Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

DA KUMBUSTCHUN ENGINE!
Well got the army completed in time for Throne Of Skulls, and while the Battle Bruiser needs a bit more work and both the Leman Russ and Vendetta need some glyphs and chequered patterns the Doom-vees will be uploaded tomorrow.

By the way my Battle Bruiser (Hellhammer Baneblade variant) got blown up every game and as a result I didn't win any of them and it was later nicknamed the combustion engine. As a guard player it would have been depressing but as a Grot player it was funny and enjoyable. Some funny moments included a single gretchin charging at Lysander out of desperation or a leman russ getting immobilised on the defence line wall in front of it on turn 1 which we decided was due to the grot being unable to reach the pedal lol.



Got nominated for best army but the overall winner was a truly stunning Tyranid army with organic fortifications including a landing pad that looked just stunning, you can see his work here: http://40kaddict.blogspot.co.uk/

DA DOOM-VEE MKII
Well here are some photos of the new and improved Grot Doom-Vee Transports that represent my chimeras, completed at about midnight before Throne Of Skulls!
Thanks to a fellow hobbyist teaching me the sponging technique I was able to build up on the previous paint job rather than completely repaint the model, which given my time restrictions I was very grateful for!



Basically I went over the old paint job with a 50/50 wash of Nuln Oil and Lanmian Medium in the creases before sponging over 2 layers of red with part of a washing up sponge, followed by some fiery orange edge highlighting using a leftover piece of pluck foam.
Battle damage was done using a similar method for the dark brown then painting the metal on. The chequered pattern on the side really adds to the vehcile, I also added Ork glyphs on the side rather than actual english which can be read as 'Love loot' since this is the transport for the Boota Huntaz hence the chest. As I mentioned before I choose to to use the ork Battlewagons wheels because the previous rubber wheels were likely to be difficult to paint to a standard to match the rest of the vehicle, it also makes the conversion's width more accurate to the actual model for armour facings. As you can see from the image below it is a vast improvement on the previous version...



Similar to the squads the chimera conversions were made to a tad bit different from each other with one getting six wheels, it did have a dozer blade but the model is too far down for it to connect at the right angle.



I'm excited for the new guard battlewagon and will likely be getting at least one to convert, someone also suggested I make the heavy bolters removable and consider using the Doom-vees to represent the new guard transports but I'll wait till I have the codex in hand first.



.

Double post, instead watch the gretchin squad dance!




Also...

 Gitsplitta wrote:
But... did you have FUN??

Yes, like I said to a Guard commander 5 loses might have been upsetting but it being a gretchin army it was just fun. My last opponent said he was going to paint teeth marks on lysander's left leg where my last grot charged him on the last turn lol.

ROLLIN IN DA BATTLE TANKZ
Like the other tanks the Leman Russ was painted over using the sponge technique to really add some colour that the previous version lacked, it also helps a great deal when adding battle damage.
After Throne Of Skulls I decided to add some more details to it inspired by the looted tanks from Dawn Of War, so I painted on some chequers and angler patterns plus instead of using english I painted words in Ork Glyphs. The turret reads “Rebel!” while the one at the back says “Mork”.



Now to paint some details on to the vendetta, paint the Battle Bruiser crew and work on some objective markers before the new guard codex comes out. Which leads me to the next topic...

CYGROTZ OR MEGAGROTZ?
Reading what is effectively the new stormtrooper rules in White Dwarf, I fancy taking at least squad of these bad boys in the new transport which I'm going to really enjoy converting.
But that means it's to the drawing board on how to convert suitable Storm trooper proxies that represent the carapace armour and weapons very well.
So here are my ideas...

Cygrotz
The simple of the two ideas; convert Cyborg Gretchin using necron and other bitz, if I take a command squad have it being lead by a grot mekboy.

Megagrotz
An idea that I've had for a while was to put a gretchin in a suit of exo armour with a claw on the left and the hot shot lasgun on the right, using a terminator torso with robotic arms and use squashed balls of green stuff to create old style robot legs. Sadly the grot heads don't fit very well into the terminator torso, but they do fit the grey knight terminator torso very well.

Using images from Bitzbox I've thrown together a little rough image of the idea. The grey Knight torso will be green stuffed and altered, problem is I'm unsure how to model the legs?
The classic robot legs won't work and I don't want to make them looked to armoured by using space marine legs, so far my best idea has been to use shorten cadian legs and add armoured boots at the bottom.

So what are your thoughts on the two ideas, do you'll feel the Grot Exo suits look to armoured to represent stormtroopers? Plus an ideas on how to convert the legs?


.

 monkeytroll wrote:
I like the idea, but feel termie armour may be a tad too much, a standard power armour torso with unarmoured legs is probably a better fit.

You mean like these chaps on the far left and right?

NEW CODEX NEW IDEAS
Well been looking over the new codex and had a few ideas on possible units.

Wyverns
A pair of tanks are a must and I'll be converting the main armament to mount on my old hydra and griffon mortar to represent them.



New Manticore
The Wyvern's tank hull will be used to convert a new base that can be used for either a Manticore or a Medusa (using forgeworld rules). Originally the Manicore had a radar dish and the idea was it was calling in squadrons of grot bombs but out of all my tanks that was the one opponents could never guess. So I'm going to use an idea from a ork looted guard army and have ton of rockets and missiles mounted on it's back.

Doom-Vee - Chimera Or Taurox
Several people told me this weekend that my Doom-vee transport would make excellent Tauroxes. But I prefer Chimeras at the moment however I can make the heavy bolter on the hull removable and make an alternative twin autocannon turret so I could have the option to use both (just not mixed).



Ratlings
I'll be converting some standard gretchin models and taking a unit of ratlings.



Ork Bot Bullgryns
Just an idea as I might not take a unit but convert some ork bots to represent Ogryns.

Overall Sneaky Gitz Rule
With the points drop for camo cloaks I'm thinking of giving all my grot units (even mounted squads) camo cloaks to represent their sneakiness.

Primaris Psyker
Definitely will be painting up my weirdgrot model in the near future.



Carapace Armour
I brainstormed ideas for carapace armoured grots and this conversion was the result, the boltgun was to be replaced with a hot-shot lasgun converted from a gauss weapon. But I'm unlikely to be fielding scions so I might build a veteran squad with carapace armour.

The Battle Bruiser will finally be completed and uploaded later this week, just needed a break after the mad rush up to Throne Of Skulls.

DA BATTLE BRUISER: WAAAAGH KRUSHA!
I loved the idea of turning a Baneblade into a mobile HQ or flagship for the grot rebels but it wasn't till the Escalation rules came out that I considered it. It was going to be done later on but it became a priority when I needed something to replace 500pts of Ork allies.
But even thou it was completed to a tournament just in time for Throne Of Skulls last month it still needed some work such as the crew, glyphs and other smaller details. But after burning myself out getting the army done I needed a break from the hobby.
Finally the centrepiece for my Grot Rebelz is complete! Too bad it has a tendency to blow up on me in games.



With luck I'll have a full army photograph of the (current) army to post tomorrow

KAPIN SQUIGSCREAM IZ ERE!
Alongside the Battle Bruiser's crew I also painted up Kapin Squigscream to act as either a commissar or an alternative commander to Grotskull. I wanted to make him look fearsome since it's his job to keep all this gretchin warbands in line.
Previously he had a large squig that served as the expendable veteran in the command squad but this time I've added a small squig to his base as well as bulked out his cybork arm.

NEWS FROM DA BIG MEK!
Been working on some tank conversion ideas and concepts and I'm eager to hear your feedback on them...

A Rokkit Trukk
I finally brought a Wyvern today and was looking at the bitz and brainstorming ideas, now originally the plan was to use the mount the turret on one of my grot artillery tanks and use the Wyvern tank as a base for my Manticore. But after seeing the base for the Wyvern turret I had a better idea! See for my Manticore weapon I plan to use the Whirlwind turret but with tons of different missile attached to it (like this looted manticore conversion), but instead of mounting it on a tank I'm going to mount it on the forgeworld enclosed trukk below with some modifications.



What to do with the Dakka Tanks?
For my Hydra tanks in the last codex I converted these small support tanks adding a carriage at the back to keep the armour facing correct, I had planned to use them for my Wyverns but I fear their size could be a problem. See the Hydras never benefited from their small size as they were always in line of sight so they could have a wide range of targets, the wyvern being a barrage tank will often be behind terrain so I fear it's size may become an unfair advantage.



So now I'm wondering what to do with my 3 small tanks because I really don't want to ditch them cause they look awesome, so far my only options are to ditch the trailers and use them as either armoured sentinels or FW immobile weapon platforms?

GROTSKULL'S YARD SALE
With a new codex I find myself not needing half of my chimeras or a 2nd osprey vendetta anymore so I'm now looking to sell them plus the hydra and griffon mortar turrets, the cash would be helpful in this project so if your an ork or guard player check out the thread posted on the forum HERE!

SUPA LOBBA!
Just finished up my Wyvern turret, the design was inspired by the large ork turret that you force round on the ork ship in the first level of the Space Marine game. Now all I need to do is get the Enclosed Trukk from Forgeworld to mount it on.

.

GOBSMASHAS SIGHTED!
I've always wanted to field Gobsmashas in my grot guard army using the FW Laser Tank Destroyer rules, only whilst the body is easily converted from a Leman Russ body the large armoured wheels are the troublesome part as my old rubber wheels won't cut it. Fortunately the chap over at Blood & Skulls Industry has agreed to build some for me, which is fantastic news as his other vehicle components and alternative tracks are top notch. So expect to see Gobsmasha tanks joining the Grot rebel's arsenal in the near future.



DA LOBBA TRUKK!
Well finally got my enclosed cab trukk from forgeworld to convert up for my Wyvern, only problem is due to an error in casting the main 2 parts won't go together without a good amount of work fortunately Forgeworld customer service is top notch and their sending me a replacement part.

So till that arrives I'm going to have to work on the ork trukk plastic components and gretchin crew, speaking of which I was lucky in finding that commander arm as it makes the driver look bored which is only natural since an artillery tank rarely moves lol.
Of course the front will be a lot more armoured when completed, but to better represent the front armour value of 12 I'm also going to be adding a small ram to the front as well.

Here's a photo of it in progress, what do you think?

.

DA RIFLE RUNTZ R ERE!
Since I had to wait a while for a replacement part for my Forgeworld trukk before I could do anymore work on my Wyvern I decided to convert my grot Ratling squad, which was a fun challenge.



The completed Wyvern will be uploaded tomorrow evening and it looks bad ass!

DA NEW LOBBA TRUKK
Well my replacement part for the FW armoured trukk cab finally arrived so I was able to finally complete my Wyvern conversion. I added an armoured ram on the front to help represent the front armour 12 value, plus I was able to create a little turret from a fuel barrel. I love how the driver looks so fed up waiting around while the gunner has all the fun.



Now is I find myself wanting to build a 2nd one that can also be used for my Manticore with a turret swap, problem is I don't fancy buying two kits again, so I'll wait till I can find the individual Wyvern bits online before I make plans to build another one.

GROT REBEL GAME CARDS
When I was working on the Thousand Sons I created modified magic cards for their available Warlord traits, Psychic Powers and even the Weaponsmith mods. With each card numbered it was easier than needing to look them up in a rulebook as I just rolled the dice and shifted through the cards, it also helped me remember what Warlord trait was in effect and what powers needed casting.



Likewise I'm going to create some Warlord and Psychic cards for the grot rebels, with Taytonclait off Deviantart providing me with some excellent artwork for each warlord and psychic table. Of course the magic card appearance didn't suit the grots so I decided to create my own card design.

What do you think?

ORK BOTZ; 3 MONTHS OF SERVICE!
Well with the new edition out the Warboss and Nob Biker unit are no longer really an option since Orks and Guard are 'come the apocalypse' on the new allies chart, meaning I can't setup the unit within 12” of my guardsmen which will be impossible on all but 1 of the deployment setups.



So the question now is what to do with them? I thought about tweaking them to using them as Ogryns but I don't plan on using a unit of them anytime soon. So it looks like I'll be putting them up for sale. The Warbot will be staying though as I love that model too much to sell it.

So if you interested in buying the Nob Biker conversions drop me a PM, I'll be posting them in the trading threads tomorrow.

THEVIN GIT!
Also one of my Doom-vees have been featured on Spikey Bits' Conversion Corner, I was very pleased to see my work featured... until I noticed that someone else had submitted my work as their own and was mentioned in the description! My attempts to inform Spikey Bits and get it corrected have been unsuccessful.

No, they're too big to represent such a fragile unit. Besides I've got a few ideas in my head for gretchin rough riders.

GROT TANK UPDATE
Someone suggested I repurpose the main part of my old converted Hydra and Griffon Mortar tanks as armoured sentinels, so with that in mind I started looking for suitable turrets and found a perfect match from the Blood and Skulls Industry.

At the moment they stand just a little shorter than a standard sentinel but I can expand the height with some banners on the turret if necessary. As for the main plasma gun armament I was thinking of converting plasma weapons like my old Plasma Russ, but I think the forgeworld pre-heresy plasma guns will fit right in (as photoshopped below).

What do you think?

REBELS GROTS USING DAEMONOLOGY?!?
I love it when people suggest great idea but I hate my local GW manager for this most recent idea for the grots!
Whilst discussing Orks and how they're become very uncooperative to my guard in this edition my local GW manager suggested converting some warp mutated orks summoned by a crazied grot psyker. You know what's better if they were summoned by a grot mek with a shokk attack gun lol.



It's a great idea and I might do it, the question is what sort of daemons should I consider converting my mutated orks to represent? In the interest of not being a total dick to my opponent and going crazy with it I'll only convert 2 squads at the most, either way it will be a while before I get round to this idea as I've got too much on my to do list at the moment.
Your thoughts on the rebel grot shokk attack gun concept?

 Nevie wrote:
Question for your biker units. Why couldn't you rebase them and use them as a daemon unit?

It be kind of difficult to explain how they suddenly appeared from nowhere and though a psychic power. If I rebase them it will be as Orgyns thou I've decided to wait till the ork codex and rumored blood axe supplement before deciding what to do with them.

PICK YA KARDZ RITE!
I've just finished work on all my Warlord Cards for my Grot Rebelz, special thanks to Clayton Tait for providing the artwork for the cards. When I get round to painting my Grot Psyker some Psychic Discipline Cards will be made to go with him as well.
.

DA LOBBA LORRY IZ ERE!
Well it's taken quite a while but I finally completed my Wyvern conversion, someone suggested the nickname Lobby Lorry which I like the sound of.
Had some difficulties such as the model being too long for any available spaces in my army case so made the front ram removable using some very long pins that go into the trukk's frame. I may make another one in the future but at the moment I still have the Grot Tanks, Flame Tank and Gobsmashas to work on.



Looking at this model I may go back to the chimeras and other vehicles and add some metal plates to make them similar to this vehicle, just not too much as to make them look ramshackle.

WHAT TO DO NEXT?
I'm going to a Combat Patrol Tournament next month and trying to decide what list to take as it will also decide what I'm working on next, the guard list is pretty much the same except for the 4th unit...

X2 Veteran Squads with Autocannons & 3 Grenade Launchers in Chimeras
Wyvern
Devildog or Carapace Armoured Veterans with 3 Plasma Guns

Or I could take [URL="http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/420/353770.page[/URL] and create a new squad, I've also got a hold of some rare Egyptian bits to convert some alternative captains and squad leader models...

10 Man Strike Squad: 2 Psycannons, 1 Hammer, Psybolt Ammo and Justicar with Halberd
110 – 5 Man Strike Squad: 1 Psycannon
135 – Rifledread

What do you think would be the best list? As it means I'll be working on either a Flame Tank, Carapace Gretchin, or 6 new Thousand Sons.

A NEW FANCY KILLY SUIT FOR DA BOSS!
Due to the stricter allies table restricting the use of my Warbot and his bodyguard I've be considering an alternative for my bad-ass warboss, and I was pleased to have found it after recently reading a article about Commissar Yarrick. I thought to myself he'd make a great Grot Warboss combining both the leadership of a command squad and the fearsome presence of a Commissar.

The challenge is creating a suitable proxy for Yarrick as he is armed with a storm bolter, laspistol, carapace armour and powerfist so he needs to be a beefy model. My first thought was to convert one of the upcoming plastic meganobz into a short of battlesuit but decided it wouldn't be too tough looking for Yarrick's 4+ Arm/Inv save. So I've settled on the idea of a Grot Commander in an exo suit inspired by their recent appearance in movies and upcoming games.



Seems the best option as I can convert a storm bolter like weapon with a maybe a laser secondary weapon using a tau stealthsuit arm as a base, the power fist/claw should be easy. Only problem will be creating the the legs and upper arms with the metal frame around them as I'd like this to look like a less plated version of ork mega armour. There also the question of who to put in the suit; Kolonel Grotskull the brains & leader of the rebellion or Kaptin Squigscream the hard as nails 2nd in command?

I'd be grateful for any suggestions on this idea and how to convert an exo suit for a grot?

 Archmagos_Amadeus wrote:
I'd argue either way. Da Kernel already got a dead-killy Warbot. But Squigscream has been leading da ladz quite a bit lately. Could be an interesting opportunity to bring Gazza Stripbolt back into the army, all things considered.

Yeah I think Squigscream is the best choice for the armour. As for Gazza Stripbolt he'll be used as an engineer whenever I decide to take one, when that time comes I'll likely remodel him to give him more of an ork mek vibe, perhaps I'll use some necron parts to convert Gazlowe from Heroes Of The Storm lol.



Also centurion legs might be a bit too big, remember Yarrick goes on a 25mm base.

MAKIN IT LESS HUMIE LOOKIN!
After painting up my Wvyern conversion I realised that my Chimera conversions could do with a bit more detailing, so I've added some extra plates and bolts as well as a heavy stubber and smoke launcher.

PUNISHER DAKKA CANNONS!
I'm also planning to use Vultures instead of vendettas in my upcoming list and the main and favoured armament choice has to be the twin-linked punisher cannons. I had planned to convert Predator Lascannon sponsons and the punisher cannon barrels to make them, however the barrels are hard to find online. So I decided to try an alternative using the left over gun barrels from the baneblade kit and storm talon engines to make these big chunky guns that will be belt feed from the slit on the valkryie doors.

I'm worried about them being a bit too chunky but then again this is greenskin tek, what do you think?

 MrFlutterPie wrote:

I have a Disqus account, would you like me to comment on Spiky Bits with a link to this thread?

Don't worry about it, I was able to get in touch with them and it was corrected a week later.

RIFLE RUNTZ TAKIN DA SHOTZ!!!
Been a while since I did an update, mainly due to the introduction of Warhordes in my local gaming community which I've been swept up in and have been recently painting up a battlegroup.
That said 40k will always be my favourite as for it's conversion possibilities more than anything else.
Anyway finally completed are the Rifle Runtz which shall act as my Ratlings snipers, like all of the grots it was fun to build and paint thou I'm moving towards the Model Color range for skin tones as GW paints tend to be too thick for the job nowdays.



Originally I was just going to have 9 Ratlings but a change to my list now means I need a 10th, problem is there isn't any more gretchin models that would make good snipers that I haven't already converted, so my 10th sniper is gonna have to be something different.
While I paint up my Hordes army I'll take the time to work on some small parts of the grot army such as my Primaris Psyker and repainting the remaining vehicles.

ZOG SQUIG BOMBS, DEZ MUCH BETTER!!!
Been busy with Warmahordes recently but will be getting back into 40k soon with the Vulture Gunship and Rapier Laser Batteries up next. But first I've been thinking of other interesting units to include in the army from time to time to keep things interesting. One such unit is the Cyclops Demolitions Vehicle basically a 30pt remote T6 2 wound demolition charge, thought it might be fun to field 6 of them using Kromlech's Goliath mines below.



ARMOURED SENTINEL UPDATE; RETURN OF THE WARBOTS?
Another matter is the armoured sentinels, I've been trying to think of ways to make the squig tanks (my current sentinels) fully armoured as I've gone off the idea of using the mini tanks as they're likely cause confusion as they're neither walkers or mounted on 60mm bases. So I thought about turning the sentinel cockpit into a mouth with the plasma cannon inside it but with the searchlight eyes I feel it would look... too goofy even for grots.
But then I had an idea, why not use the Warbot or at least convert 3 with killa kan legs and a plasma cannon weapon. It should be easy to mount them on 60mm bases and they'll be more recognizable as Sentinels due to their similar size and being walkers instead of tanks, you can see a side by side comparison of all three models below!

What do you think? It I decide to use them as sentinels I'll need to start looking for all the bitz now and they'll likely be the last thing created for the main army.

.

 Kepora wrote:
The squig-like walker, all the way. The tank's neat, but it'd be better for another roles - same for the bot.

I probably didn't make it clear, the scout sentinels (The Squig Tanks) aren't the problem they're great and I'll repaint them at some point. The problem is a grot in an open cockpit doesn't exactly represent front armour 12 very well so I've been trying to come up with a suitable armoured sentinel proxy, the tanks are too confusing but Warbot with legs would fit the bill quite nicely.

Just did a quick photoshop to see what the Warbotz or Megagrot Sentinels would look like, size maybe a tad off but still proportions look perfect for a gretchin.
.

NEW TEK INCOMIN!!!
Been a while but I'm not back working on 40k and the Grots are going to be getting some awesome new tek soon! First up is my Rapier Laser Battery Conversion, using the last of my guard tracks, and chaos bike parts (from the Ork Botz) plus a few other bits. It's size matches up very well to the size of the original forgeworld Rapier model. The design was inspired by the Soviet tanks from Red Alert 3.



I'm hoping to have the other two built in time for a game this thursday. Only question is should I paint the vent up like a vent or try and pull off a glow effect as if there was a reactor inside, remember these thing have a 50% chance to explode when destroyed?

I've also completed the Thundersquig Gunships's Punisher Cannons for it to be fielded as a Forgeworld Vulture! But just in case I need to use the Vendetta again the Horns and Gatlings Cannons can be swapped out for the Lascannons.
.

MAN DA GUNZ!!!
Gun crews completed for the Rapier Laser Batteries, been quite good in the few games I've been using the unpainted models in. Going from the top I had to use one of the Mek Gun Gretchin for the crew but made sure to give him a lasgun and a raised base, also wanted to make a grot who was visually cautious about his gun exploding! I also made a Tau Gretchin, I wanted to have the squig on a pole but it didn't work so he became part of the base's detail. Finally there is my grot mek who wearing the Ork Mek mask and swinging the spanner looks very tribal, he accompanied by an enslaved Ork Bot cause I thought they were too good not to have at least one still in the army.

Now to get the Thundersquig gunship Punisher Cannons and details painted!
.