+ inload: sneaky Gretchin +

+ The Alien Wars – Xenos +

As the eyes of the Imperium turned inwards, mutual support fell away, leaving each planet fending for itself. As a result, xenos of all stripes began to colonise and conquer regions of the galaxy that had been in Imperial hands since the closing of the Great Crusade. Perhaps the most widely-known of these aliens to the mass of humanity were the orks.

Orks, of course, have likely troubled mankind since first contact, presumed to be during the Dark Age of Technology, or even before. The Nova Terra Interregnum, however, was marked by the resurgence or emergence of thousands of orkoid petty empires, most consisting of a scattered system or two, but some – like Charadon or the Gemini Region – eclipsing the size of Imperial sectors. From the infamous attack on Rynn's World by Luggub's Drop Legion, to the Massacre of Karad Kar, this period of the Imperium's troubled history history is rife with greenskin aggression

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+ 'Orrible little runts +

+ Between Iron Warriors, dwarfs and robots, I've been painting far too much metal recently. I needed a bit of a break, and what better to pick up than my orks? These poor buggers have been lurking unpainted since around 2014: always the bridesmaid and never the bride. +

+ Four little runts were what leapt out of the box. Simple, relatively quick, and allowing me a chance to play around with some green (a colour that rarely troubles my palette), these were just the project I needed for a quiet Monday night. +

+ They're pictured above with Thrugg Bullneck [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], and will shortly be joined by some boyz who will be converted to have more of a Rogue-Trader aesthetic, to fit in with my Alien Wars project – basically a retro setting that's an excuse to convert new models to look like the older ones. If you think 'what would the Rogue Trader version of hte 40k universe have looked like if it had come out now?' +

+ Painting up the grots let me scratch another entry from my Wargame Hobby Bingo card, too. They were a gift from a pal of mine, who very kindly gave them to me as an incentive to get my ork army on the go. While they were nicely painted, I wanted to give them my own stamp. +