Contemptor Kevin's Combat Patrol Issue #41 Review

We move on from the Aeldari and the Chaos Space Marines to begin Combat Patrol #5: the Orks! This Combat Patrol was first released in 2021, as part of the 9th edition Ork refresh. We start off with the leader, and then will soon move on to the troops and elites within the Combat Patrol. Like the Tyranids, this one is a bigger Combat Patrol. We also get some more narrative information. So how does it stack up? As always, thank you to Goonhammer and Hachette for the opportunity to review these models, magazines, and materials

Narrative Materials

We finally have some new narrative materials in this issue, but just one article: an article on Slaanesh, She Who Thirsts/The Prince of Pleasure. Slaanesh is associated with temptation, sensation, and pleasure "quickly perverted" to foul ends. We get some pictures of Slaaneshi models: the magical mirror of the Contorted Epitome, Fiends of Slaanesh, Keepers of Secrets, and Hellflayers. It's not a lot of materials and it's not very Orky, but it is a welcome change to have in the magazine again.

Daemonettes of Slaanesh. Credit: Richyp

Hobby Materials

We get a single model in this issue: the Warboss in Mega Armour. Most of the magazine is dedicated to helping us build and paint this big chonky fellow. When I assembled mine, I do not believe there were any real surprises: Orks are not subtle models or a subtle faction, and so we have a brutal model with a big giant gun, big giant axe, and big muscles. Also a grot aiming the big gun, showing off both the scale of the Warboss but also letting us know to not take this line of miniatures seriously.

Ork Deathskulls Warboss in Mega Armor

For mine, I wanted to come up with a scheme to paint Orks quickly and easily, because this Combat Patrol has a ton of Ork bodies and getting bogged down with painting them does not seem like a lot of fun. I also have a desire to paint a "modern" take on Assault on Black Reach. And lastly, I wanted to be able to help my friend Kristina paint her Ork Combat Patrol while she was on maternity leave. All the paints here are Citadel unless stated otherwise.

Contemptor Kevin's Quick and Dirty Goff Ork Scheme

1. Prime Black

2. Drybrush through the following colors" a) Balthazar Gold b) Canoptek Armourshade Gloss c) ProAcryl Silver d) Shade/tint the armor with a transparent brown, purple, and dark blue paint (a la Snakebite Leather/Luxion Purple/Ultramarines Blue) e) Drybrush silver

3. Brush Paint the big armor panels with Black Templar

4. Paint the Skin a. Basecoat the skin with Screamer Pink b. Leaving the pure Screamer Pink in the recesses, highlight with a Orruk Flesh/Screamer Pink mix. c. Highlight with Orruk Flesh d. Add an additional white or off-white to brighten the skin up. e. Blend using a wash of Contrast Ork Flesh

5. Weapon casings get painted red a. Basecoat the gun casings, melee weapon casing, and the bosspole's Fist with Khorne Red b. Blend from Khorne Red to Mephiston Red to Wild Rider Red, focusing on the top of the casing. c. Add a dash of orange to the mix to begin edge highlighting. This should be very noticeable on the bottom of the casing, less so on the top of the casing. d. With pure orange, highlight the top of the gun casing.

6. Leather bits are brown. a. Basecoat with a rich brown. b. Mix some tan into the brown for softer highlights. c. Once you have subtle highlights in place on the tops of thighs and folds, add starker tan highlights to the folds. d. Thin down snakebite leather and use to both soften the transitions while adding a vibrant rich leather tone

7. The eyes: I used a yellow in the eyes with a white center. The bright eyes stands out from the slightly darkened/muted green in a striking way.

8. Add checkerboards to taste.

And boom, you have an Ork!

Goff Warboss in Mega Armour, Ghozrhrak Foestompa'. Credit: Kevin Stillman

Gaming Materials:

We start off with the naming charts for the Ork models: the Warboss in Mega Armour (Which gets both a name and epithet), and epithets for the Warboss in Mega Armour and the driver of the Ork Combat Patrol's alternate model, the Boomdakka Snazzwagon. My Warboss in Mega Armour is thus Ghozrhrak Foestompa.

The Warboss in Mega Armour takes center stage in this issue's scenario, Scenario 27: Thump the Gitz. The storyline behind this scenario is that the Aeldari are putting a gun emplacement near an Ork camp, and so the Warboss in Mega Armour goes off to smash up the gun. This pits the Warboss in Mega Armour against an Aeldari force of 1 Wraithguard, 1 Windrider, and 3 Guardian Defenders and 1 Heavy Weapons Platform. The Warboss wins if the Heavy Weapons Platform is destroyed, the Aeldari win if the Warboss is killed. The Ork player goes first. In this scenario, neither player takes enhancements, secondary objectives, faction abilities, or stratagems. It's just winning with dice and datasheets...except the Ork Warboss gets one special ability. The Warboss can be either Brutal, which gives them halves incoming damage to a minimum of 1; or Cunning, which allows them to deploy 9 inches away from enemy units and 6 inches from the edge of the board. The magazine also has rules to allow tinkering with the scenario, so that Orks instead fight Chaos Space Marines or Tyranids.

The Final Verdict

You're getting an Ork Warboss for a bit over a third retail price, plus a paint guide, a little character builder, and a bespoke scenario to have him beat up other Warhammer units. This little issue is why I love this magazine: You get a fun Warhammer model for a discount, and several extras alongside of it beyond "buy model, build and paint and take to the store for games".

Until next time Combat Patrolers!

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Tags: Orks | combat patrol | Contemptor Kevin | Hachette