A lecture on orkish art history

Unsurprisingly I, like most other ork-fans, rushed down to my local game provider / plastics pusher  this weekend and snatched up a copy of the new Codex: Orks.

First impressions are a bit of a mixed bag:

• Well designed - the layout is beautiful. Fresh and modernized, while still unmistakably orky in style.
• Well written - staying true to the background while expanding it a bit. I also like how they toned down the pseudo science bits of ork/fungal DNA and leave the nuts and bolts of orkoid anatomy and inherited knowledge a bit more mysterious. They´re portrayed as a bit too simplistic and bloodthirsty for my taste though - back in the days of Waaagh the Orks, ´Ere we Go and Freebooterz when I discovered the 40k universe they weren´t just bloodthirsty killing machines - there was always a philosophical streak to them. They loved war - but focus lay on the spectacle of warfare, the exhilarating adventure of fighting and genarally causing mayhem, rather than being into it for the sake of slaughtering people. There´s a difference between liking a"good scrap" and liking killing.
• Well designed rules as far as I can tell - I´m not rules nut.
• Great new minis - the orks are some of best designed ranges out there, oozing with character and highly customizable.

The illustrations however, were a big letdown. There´s very few of them to begin with and the quality of the few scattered pieces of art is quite frankly depressing (with a few exceptions - mainly old Boyd and Smith pieces from earlier editions). 

Hackjobs like this should simply not be seen in a GW product - I´ve seen more skilled illustrators in self published roleplaying games...

But instead of whining about it I´d like to take this moment to celebrate the fabulous ork illustrations that GWs products have featured historically - illustrations by the likes of Paul Bonner and Adrian Smith that had a huge inpact on me as a young whelp (which eventually led to me choosing a career as an illustrator myself). Images that tell stories - instead of just showing a bunch of bellowing monsters with explosions in the background they often focus on ork life outside (or just to the side) of the theatre of war. Images bursting at the seams with character and that special wry sense of humour that have always made the Orkoids so dear to me.

I do have to stress that I´m not saying that everything was better back in the rogue trader era. As loveable as the old Kev Adams orks were, the new range of Brian Nelson-styled minis are even better and these days we have stuff like stompas, fightas and gorkanauts one only could dream about in the old days. It´s just the great art and some nuances in the background I miss.

Nuff said. `Ere we go:

=I=

Paul Bonner

=I=

Adrian Smith

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Mark Gibbons

Ded ´ard if you ask me. Coming up - more freebooterz!

Mo' dakka!!

Third freeboota conversion finished:

Used a kombi-shoota from the nob kit and added some flash git bits to make a more reasonably sized snazz-gun.

Hook of Gork ( or possibly Mork )

Mr. Orkshmael all painted up and reporting for duty. 

Call me Orkshmael.

Here's the First Mate in Kaptin Orkhabs rowdy gang of misfits, Mr Orkshmael. 

Fuelled by potent fungus rum and a burning hatred of the great white void whale that ate their last krooza ( and made off with an assortment of the crews body parts ) they roam the galaxy seeking venegance, loot and a good scrap. And rum - lots of rum...

UPDATE:

And here he is with some paint slapped on him. Going for a more subtle and slightly less cartoony palette than my old orks.

Yarr!

After a month of inactivity due to relocating related activities I'm back on the air!

As you may know I'm really an ork at heart so this is truly exiting times, what with the first new ork codex coming out in Mork knows how long - not to mention all the snazzy new models! 

I've always loved the piratey-themed freebooterz so the flash gitz were a must-buy. Here's my first git made using the new kit: 

The snazz-guns seemed a tad oversized even for orks so it was shortened creating a more compact, chunky design. Still about the same size as the git himself though, which gives you an idea how huge these things are if constructed straight out of the box... 

I'm going to mix 'em up with nobz to get some variation - their kombi-shootas will make great, more reasonably sized, snazz-gunz with some bitz added from this kit ( also nobz are more or less half the price...)

200

Officio Convertorum just passed 200 followers!

To celebrate this momentous occasion I drew a space marine.

Toxirella

Working on the first female addition to the nurgly gang:

Still extremely wip. She'll be some sort of pollution incarnate - no boils, perfect white skin, but rotting on the inside

Papas boy

Here's the latest recruit to those rascally Nugle Boys. Don't have a proper name for him yet so I'll just go with Mean Machine for now.

By popular demand - here's a groupshot of all the latest nurglii models:

There'll be more to come. I think the crew is a bit of a sausage fest at the moment ( though strictly speaking the plaguebearers are Ken-dolls in the genital department...) so I'm thinking a girl or two.

-

EDIT:

I got rid of the blue detailing on the gatling that some people (including me) found distracting. 

Nurgmlinator

Painting of the gatling-toting nurglii thug has commenced. As always having a blast creating those leprous hues...

Bless the rot

Accompanied by clouds of flies, a slithering carpet of rats and the sound of bells, the Plague Prophet strides forth - spreading the gospel of nurgles blessings.

I smudged some white paint on his left hand which will have to be fixed...

We will rot you

The nurglii servo-thug conversion is nearing completion. 

A few people suggested I'd lead some cables from the open intestines to the gun to make a "gutling gun" (turning it into a nurglii poopcannon) which is a fantastic, albeit slightly juvenile, idea. In the end, however, I opted for a more traditional drum-mag as it looked cooler.

I also covered up most of the exposed innards - they felt a bit over the top - giving him a bloated beer belly instead. 

In other news - the plague prophet, made ages ago, is now finished and primed and will be getting some painterly attention momentarily.

Mean machine

Yep. More nurgly stuff - dark mechanicum gun servitor / cyborg thug this time around.