I started a thread for this in Painting and Modeling ( http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/232154.page ), but I figure it might be more appropriate here. The previous thread has alot more WIP pics for the figs already painted as of this post.

The idea is an Ork Genestealer Cult ("Greensteela Kult"). I originally did a hybrid figure for fun and sculpting practice. Once I was done, I figured it might make for a cool army(plus, I already had Orks form AoBR and a bunch of Genestealers from my old Space Hulk set- I'm being frugal ). As it's a conversion heavy army and my modelling and painting skills are not quite top notch, it's been slow going, but I'm nearing my first 500 points.

The army is based on the Tyranid list, with hybrids standing in for Hormagants ("Ornery Grunts") and eventually some Gaunts ("Grunts"). Additional troops will come from purestrain Genestealers and Ripper Swarms ("Rippa Grots"). HQ is represented by a Broodlord ("Da Brood Boss") and my only current heavy support is a scratch built Carnifex ("Carnymek"). My choices so far have been based on what I think will be fun to convert or look cool- as I regularly get whipped when I use my carefully costructed SM army, I figure I can't do worse with a ragtag pack of Ork muties.

L. O. L.

That is both funny and seriously cool at the same time.

Keep it up!

Also, that Carnymek must be huge! He's got a Dreadnought for armor plating!

Brother Captain Andrecus wrote:
Also, that Carnymek must be huge! He's got a Dreadnought for armor plating!

Yeah, he got outta hand on me . A bit bigger than I intended, but I figure no opponent will complain when they've got LOS to him over 2 story ruins

Just neato

I'm speechless on this one. Keep up the convertin'

My goodness, the Ripper Grots are the single greatest models I have ever seen XD I also love the guant with the boy head

Great work so far, love to see more!

I agree; the Goblin head on the Ripper is priceless.

-J.

P.s. Stop inbreeding.

cooool!

Awesome stuff. And you just know when the hive fleet turns up to harvest them their orky nature will take over and they'll Waaaaaaaaagh!

I am in favor of this army. Nice job

Very cool. I can't wait to see a whole army done when you get that far.

Amazing. Can't wait to see more

Figure I need more synapse than just my Broodboss, so I started converting some Nob Warriors. Got 3 done so far (with ranged weapons, plan on them accompanying the Carnymek in his slow crawl across the board ). I'm not sure I'm completely satisfied with them, but they may perk up a bit once painted. If not, it's all learning experiences at this phase .

really awesome conversions and paint to go with it
the 'broodlord' and retinue is especially awesome...

what blues do you use for the skin?

Thanks for the compliment!
For the blue skin, I start with Enchanted Blue, wash it with Orc Flesh Wash (old GW color, not sure what the current equivalent is), then another layer of Enchanted Blue, and a final highlight of Hideous Blue.

Been a while since an update, but I finally finished painting the Nob Warriors.

Also, trying to decide: black rimmed bases or brown? Input is weclome and appreciated.

The carnymek is ace does he have dreadnought Armour?

I would go for brown, it contrasts with the blue flesh better.

This army is insane. I love it. The Nob Warriors look awesome.

By foul craft he's crossed Orks with Genestealers, he's breeding an army in the caverns of (insert place name here). An army that can move in any light and rip your face off at speed. LuigiX is coming for Terra.

Kryptmann mucked up didn't he! This is what happened after he tried to persuade the Orks and Nids to rip each other apart for a coupleof centuries or so! Cool models they always look much better after painting!

OMG dude! Brilliant idea! Absolutely brilliant! I never would have thought of this! Keep up the good work, man! Totally awesome

Lanky-feck wrote:The carnymek is ace does he have dreadnought Armour?

Yeah, he's got a few leftovers scavenged from the AoBR box & elsewhere- Dreadnought chestpiece & shoulder pad, Deffcopta forearm & rotor, Carnifex legs & tail, 'nid warrior venom cannon- the rest is scratch sculpted from greenstuff.

Goliath wrote:I would go for brown, it contrasts with the blue flesh better.

My wife is pushing for the black- I'm thinking I may have an uphill battle ahead of me

Llamahead wrote:Kryptmann mucked up didn't he! This is what happened after he tried to persuade the Orks and Nids to rip each other apart for a coupleof centuries or so!

I've got ideas for printing up army lists along with Imperial documents stating just this (should I ever get up to @1800 pts and get them to a tourney, that is). So far, just ideas floating in my head.

And again, thanks all for the great feedback- I'm working on another batch of hybrids, I'll post them once they're painted.

THIS IS MADNESS

dramatic pause

THIS IS GODLY WOOOO

The greatest customized army I've seen to date. Very fun and well done.

awesome nob warriors! i'd go with black base's.

do they use ork or tyranid rules? I'm guessing 'nid rules.

*Applauds* This would make anyone who calls themselves a conversioner jealous. This is the best conversion for both nids and orks (other than the hand made BW I saw) that I've ever seen.





-Orkishly

Brown Bases for better contrast!

And this concept is amazing! Excellent work!

I love it!

This must cost heaps.

On another note, its good how you make it Orky but manage to get the Tyranid sorta look.

deadly chicken wrote:do they use ork or tyranid rules? I'm guessing 'nid rules.

Yep, using the 'nid codex. I thought about using others, but I hated the idea of not being able to use Genestealers in a Genestealer Cult.

General Stubbs wrote:This must cost heaps

Actually, it's been one of my cheapest, just because I had so much stuff gathering dust. Nearly all the Ork parts are from the AoBR box (plus the remains of a fantasy Orc Warriors box I bought years ago to supplement my Warhammer Quest games). I already had a heap of Genestealers left over from Space Hulk, plus some random bits I've aquired over the years. All I've shelled for so far is a Tyranid Warrior box, Guants box, and Carnifex legs & tail bits off ebay. Some of the future ideas I've got will require some hefty expenditures, but until I run out of Ork bits I'm doing pretty well

EDIT: And I forgot about the Grot and Gnoblar boxes I bought (haven't painted any of those yet, so they slipped my mind)

This is one of the most amazing converted armies I've seen. I would be terrified to come up against it.

ReaperRob wrote:This is one of the most amazing converted armies I've seen. I would be terrified to come up against it.

Fortunately for my opponents, my conversion skills far outshine my playing skills

I've got a game next week to play test my Greensteelas, so I'm working on getting up to 750 points. I'm currently converting a squad of Spine Grunts (for a nice WoN troop selection) in between painting the already assembled figs. Once I've got 8 of them, I plan to get back to my Rippa Grots to finish out the force.

The mouldlines... they burrrrn

Seriously man if your going to be an amazing converter do the little things

very nice when i read the thread title i thought...oh he's just stuck orks and nids together, but there superbly done and more than a table stardand paintjob painting 7/10 conversion 9/10
look forward to up dates and the wartyrant / hiveboss and gargoyles?? > stormboys?? ooh and "wierdboys?" with big zoanthorpe brains?? the posabilities are endless

Never ceases to amaze me. Go Carnimek Go!

Go with brown.

After much delay, I finished another model. This one was a bear- a heavily greenstuffed Zoanthrope/Weirdboy hybrid (thinking of calling it my "Weird Bug" or "Brain Bug", maybe even "Zooey Troop"). I slowly worked it out over the last couple weeks. The head I used is the 4th I started on- I tried with much bigger heads, but I couldn't get them just right. I even built one up with a Tyranid Warrior head as the base, only to decide it wasn't orky enough(though if I make more, I might try making one from a metal zoanthrope head). Ultimately, though, I am very happy with the results. I might still make a few touch ups before I paint, but I was eager to share.

I am also nearly done with my 8-man Spine Grunt squad- I'll post pics once they're all assembled.

This army seriously deserves its own rules. Counts-as doesn't do justice to its awesomeness.

LOL! This is an incredible army! keep it up!

I like them, especially the Zoanthrork. This army reminds me of my broodlord who also has ork DNA. I'm planning on doing a whole squad of them when I get into nids again. Here are some pics, maybe they'll inspire you!







Cheers.

That zoanthrope is, hands-down, my favorite thing in the army. Great blend, that.

The rippergrots take a close second and win the LOL prize. Great work!

Wow, great army. I like the brood boss (and starwoof's too) especially. Maybe it's just the cool pose.

In any case, I'd go with black rimmed bases. They're more... uh... classy.

I vote for brown Although I'm imagining the main person you're going to have to convince is your wife!

I love all the conversions! This is the coolest army I've ever seen for 40k, with the possible exception of the eldar army converted from wood elves models. Awesome!

I'm also really impressed by how consistently you're working at it, slowly but surely. That is the way to go if you're disciplined enough, and you are chipping away at a really great army!!

So are the "Spine Grunts" pics coming?

i love that zoanthrope.

Nice concept and a worthy execution sir! Well done

really good

tyranid Deff dread/killa kan hybrid?

Been a while since any updates, but unfortunately nothing new completed on this army. I've been taking care of the new baby & building 500 pts of IG for a campaign at my FLGS, but I did manage to slip in a game against my friend's Black Templars (on my no frills city terrain board). The force I used was:
HQ: Da BroodBoss w/ 5 Greensteelas
HQ: 3 Nob Warriors (Scything Talons,Toxins Sacs,Enh. Senses,2x DeathSp., 1x VC)
Tr: 7 Greensteelas
Tr: 9 Ornery Grunts
Tr: 8 Spine Grunts (Toxin Sacs,WoN)
HS: Weird Bug (Synapse, Warp Blast)
HS: Carnimek (Scything Talons, Enh Senses, VC)

Not exactly an optimized list, but it was built around models. In fact, it served me quite well. They won fairly handily, in no small part due to very lucky rolls on my part and a drop pod full of Templars that didn't show until the rest of the army had been wiped.
I went to Origins 2 weeks ago and have set next year's tournament as my goal for finishing 1750 pts, so I've got to get moving!

PS: Starwoof, love your Broodboss! It's actually given me some ideas for some techniques to use on my next Carnimek- if I get around to another anytime soon

COOL!

Wow. I think my favourite model is the Nob with the Tyranid Warrior head crest, closely followed by the Zoanthrork.

Genius concept and modelling, I'll be following this one.

Dragonlover

best minis ever

Just MADE of orky goodness and tyranidic joy. Beautiful.

Good conversions, but i still don't like orcs...

HOLY CRAP!!!!
Thats an amazing army.

This has to be one of the greatest things I have ever seen.....EVA!!!!!

After waaay too long away from the painting table (due to a new baby, increased load at work, etc...), I finally have gotten back to work on my Greensteela Kult. I'm almost finished assembling a squad of 8 souped-up genestealers (to become the new retinue for Da Broodboss- the old ones will shift to troops), I've built enough Rippa Grots together for 4 bases (those'll get painted here soon-though I'm tempted to wait until I finish off 3 more so I can paint 5 bases worth at once...), and I finished painting 5 more Ornery Grunts (the squad now totals 11 painted). Hopefully this ushers in a new era of productivity for me, leading up to my new goal of 1750 in time for next year's Origins (though the rumored new codex in the spring may gum that up...).

Looking awesome! Love the wierd bug, very nice conversion.

Nice conversions.I like paint jobs to,good work thus far.

Congrats on the new baby, your conversion work on him is amazing. On a more serious note I LOVE the army as a whole. Ripper Grots are the best IMHO (but then that may just be because I'm a fan of rippers) but other notable parts include the Weird Bug (again, perhaps a product of my love for the unit more than anything else) and the Nob Warriors (absolutely love them, and this has nothing to do with liking the unit). I do think that the Grunts should have WoN (or do you already have that, haven't checked) - after all, it is a fusion of two horde armies!

P.S. Black bases FTW.

Love the little grotsies

Painted up the 1st Weird Bug today. Not sure I'm happy with the color of the cloak- I tried to use different styles for the cloak & clothes, but the purples just blend together. In the pictures, the lighting is pretty poor- if I get a chance tonight or tomorrow, I'll do some photoshop processing to make it a bit more viewable.

holy crap this is awesome

love the weird bug excellent mix of ork and tyranid but for some reason it reminds me of the wood elf mages

It's cool in a wierd sort a way

It's cool in a wierd sort a way

Man I'm happy I stumbled upon this thread!! Just decided to start up a small 1k-1.2k Tyranids army and wanted to heavily convert them and is awesome to see how someone else has pput it all together. Great stuff all the way and I'm really looking forward to seeing the Ripper Grots.

Finished painting the 1st Ripppa Grot base. I've got enough converted for another 3 bases.

Second set of Rippa Grots finished.

Really nice, I think it's just how long I've been familiar with the look and feel of the ork army that makes this project somewhat unsettling, like you took strawberries and dipped them in BBQ sauce and it works. If someone told me they'd be merging the two forces like this I'd have a fit and more than likely it would look like gak. It's testament to your skill that not only does this army work aesthetically but it works well.

this is honestly the coolest conversion ever FACT

Am I the only person to notice the resemblence between the 1st Wierd Bug and some testicals?

General Stubbs wrote:Am I the only person to notice the resemblence between the 1st Wierd Bug and some testicals?

Actually, my wife did- she said, "This looks dirty..."

3rd set, just completed(you can see the glue's still wet on the static grass). As I was looking at the pics, I noticed I'd forgotten the eyes... I'll get those tomorrow, obviously I need some sleep

Forever and ever without an update...

I've been working here & there on the army and figured it was time for some progress shots. My baby & increased work responsibilities have taken their toll on my free time, so I don't know if I'll get 1750 by Origins (I've been touching up my Space Marines so I'll at least be able to enter a painted army). These guys are a blast to convert, so I'm keeping at it- just very slowly. And someday, I will have a mighty force.

With the new codex, alot of changes had to be made- not the least of which was Brood Boss got demoted and my Carnimek was elevated to "Green Tyrant". I tried out a small list at a local store and found that my tyrant really needed some protection. Thus were born the first of the figs below, my "Shield Boyz"(representing Tyrant Guard).

Also below, I finished my second Weird Bug. I changed the base I had him on above- it just wasn't working for me, so I went with a floating rock. I really like how he came out- and he won a small painting contest at my local store over the weekend.

Hurrah, the Greenstealas are back. Great work on everything, hope to see more soon.

Carnymek looks awesome!!!

Outstanding work! The ork/nid heads are fantastic! Excellent painting and color scheme, as well. I can't wait to see more.

Looking awesome! You've really made the hybrids work, in an entertaining and highly disturbing way.

I probably should have posted some WIP shots of this next piece, but I really wasn't sure how it would turn out... The build is done, and I think it looks good enough to share.

This is my scratch built Greensteela Trygon(not sold on a name yet, but I'm thinking something like "Digga Train" or some such). All the white parts are made from plasticard(and platicard tubing). It took almost 2 months to complete(mostly working after the baby'd gone to bed), but I'm very happy with the final result- I figure this will be the centerpiece of my army. Hopefully, my painting skills will be able to do it justice.

The beast stands just over 8" high (at the top of the higher digger claw). The wheels are there as placeholders- I've got some Ork Trukk wheels coming to replace them.

WOW! I can see why it took you a lot of time; I prefer this one over the 'real' Trygon.

CommissarKhaine wrote:WOW! I can see why it took you a lot of time; I prefer this one over the 'real' Trygon.

Thanks, I appreciate the compliment- this fig was influenced quite a bit by some of the work in your Grot army blog(especially your incredible battlewagon walker- this guy's nowhere near the level of that beast!)

That




Is



AMAZING!!!!!!!

I approve of this zaniness!

Love the grot in the Marine torso.

My favorite of all is the 2nd weirdboy bug. It really looks like the parts were made to go together, which, alas, some of the others do not. Great job thinking outside the box and bringing us a new army to admire. Really like the concept!

hmm nice work looking good... i am new here but i already found 3 things i love on here! (you started to of them) well they are awesome and i hope to see some more

Threadnomancy!!!

Yeah, but it's worth it if we can bring this one back to life. That thing is still awesome!

The Good Green wrote:Yeah, but it's worth it if we can bring this one back to life. That thing is still awesome!

Thank you again for all the compliments, and yes, the necromantic procedure was successful!

I've been working significantly slower than my typical snail's pace on the army(and missed my deadline of 1850pts worth by this past June), but I have managed a few new models.

Below, the third (and likely final) Weird Bug. Outside the arms & face, this fella's all greenstuff.
Then there's the Warria Prime (or maybe Warria Boss) with Deathspitter, Bone Sword, and Lash Whip. As always, I'm looking to stretch my Black Reach buck as far as I can.
Final new addition is a quick throw together of an idea that's been floating around for a while: Spore Mines(or Floata Mines). I'm hoping to do 6 in this style. I'll probably throw them together between other projects.

And finally, a few pics of the start of my paintjob on the massive Digga Train(or Digga Beast or Trygon Train-I'm open to suggestions). He's got a long way to go(sooo much surface area to paint...), but this is the basic color scheme for him. The reddish purple looks much more purple-ish in real life.

Nice bonesword!

Wow.... Thumbs up for originality! That is Crazy! Nothing beats the first brain bug IMO, I was blown away by it. As well as everything else
More!!

YYAAAAYYYAAYAYAYA!!! WOHOOO It worked!

Superb wierd grot hive mind thing. THe biomorph/GS work on the Warria Prime is awesome, and that floata mine is hilarious.

The paint scheme on the Digga Train looks very nice. I kinda want some night goblin/ripper highbrids crawling on it.

So COOOL!

Yay for greensteelas! That trygon (mawlorc?) is very cool, have to agree with Green, it needs ripper-grots swarming over it

That Spore Mine proxy is pure GENIUS!!

The Good Green wrote:YYAAAAYYYAAYAYAYA!!! WOHOOO It worked!

Superb wierd grot hive mind thing. THe biomorph/GS work on the Warria Prime is awesome, and that floata mine is hilarious.

The paint scheme on the Digga Train looks very nice. I kinda want some night goblin/ripper highbrids crawling on it.

So COOOL!

One idea I've thought about is using magentized rigging(ripping?) grots as wounds on the Trygon- each lost wound knocks a little bugger off. That'll probably be a project for when I want a distraction or after my core army's done & I'm looking for some fun stuff to add.

Sounds like a perfect solution to what I want!

I'm glad you are still working on this. I am trying to ramp up my modeling so I can get to a place where I have time to rip off the Digga Train. It's a masterpiece of plasticard!

Wow....all this is absolutely amazing!!!

Only thing I could possibly mention that could be changed is to make the Trygon look a little but more tyranidy...maybe with some chitin plating bursting through the metal where it has "out grown" the stuff theyve strapped on it or something?

The digga train is an awesome original idea!!

dang, absolutely hilarious army. keep up the good work

Spore mine = Giant effing WIN.

Good job lol!

nice one!

Love the ideas and concepts you have

I did 3 of the floata mines, and seeing the response from the first, how could I not post a picture.

Absolutely amazing! This is so creative.

AWESOME!


I think my favorite is the one with all the little grenades. The movement of the barrel is fantastic, too, though.

Just when I thought I couldn't like anything orky...

Great work converting and painting.

The grots with ripper heads are HILARIOUS. I too think the floater mine is great. Must say, the trigon stand in is great, but would even better with a color scheme that was more like the rest of your army.

kestral wrote:The grots with ripper heads are HILARIOUS. I too think the floater mine is great. Must say, the trigon stand in is great, but would even better with a color scheme that was more like the rest of your army.

Thanks for the compliments, and I agree about the trigon. I've been hesitating to finish the paint on him. I keep going back and forth- for consistency, anyplace I've done purple metal in the army, it's been that reddish-purple, while the darker purple is only for cloth. Problem is, on such a large model, it really looks out of place- all the other reddish-purple spots are small bits . I've got small plates of green & blue on him to match the skin/chitin tones, but agree that it might not be enough to tie in with the rest. Maybe I'll try a dark purple wash, see how that looks.

I was looking back through page 3 and noticed a striking resemblance... has anyone else told you Weird Bug 3 looks like he might be part Vulcan?

I think the paint job on the Digga will look great once you pick out all of those details. Some ork glyphs or tyranid glyphs (if they have a written language).

Finished painting my third(and probably final) Weird Bug and my Warria Prime. I'm pretty happy with them. The Prime fits very nicely with the other Warriaz, but is easily markable as the "leader". I'm particularly happy with the bone sword- I think I'll be using a similar paint style with my Storm Bugs/Shrike Boyz. And I'm very satisfied with the overall look for the Weird Bugz- each is very unique, but together they look well unified in theme.

I've started painting the three Floata Minez/Spore Bomz from above and should be posting pics in the next week or two.

Finished up the Floata Mines today. Very happy with the TNT & oil drum ones- not so big on the grenade swarm , though. Doesn't look bad, just not as stiking as the others. I plan to make three more next time I need a break from more intensive work on the army.

Possibly if you do the grenades in red with metal trim it might look better?

Disturbing, but awesome. You win House's approbation.

Waiting for the next pics.

This is so many shades of awsome.

Oh, and the trygon thingie should be red. To make it 'go fasta' :-)

Cripes, it's been a while since I updated this blog...

Since my last post, my wife had our second baby and I started a new (significantly more demanding) job; so modeling/ painting has been extremely hard to come by.

I actually have completed a few more models in that time, so here we go.

I finished off a squad of 8 classic genestealers (the "purestrain greensteelas"). Once they were done, the original Brood Boss I made just looked too out of place. So, I converted a new one based upon one of the classic genestealers.

And also, after nearly two years, I FINALLY completed my Digga Train.

Pure freaking awesomeness. Keep it up man!

You are an inspiration to me.