There is, a Bad Moon rising...

So, having just returned from Blog Wars where I placed a respectable 18th out of 48, and was joint second on the best converted army award (two votes behind what can only be described as an absolute masterpiece of a Tau army featuring hand carved statues to decorate a flying base) the best part of the whole thing has been since my return, I have been much more active in the blogosphere. Mostly reading up other peoples views on the vent, but it's given me the bug to try to get back into blogging myself. Yeah, it's been a while...

The dakkawing that went down so well at Blog Wars

So, to kick things off, my Bad Moons army was designed because I liked the new artillery pieces and Meganobz but felt that static artillery and slow and purposeful units had no place in the Speed Freaks army I had previously been running. So I started something new. I had a large stash of Orks to raid from a second hand army I picked up dirt cheap, so while the boyz were mostly armed with shootas, which wasn't my preference, I made a solid workable 2000 point list.

A small sample of the 60 Boyz I painted for this army... Why do I do this to myself?

Once all that was painted, I went through the box and picked a few select units that would fit the expensive living of a Bad Moons army. So the mega dread that I loved and bought but never painted cos it never felt like it would fit in a speed freaks army - that's now on my painting table among a cluster of killa kans and a deffdread. I also picked out some converted meganobz with cybork bodies (yeah I know, not legit any more) that needed a few repairs and some TLC. Adding in a painboy to that unit got me Grotsnik and a suitable cohort. A unit of Nob bikers I had been planning to put into my speed freaks, but why should they have ALL the bikes? I can put some into another army. Give them SOME mobility.

Grotsnik and his "modified" lads...

Plus Grotsnik got bored so modified some grots too...

Including this poor guy, who he didn't bother to put any strengthening servos onto when he gave him that rather bulky power fist...

As for the remainder? Well it looks unbound (there appear to be only 20 or so boyz, which could be troops legal, but way too many HS choices) but I should be able to make about 2000 points or so of Deffskulls as my next Ork project...

The truk I refer to as Orktimus Prime... no it doesn't transform. I'm not THAT good...

Or is it? You see I was chatting to my tournament buddy Ken, and we were joking about the background of the orks and the shenanigans they get up to. How does a stompa actually STOMP? It can't lift those legs high enough to step on a Space Marine! If anything it would sort of shuffle through a melee like a pissed off geisha girl. (On the flipside there's no way a wraithknight should be using a blast marker with those ballerina legs, it should be selecting individual models for a precision kick) Anyway, the idea of a Stompa scurrying along on little legs set a train of thought in motion... which eventually lead to a back story being developed for a useless Mek. He tries bless him, he sees what other meks do and attempts to imitate it, but he just can't figure out the internal combustion engine. If he built a Stompa, it would have a grab rail round the inside of the skirt, and 50 orks would have to lift the bugger up and move him towards the enemy. Stormboyz would be hanging from the legs of swallows (African swallows most likely, perhaps two tied together) in order to gain flight. Anyway, it's tickled off some ideas, and I've written up a list, along with conversion notes alongside certain units. I believe it could be a very fun project. It is however, a staggering amount of infantry. It scares me. But the conversion opportunities are very intriguing. I guess it depends how the next couple weeks pan out. I am currently out of work, job hunting. I have an interview at Games Workshop. Get that job, this project moves a whole lot closer (hello staff discount) Any other job, it depends how soon I get it. I've made some money selling my old Baneblades on ebay, and I'd like to put that money towards a new army... However until I am in paid employment and know where my next pay cheque is coming from, I'm spending nothing.

So, watch this space, for the final few Bad Moons units, and for my decision on which tribe to do next - Deffskulls or Snakebites.

Ghazza and the boyz...

Ghazs ride...

With the ramps down, it extends the length of the tank by approximately 2" No I don't use it for disembarkation, but life imitating the rules pleases me...

Some Stormboyz I did when I was running a Tale of Some Gamers and needed to spend a few more points that month...