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For a few months now I have been posting bits and pieces of the Snakebite Ork Army that I have been assembling. I decided that since there are very few examples of Snakebite armies around, that I would go ahead and start a blog so that all the pieces are in one place (plus I finally took the time to set up a decent photo shoot). Nothing is completely painted yet, I managed to pick up the majority of this in one lot during AdeptiCon, so it has been a huge amount of conversion and cleanup work. Just to many distractions from fun conversion ideas to sit down and paint. It has finally reached a point where I have a playable list, so I will switch focus to painting. Here is what I have so far.

Warboss on Cyboar. This Guy is a combination of I don't know how many kits. I just kept reaching into the bits box and sticking thing on. Custom built Power Klaw, Attack squig off the front, and a couple of grots riding along to represent the Stikkbombs and Bosspole. There is a lot of metal in this guy, reminds me on the good old days.






The Warboss was built to ride along with my Nob Cyboar Riders. The original plan was to use the old Ork boar riders to make cyboars, but I got a great deal on the new style boars, and really fell in love with this unit. I still have two more to build, but I only had enough SM bikes around to build 8. The unit includes a custom painboy (no weedy runt looking painboy in this army), custom Waagh banner, bosspole, and 4 Custom built Plower Klaws.


And a better shot of the Bosspole and Waagh Banner


I felt it slightly out of place to have several Big Meks in the army, so I use this old 2nd Edition Weird Boy model as a 'counts as' Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun. I figure a weirdboy so lost in the warp that he has to be carried around and aimed at the enemy would reflect the random nature of a SAG pretty well.


for the sake of ever loading pictures I will end this post here and then continue.

I like the weirdboy as shock attack gun - I may do that as I have more weirdboyz than I can use. Like the boars, but it just never seems like the new orks can do the clans as well as the old metal ones. Maybe with painting and banners.

The Battlewagon began as a Looted Rhino/ Trukk, but after it's first game I decided I needed a slightly heavier and more reliable transport. So as any good Mek's toy, it grew with the addition of more plates and salvaged parts. The 'Dakka' will be magnetized sometime in the future to allow for swap-outs and weapon destroyed results. In true Snakebite fashion, the Battlewagon pays homage to a totem animal, the boar.





The first of the transport builds I created was a Looted Rhino/ Trukk. Fairly straight forward. I noticed the totem animal fluff part way through the construction and so this particular Trukk has a scrap-metal snake head and boar head that will be tied in with the final paint job (if I ever get past the base metal stage).





Here are the two side by side.


And lastly, no ork army is complete without boyz. Rather than show you a lot of pictures of unpainted orks, I will only post a picture of the only squad to receive paint thus far. They are far from finished, but it will give you a general idea of the style. The plan is to follow Snakebite fluff in which just about everyone wears a banner pole. This is the first Shoota Boy Mob. Some of the boys had a problem giving up the traditional bow, they're convinced that it is more accurate then the guns the youngin' are using. So I had the mek's whip up this little compromise.


That's it for now, I'll try to get pictures of some on the other models soon, and get more paint on the lot even sooner! let moe know what you think, thanks,

10/10 on the battle wagon conversion.

now THATS what they should look like , looted vehicles + tons of armor plates wielded on randomly.

The ones they made are way too neat and tidy looking

kestral wrote:I like the weirdboy as shock attack gun - I may do that as I have more weirdboyz than I can use. Like the boars, but it just never seems like the new orks can do the clans as well as the old metal ones. Maybe with painting and banners.

You'd be my hero if you have this weird boy just lying around. It took me forever to track him down. Eventually located him in Australia! Now the trick is to locate the second pose.

LunaHound wrote:
10/10 on the battle wagon conversion.

now THATS what they should look like , looted vehicles + tons of armor plates wielded on randomly.

The ones they made are way too neat and tidy looking

Yeah, I always figured, especially in Snakebite clans, that the mentality was to find something that worked and then improve it. More so in the highly nomadic Snakebites, that a mek wouldn't have much time to scratch build, so finding the smoking hull of a rhino and then re purposing it would be ideal. Not to mention, finding a large intact piece of metal is really difficult when all the boys are scouring the battlefield to find the best back banner scraps. something tells me in a fight for good scrap metal, boy beats grot orderly.

Very well done, best Snake Bite army I've seen lately.

I would love to see that battlewagon pulled by boars.

guynamedFleck , do you study art by any chance? or are any of your parents artist?

I have been staring at the ork wagon for awhile now , trying to picture how i can build mine similarly with plasti cards
as armor plating.

Then i looked at other's ork armor plated plasti cards conversions , the feeling is just way different.

You seem to know exactly where to place the plates so it looks natural , yet not lacking. Just the right amount , all at the proper places.
How do i say this... as random as orks should be , you seem to formulated that randomness.

*edit looking at the wip in your gallery now :3

Deff Dread red Edition wrote:I would love to see that battlewagon pulled by boars.

You know I have a bag of the old school boars lying around and this thought had crossed my mind. Ultimately though, the footprint would be way too big. That is actually where the idea to turn the battlewagon into a boar came from.

LunaHound wrote:guynamedFleck , do you study art by any chance? or are any of your parents artist?

I have been staring at the ork wagon for awhile now , trying to picture how i can build mine similarly with plasti cards
as armor plating.

Then i looked at other's ork armor plated plasti cards conversions , the feeling is just way different.

You seem to know exactly where to place the plates so it looks natural , yet not lacking. Just the right amount , all at the proper places.
How do i say this... as random as orks should be , you seem to formulated that randomness.

I did study art back at university, well the history of it at least. Specialized in nomadic culture, which I guess lends itself a lot to the style of my armies. (And here I thought that it was a wasted degree, )
The majority of modelers (including GW) tend to take the approach of metal sheets roughly cut to shape and fastened in place when creating ork vehicles. While I do like this style, I felt it didn't match the fast pace of Snakebite Orks. They are too busy moving on to the next fight to set up a permanent mek shop and cut metal to fit a particular purpose. Instead I assume they make the best of what is lying around, tacking it into place where/when they can. With this mentality I take a slightly different approach to conversions. I start with a strip of plastic card and a pair of scissors. Start cutting random pieces (odd shapes, triangles with clipped corners, trapazoids, etc). after I have a good pile, I start tagging plates where they are needed, overlapping them, maintaining a constant height for rails/walls and keeping it piecemeal. Try not to use small pieces and vary which pieces overlap (not always front-back, top-bottom, or v.v.). After the plates are in place, drop on some rivets. Again, as per the non-cut to fit mentality, you don't need rows of endless rivets. Just 2 to 4 per, to keep the sheets in place. I try to line them up with heavier structures of the base vehicle, or put them in the middle of an overlap (then match one on the reverse side of the sheets). That's about all there is to it.

Cool. Really cool. I also want to make snakebite orks now!
damn you Hehe

Over and out Avach

Thought that I should get the rest of the starting pics posted before sitting down to paint again. So here are a few more of the Orks on the painting table...

My Big Mek with Kustom Force Field. I had the pieces lying around and needed him for Apocalypse games. I don't really intend to use him in smaller games, or if I do, will find an alternative model more suiting to the Snakebite role (like the SAG above). I realized after first building him that it would be rather difficult for the Mek to turn the dials in his right hand seeing as he had a power klaw on the other. It was a pretty simple fix, just added the snotling to his shoulder with a secondary control tied in. He can also count as a grot oiler if need be.


This is my Weirdboy Warphead (also played as Old Zogwort). Nothing more than a stock model at the moment. I have plans to jazz it up in the future, but I'm not sure if I want to alter the model or just beef up the base. Maybe a mound of writhing snakes with perhaps a grot minder peeking through.


Some Tankbustas. I'm working on a few custom tankhammers for this lot and eventually will build a few bomb-squigs.


This is a squad thrown together from some of the models included in the lot that I got my SAG from. Not sure if I can find a way to tie them into the rest of the army, but the old
RTT model are so great, it seems like a waste to toss away. Perhaps as Kommandos or as variant stormboys?


Alright, Now I have no reason to postpone sitting down and painting, hopefully have updates soon.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Spent the afternoon putting a bit more paint on to the Warboss, then a friend came over for a pick-up game. Barely dry and the model saw a bit of table time. All I have to say is that Eldar Mind War is painful. The Warboss survived, but with only 1 wound. Still, he and his squad did their job and drew all the attention for 3 solid turns. Anyway, here are a few update photos.

Loving this army. The wagons impress me greatly.

The boys, I love how they all have banners. Where does it say that they love banners.. in the 2nd ed dex?

karnaeya wrote:Loving this army. The wagons impress me greatly.

The boys, I love how they all have banners. Where does it say that they love banners.. in the 2nd ed dex?

I believe they do go into it in the 2nd ed codex, mentioning that in both the Snakebite and Evil Suns clans, that even boyz wear back banners. But for concreteness, I reference the rogue trader 'Ere We Go book. It says, "As proud warriors with strong loyalties to their own kind each Snakebite Boy wears a back banner which displays his totemic Household badge..."
With this army I really wanted to get into the fluff side of the game and go above and beyond on the modeling and painting. Speaking which, I got a little bit further along with the Warboss. I focused on the grots along for the ride. I am not entirely set on the color combination, any opinions would really be appreciated.




like I said, any C&C is more than welcome.

Fantastic cyboars. I loved the old ones but these are fantastic.

Can't wait to see this army done.

im expecting to see at least 3 battlewagons/trukks/buggies/skorchas built from the new lizardmen stegedon model.

studderingdave wrote:im expecting to see at least 3 battlewagons/trukks/buggies/skorchas built from the new lizardmen stegedon model.

I had a chance to purchase 3 lord of the rings Mumak models a while back, that regretfully I passed on. Though the stegedon model is really nice, I think that when I get around to building squiggoths, I will go for the plastic dino + heavy sculpting route. I have a fairly good concept for what I want, though after getting 2 games in this weekend I have realized that I need to focus on building more specialized units. The battlewagon, trukk, Nob Biker, and lots of boyz and grots, didn't really have a chance at taking on a demon army with 3 soul grinders and old uncle Nurgle. Something about committing a 20 or 30 boy squad to combat so you can swing a single Power Klaw, just doesn't do the job. But Squiggoths are definitely in the plans for the future of the army. Hopefully even get to use the Squiggoth Herd formation in Apocalypse games.

As an update, I have nearly got the Cyboar Warboss finished, just need to paint the banner and a few small details. I'll hold of on pictures until he is complete, no reason for another set of update shots, I think the nearly 20 above will suffice. Hopefully have finished shot up by next weekend, and who knows, maybe some progress shots for something else. Thanks,

So much win here! Waaaaaggggghhhhhh!

Finally finished the Warboss. I am pretty happy with the way he came out. I decided to go traditional on his banner, you may recognize the imagery if you ever saw the RTT books.





I also got a bit further along with the battlewagon, mainly the 'red paint job' and I started on the details (grot crew, stikk bombs, and back banners claimed from rival bosses). Next I will start in on the other metal panels. Giving the battle wagon that, 'metal bolted on when the grots find a good piece' look.

The army looks great! The BW with all the plates festooned all over it is ACE!

I had a spare rokkit lying around so I scratched a tankhammer for the Tankbusta squad.


I guess it could also work as an orky remote controlled Rokkit launcha, just stick the pointy end into the ground and run an ignition cable to your secret location (behind a rock). hmm, now I need to build some orky sentry guns, maybe as an objective marker?

Here is a small update. It's not too much as my hobby room gets fairly hot in the summertime and so instead of painting, I broke down and built a gaming table in the basement. I'm happy to report the army is finally getting to a point where I can pull off a tie! Not to mention finally building a gaming table forced me to decide how I was going to base the army. Thanks to a $1.75 miss-mixed quart of paint, I have settled on an arid desert scheme (shocking I know, orks in a desert, who'd have figured that ). Anyway, I did force myself to paint for a few hours this week.
First up a small update on the Battlewagon. I got the majority of the salvaged panels based. Then I tried out two test panels to see if I could short cut the details by using decals. I think it will work out, and sve me many hours hand painting different army logos.


I finished the Cyboar Painboy that rides along with the Nob Biker Squad. I'm fairly happy with him, though I may come back and add a bit more to him after the other 9 Cyboars are finished. Oh yeah, and add a White Scars logo to the shoulder pad.


Last up for now, I managed to finish 8 of the Shoota Boyz. I still have 10 more and Nob left to finish off the Mob. The poor boy in the bottom right is the only ork torso sculpt that doesn't have a back plate, so sadly, nothing solid enough to hold a back banner, so sadly get no family representation . Who know, maybe if I ever finish the bulk of the army, this guy will get a grot banner bearer?

This army is ace love those bow shootas as an archer myself I really like those old lads grumblin' about how gunz take way dee honna of da hunt. I like the painboy as well where'd the head come from?

Llamahead wrote:This army is ace love those bow shootas as an archer myself I really like those old lads grumblin' about how gunz take way dee honna of da hunt. I like the painboy as well where'd the head come from?

The head is from a fantasy black orc, I green stuffed the mask and added the mirror.

Sorry about the lack of update, some friends and I decided to play Eldar in next years AdeptiCon Team Match. As I haven't touched my Eldar since 2nd edition, and two of the other guys have never played them, we need a lot of time to practice and model/ paint the army. Sadly it has kept me from my Snakebites, but I will still try to get something new added to them every week.

That is some very nice orcs.. very cool warboss! And I really love the dark paint job ^_^ Keep 'em comin'!!

It has been a long time since I've updated the blog. I blame the summer and my 2nd floor hobby room being way to hot to work in. But with the changing of the seasons, I am finally able to get back to work and spend hours painting all the recent builds and conversions. Not much of an update to post right now, but I do have plenty of work to share when I can get around to setting up the light box. The boyz also earned their role back in the spot light this past weekend, where they took 2nd in a local tournament. The old warboss did well and recruited a new trukk and impressed a mob of lootas enough to bring them aboard. Guess like all great Waaaghs, da boyz ain't pure snakebite anymore, just one big melting pot. Anyway, enough with explaining my absence, on to the pictures.

First up, the old weirdboy is teetering on the line between joining the Fantasy army and sticking around in the 40k army, so I went ahead and painted up another. Here is the Ol' Zogwort stand in for the army.


A brief fit of crazy caught over me a few weeks back and I decided to try a 100% (or at least as close as humanly possible) Ork Nob list. The result was was mob of Flash Gitz to fill up the heavy slot. I know they are relatively worthless on the battle field, but nothing beats a warphead telaporting 9 Gitz and a Painboy across the table on turn 1. Well, nothing but the avatar that then walked onto the table in the opponents turn... Anyway, here are a few of the mostly finished Gitz.


Hopefully I will find the time to set up a proper light box in the next few days, and get an update of the recent work. Then find inspiration to get it all painted.

Lovely army, I do love seeing the old Clans represented in the theme of an army.

I agree on the battlewagon front with using animals instead of vehicles though, it gives lots of modelling opportunity.

kudos mate.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous
GORGEOUS!!!!


By Gork and Mork!
Thats easily one of the best battlewagons ive seen...
I'm absolutely in awe of your skills.

Hell, the entire ARMY is unbelievably good looking!

Keep up the good work!
I look forward to seeing more from ya!

Still not the update that I was expecting to make, but I finally received the package I was awaiting yesterday, so I decided to make a post. I have been trying to get my hands on some deffkoptas for what seems like forever. well, finally got them and like any good mek, couldn't let them hit the table filling their traditional role. So, I hit the conversion table. Here, in what I consider to be a better use of the big mek's time, is my new deff dread.

-Patrick

Ace

Finally got the light box set up (and remembered to bring the camera home form work), so here after far to long is a decent update on some of the army.

First up a more impressive shot of the 20 boy shoota mob (minus the new nob and rokkits at the moment). This shot tends to explain the slow progress of the armies build (that's a lot of banner poles to construct and pin into back plates).


Next up are the first five completed Cyboar Nob Bikers. These are the five that run in my standard 1850pt list. The remaining five (used in Apoc Games) are at various stages of assembly and paint. The five here represent the painboy, 1 Bosspole, 1 Waaagh Banner, 1 kombi rokkit and the last I affectionately refer to as "average Joe".

A close up of the Waaagh! Banner and Bosspole.


Here is a shot of the Nobs along with the Warboss.


The Deff Dread has been doing a good job of pulling his weight, so here is a shot after getting started on the painting. Sadly, he has proved more effective running 3 CCWs and a flamer, so I am looking for another dreadnought to convert up another one (this guy will go towards the Dread Mob Apoc formation). but until then, he'll do the job.


Last up in this update is a picture of the original tankbusta tankhammer along with his new buddy. These guys have proved invaluable at smashing those hard to break armour values and monstrous creatures.


That's all for now, but expect to start seeing more regular updates. Got to love the return of winter and painting season! Thanks,