Review: Kromlech Armoured Orc SMG Squad

Regardless of the extremely rapid release cycle that Games Workshop has instituted as of late, the Ork codex is still a fairly new addition to the latest line-up of codices for Warhammer 40.000.
Lack of codex power aside, the orks are one of the most fun and customizeable armies in the setting and pretty much any inconsistency can be explained with the strangeness of Ork behavior.
This review should have been out a month ago, but issues with my computer, crashes and general tech hell, did almost kill it.
Perhaps you'll notice, that all the images are from the Kromlech website. Well, the images I took crashed and burned in "The great crash", so all image credit of course, goes to Kromlech.

Kromlech is one of the top 3rd party producers of everything orky, and for this little review we are taking a closer look at some armored brutes, which will work perfectly for truly 'ard boyz.
The Armored Orc smg squad includes nine armored Orks armed with, surprise, a smg, and some heavy armor plates thrown randomly across their bodies in prefect Ork DIY fashion.

The set contains enough heads and extra face plates, to  assemble a varied squad, despite the fact, that the poses are pretty much given, with no great options to change the poses around.
Like most, if not all, Kromlech products, they are cast in resin, so be sure to give them a good wash(the soap and water kind), before trying to glue them together.
The sculpts are pretty clean, with few mold-lines in need of removal, which makes prepping them for painting a breeze.

The Kromlech Orks do have that typical GW ape-like hunched appearance, which makes them fit an existing Ork force nicely, while still retaining enough character to stand out.
In general the models are nice with adequate detail, without going overboard, which wouldn't fit a simple Ork trooper.

The "nob" or leader of the squad is a fine sculpt too, but I find him a bit too limited with regards to wargear and poses. You are in for some conversion work if you want to field multiple versions of him.
Luckily the standard Games Workshop parts, will fit just perfect.
The thing is though, and this is very subjective, I don't get the same creative vibe from these as I get from almost every other Kromlech model. They are great models, but not pushing the envelope when it comes to creativity and I feel they lack some of the silliness of the other Orks from the range like the greatcoats or the clanking destroyers.

So, do you need to get some armored Orks?
It depends on your force I guess. They are too cost prohibitive to field an entire force(for most of us anyway), but as I said earlier, they work perfectly as 'ard boyz who take the 'ard part seriously.

Should you need some 'ardy Orks, you can get a squad of 10(including a nob) for 37.99 Euros or you local equivalent at the friendly folks over at Kromlech .

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Review: Army Painter Quickshade or Armies in a can

Here it is folks, or at least the first part of what will be a series of reviews focusing on different products and aspects of The Army Painter paints, Quickshade and inks line.

This part will focus on the quickshade made for dipping your minis and get an army on the table fast and with  minimum amount of work.
The process is called dipping and is nothing new for some of the veterans out there, who have been dipping minis since the dawn of times(or so I have been told).
The technique is extremely simple, you just paint the base colours on the model, Army Painter has a wide assortment of coloured primers to help you with that, and then you dip the model in quickshade, throw off any excess and leave the mini to dry and spray some matt varnish over it, to dull it down.

All in all, an extremely simple and fast technique.

What is quickshade?
The Army Painter quickshade focusses on being easy to use and giving great results with minimal effort and time.
For the most part it even succeeds in doing just that.
Quickshade comes in three shades(Soft, Strong and Dark) and is not water soluble, but can be thinned with turpentine. The can should hold enough content to dip about 200 miniatures, give or take.
As I said there are 3 different tones of Quickshade and I used the strong tone for my review, which Army Painter claims is the most popular of their “dips”.
Each can cost about 25 euro or your regional variant.


How to use quickshade?
The point of dipping is speed, and the way to achieve that is to skip a lot of the steps, we normally associate with painting.
You simply paint the mini in the base colours, dip, apply a matt coat of varnish, base the figure and call it a day.
The process of dipping is pretty simple, but require a bit of practice to get perfect. 
Army Painter recommends that you dip the mini, then throw of the excess quickshade.
Sounds simple enough, but I managed to break a base and throw a poor ork across my yard, when dipping the first time. I still can't find his head, which he is pretty upset about.

Practice did make perfect though, and soon I was dipping like a pro.
It sounds messy, because it is, and if you want to dip indoors, I would recommend you to brush the quickshade on the mini, which also gives you more control and less waste



Who is Quickshade for?
I love this hobby, from painting to gaming and all the other aspects and I must admit I did find it a bit violating not trying the hardest I could, when painting the minis.
On the other hand, I hate nothing more than playing with or against an unpainted army and the constant excuses from opponents, who just can't seem to finish their damned armies…
So there definitely is a place for a product like quickshade, either as a way to get a decently painted (and I do find the dipped miniatures decently painted) army on the table fast and/or if you are doing a horde amy like orks, Atra militarium or tyranids.
If you are pressed for time or simply lack an interest for the painting side of the hobby, Quickshade or any dipping is perfect for you.
Personally I am going to start an Ork army and I have neither the time, nor the inclination to paint that many boyz, so for the horde armies out there Quickshade should work very well too.



Does it work?
In one word; Yes. 
Quickshade works well for what it is intended to do and I was actually pretty impressed with it. The ease of use, once you get the hang on how to apply it, is incredible and the result is great.
It won't win you any painting competitions, but most of us just want to field an army that looks great and quickshade will certainly help you with that.
As the pictures hopefully will show, the end result is quite good, even considering it is my first try at dipping.
I do feel however, that it works better with more organic models like orks and tyranids, or models with some cloth, like your regular guards.
Space marines on the other hand, I am not too sure about that, but that might just be my personal preference, as I think they look too dirty.

The process is quick, easy and with a very decent result. Throw in a few highlights, and you will have an army that looks great on the table.

When all is said and done Quickshade does what it says on the tin and it gets the job done.
A solid 4 out of 5.



I really hope you like the review and that people in general will support the effort.

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