Rummaging the Collection: Ere Come the Boyz!

 Hi!

As part of my attempts at organising my hobby stuff, I've rummaged out all my Orks and was surprised by just how many of the greenskins I actually had!

The Horde

Looking at my collection, its possibly a bit puny compared to the more modern versions of 40k and indeed even 2nd edition but its perfect for games of Rogue Trader and other skirmish games!

The Nobz

My boss is a modern Ork nob which looms suitably over the rest of the horde and is accompanied by a second modern plastic on the right and a classic 2nd edition Goff skarboy/nob that I converted quite a while back now.

The Boyz

The main bulk of my force is the big unit of Goff Boyz consisting of a mixture of Rogue Trader era plastics and some 2nd edition box set boyz as well as a single modern plastic figure. I FAR prefer painting the old style to the newer ones as they've got tons of character, even the monopose ones compared to the rather soulless modern offering and I think I've got enough to bump up the unit size a bit kicking around my bits box somewhere...

Sneaky Gitz

My second mob consists of five Bloodaxe Kommandos made from a classic Rogue Trader Ork, a 2nd edition Kommando and a trio of Restic Mantic Marauders from Deathzone. I do like how they turned out and really need to add a couple more to round out the unit!

The Grotz

The Grotz are a mixture of 2nd edition starter set monopose with a modern plastic Gretchin that came with the new plastic Nobz, a converted Gnobblar with a classic Warhammer Goblin head, an ancient solid base GW Goblin and a 15mm scale Demonworld Goblin. They're a bit of a mixed bunch but work well together as a mixture of disposable cannon fodder and helpful underlings.

I've also got a couple of savage Orks lurking around but not enough to make a decent unit out of so I may eventually add them in to give my force some savage charm.

One of the interesting things I've found from the process of sorting through my collection is that I am finding myself inspired to get back to painting and sorting out figures to round out the collection and am getting a lot of inspiration for new games, scenarios and battles with what I've got which has been rather fun!

I do want to add some more clans into the mix as I do love the multi coloured splendour of a 2nd edition force with some of the wacky units that they could choose but I suspect this will be done very gradually and sporadically as I'm so easily distracted with other projects, ideas and doodads!

I do hope to play out a decent sized game in the next few days featuring this lot against an Imperial expedition and it may spawn into a mini campaign if I get myself moving...

This process has been both a constant surprise as I keep finding bits and bobs that I'd forgotten I had (case in point half a dozen Goff boyz including the veteran skarboy!) and I've found myself with a more interesting and usable collection than I thought I had and its getting me using my existing collection rather than worrying about needing new stuff all the time (although I do want to keep adding to it!). 

I do think I need to swap the bases out to match and may eventually rework the metallics to fit my current painting style but its a small thing really and the general look of the lot of the greenskinned menaces is fairly cohesive. I am again struck by how much more fun the older sculpts are to work with and will need to keep my eyes peeled for more suitable stuff to add to it, only going for modern bits and pieces if there's no other alternative as half of my hobby revolves the enjoyment and relaxation of painting and these old sculpts are so characterful that they almost paint themselves!

My next update will hopefully cover the forces of the Imperium and following that, some mercenary scum but until then, All the best!