Ride of the Orkyries

I just can’t help myself. I am of an age where, I see the Ork Deff Copter Squadron and I hear the Ride of the Valkyries playing in my head*! These are such brilliant little models. The are so dynamic, so nicely proportioned and so blooming Orky. Again, they were brilliant candidates for the Mediocre Hobbies (over on YouTube, check them out) rust treatment. It worked a charm, at least I think so. They were a breeze and a delight to paint. And you get six of them!

Obviously they came as part of the New Ork Battalion Set, which includes a Rukkatrukk Squigbuggy and a Deffkilla Wartrike. Again these two models just scream; ORKY! They are fantastic. Painted rusty and red and Bob is your uncle, if he is a very nice uncle he’ll buy this set for you. At the time of going to press it was still available, but only while stocks last.


Just as a word of warning though, the rotor blades, on the Deff Copters, are a bit on the flimsy side. Be wary of over eager dry bushing. I managed to snap one off and it required some serious pinning to get it back on again. I saw that someone had the clever idea of magnetising them. I wish I had the patience for that; it seems like a very cunning solution for storing the darn things too.
The set was a lovely Birthday present, it helped to flesh out my burgeoning Ork army and fill some more time while waiting for Armageddon to release.


*Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola

Published in: on July 17, 2026 at 7:56 am  Comments (1)  
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Armageddon Update II

Orks 11 – Space Marines 10

Arrgh the pesky Marines are closing the gap. Sadly the heatwave got too bad this time, the paint was drying on my brush, so there may not be as much progress next time, but you never know????

Published in: on July 11, 2026 at 7:52 am  Leave a Comment  
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Armageddon Update

Orks 11 Space Marines 0

Waaagh!

Published in: on July 4, 2026 at 6:14 am  Leave a Comment  
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Yarrick

What? Me? Yarrick? You must be barmy! No self-respecting orc, like me, would touch Yarrick with a ten foot fine detail brush. You must be mistaken! Why the very thought of it! It sends shivers down my spine and makes my orc blood run cold. Me Yarrick, never!

Oh that Yarrick… Yeah, well, you know I got caught up in the hype. Lost in the euphoria of expectation. And on top of that, it looked like a very nice model. What is not to like, clean lines, nice detail and well posed. Even an old orc like me looks forward to clean lines sometimes.

I have keenly followed the story of Ghazghkull and Yarrick since it began all those years ago. It has been a hell-of-a ride but, despite how they might dress it up, this puny human always manages to thwart Ghazghkull. It is a great piece of Warhammer magic. It has inspired me again and again to brush the dust off my 40k Orks and dream of gorgeous battles on dusty worlds.

This time, though, this time it is going to happen! Look how serious I am; I have built Yarrick! It is going to happen. After all these years Armageddon is coming. You see if it don’t!

And in the end, you know, if all this comes to nought! If this is nothing more than an old orc’s pipe dream, it matters not. It is the journey that counts. It is the hobby that counts; the planning, the buying, the building, the painting. I have had all this joy already.

Also  I have lined up a “little” treat for myself, when I have finished painting the Armageddon box just to redress the balance.

Published in: on July 3, 2026 at 7:16 am  Leave a Comment  
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Armageddon

I had made it to the site on time. It seemed pretty busy, but I was there. I went to buy it but they had all gone. How? How could that be? My heart sank and bitter disappointment set in. I woke up still feeling very sad but, heaving a huge sigh of relief, I realised it was all a bad dream, Armageddon day was still weeks away. I know you will laugh at this foolish old orc. Surely I am old enough to know better. How deep is my love? I wanted that box set so much.

Fortunately there was my birthday coming up and my very generous family made sure I had lots to keep me busy; Armageddon: The Return Of Yarrick. Wazdakka Gutsmek, the new Ork Battalion, a Big Mek with Shock Attack Gun and even Old Bale Eye himself, Commissar Yarrick. I was full of determination to get it all done before Armageddon Day! Watch this space to see if I made that deadline???

In the meantime pre order day arrived. Despite my nightmares I had no problem getting the box ordered, Games Workshop got it more than right this time, and it duly arrived. A rather stunned UPS driver dropped it at my door. “I’ve got about a dozen of these!”  he remarked. Now I do not live in a huge metropolis so a dozen boxes is quite a big deal. As I took it in my eager arms, hugging it to my bosom, it felt delightfully heavy.

It is here and, braving the heatwave, I have it assembled and undercoated. Let’s Go!

Waaaagh!

Published in: on June 26, 2026 at 7:33 am  Leave a Comment  
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Room and Board

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The trouble with inviting several hundred goblins into your home is finding the room to put them up. Really how do you accommodate such a vast quantity of green skins? Ok so to begin with you can shove them in a box and hide them under your bed but at best this is just a temporary measure.

It is a natural first instinct to want to show off all your beautifully painted new friends and so it begins. The Goblins fill up one shelf, then another and another. With the green skins breeding faster than rabbits you soon run out of shelf space. Somehow, despite all this procreative activity, the little gits gather dust as if it were orc teef! You invest in feather dusters and air dusters but all to no avail; the dust still gathers. With the box under the bed calling to you once again as the best solution you frantically cast about for a better home for your little fellers.

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Perhaps you are smiling to yourself in smug affluence secure in the knowledge that your guys are snuggly tucked up in a sturdy G.W. case. There can be little doubt that G.W. cases are the best home for your guys but, my, they are expensive. As your collection creeps beyond the 1000 figure landmark you realise just how much storing your models is going to cost.

I bit the bullet, something had to be done, more to the point something had to be bought. I think I was rather fortunate to discover the KR Multicase, or rather several of them. They are well made of heavy duty card with foam inserts capable of holding 200 guys. Amazon will charge you £22.50 (+4.48 pp) for this little beauty. As they stand they are no good for cavalry or standard bearers but they could be modified. As a cheap and cheerful solution to mass figure storage I heartily recommend them.

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Published in: on June 9, 2015 at 11:40 am  Comments (1)  
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Nurglings

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As soon as these little fellas came out I knew I just had to have them. These Nurglings capture a sense of fun, ok so it is rather sadistic and twisted fun but fun never-the-less. The mischief and joy these models display really appeals to the goblin in me!

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They were so easy to put together and painting them was just the ticket to get me well back in the habit of swinging the old brush. These Nurglings were a real delight to work with. The guys are just packed with lovely, gory detail that you, and they, can get your teeth into.

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At £15 for the three bases I have to say I think they were pretty good value for money. The entertainment value of painting them was worth the cash itself; let’s hope they can earn their beans on the battle field.

Right then… on to the Herald!

Published in: on May 7, 2015 at 10:18 am  Leave a Comment  
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Droning On!

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When these little beauties first came out they went straight to my heart. As with most  Nurgle models the grossness, the violence and downright evil is presented in a spirit of mischief and naughty boy humour. Despite all the background story and partially digested victims trying to escape these guys are great fun. After all it is not as if the victims have been swallowed whole by Ghurk Glott have they?

I found the models very easy to put together; even with messing them around by building a mix of command and regular troops. The detail on these guys is fantastic. It had been a while since I had done any painting but I found these a fairly gentle reintroduction.

My daemon army is marching slowly but inexorably on. Ok so now my painting hand has got a bit steadier where are those nurglings?

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The scholar wiped the bead of sweat from the tip of his nose just before it fell and splashed upon the parchment he was industriously scribbling over. The sweltering  heat was almost overpowering. The sweltering heat was almost as overpowering as the stench the heat always brought with it. A fly repeatedly buzzed past his ear with monotonous, frustrating regularity. For the thousandth time he distractedly swatted the fly away. He had tried his best to ignore the heat, to ignore  the stink and to ignore the fly but when the pesky insect actually landed upon his ear that was too much.

Angrily the scholar threw down his quill and jumped to his feet. The angry victim looked round for the offending bug and was dismayed to see the room was playing host to at least two dozen flies. Right! Picking up a rolled bundle of parchments the scholar declared war upon the annoying intruders.

It was hot and frustrating work the flies had found the knack of settling in places where the scholar could not attack them; ink bottles and clean parchment being their favourite haunt. At long last the vexed and sweating man had cleared his room and with the corpses of some two dozen flies on a scrap of old parchment he opened the door to the outside.

The scholar expected the increase in the stench, he expected the blinding sunlight but he did not expect the plague drone. The Plague Bearer towering above the scholar looked down upon the scrap of parchment bearing the fly corpses; “Turn about!” he grinned at the scholar. As the scholars bowels involuntarily gave way, much to the Plague Bearers pleasure, the drones proboscis engulfed the scholars head and began sucking with incredible force. How I wish for the scholar’s sake that was the last thing he felt, alas it was not…

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Published in: on April 20, 2015 at 10:50 am  Leave a Comment  
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More Than Just Playing With Soldiers

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While games of Warhammer and 40k are great any hobbyist will tell you that the  actual games are just a small part of our pastime. Engaging in the collecting and painting of your little guys is a much bigger part of the war gaming hobby than actually playing the game. Some folks see this preparatory work as a bit of a downer; just let me at those filthy skaven, they rage. However for the majority of war gamers collecting and painting the miniatures is even more fun than the battles themselves.

Not content with collecting, painting and fighting with their little guys some hobbyists also feel the need to share there adventures with fellow gamers. Once-upon-a-time the only  way to share your armies with others was over the battle table or at club nights. Now-a-days for those with the desire or need to share, show off or simply enjoy the company of fellow hobbyists there are blogs and there is Twitter. All of a sudden a whole new aspect of the hobby opens up!

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For  me and for many others I am sure that is the beauty of this hobby; the depth of involvement it offers and often demands. This is one of those hobbies that the more you put in the more you get out. It matters not to me that perhaps this article will be read by only one or two people, if I am lucky, what matters is that I have fun preparing and presenting this missive. So not only do I have the fun of playing with my toy soldiers but I get to play with lights and cameras and get to set up nice scenes with my little guys as if it really matters. It is all harmless fun anyway.

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Published in: on April 16, 2015 at 10:11 am  Leave a Comment  
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Puss ‘n’ Rot

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Long, long ago deep in the mists of time, in that period of shoulder pads and Texan soap operas called the eighties, I first encountered Chaos. I was instantly drawn to the decadent, erotic charms of Slaanesh and to that god I gladly sold my soul. However chaos is chaos, it broils and churns and we mere mortals are swept hither and thither and tide tossed upon many an alien shore. Bitterly too those chaos gods fight to win followers one from another and many a soul is torn asunder in the ensuing tug-of-war. Wise is the mortal who pins not his arms to the coat tails of any great patron but, humbly and devoutly, follows them all.

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Ok so after years of collecting only Slaanesh I have broadened my Daemonic horizons. GW are busy producing many, many mouth-watering models at the moment but, of the recent batch, the Plaguebearers of Nurgle most captured my imagination. I suppose being and orc at heart these models would be bound to appeal to me. There is almost a snotling/orc relationship between the plaguebearers and nurglings.IMG_0007

As can be said of most of the new plastic models they went together very well and were wonderfully detailed. I don’t know if it is just me but I seem to be having a bit of an issue with the plastic glue; ie. It will not stick??? Super glue seems to work though; fingers crossed (damn now they are stuck together). (Note: this article was first published a while ago and since then the problem with the plastic glue appears to have been resolved.)

So here is the first unit of my reimagined Daemon Hoard I have a feeling it might be a little Nurgle heavy, with plenty of Daemonetts too (mmmmmm).

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Published in: on April 14, 2015 at 10:58 am  Leave a Comment  
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