Epic Orks: Blood Axes

[This was my seventh entry for the Fifth Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, reposted here for folks not following that blog.]

The Epic project rolls on. Having finished my Titan Legion last week, I turn now to their green-skinned foes. My Ork army consists of three clans, all of which are a bit on the...B-list as far as popularity goes. But what can I say? I like my Orks weird. So first up we've got the Blood Axes...

About half the clan...I'll have to figure out a way to shoot larger groupings of troops...

For those unfamiliar with Orky backstory, the Blood Axes are a clan of Orks that "trade openly with the worlds of the Imperium, parley with the foe, and will even consider retreating from battle if faced with insurmountable odds." Of course, every other Ork clan hates them for this distinctly un-Orky behavior.

Half the infantry and their Rhinos.

In the background I've worked up for my army, this clan is a mercenary company that's hired on with the warboss (who will hopefully be showing up in the next update). Due to the fact that they're mounted in Rhinos, I've dubbed them "Panzork-Grenadiers" and have given them an appropriate palette - dunkelgelb for the armored bits and the heavy weapons, feldgrau for the fabric bits (which are only visible here and there in these pics).

And the other half.

I gave every stand a missile launcher and all the Nobz stands feature a ludicrously oversized autocannon - I figured all the extra heavy weaponry emphasizes this clan's role as seasoned mercs. Likewise, I went heavy on the weathering for the vehicles. These are hard-bitten campaigners who move from war to war, fighting for the highest bidder. They don't have time to keep their kit parade-ground clean!

And the Nobz.

Given the prevalence of those humie Rhinos, I had to attach a section of black-market Land Raiders as well. These old plastic sculpts aren't the best, but they're totally iconic for me, as they were part of those 1st and 2nd edition Space Marine boxed sets that so many of us hold fond memories of.

This clan also sports a couple support units, and they'll be showing up in next week's Epic update, along with the second clan of the army.