The new Codex: Orks is available to pre-order right now. We’ve already seen some of the new ways that the greenskins will be krumpin’ their way through the galaxy and a few fun army builds – including all-squig armies and a full-on Speedwaaagh! But what if you choose both? That’s what Matthew Baker has done, and we just had to feature his incredible army.
Matthew: I loved reading about how each Ork in a Kult of Speed values his vehicle, spending every toof they get on improving it with kustom jobs. I really wanted to get that idea across in my miniatures.
Like a true Ork, there’s very little forethought or planning – I just sit down with the base model chassis and my bits box, get to work, and see where I end up. This has often led to parts that are scrapped and reused in other ways, but that’s why I love Orks so much – not everything has to be logical, and there is so much freedom to be as creative as possible.
I started the army with a Shokkjump Dragsta, which consisted of parts from a Burna-Bommer and glue lids to make the front engines. I then used paper clips to create energy sparks between the two front engines.
One of my other favourite elements of the Orks is squigs. For this reason, I tried to incorporate them wherever I could. My Deffkilla Warsleigh, for example, uses the Mangler Squigs from the Gloomspite Gitz range, pulling the boss into battle.*
The love of squigs continues with my Rukkatrukk Squigbuggy. The model was everything I love about squigs, so there was only one way to add to this model: MORE SQUIGS!
With the army consisting of so many large models, it’s hard to really decide on a single centrepiece for the collection, but I would say my Squiggoth has to take the spot. This conversion was extremely fun and time-consuming. I used Tamurkhan’s toad dragon as a base, adding parts from a Battlewagon to create the howdah for the model. Then, I made the crew from various kits, including Savage Orruks and Orc Cheerleaders from Blood Bowl.
When it came to making the leader for my army, my Warboss on Warbike, I wanted to make him something special. It was then that I decided on using the Gargantuan squig as a base. I then used Grukk Facerippa and a Custodian Jetbike to create the actual ‘bike’ part of the model.
I still have many more vehicles and monsters in different stages of development, including a Gargantuan Squiggoth with a portable Mekboy Workshop on its back.
Thanks, Matthew! Those are some great examples of what a Mek can achieve with some know-wotz and plenty of gubbinz. You can pre-order the ace new Ork codex now an’ kick off yer own Speedwaagh! by grabbin’ a Megatrakk Scrapjet.
* It’s such a good idea dat dem wolfy beakies nicked it.