Project Outline: Ork Freebooterz

Courtesy of THQ

Since I started playing 40K back in 3rd edition, I have always enjoyed the process of building a new army and making it my own. I like coming up with different conversions by kit-bashing parts or even sculpting my own stuff from time to time. In all these years though, I have only had one army that I took the time to make each guy unique and that was an Adeptus Mechanicus themed Space Marine army that I sold on eBay last year. Now that I have got my Space Wolves to a point where I can stop working on them, I've got the urge to start working on a project that I have been thinking about for a few months: 'Da Freebooterz.

I have never really played a Xenos army, even though I have bought and sold several. None of them ever held my interest like my Space Marine armies. Just after Thanksgiving last year, I started looking around for a new project. I wanted an army that I could have fun with and do a lot of conversions to. I found what I was looking for over at Forgeworld's webiste. Orks. More specific, Ork Big Meks. These guys immediately grabbed my attention and the more I looked around the more excited I got. I dug a little deeper to what other Ork conversion bits were out there and I found a set up Ork pirate heads over at Max Mini. At this point I knew I had found my new army. With permission from the commander (my wife), I bought just about everything I would need, and decided to convert the rest like a "propa" Ork would.

I want this army to have a space pirate feel so I have decided not to use traditional Trukks and Battlewagons. Instead I will be making air-ships for these guys. I got the idea for them from one of my favorite video game series, Final Fantasy. There will be two sizes, each roughly the same size as their wheeled counterparts. I've already got the basic sketches drawn out and I hope to start on making the templates soon. The army will be lead by a Big Mek that I'll be converting from Kaptin Badruk, and a kit bashed version of Mad 'Dok Grotsnik. That's right, I'm bringing the 'Dok to the battlefield. Why? Because he is the key to my conversion work. Every boy in the army will be converted to have cybork bodies. Told you I wanted a fully converted army!

Even though I've already bought all the stuff, I'm going to be building this army one squad at a time. I really want to take the time to make sure that each model I put out is the best of my abilities even it that means spending weeks to get things right. I also plan on making my own scenic bases for the models and I'll be showing you all how I plan on doing that as well.

Between working on this army, and getting my Fantasy Night Goblin army finished, it looks like this will be a "Year of the Waaagh!" for me.