Da Orks is 'ere! and Megabattle

I finally got myself the Assault on Black Reach boxed set this last weekend. I decided that is I was to start a second army in 40k it would very likely be either the Orks or the Space Marines. If you aren't aware, the Black Reach box contains nearly $400 dollars worth of miniatures for only $90. Of course, the models in the Black Reach box are not quite worth the same dollar wise to miniatures in their own squad boxes. The models are very click-together, which would be fine if they didn't all have the exact same pose and if less than 25% of the models fit together correctly. I ended up slicing off the plastic prong intended to connect the models more often than not just to make them fit.

Anyway, this now increases my model count to include 500 points in Space Marines and about 450 points in Orks. I decided that these two armies are going to be my showcase armies, while my Imperial Guard will continue to be my primary gaming army. I am going to expand both up to 1000 points, starting with the Orks, and try them out at the gaming store to see which I enjoy playing with more. Which ever wins will expand to 2000 points.

I started painting my Orks and took my dear sweet time in order to maximize their quality. Here is my first and only painted ork boy as of now.

 

This ork is in his final stages and only needs his base painted. As you can guess, I am going to an Evil Sunz army. They are going to be a heavily mechanized force. Everything will either be capable of moving more than 12" a turn or mounted in a vehicle that can move more than 12" a turn. Anyway, his paint scheme is made up of a myriad of colors. The clothing is made of Burgundy and Licorice with dry brushing with Pewter Grey over the Licorice. I used Burnt Umber for the leather, and a layer of Burnt Umber with Coffee Bean for any pouches and the wrist bands. Also his teeth and the bone handing from his belt are country tan. His skin is a combination of three colors. First a layer of Thicket over all the skin. Then a layer of Leaf Green only on the muscles and a layer of Hunter Green on top of that.

Finally I must summarize my Megabattle at the game store this last weekend. As I entered the store a group of three guys were preparing to start a two vs one 2000 point game of CSM vs Nids. They had me join the fray with my IG, bumping to game up to 3500 points, with me allied with the CSM. I only snapped pictures of the deployment, but I wish I would have gotten more because it was an exciting battle. In the end we had to call the game at the end of turn 3 due to time restraints, but at that point my team won with more kill points.