Xenos Rampant 15mm project (finished 15mm orks and FUBAR)

[Hobgoblin]

Tried to remedy the badly lit snaps with a daylight shot this morning. A glance through Magister Militum's Blood Dawn range suggests a whole host of further conversion options. And there's a bombard and crew that will need minimal tweaking to fit right in.

Quite a few of the orcs are "dual wielding", which I generally dislike in miniatures, but which allows more variety in sci-fi conversions: you can add a gun to the right hand of one model and to the left of a duplicate and get two quite different-looking orks.

I've got another of the guy with the big gun here; I'm going to keep his massive sword this time, but add a pistol to his clenched fist and maybe give him some sort of helmet or headdress.

[Hobgoblin]

Some progress on the next pair ...

[aliensurfer]

very nice, take a look at SLAP minis, some nice space orks there/due out

[Brummie]

Nice orks! I like your retro sci-fantasy approach, I might have to get some orks just to balance out my hard sci fi armies 

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, both!

Here are the first four Orks finished. They've already seen action, in a quick test game of FUBAR, which my son and I had never played. We were both very impressed with it, so I suspect this Xenos Rampant project might be taking on an altogether more FUBARish flavour.

One key advantage of FUBAR is that you can have units of any size. So, although I'll work towards XR unit sizes over the long run, FUBAR provides an incentive to get smaller units ready. As I have the attention span of a hyperactive gnat, working towards five and sixes is more rewarding than working towards 12s and sixes. And of course, eventually I'll have the 12s as I get more smaller units done. Especially at 15mm, I'm less keen on reduced-model units in DR/XR, as it makes things more fiddly. I don't mind it for the occasional big monster, and you can always count leaders or standard-bearers as double, or use dice in movement trays, but I'm increasingly keen on games where the figures themselves tell you all you need to know (e.g. FUBAR's suppression, Song of Blades' knocked-down status and Rogue Planet's pawns).

Another thing we liked about FUBAR is how such a light ruleset facilitates so much detail, through simple things like the individual targeting of characters with laser weapons and each figure actually counting. And the walk/run/duck-and-weave moves add a lot of variety.

We tested out the bugs from the sci-fi supplement; unfortunately, they ran into some oversize primitives (the ogres below) who made short work of them. But they were good while they lasted!

[Hobgoblin]

very nice, take a look at SLAP minis, some nice space orks there/due out

Thanks! I'd forgotten about those. I've just started on some GZG "alien mercenaries" to provide some smaller grunts to go along with the big Blood Dawn close-combat specialists. One those are done, I'll invest in the SLAP chaps to provide some extra variety. I think a lurid red and green colour scheme will give them enough visual unity, and I quite like the idea of having a physically varied set of aliens.

[Ockman]

You're one productive man!

Love all your threads, especially this (since 15mm sci-fi is my drug of choice). Your orks are awesome!

[Jagannath]

This thread is coming along lovely - those conversions are ace. They'd work well for Rogue Planet too - they look 'right'.

The SLAP orcs are really, really good. Some of the best 15mm sculpts out there I reckon. On a par with Copplestone barbarians.

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks, both!

The orks are up to five now, which

The SLAP orcs are really, really good. Some of the best 15mm sculpts out there I reckon. On a par with Copplestone barbarians.

Your take on them is brilliant. How big are they? I wonder if they might fit nicely size-wise between the GZG mercs and the Blood Dawn orcs.

[Oldben1]

I like the vibroswords!

[Jagannath]

Your take on them is brilliant. How big are they? I wonder if they might fit nicely size-wise between the GZG mercs and the Blood Dawn orcs.

Thanks!

Not massive - scale perfectly with GZG (not quite as chunky). FYI - just incase - SLAP human troopers are far too small, and Space night are a touch small for me too (they're sort of 'normal', which doesn't work for Space Knights) but the orks are excellent. Just grabbed one to compare - almost identical to copplestone barbarians.

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the newer GZG mercs. I really wish he'd add a close combat weapon pack and a pistol pack. 

[Hobgoblin]

Thanks - that's good to know. Yes, I'll definitely pick them up once the GZG batch is painted up. They'll kind of bridge the cultural divide between the uniformed GZG fellows and the barbaric-looking science-fantasy Blood Dawn ones.

Oldben1 - thanks! It occurs to me: did GW stop issuing orks with power swords and power axes at some point? Quite a few of my old orks have those weapons, but the newer plastics seem to lack them.



No matter! I'm not aiming for a specifically GW ork look with these chaps, but more of a generic "nasty green men" idea, which is why the GZG guys will work fine. I've also got half an eye on Alien Squad Leader, for which my sabot bases are the right size.

[fluffy05]

Beautiful brushwork in 15mm scale!

Consider me subscribed 

[Ockman]

did GW stop issuing orks with power swords and power axes at some point? Quite a few of my old orks have those weapons, but the newer plastics seem to lack them.

Somewhere along the line GW decided to 'orkify' the orks equipment, leaving only Choppas, Big Choppas and Power Klaws in the melee section...

[Dr. The Viking]

Very nice collection.  I like the creativity in 15mm.

15mm sci fi is high on the list of stuff I have to summon all my will to keep out of