, and conspiracy threatens to undo the great man’s work.

In Fall of Macharius, William King concludes the Macharian Crusade trilogy, as Sergeant Lemuel and his surviving companions battle to protect the Warmaster. Those who know the history of the Macharian Crusade will perhaps foresee the end to the Warmaster’s glorious efforts, but there are still surprises and revelations enough in the dying moments of the novel to grip and delight gnarled old campaigners. AT

WILLIAM KING INTERVIEW!

William King authored the first ever Black Library novel, Trollslayer, and has penned many more since then. With the conclusion of his Macharius trilogy, we despatched messengers to his scribal abode in Praag. Here’s what he had to say…

Solar Macharius has been part of the Warhammer 40,000 background for a long time. When did you first get involved with him?

The series came about because I wanted to do a book about the Imperial Guard and when I discussed the project with Nick Kyme, Macharius’s name came up. The chance to deal with an era somewhat outside of the mainstream of 40K continuity and yet one enormously influential on it was very appealing.

How do you approach taking a character and a story well-known in the background and turning it into a trilogy of novels?

Its really too big a project for a trilogy of novels to be honest, so I decided to do a set of snapshots of various stages of the crusade, many years apart, trying to capture the atmosphere and the way the personalities developed. The series opens with an enormous blitzkrieg and ends with everything mired in horrific trench warfare, also managing to slip in confrontations with three of the four great Chaos powers. Time passes, characters age.

The conspiracy at the heart of Fall of Macharius is quite shocking. Did you have that in mind right from the outset?

Once again, I think the idea came from Nick Kyme. I always knew the politics of the Crusade were going to be brutal. One thing you learn when reading about great military leaders is that they tend to have the egos of rock stars. It wasn’t hard to imagine resentment growing between Macharius, his generals and their political masters. It was quite easy to see how the political factions of the Imperium could be made uneasy by one man gaining such titanic power. We knew there was going to be some sort of conspiracy when we started and the details became clearer over time. MK

Kaptin Badrukk and Wingnutz the Mek have hit a ruined world, intent on looting all the leftover scrap. Things seemed to be going well… until a splinter of Hive Fleet Kraken arrived in system: Adam and Andy put the Orks through their paces in our Battle Report.

Over the past few weeks the White Dwarf bunker has been inundated with new Ork models, and resident Ork Warbosses Dan, Erik and Andy have been spoiling for a fight. The opportunity came this week as Andy Keddie, a seasoned Ork player, challenged Adam to a game pitting the fantastic Bad Moons army painted by the Studio army painters against Adam’s Tyranids. In Codex: Orks, there are six unique Tactical Objectives, so the guys decided to play a Maelstrom of War mission to test them out, rolling Mission 3: Tactical Escalation. The scenario is simple. Each turn an increasing number of Tactical Objectives are available, and the side with the most Victory Points at the end wins.

Adam and Andy set up a ruined Imperial city ripe for plundering by the Orks. As per the scenario, they placed six objectives across the board. Adam won the roll to choose who set up first and deployed the his army as far forwards as possible, with a few reserves held back. Andy was similarly aggressive with his Boyz. (You can see the army lists on page 31.)

The Tyranids took the first turn, and surged towards the Ork positions. Gliding forward, the Hive Tyrant manifested the Catalyst psychic power, protecting himself and the Hormagaunts. With most of their weapons out of range, the Tyranid shooting was light, and most broods ran forwards to close with the greenskins.

Tyranid Victory Points scored: 1 (Secure Objective 3) Tyranid Victory Points total: 1

Galvanised into action, the Ork attack commenced with Badrukk and his Gitz leaping out of a Battlewagon to claim Objective 1, followed by a deafening fusillade as Ork guns opened up across the battle line. Despite the cacophony, casualties among the Tyranids were light, with only a handful of Termagants falling foul of the massed shooting.

Ork Victory Points scored: 1 (Secure Objective 1) Ork Victory Points total: 1

Turn two started with Tyranid reserves flooding onto the field, bringing an additional Lictor, as well as a Genestealer Brood, into the Orks’ deployment area (although the Ripper Swarms suffered a mishap and were lost forever). Arcing over the Battlewagon the Hive Tyrant hammered the massive tank’s rear armour, causing three Hull Points of damage, while the Hive Crone and Hive Guard pummelled the 20-strong mob of Shoota Boyz, killing 10 with their combined fire. Old One Eye spearheaded the assault, smashing an Ork Trukk to smithereens with his staggering strength, claiming First Blood. The Haruspex slammed into the Flash Gitz and, though it was joined in its charge by a brood of Termagants, things went awry early. Badrukk and his Gitz showed their skills in both shooting and fighting, blasting ragged chunks out of the Haruspex with their snazzguns and then putting the boot into the Termagants. At the end of the fight, the Haruspex only had one Wound remaining, and seven Termagants were dead, for only two Flash Gitz dead in return. The Tyranids had more success against the Shoota mob, though, and the Termagants and Hormagants killed nine Boyz. Only the Nob held firm, his bosspole letting him re-roll on the Mob Rule table, scoring Born to Fight!

Tyranid Victory Points scored: 1 (First Blood) Tyranid Victory Points total: 2

The Orks’ second turn kicked off with a staggering counter attack as the next wave streamed into the fight. The Killa Kans stormed into the Haruspex to kill it while the Deff Dread slammed into the Hormagaunts ganging up on the lone Nob. Old One Eye, the Tyranid Warlord, was targetted by the Morkanaut, and then finished off by the Glitz Mob. In a masterstroke, the Grots operating the Traktor Kannon pulled the Hive Tyrant out of the sky followed by every nearby Ork unit shooting it to death as it crashed to the ground! The second unit of Trukk Boyz charged the Tyranid Warriors and, though they took heavy losses, Mob Rule held them firm.

Ork Victory Points scored: 1 (Slay the Warlord) Ork Victory Points total: 2

ORKY OBJECTIVES

Codex: Orks contains six brand new Tactical Objectives, each of which reflects an aspect of Orky warfare. These replace six Tactical Objectives in the standard D66 table (essentially 11-16 become the Ork objectives). The Datacards: Orks set released this week includes a full deck of 36 Tactical Objective cards, with these Ork ones included ready within it.

An example of an Ork Tactical Objective is ’Ere We Go! Waaagh!, for which 1 Victory Point is scored if an Ork unit scores a 10 or more on its charge roll. If three or more do so, the Ork player scores D3 Victory Points instead.

’ERE WE GO!

The Orks are all about getting stuck into the fight, and they benefit from a number of special rules geared towards getting the Boyz into battle and winning fights.

All Orks (but not Grots) have Furious Charge, which adds to their punch when they get into a scrap, but perhaps more important is the ’Ere We Go! rule, which represents their eagerness to get into a fight, meaning they can re-roll one of the dice to determine the charge range. As we discovered in this game, this can really make a difference between a crushing assault and an embarrassing false start.

Undaunted the Tyranids fought on. The Hive Crone shot tentaclid missiles at the distant Battlewagon, destroying it, and the Genestealers overran the nearest Mek Gun (a Kustom Mega Kannon). More Tyranid Broods joined the fighting, but a combination of Orky prowess and their surprisingly stubborn refusal to run away when beaten was beginning to swing things heavily against the Tyranid army.

Tyranid Victory Points scored: 0
Tyranid Victory Points total: 2

The Orks pressed the attack in their third turn, and the Trukk Boyz who had claimed Old One Eye next killed the Zoanthrope. Meanwhile the Flash Gitz shot one Tyranid Warrior brood and the Killa Kans charged into the other, which was still fighting the Trukk Boyz, and finished them all off, their kan klaws making short work of the Tyranid chitin. The Deff Dread also broke the Hormagaunts. Finally, the Nobz who had been hanging around in reserve flamed the Spore Mine Cluster. Also worthy of note, Andy gained the ’Ere We Go! Waaagh! Tactical Objective, rolling a 10+ on one of his (many) charges this turn.

Ork Victory Points scored: 1 (Ere we Go! Waaagh!) Ork Victory Points total: 3

Turns four and five can be quickly summed up by saying the Orks hunted down and slaughtered the rest of the Tyranids with casual, brutal efficiency. The Morkanaut harried the Genestealers and shot the Lictor skulking in the Ork deployment area while the Killa Kans secured the Linebreaker bonus at the opposite end of the table. By the end of turn five, the Orks had secured a comprehensive victory.

Tyranid Victory Points scored: 1 (Linebreaker)
Ork Victory Points scored: 3 (Ere we Go! Secure Objective 2, Linebreaker)
Total: Tyranids 3, Orks 6

DA BIGGA DEY ARE…

Adam: Andy’s Mek Gunz provided a constant source of firepower throughout the game, and, though I was able to nobble a couple of them right at the end, they steered the course of the battle with relentless firepower – most notably the Traktor Kannon hitting the flying Hive Tyrant and dragging him to the ground, where he was most vulnerable, with its powerful lifta-droppa technology.

Not only did the Traktor Kannon cause a wound (which was bad), the Hive Tyrant suffered another from the impact with the ground, and then had to face a dazzling amount of firepower from the Nobz, Bubblechukka, Smasha Gun and even the Morkanaut. The result was a major kill for the greenskins, knocking out the most versatile unit in my army – all started off by a couple of plucky Grots and their 30-point artillery piece.

MOB RULE

In the new Ork Codex, the way Ork morale works is dramatically different. If a Mob ever fails a Morale or Pinning check it must roll on the Mob Rule table, which can have some drastic results (from fleeing to attacking one another).

Because Andy made sure each mob in his army had a bosspole, however, he was able to re-roll the results on the Mob Rule chart, several times changing the result to a 1, Born to Fight. This was actually a good thing from Andy’s perspective, since Born to Fight will keep the Boyz stuck in until the bitter end. (After all, they came for a scrap, so what does it matter if some of them die?) This proved a real game winner, as one or two plucky Ork survivors kept entire Tyranid Broods tied up in combat.

BRING ME MORE DAKKA

Andy: Now I enjoy krumpin’ my enemies up close and personal as much as the next greenskin, but it’s the Shooting Phase that really made this game as much fun as it was. The madcap collection of Ork gunz I had in my army kept me swinging between laughs of despair as hapless Grot gunners missed their targets (or even shot my own units on occasion), to cheering with delight as they blasted the enemy to smithereens. Without doubt my shooting highlight of the game was when the Traktor Kannon yanked Adam’s Hive Tyrant from the sky and sent it crashing into the ground; the unfortunate monster was then turned into mush by the rest of my dakka, and I ended up rolling massive handfuls of dice.

I enjoyed using all those walkers too, and once I had taken out Adam’s Monstrous Creatures, his army had nothing that could take them on, so they ran riot. AK

GOING HOME HUNGRY

Adam: My first outing with all my painted Tyranids at once was a painful lesson from the Orks, as Andy masterfully absorbed my initial charges and counter-punched so hard it all but knocked me out of the game by the end of Turn 3. Much of the credit for the win must go to his excellent reading of my deployment, and the way he marshalled his Boyz to neutralise my attacks, and the rest should go to the Orks themselves. The Flash Gitz were a brutal island of firepower, with Badrukk and the Painboy magnifying their ability and durability respectively. Keeping them in the crater was a masterstroke, since they got the benefit of a decent Cover save and the Feel No Pain bonus too. Flash Gitz used like that are a unit to be feared.

My ‘man’ of the match is the Grot firing the Traktor Kannon. It’s not every day a runt claims the biggest kill of the day. AT

’EAVY METAL

Adam: One of Andy’s more kunnin’ moves was to try and match his heavily-armoured walkers against the Tyranid broods that didn’t have the clout to take them on. The Deff Dread killed off a brood of Hormagaunts and then moved on to the Hive Guard, but steered clear of Old One Eye. Likewise, the Killa Kans only descended on the Haruspex once he was thoroughly embroiled against the Flash Gitz (and they knew they could finish him off). The cheery Grot pilots then rushed off to murder the last of the Tyranid Warriors before hunting down the Lictor. Finally, the Morkanaut stayed at the back, killing anything that moved with its kustom blastas. All in a day’s work for the Big Meks’ biggest and baddest creations.

Almost all Orks can be described as Boyz; tough, brutal ladz who love to fight. Within every tribe, however, some stand out from the crowd. These are the Oddboyz: Meks, Painboyz, Runtherds and Weirdboyz… and, as Adam explains, they are essential to Ork kultur.

Nothing can change the adage that Orks love to fight. They also live to fight, and no greenskin will ever say differently. But within the mass of Ork society there are some Boyz who have urges that aren’t strictly ‘normal’. These Orks are known as Oddboyz and they are blessed (or cursed, depending on your outlook) with incredible innate abilities that allow Ork kultur not only to survive, but to thrive.

For Orks to conquer the stars, they need engineers, organisers and more, and this is where the Oddboyz come in. It is a well-known (but completely inexplicable) fact of Ork kultur that certain Orks are Oddboyz, and these individuals somehow possess an innate understanding in their own field of expertise. Thus, while nobody can explain it, a Mek will be able to create complex machinery without any training or instructions – he simply knows how.

Meks are probably the most readily comprehensible of these groups, and they are also the most accepted of the Oddboy caste. It is these Orks who make the weapons, munitions and devices that the Orks use to wage war. It baffles Imperial xenologists that with no more than a bit of trial and error (and the occasional electrocuted Grot) a team of Meks can quite quickly assemble complex and highly-effective devices such as a force field generator or tellyporta.

If Meks baffle those who have studied them, those who attempt to comprehend Painboyz are typically appalled. Possessed of a surprising understanding of Ork physiology, these ‘mad doks’ act as a kind of battlefield medic turned surgeon-tinkerer. Painboyz can staple, suture and stitch up horrific wounds, allowing Orks to fight on in spite of terrible injuries. They can reattach limbs (and even heads) to get a Boy back into the fight, and have been known to do so in the middle of frantic firefights and melees.

Painboyz are fascinated by the workings of the Ork body to the extent that they will often experiment between battles, using the offer of ‘improvements’ to lure volunteers into their operating theatres where the lucky get a bionic weapon grafted on and the unfortunate find themselves missing body parts. An Ork who survives such impromptu surgery often harbours great resentment, but few have the courage to act on it, because they know they’ll need the Painboy’s help if they are going to survive the next battle.

A caste of Oddboy earning much less respect (or fear) from the Boyz are the Runtherds. Drawn to cultivating and training the massive herds of Gretchin that spring up in and around Ork tribal encampments. This is hardly a respected position, though, and Runtherds tend to earn the mockery (and savage beatings) of bigger Ork Boyz. They don’t care much, however, because they get to take out their anger on their charges, who in turn learn to fear the lash and Grot-prods of their masters. Such is the fear Runtherds command over their charges that they can convince a mob of Grots to charge through a wall of fire or across a minefield and into enemy positions. It’s a cruel existence for the Grots, but without this organisation, none of the menial tasks within an Ork encampment would ever get done. AT

ORKIMEDES

The Ork known as Orkimedes is one of the most highly sought-after targets of the Imperium’s Officio Assassinorum. A Big Mek of great notoriety and incredible cunning, Orkimedes is thought by many to be the right hand of Ghazghkull. His inventions proved instrumental to the Ork successes on Armageddon, including tellyporta arrays capable of moving vast numbers of Orks and machinery to submersibles that allowed the Orks to invade Hive Helsreach.

MAD DOC GROTSNIK

The most famous Painboy alive (if not of all-time) is the Ork known as ‘Mad Dok’ Grotsnik. He rose to glory when a hulking Goff stumbled into his surgery with his brain half exploded by a bolter shell. Grotsnik repaired his shattered bonce, plating it with an adamantium skull. Ghazghkull, for that was the Ork’s name, was very pleased with his shiny new head, and so Grotsnik earned the favour of an Ork who would go on to become the mightiest Warlord of the age.

Since then, Grotsnik has offered the ‘Ghazghkull special’, which consists of a clumsy bit of brain surgery and inserting some explosives. That way, if the patient offends Grotsnik, he gets blown sky-high. Many have plotted against Grotsnik for the bizarre and violent surgeries he has wrought (and one Deff Dread pilot had a good try at revenge) but Grotsnik’s own toughness, and the protective ward of Ghazghkull’s patronage, keeps his surgery doors open.

WEIRDBOYZ

The strangest of the Oddboyz are the appropriately named Weirdboyz. They are the most psychically sensitive of all Orks and as a Waaagh! gains pace they are filled to bursting (literally) with the roiling psychic power the presence of so many Orks getting ready for war creates. As the raucous throng of Orks get rowdier and builds up, so too does this seething power within the Weirdboy’s head.

This is terribly painful for the Weirdboy, and the only way to ease the surging pressure is to let it out, usually in the form of a bolt of green lightning vomiting out of the Ork’s mouth or eyes, a wave of green energy or some other destructive eldritch pyrotechnical display. In ‘peace’ times, Weirdboyz are kept under close watch, to keep the Boyz safe, but when the fighting starts, they are herded to the front lines, and encouraged to unleash the wrath of Mork (or Gork) in searing beams of crackling Waaagh! energy.

Back in April, Dan challenged gaming buddies Gareth Etherington and Cat Austin to a day playing through the scenarios in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In part two of their epic quest, the members of Thorin’s Company find themselves leaping out of the frying pan…

Gareth continued his evil streak and took control of the forces of darkness for this second instalment. Dan and Cat teamed up once again to control Thorin’s Company.

Dan: At the end of our last battle report I left you all on a bit of a cliffhanger, with Gandalf the Grey leading Thorin’s Company out of Goblin Town pursued by a furious Goblin King. But did the forces of Good triumph, or did Gareth claim another victory for the forces of evil?

Sadly for myself and Cat, victory went to Gareth. After 10 turns we had safely extracted four Dwarves from Goblin Town, but victory required eight. If Gandalf hadn’t failed that last Sorcerous Blast we would have been home and dry with 12 out of 14 of our heroes. Sadly it was not to be and Gareth chortled all the way home to London (much to Cat’s annoyance).

Keen to continue the quest, Gareth and Cat returned to Nottingham (known as Mordor to the locals) for a second day of gaming in which we played through the remaining three missions in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Rules Manual.

The next scenario, Breakout, continues the events of Flight to Freedom, with the Dwarves having to cross the rickety walkways of Goblin Town to escape the Misty Mountains. In the last scenario, myself and Cat found that cramming 13 Dwarves and a Wizard onto a walkway made for very slow-going, so we decided to split them up for this scenario (see ‘You Can Go Your Own Way’, opposite). While Thorin Oakenshield led my contingent, Gandalf took command of Cat’s group.

Calling a Heroic March with Thorin, I ran my Dwarves into the heart of Goblin Town. After casting Terrifying Aura with Gandalf, Cat did the same thing with her group, Dwalin the Dwarf leading the charge. With Goblins swarming towards both groups, Gloin the Dwarf called a Heroic Combat, allowing him to clear the way for the rest of his group to climb a nearby ladder onto the next walkway. Using a similar tactic, Gandalf and Dwalin blocked off another walkway. Between Gandalf’s intimidating presence and Dwalin’s hammer, they held back the tide of Goblins, allowing the other Dwarves in the group to sneak past.

Rolling for reinforcements, Gareth brought The Goblin King on behind my group of Dwarves and as far away from Gandalf (specifically his Immobilise spell) as possible. He promptly barrelled across the walkway and into Bombur the Dwarf, the two most blubbery masses on the battlefield colliding with immense force. Sadly, the Dwarf was hurled from the walkway.

With The Goblin King storming after my group, Gareth piled as many Goblins into them as possible to hold them up. A series of good Priority rolls (aided by Balin the Dwarf’s wisdom) allowed Thorin, Gloin and Oin the Dwarf to escape, leaving Bifur the Dwarf surrounded by eight Goblins while Nori the Dwarf and Dori the Dwarf dealt with The Goblin King. Meanwhile, Cat’s group, led by Kili the Dwarf, made the most of the distraction and ran for the exit. Gandalf and Dwalin also cleared their path of Goblins, rejoining the main group a few turns later.

Several turns of frantic running saw Thorin, Oin and Gloin meet up with Kili’s group to escape the gloom of Goblin Town. The Goblin King, in a desperate attempt to catch up with the stragglers, steamed through both Nori and Dori, attempted to jump the gap between two walkways and almost plummeted to his doom. Crawling back onto the gantry he found himself staring at the business end of Bifur’s spear, the Dwarf covered in the blood of many dead Goblins. Despite a few last-turn losses (including an unlucky Bifur), we had secured a victory for the forces of Good.

In the sixth scenario, Out of the Frying-pan, Thorin’s Company think themselves safe, only to find themselves under attack, once again, by Fimbul the Hunter. Racing down the slopes of the Misty Mountains, they must climb the trees to avoid the predations of the Fell Wargs.

With a lot of ground to cover, Cat and I decided we’d call as many Heroic Marches as possible, even if it did result in us getting charged by Gareth’s Warg riders (not a nice prospect).

YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WAY

Cat: By a cool quirk of deployment, Dan and I split the Dwarf force into two groups in the Breakout scenario, controlling a group each. The plan was to make Gareth split his forces and ensure we didn’t get bunched up on the narrow walkways of Goblin Town, giving us more space to manoeuvre the Dwarves.

What ensued was a race across the board, not only to escape the Goblins but to best each other. Luckily, I did not have to contend with the Goblin King on the route I took, Gareth placing him following Dan’s group where Gandalf’s spells couldn’t reach him. Thus ensured a double victory for me against Gareth’s Goblins and Dan’s Dwarves. (What happened to teamwork, eh? – Dan)

Dan’s Group: Thorin Oakenshield, Oin, Gloin, Nori, Dori, Bifur, Bombur.

Cat’s Group: Gandalf the Grey, Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin, Ori, Bofur.

NEVER LEAVE A DWARF BEHIND

Dan: Despite meeting the victory conditions for Breakout, one Dwarf still remained on the table at the end of the scenario: Fili the Dwarf. Having held a bottleneck against Grinnah the Goblin and his minions, he had been left behind in the mass exodus. Curious to see if Fili would make it out alive, we carried on playing. He subsequently carved up Grinnah, shoved a couple of Goblins into thin air and pegged it. For six gruelling turns he fought on, emerging from the mountain hold alive and, miraculously, unharmed.

Running the Dwarves around copses of trees, we were dismayed to find that Fimbul can ride through trees as easily as if they were open ground, allowing him to get into combat with Fili. With Fimbul’s Orcs hitting the rear of the group and Narzug’s band charging the front, Thorin’s Company was quickly surrounded. Careful use of Heroic Moves allowed Dwalin to join Fili in the fight against Fimbul, which ended much earlier due to his intervention. Gandalf, meanwhile, held off Narzug’s advance almost single-handed, blasting four of his warriors apart with a Sorcerous Blast while Thorin lead the rest of the group onwards.

With Orcs arriving from every board edge (including the one we were running to), Ori the Dwarf called a Heroic March to bring the stragglers up to speed with Thorin’s advance. Despite six separate combats taking place, all the Dwarves survived, Bifur’s spear helping Thorin Oakenshield despatch Narzug, while Nori’s close proximity to Oin allowed him to re-roll his dice and win his fight.

With time running out (we were on turn 9 of 10), we stole priority with a Heroic Move and crammed as many Dwarves into the trees as possible. Oin, Gloin, Ori, Dori, Balin and Dwalin, all clambered up safely. Then Nori slipped. With no Might left, he hit the ground and was pounced on by Hunter Orcs. Kili, distracted by the screaming, fell too and suffered a similar fate. Victory slipped from our grasp like a wet branch in the hands of a tired Dwarf.

The last scenario in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is Into the Fire, which sees the return of Azog. With only Thorin on the table, it’s a race against time to see if the Great Eagles can rescue the Dwarves from the trees before Azog kills their lord.

Thinking the scenario looked easy, Cat and I quickly realised how wrong we were. With Azog, Fimbul, Narzug and a host of Orcs bearing down on Thorin, we wouldn’t get the Dwarves off the table before they reached him. Sending Gwaihir to intercept their advance, we were dismayed to see the lord of Eagles surrounded by Fell Wargs and plucked like a chicken by Fimbul. Matters went from bad to worse as another Eagle ended up in combat with Narzug and Azog. It survived, though only just. In desperation we threw a third Eagle into the fight to keep Fimbul busy, using the Rend Brutal Power attack to tear him limb from limb. With Azog bearing down on him, Thorin left the cover of the trees and ran at the pale Orc, figuring it was better to charge than be charged. It didn’t matter, Azog and the White Warg almost flattened the Dwarf. Fortunately, the distraction was enough, the Eagles lifting the last of the Dwarves from their burning trees before Azog could strike his killing blow. Victory went to the forces of Good! But it was too little too late, however, as over the course of our six battles Gareth had racked up three evil victories to our two. Was Thorin’s quest now doomed to fail? DH

THE LONG CLIMB

Gareth: In the scenario Out of the Frying-pan, Thorin’s Company needed to climb the trees to escape Fimbul the Hunter and his Warg Riders. Dan let Cat roll the dice for the Climb Tests and she just kept passing them. Cat had to fail one of them eventually…

And she did, ten nail-biting rolls later. Unfortunately for Cat and Dan, it was Nori who fell out of the tree and he’d already used all of his Might earlier in the game. My Hunter Orcs made short work of his prone form. Kili falling out of the tree in the next turn was a tasty bonus.

TERROR FROM ABOVE

Dan: You have to use the Great Eagles very carefully in the last scenario, weighing up how many to use to ferry off the Dwarves and how many to protect Thorin Oakenshield with. We opted for Gwaihir and a single eagle to protect the lone Dwarf, while the other three started rescuing the Dwarves from their lofty perches.

Cat: The scenario looked easy, but turned out to be ridiculously hard, especially with the unexpected death of Gwaihir early on. The battle was a fine balancing act between rescuing Dwarves and helping Thorin. Fortunately, Eagles are exceptional fighters and a string of lucky Priority Rolls enabled us to fly away from the Wargs and tie up Azog for a couple of turns.

ONWARDS, TO THE LONELY MOUNTAIN

Cat: We learnt a lot in the first three scenarios of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Namely, keep moving and watch the turn counter. As a result we did a lot better this time round, winning two out of the three games we played.

The great thing about these scenarios is how, when you think all is won or lost, something unexpected happens that changes everything. In Out of the Frying Pan, we survived an epic trek across the board, fighting everything in our path. We had Dwarves shimmying up trees left, right and centre, but it was the very last Climb Test I rolled that saw Nori fall flat on his back at the bottom of the tree. A howl of “No!” echoed around the gaming hall as I realised he had no Might left to modify the roll. I’m pretty sure Gareth did a little jump for joy. The last game ended on a similarly tense note. Close, too close.

NEXT TIME, OAKENSHIELD, NEXT TIME...

Gareth: I really enjoyed the Breakout scenario despite losing to Cat and Dan. My favourite part was The Goblin King using his Brutal Power attacks to throw three of the poor Dwarves off the rickety gantries. I looked set to lose the second scenario too, Gandalf proving to be a real thorn in my side. Terrifying Aura made it hard for me to charge him due to the Orcs’ low Courage and I quickly learned to space out my models after his first Sorcerous Blast. It was devastating! Fortunately my harrying tactics paid off, making Cat and Dan spend Might points to win fights that they should have saved for climbing trees. In the last scenario I decided to stay true to the film and made sure it was Azog that went after Thorin, not one of his underlings. I just couldn’t get past all the Eagles and ended up losing by the tiniest of margins. So, when are we playing the scenarios from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug?

A MOST AUDACIOUS FELLOW

Cat: Gandalf the Grey was the hero of the hour. He was invaluable in Goblin Town, holding back the tides of Goblins with his Terrifying Aura while the rest of my Dwarves ran to freedom.

Dan: My vote is for Bifur the Dwarf. While escaping from Goblin Town he survived a string of near-fatal combats before piling into the blubbery mass of The Goblin King to hold him up while the remaining members of Thorin’s Company escaped.

Gareth: My man (well, Goblin) of the match was The Goblin King. He did a great job hurling Dan’s Dwarves off the rickety walkways of Goblin Town. I almost felt sorry for them as they disappeared into the abyss. Almost…

Paint Splatter provides handy tips and stage-by-stage painting guides for the week’s new releases. This week we descend into the crazy world of Ork surgery and look at the new Ork Painboy.

Painboyz are the blood-splattered doctors of Ork society, grim physicians who are as likely to embark on crazy (and unwanted) experiments on their subjects as attempt to heal them. Studio army painter Natalie Slinn offers some tips on how she painted the model:

“When I was painting the Painboy I was mindful he needed to match the Boyz in our Bad Moons army,” Natalie says. “I tied him in with a few yellow armour plates, but generally I’ve emphasised the Painboy aspect more instead. His apron and doc’s tools are splashed with blood, which I did by carefully painting on Blood For The Blood God. I applied it in small patches, painted on with a detail brush. This gives him the macabre appearance of a psychotic surgeon.

“Painting liquids in glass containers, such as the vials of blood on this model, can be quite a complicated and daunting task,” says Natalie. “I came up with a simple four stage scheme for it that is nice and easy to reproduce and, as you can see here, gives you good results.

“This technique works because of the way the light hits the glass,” Natalie adds. “The two lines of Pallid Wych Flesh that you add in stage four (see ‘Vials’ below) give the impression of light shining at the edge, and it’s quite convincing. This same trick would work on vials of any other liquid.” AT

PAINTING THE ORKS

For more tips and stage-by-stage guides on painting Orks, check out How to Paint Citadel Miniatures: Orks, which is available this week as a digital download. For more details and to download it, check out:
games-workshop.com

The Orks are the galaxy’s ultimate scavengers, battlefield plunderers who are more than willing to steal wreckage abandoned by the foe, repair it and send it back into battle. This week we present a new Datasheet for using Looted Wagons in your Ork army.

This week Codex: Orks is unleashed, and within it you’ll find all the rules you need to use your greenskin hordes on the battlefield. Each unit within Codex: Orks has its own Datasheet, a special unit page that explains the army list entry and provides a description of the warriors or vehicles contained within it, along with all the rules and options it has.

Looted Wagons have been part of Ork collections for many years now, so we asked Jervis to write us some rules to let you use them in your army. (You can, of course, simply use them as Battlewagons if you prefer.) Presented here is a new Datasheet for Ork armies that can be used alongside all the Datasheets contained in the new Codex. Within Codex: Orks you’ll find all the additional information you might need to decipher the Datasheet and incorporate it into your army, but for now suffice to say that Looted Wagons are a Heavy Support choice in an Ork army.Obviously, to use a Looted Wagon in your games you will need a suitably converted Citadel miniature, armed with an appropriate selection of weapons. Almost any Imperial tank can become a Looted Wagon, from Rhinos and Chimeras to Leman Russ battle tanks and Basilisks.

As an example of what you can do with these rules, the Looted Wagon shown on the right (converted and painted by Jamie Forster) would have the killkannon as its main gun, and an ’ard case and a pair of big shootas as upgrades.

TAKE AIM, FIRE!

Adam: The thing about Looted Wagons that makes offering advice on them so tricky, is that each is personal to whoever has converted it, and that leaves you, the creator, with quite a breadth of choice. That said, I would advise that if you’re building a Looted Wagon from scratch you should absolutely include a killkannon on it, because it turns a comedy ramshackle vehicle into a deadly mobile gun.

To that end, a Looted Wagon with a killkannon is a godsend to Ork players who are looking to add that little extra bit of dakka to their armies. The ability to include a powerful killkannon in your army is invaluable – it’s hard to argue with an additional Strength 8 attack that comes with a large blast marker, especially for taking on Space Marines.

The thing with Looted Wagons is, although they are cheap to include and they have a big gun, they are still quite fragile. Because of this, you need to take precautions to keep them alive and firing throughout the game. The key to this is to make sure you either keep your Wagon safely out of harm’s way (and return fire range) or have a Big Mek with a kustom force field nearby. (Even better, you could have a Morkanaut with a force field upgrade keep it company.) This provides a bubble of protection for your vehicle, which can increase your longevity when the return fire does come.

The other piece of advice I’d offer is to have your Orky sense of humour on hand. When your ‘Don’t Press Dat’ test comes up and ruins your plans, you’ll need it. AT

A looted wagon is a catch-all term for the metal behemoths resurrected from wrecked enemy vehicles by inventive Mekboyz or built in captured Imperial factories. Orks are experts at stealing and adapting such vehicles for their own use and, once a battle is over, Ork salvage teams will get on with the real work of ‘repairing’ the wrecks of enemy tanks. The majority of the vehicles recovered in this way will likely see the battlefield again, this time with various Orky ‘kustomisations’, leaving them temperamental as hell and likely a good deal less efficient than in their previous incarnation.

UNIT TYPE: Vehicle (Tank, Open-topped, Transport)

UNIT COMPOSITION: 1 Looted Wagon

SPECIAL RULES:

Don’t Press Dat: Roll 1D6 for each Looted Wagon at the start of their Shooting phase. On a roll of 1, the Looted Wagon must move Flat Out, even if it performed a Tank Shock earlier in the turn.

TRANSPORT

Transport Capacity: Twelve models.

Fire Points: If a Looted Wagon has the ’ard case upgrade it has three fire points, one on either side of the hull and one at the rear.

Access Points: If a Looted Wagon has the ’ard case upgrade it has one access point at the rear.

OPTIONS:

• May take one of the following:
- Killkannon 30 pts

• May take up to three of the following:
- Big shoota...5 pts each
- Rokkit launcha...5 pts each
- Skorcha...5 pts each

• May take any of the following:
- Deff rolla...10 pts
- ’Ard case...15 pts
- Grabbin’ klaw...5 pts

• May take items from the Orks Vehicle Equipment list.

This week, two Ork Oddboyz take centre stage, as the new Painboy and Mek are released. Determined to learn more about the ideas behind these fantastic additions to the Ork range, Adam tracked down Gavin Newton and Maxime Pastourel.

Gavin Newton is the designer behind the new Painboy, while Maxime Pastourel sculpted the new Mek.

Opposite: “The Painboy has a selection of curious vials that contain ‘medicines’ or fluids for transfusions,” says Gavin. “These might heal the subject, or they might be part of a crazy experiment. I imagine him taking his time, if his victim is subdued, but if he’s in the middle of a fight, he can give a quick dose with the punch-injector.”

“All the new Ork releases you’ve seen over the past few weeks were part of a concerted project involving lots of people,” says Gavin, when I asked him about his work on the new Painboy. “We spent a lot of time discussing the place within Ork kultur for all of the models we were making, and the Painboy certainly holds a very unusual place among the Orks. The way I see it is that Painboyz are kept around by the rest of the Boyz because they are useful for stitching their heads back on after a particularly nasty fight, or attaching their newly purchased bioniks. But for the Painboy himself, he’s actually much more interested in trying out whatever madcap experiment is on his mind – that’s where crazy ideas like the Squig-brain transplant surgery come from. Painboyz aren’t just curious, they’re completely insane, and I wanted to convey that in this model.

“With the new Painboy, I sculpted his face to look maniacal, and a bit sadistic, hoping to capture that moment when an evil doctor is cackling with glee and examining the horrific tool he’s about to utilise,” Gavin says. “It’s clear he enjoys his work, and he’s relishing what he’s about to do. Perched on his shoulder is a Grot orderly, with his mouth sutured shut. Good help is hard to find (and a Grot that knows a bone saw from a scalpel doubly so) and I imagine that the Painboy, irritated by his Grot’s constant chatter and commentary, has silenced him, but still kept him useful. I wanted this to help tell the story of the model, and enhance the sinister appearance of the Painboy, and I think it’s worked out well.”

Above: “Everything about the Mek speaks of his obsession with inventing, and with looting scrap,” says Maxime. “From the welding skorcha on his back to the spare parts hanging from his person. He’s even chewing on a bolt, keeping it handy in case a spot of fixin’ comes along.”

The new Mek was designed by Maxime, the creator of the Mek Gunz that came out last week. As a die-hard Ork collector, Maxime had some strong ideas on how the Mek should look:

“What sets a Mek apart from the rest of the Ork Boyz is his love of technology and his ability to cobble it together,” Maxime says. “These are the Orks who are smart enough to work with the Big Meks, and they have the kit to show for it. In a bit of a Mek Boy moment of my own, I created the kustom mega slugga that the new model holds, and it’s wired into his power pack. That immediately sets him apart from the rest of da ladz, who have to make do with ordinary sluggas.

“His combat weapons also speak of his predilection for fiddling with inventions, fixing thinks on the battlefield and cutting up scrap. The basic option is the massive wrench,” Maxime says. “It’s crudely made, but looks robust enough to smash skulls, and you can just imagine him tightening gubbinz on a Deff Dread or Battle Wagon to keep it clanking along. The killsaw is a new weapon I wanted to include, since it looks distinctly Mek-like in design, and it has rules in the new Codex that make it superb at slicing through vehicle hulls.

“Orks have a very simple way of thinking about their technology really,” Maxime adds. “If a weapon makes a lot of noise, and kills what you point it at, they want it. If it happens to make some big flashes and explosions too, even better. This very simple way of thinking makes the Orks very efficient and keeps the Meks at the heart of their society, since every Ork Boy wants access to the kit they make. In many ways I think that Ork collectors are a bit like Meks: I’ve never met one who doesn’t like kitbashing and converting his Ork models to make them unique. I actually had that in mind when I was making this model, so I’ve kept it as customisable as possible. The head and right arm have the same fitting as the rest of the Ork Boyz, so you can swap bits around between them if you want to. Fancy giving your Mek a different head? Go for it, and that big wrench would look great for an Ork in a Trukk mob.”

Join us for a round-up of the week as we share comment, opinion and trivia on the all latest releases, plus other fun tidbits that have cropped up in the White Dwarf bunker. This week, we look behind the scenes of our Battle Report and chat to writer Andy Clark about Orks.

GAMES DESIGNER ANDY CLARK TALKS ABOUT CODEX: ORKS

Andy Clark dedicated his Paint Station to Gork (or possibly Mork) many years ago, and it’s rarely without a mob of Boyz on it. As one of the writers who worked on Codex: Orks, we asked Andy what his three favourite things about the new Codex are.

“My first thing has to be the new Datasheets,” says Andy. “From an aesthetic point of view they’re colourful and exciting, with evocative pictures of Ork miniatures smack in the middle of them. My favourite one is Ghazghkull, but the Meganobz look great too, like they’re about to rock out of the page and krump you. From a gaming perspective they’re incredibly useful, as everything you need to know about the unit is on that page. You don’t have to flick backwards and forwards to find points values or stat lines.

“My second thing has to be the iconography and graphics. As the first Codex for the new Warhammer 40,000, it has that stark, almost propaganda-ised look of Warhammer 40,000, but delivered in an Orky way, with glyphs and tribal markings and banners. It’s colourful, but brutal, very in-your-face.

“My favourite part of the book is the background section. By incorporating the bestiary into the datasheets, we’ve made space for a wealth of background material, some brand new, some going way back to the Rogue Trader era. We explore the Ork Clans, look at new Waaaghs!, Ork glyphs make a return and there’s even a map covered in green to show where all the Ork infestations are in the galaxy. The book is also a lot of fun to read. Uniquely, I think, with Orks, you can have a chuckle at their expense. That’s not because they’re funny, but because the actions they take can seem amusing to an outsider looking in. Then you realise you’re sniggering about someone getting chopped in half. It certainly makes you wonder if your moral compass is working properly.”

GOTTA START PAINTIN’

“There are lots of exciting new army list options for the Orks,” says Andy. “Units such as Buggies and Mek Gunz can be taken in bigger mobs, and units that previously didn’t have models (like Flash Gitz) now do. And don’t forget entirely new units such as the Gorkanaut and the Morkanaut. The Stompa has also been added to the Codex as a Lord of War choice, giving me the perfect excuse to finish painting my own Stompa, Bigskragga.”

In this week’s battle report we saw Adam’s Tyranids army go head to head with Studio’s Bad Moons army, led by Andy.

“My own Ork army has a strong preference for shooting,” Andy says, “so commanding the Bad Moons army with all that dakka was no hardship at all. In my experience, Ork Boyz with shootas are incredibly versatile, and as long as there’s a Nob with a boss pole to keep the Boyz in line, you can rely on them in a pickle. In the battle report, this paid off several times, and shows Orks iz made for winnin’.”

HQ

Old One Eye

Sotha’s Ruin: Hive Tyrant with wings and twin-linked devourers.

TROOPS

The Red Lords: 3 Tyranid Warriors with deathspitters and lashwhips and boneswords.

The Crimson Stalkers: 3 Tyranid Warriors with two deathspitters, one barbed strangler and lashwhips and boneswords.

The Infiltrators: 14 Genestealers.

The Chittering Brood: 15 Termagants with 2 devourers.

The Fleshborers: 14 Termagants with 2 devourers.

The Flesh Scythers: 16 Hormagaunts with adrenal glands.

The Dead Eaters: 3 Ripper Swarms with deep strike.

ELITES

Gene-feaster: Haruspex with regeneration.

The Sentinels: 3 Hive Guard.

The Infiltrators: 2 x Lictors.

Warp Wyrm: Zoanthrope.

FAST ATTACK

Death Mother: Hive Crone.

Total: 1975

HQ

Kaptin Badrukk

Wingnutz: Big Mek with shokk attack gun and ’eavy armour.

Da Butcha: Painboy.

TROOPS

Da Glitz Mob: 10 Ork Boyz with big shoota, Trukk and Nob with boss pole, ’eavy armour and power claw.

Da Trukkas: 10 Ork Boyz with big shoota, Trukk and Nob with boss pole, ’eavy armour and big choppa.

Da Dakka Boyz: 20 Ork Boyz with two rokkit launchas and Nob with ’eavy armour and boss pole.

ELITES

Da Big Teef: 5 Nobz with ’eavy armour, two with kombi-skorchas, two with kombi-rokkit launchas and one with killsaw, slugga and boss pole.

FAST ATTACK

Yella Deff: Blitza-Bommer.

HEAVY SUPPORT

Badrukk’s Flash Gitz: 10 Flash Gitz with Kaptin.

Big Yella: Morkanaut with kustom force field.

Dread Head: Deff Dread with two skorchas.

Da Kans: 3 Killa Kans with two rokkit launchers and grotzooka.

Da Big Guns: 4 Mek Guns: bubblechukka, smasha gun, kustom mega-kannon and traktor kannon.

Da Dakka Tank: Battlewagon with zzap gun, four big shootas and deff rolla.

Total: 2004

“A massive leather-bound book held aloft by a dagger. That’s what I’d carry into battle,” says Dan. There are six of these holy tomes in the Grey Knights Terminators boxed set, some closed and locked shut, others open like this one.“This is the perfect place to try a little freehand painting,” adds Dan. “You’ll need a lot of patience to paint on all those tiny wordy squiggles, but the end result will look great.”

Under the controversial orders of Inquisitor Kryptman, portions of Hive Fleet Leviathan in the galactic south have been deliberately diverted into the areas of space inhabited by the Orks. For the Imperium this is a boon, for the warlike nature of the Orks is well-suited to battle against the Hive Mind, and, as the War in Octarius has shown, the greenskins have the potential to slow down the rapacious Tyranids entirely. A concern remains, however, that whichever side wins in these battles will emerge much stronger.

Notes from the worlds of Warhammer. This week: unusual Ork Waaagh! machines

DA SKULLHAMMA

Ork Battlefortresses are huge vehicular constructs. Part tank, part mobile bunker, they carry enough firepower to level a city block if all the gunners aim in the same direction. The Evil Sunz favour the Skullhamma Battlefortress as it’s fitted with a supercharged triple-overpressure turbo engine that allows it to keep up with the Speed Freak mobs. A terrifying prospect considering its tonnage.

DA SPLEENRIPPA

Essentially a Trukk with a massive killkannon strapped to it, the Spleenrippa is more gun than vehicle. Renowned for its explosive firepower, the Spleenrippa often finds itself moving away from the action on account of its incredible recoil.

DA GIBLET GRINDA

Da Giblet Grinda Battlewagon mounts a massive, spiked deff rolla on the front of its chassis. Drivers of Giblet Grindas take great pleasure in squashing their chosen target, though sadly their enthusiasm often outweighs their accuracy. As a result, they often turn around ‘for annuvva go’, chasing after their victim like a Squig after a Snotling.

DA MEK’S DRAGSTA

Sometimes known as Junkas, Mek Dragstas combine a super-charged Trukk with a Kustom Force Field array. Many Orks believe that the faster the Dragsta goes, the more powerful the force field becomes, generating a crackling bow wave of energy in front of it. While this isn’t strictly true, Ork Meks are more than willing to let da ladz believe it. They’re also more than willing to test the theory, just in case it is true.

This exceptional rendition of Horus the Warmaster was painted by regular contributor Myles David. ”When I heard that Horus was being released I knew I had to paint a version of him as a Luna Wolf before he turned his back on the Emperor,” says Myles. “Before painting the model I made a subtle alteration, carefully shaving off the Eye of Horus on his belt and replacing it with a Forge World Sons of Horus icon in etched brass. Working on his armour, I chose a warm chocolate beige for the basecoat, which I highlighted up to pure white. I then used a cool gold for the armour banding to contrast with it.”

If you’ve painted a miniature that you think is worthy of a place in White Dwarf then why not send a picture to:

team@whitedwarf.co.uk

If it’s something we can use, we’ll be sure to get in touch.

The White Dwarf team is a font of hobby knowledge, a metaphorical repository of useful facts. If you have a question about Warhammer 40,000 or Warhammer, need a bit of painting advice or you’re after a few tactical tips, drop us a line: team@whitedwarf.co.uk

DEALIN’ WIV BIG STUFF

My orks are having trouble dealing with Super–heavy vehicles. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with these monstrous machines?
- David ‘Da Krumpa’ Thomson

GROMBRINDAL SAYS

I find the best way to deal with super-heavy things is to hit them with a super-heavy hammer. I remember this one Ogre, he was a big lad, but one swift punch in the… Anyway, I digress…

Dan: Grombrindal’s not far wrong, actually. One of the best ways to deal with Super-heavy tanks is to punch them to bits. Ork gunz can be pretty powerful, but not entirely reliable. On the other hand, an Ork Nob with a power claw will happily smash armoured vehicles until he runs out of targets or his arms fall off. An Ork Warboss would do the job even more effectively, while Ghazghkull Thraka will make very short work of even the biggest armoured threat.
- Grombrindal (and Dan)

When we sat down with Gavin Newton and Maxime Pastourel to talk about their work on the Painboy and Mek, Gavin let slip an insight into the design of the Orky surgeon that was as sinister as they come.

“The doc’s tools that the Painboy carries are based loosely on the narthecium that a Space Marine Apothecary carries,” Gavin said, referring to the Ork’s unsightly gauntlet. “It’s as if the Painboy has seen one in action before, and modelled his own tools after the battle-medics of the Adeptus Astartes. A narthecium is by necessity quite a brutal looking tool, since it has to saw through ceramite and hardened bone, whereas the creepy mix of razor blades and saws on the doc’s tools are to satisfy his sadistic tendencies.”

When a sword glows blue, it’s often a sign that it’s magical. This is definitely the case with Sting, the sword carried by Bilbo Baggins and, later, by his nephew Frodo. Strictly speaking, Sting isn’t a sword, but an Elven dagger that was lost during the Fall of Gondolin and found thousands of years later by Bilbo. Fortunately, it’s just the right size for a Hobbit and he put it to very good use, separating dozens of Mirkwood Spiders from their legs.

Since we first showed Adam’s Tyranids in White Dwarf a few months back, we’ve had a few questions on how he paints them.

“The key is keeping it simple,” Adam explains. “I spray the whole model with Mephiston Red, paint the chitin with Zandri Dust and guns with Naggaroth Night before washing the whole model in Nuln Oil. From there, I work up quick highlights with the original colours.”

War Diary is back! Last year we ran a series charting the journey of seven hobbyists as they prepared for Armies on Parade, our annual painting competition, in which entrants paint a new army and a board to display it on. This year, no less than 14 of us are ready to take on the hobby challenge. Keen to start painting, Chris Bilewicz and Dom Murray have already started on their entries for this year: Adepta Sororitas and Space Wolves respectively. We’ll be talking more about Armies on Parade in issue 22 of White Dwarf and we’ll be showcasing our finished boards in a future issue of Warhammer: Visions. If you’d like to know more about this year’s Armies on Parade competition, have a chat to the staff in your local Games Workshop, they’ll be more than happy to tell you more.

Above, left: Dom’s Space Wolves display will also feature an Imperial Knight. While waiting for his Knight to arrive in the post, Dom built a Noble pilot for it.

Above, right: Meanwhile, Chris has painted Uriah Jacobus.

Below: And a squad of Sisters of Battle wearing pure, holy white armour.

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