WAAAAGH! Pt.18: Ork Big Gun Kannons (2001) (Mechanismo May ’19)

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Ork Big Gun Kannons (2001)

Following on from the last post, which featured a pair of artillery pieces on desert bases, today we have a pair of artillery pieces on desert bases! Of course, there are more than a few differences between the two pair. With my 40k Ork force being (nominally, at least) based on Blood Axes in that they have a military-ish desert theme running throughout – which is why they also have rough-looking Imperial-style numerals painted on them.

Ork Big Gun Kannons (2001)

I’ve had these on the go for quite some time, having picked them up from…. I’d guess eBay, as they were both second-hand and acquired separately. (And both missing the fittings sprue) – but one problem I always had with them was the basing issue – basically what to do with them. I wanted to have them based, but also wanted to ensure that they could be used on a wide variety of terrain, and particularly butted up against fortifications. Eventually, I figured out the (obvious) solution – Magnets!

Ork Big Gun Kannons (2001)

As one can see, this solved the problem quite nicely. and so the finished models can sit on their textured bases on the battlefield, and they can also be removed if and when needed to be placed behind cover, on fortifications and anywhere else those 60mm bases become an awkward issue.

Ork Big Gun Kannons (2001)

Here’s one of them with the pair of crew-grots I finished in April – amazingly, these two are even the proper crew for this artillery piece! The main problem here is that Ork artillery now have 5 (or is it 6?) crew each, so even with another pair of crew coming soon, my models will still be a mile behind the current ruleset. I guess 40k snotling or even fantasy goblin proxies will be the order of the day!

15mm Flames of War DAK Luftwaffe Flakartillerie 88mm – Battlefront Miniatures (Mechanismo May)

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15mm Flames of War DAK Luftwaffe Flakartillerie 88mm - Battlefront Miniatures

Continuing the recent reawakening of my old DAK Army project, I got out my pair of 88’s to give them the final touches that I hadn’t gotten to back in the day. Where the Univeral Carriers from the other day had quite a lot left to do on them, these artillery pieces and their crew were much closer to what I’m happy to call a finally completed state.

15mm Flames of War DAK Luftwaffe Flakartillerie 88mm - Battlefront Miniatures

This (and some infantry stands that will be shown here soon that were in a similar state of almost-completion) led me to a fundamental question – one that would be silly to a non-wargamer or painter, but one that many of us really will intrinsically understand – how many models do I count these as? I mean, these artilley pieces have six crew plus the actual artillery piece. Do they count as one? Or Seven? The individually-based figures that I’m using for markers count as one each, and they are literally the same figures as these crewmen in some cases. After pondering the question for several days, I came up with an answer that satisfies me.

15mm Flames of War DAK Luftwaffe Flakartillerie 88mm - Battlefront Miniatures

If a multi-based piece requires very little work to complete, it’s one. If I have to do a substantial amount on it, especially to each of the models, then it’s however many are on the base. I’ll worry about cavalry another once I start painting a bunch of them. /handball problem into the future. So for my “counting” purposes, these two pieces are two completed models.

As far as paint choices go, I found that the crewmen of the 88s in the DAK were drawn from Luftwaffe troops, and so they got the slightly lighter tones of the Luftwaffe uniforms compared to the other elements of my DAK. This also leads to the two stands being much more uniform, as the rest of the DAK infantry have a much more rag-tag appearance that I’ll discuss when I show my completed units later on.

15mm Flames of War DAK Luftwaffe Flakartillerie 88mm - Battlefront Miniatures

These two stands are not the only part of this unit, as I have a few more pieces to come in the future. A pair of transport vehicles, as well as the artillery pieces’ road wheels as a pair of entirely-decorative bases to go alongside the transports.

15mm Flames of War DAK Luftwaffe Flakartillerie 88mm - Battlefront Miniatures

I also designed just the slightest bit of interactivity to go between the two stands. One stand having a crewman shouting off to the side, while the other with a crewman aligned to be waving in response. Little touches like that (and the road-wheel thing that I’ll finish at some stage) keep it all interesting to me.