Waaagh Valorkis – an Ork Custodes army
Waaagh Valorkis is now underway… As hinted at in my last post, I’ll be working on an Ork army for next year’s Arc40k tournament. Not just any Orks though – some particularly delusional ones, with their sights set on revenge against a particularly tough opponent: Captain-General Trajann Valoris, of the Adeptus Custodes. Chief headsman of the Emperor’s own bodyguards, and personally credited with bringing a sudden and violent end to Waaagh Krushfist back when he served as an Allarus Terminator.
After Krushfist died, most of the gathered Clanz dispersed: Ork hordes rarely survive the loss of a powerful leader. In this particular case though, some of the lesser bosses saw what happened, and decided to seek revenge. What better role model for an Ork than the golden warriors of the Custodes? Powerful, nigh-unkillable warriors, capable of holding their own in a scrap against almost anything in the galaxy.
See, when some git teleports in and stomps yer boss, first ya get kunnin’ – kidnap a good mek, get him to make tougher armour for the ladz, and some of them choppas wiv guns on ‘em. Then ya get brutal – start kickin’ heads in and make enough noise to get the Emperor’s boyz payin’ attention. Then ya get some revenge.
Here’s how the first Ork Custodes test model started out – using Orruk Brutes as the main (Artificer Armour) troops, armed with Guardian Spears and clad in thick plate. The models below are part of Da Cross Toof Mob – a unit formed from Bad Moons, sporting fancy gear like bionics that the other units couldn’t afford.
It’s a start, but still needed something else: some unit markings on the shoulders, and a more high-tech look to the spear blades. I’ll paint those up as “proper” power weapons, so I wanted to copy the visual cues from other 40k powered blades.
Now we’re starting to make some progress 🙂 So, what does an almost full 1,350 point Ork Custodes army look like? Something like this, plus a Land Raider… though it looks like I’ll end up with some spare ‘Ardboyz and a Shaman too. You sure don’t need many models in total…
Current plans for Waaagh Valorkis look like this:
- Warboss (Evil Sunz): Shield-Captain on Jetbike (Valorkis’ right-hand Ork)
- Mek with tellyporta (Deathskulls): Vexillus Praetor with the Castellan’s Mark
- Da Cross-Toof Mob (Bad Moons): 3 Custodian Guard
- ‘eadkicker Mob (Goffs): 5 Custodian Guard
- Da Wreckin’ Crew – Meganobz (Deathskulls): Allarus terminators.
- Da Crusher – Looted Battlewagon: Venerable Land Raider
In my next post, I’ll look at some resin Land Raider conversion parts that I’ll use on Da Crusher. Then I’ll wait for the rumoured Codex: Adeptus Custodes errata/FAQ document later this month, and lock in an army list…
