Later this year we are due to see the release of the video game, Space Marine 2. It will be the long awaited sequel to the original third-person-shooter-slash-hack-n-slay, that was released in 2011.
Where the new game looks set to feature Tyranids as the main foe, the original game had Orks. Lots and lots of Orks. And it's one of the Orks from that game that has inspired my next set of models.
In WH40K the Ork 'Ard Boy unit takes 'Eavy Armour (and a correspondingly adjusted Save profile) to distinguish it from the regular lads, but in the Space Marine console game the 'Ard Boyz were given breacher shields as well. A simple adjustment that to my mind was a major visual upgrade. Especially as in the tabletop game, even a die-hard stickler-for-the-rules can see it's not much of a stretch to say the shield just counts as that aforementioned extra armour.
Here are some images (from a Space Marine Fandom Wiki article) that show just how tough theses rock-solid brutes looked in action in the original game.
Younger me was immediately taken by the vicious, hard-to-kill monstrosities, and I vowed to recreate a game legal version for the tabletop, armed with Slugga (pistol), Choppa (hand weapon), and, of course, the shield.
And so where to start? It seemed like the first thing I'd need, after picking up a box of Ork Boyz, would be a bunch of suitably derelict and neglected-looking riot shields – enough to equip a small unit. It seemed only fair and Orky to try to ensure that they all look ever-so-slightly different, so, before I got out my plasticard and scalpel, I grabbed a pen and paper and started sketching.
Once I got to the above stage, it was time to look through my bits box and see what else I could throw together. I figured a few extra plates of armour, some additional pouches, spare magazines, helmets and iron gobs would do the trick. This was still over a decade ago, and back then spare parts were a bit thinner on the ground. You only got a couple of extra pouches on the Ork Boyz frames, so finding more gear for an entire unit of models could be quite tricky. There used to be a small metal 'Ard Boyz upgrade sprue, that had a few extra helmeted heads, iron gobs, and shoulder pads, so I grabbed a pack of them and set about creating some of the other kit with more plasticard. You can see all the troops I managed to build below, plus the larger Nob that I added a bit later.
They then, as is all too often the case with me, sat in boxes, or on a high-up shelf, looking unprimed and dusty, for what must have been something like 10 or 12 years, until a couple of months ago when I realised Games Workshop was re-basing its Ork models on larger, 32mm bases, so I did the same.
And when I got them out to do this, and looked at them again after all this time, I realised I quite liked them. So just the other day, while checking my re-basing job, I finally decided it was about the right time to get my paints out. More on that when and if I ever get them finished.
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