The final book in the War Zone Octarius series – available to pre-order on Saturday – features a codex supplement for the Blood Axes, a Morky clan of Orks who value sneakiness and strategy just as much as dakka.
Wade Pryce, who you’ll know from Warhammer+ series Loremasters, has spent several months building his own force of Blood Axes, and we asked him to show us how the new supplement and Looted Wagon rules shaped his Bad Krumpany.
Wade: I’ve been working on this Blood Axe force since the release of the plastic Kommandos in Kill Team: Octarius, and spent the month of Orktober finishing a full Crusade Order of Battle for Incursion games. This is Waaagh! Gorgit, da meanest, greenest outfit dis side of Gork’s Grin. Oo-Waaagh!
Kommanda Gorgit Killsnik is Bad Krumpany’s KO, or Kommandin’ Ork, with medals made from looted Imperial trinkets, some frag bombs, and a fancy hat* taken from the Ogryns kit.
Gorgit is accompanied by his grot adjutants as non-combatant wound markers, plus one humie advisor (affectionately named ‘Pinkie’) as a nod to the rules in 1991’s Rogue Trader supplement ’Ere We Go.
With the new Crusade rules in War Zone Octarius Book 2: Critical Mass I made a looted Leman Russ, ready for whenever I collect enough Scrap points to add a Looted ’Eavy Wagon to my Order of Battle. In addition to the blocky Battlewagon turret and Orky glyph plates, it has sponson-mounted big shootas made from Warbike deffguns and a hull-mounted skorcha from a Deff Dread.
In order to field a Looted Wagon in my Crusade army I need a Mek to build it, so I made Mekboy Grimslug and his Grot Oiler attendant Bodjit.
Full Metal Dakka is the boss tank of Bad Krumpany’s ‘Armer Kore’, studded with Blood Axe icons and big shoota turrets.
Bigboss Morgor is one of the oldest and largest Nobz in Gorgit’s service, and to keep his mind away from funny ideas about leadership, da Kommanda charges him with carrying Bad Krumpany’s banner into battle.
This tattered flag was once a company banner of the Executioners Chapter of Space Marines, whose double-axe icon Gorgit took a liking to after capturing it. Morgor’s kustom shoota has been loaded up with extra gunsights to represent the Straight Shoota, a new Blood Axes Relic from War Zone Octarius Book 2: Critical Mass.
Grimdreg’s Gutrippaz, led by Sarjant ‘Gargant’ Grimdreg, are Slugga Boyz who often accompany Kommanda Killsnik in the Battlewagon Full Metal Dakka. Grimdreg himself is made from a combination of bits from the Nobz and Flash Gitz kits, which mix together really well.
Boss Badskrag is in charge of a mob of Shoota Boyz tasked with providing suppressin’ fire and causing noisy distractions, allowing sneakier mobs to close with the enemy. If their ranged attacks cause any effective damage, so much the better.
Da Minesweeperz is not a standing force but the name given to whichever hapless grots aren’t cunning enough to hide when Bad Krumpany’s officer Nobz round up ‘volunteers’ for speshul duties.
The self-styled ‘wrecky speshulists’ of Steal Team Six are often tasked with liberating high-value battlefield loot in addition to assassinations and sabotage operations. Departmento Munitorum adepts are equally concerned that their name suggests the existence of Ork leaders who can count to six, and that there might be five more similar mobs yet to be revealed.
Green Teem are veterans of rokkit-powered assaults purely due to surviving more missions than they can count. I used spare Kommando heads to give them the look of a high-altitude airborne assault force, as well as suppressors for their sluggas and various other bits of speshul forces wargear.
Lunk’s Ladz are mercenary Ogryns, another nod to ‘Ere We Go’s Orks rules, that count as a mob of Flash Gitz. Gorgit’s Meks disabled their ripper guns’ burst limiters so they can fire like snazzguns, and they’ve been enthusiastic members of Bad Krumpany ever since.
Bad Krumpany has been a nice painting break from my typical projects, which tend to be either red and black, or black and red. The Orks’ skin is Orruk Flesh shaded with either Biel-Tan Green or Coelia Greenshade to create a little bit of variety across the army.
This is bright enough to stand out from their drab green fatigues and armour, which used a lot of Deathworld Forest, Death Guard Green, Death Korps Drab, and Castellan Green. I imagine they all saw the same Cadian Guardsman once and are each trying to recreate the uniform from memory.
In order to get this block of the army finished in time to use them with the new Blood Axes rules in War Zone Octarius Book 2: Critical Mass, I’ve avoided painting any camouflage, which has given them a cool ‘Band of Boyz’ sort of look.
I already have plenty of ideas (and names) for units to add to Bad Krumpany in future, such as Belta Force and Supersharp’s Shootaz, and I might add some camouflage to them. Maybe even the red and black camo of the original Kommandos from Warhammer 40,000’s second edition!
Thanks for sharing the Bad Krumpany with us, Wade. You can find expanded rules for your own Blood Axes in the upcoming War Zone Octarius Book 2: Critical Mass – which is available to pre-order this Saturday – plus a section on including Looted Vehicles in your Crusade armies. Do you have any sneaky Ork armies of your own? Show us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
* Representing the Relic Morgog’s Finkin’ Cap