You say you want aliens driving 1970s-style dune buggies? Check. And you want five of them? No problem. Sporting heavy weapons? Done and done. With 2nd edition Orks, anything goes.

This month I completed a big batch of models. My intention was to complete 5 Ork war buggies, which I did, and I had enough enthusiasm left over to add a special character plus a mob of foot troops. Now the Ork biker gang can head out to the highway with some heavy firepower!

Seek him here, seek him on the highway

Never knowing when he'll appear

All await, engine's ticking over

Hear the roar as they sense the fear
Wheels! A glint of steel and a flash of light!

Screams! From a streak of fire as he strikes!
Hell bent, hell bent for leather!

- Hell Bent for Leather, Judas Priest

Like all metal Ork vehicles of the Rogue Trader era, the war buggies required a bit of adjustment to put together, though I feel they were slightly easier to assemble than the war bikes from the first month. I think this was partly because they have four wheels and are more stable during puttying and gluing, and partly because there’s a little more room to maneuver a brush around the nooks and crannies. I mounted them on 50x75mm bases for stability, and to match the style of the other fast attack vehicles in the army. I painted them up in the same Orky automotive red I’ve used elsewhere. I really love the design of these buggies: the little smiley grill, the reckless pose of the driver, the “Bad Year” tires, the garage-built-death-machine feel of a ’70s dune buggy. You could imagine them being driven by the Banana Splits. They’re great looking models.

Banana Splits – Intro

I finished the buggies quickly enough that I had time to paint up my first ever 40k special character: Zodgrod Wortsnagga, Snakebite Runtherd extraordinaire. I realized that I didn’t have a runtherd in my army, and Zodgrod would fill that role. Unlike most of my Orks, I did my best to paint him up like his depiction in the Ork codex. I avoid matching a paintjob to a codex example since I’d be comparing my version to one painted by the ‘Eavy Metal team (which would be depressing). In this case, however, I’m happy with the result. And what’s the point of having Zodgrod without his free upgraded “Super Runts”? So I absolutely had to paint a max-size mob of 40 super-Gretchin. They were a real grind by the end. And I literally finished them on the last day, hours before the deadline. I’m never going to batch-paint 40 figures again. But I’m glad I did.

Models and Points:

Ork War Buggies (5) – 295
Zodgrod Wortsnagga – 65
Zodgrod’s Super Gretchin (40) – 200

Totals:

46 models (51 equivalent)
560 points