On The Painting Desk: Kill Team - Octarius Boxed Set

I have been playing a lot of Kill Team with my local Gaming Guild this year and last year.  I had primarily just been using old Warhammer miniatures, but also picked up and painted a few Kill Teams in the last few years as palette cleansers.  I painted up the Corsairs, Hand of the Archon, and some Sisters of Battle.  Through all of these games, I had been bumming tokens and other brick-a-brack for the game from others.  I didn't expect the popularity of Kill Team to go away, so I decided to bite the bullet and get the Octarius boxed set.  It was pretty cheap.  However, from that boxed set there was a decent amount of "stuff" to paint up.  This ranged from barricades, widgets, terrain and two new Kill Teams!

I got to work on it pretty fast so I could clear the work out of my queue.  This had not really been on my Goals and Objectives for 2024.  I wanted to keep it freed up for a larger project later in the year.  What exactly was still a bit unclear.  

The first thing I painted up was the 6 barricades.  Nothing special, just some quick primer and some Speedpaints to get them done and ready.  I needed them pretty quick for some games!  I also primed the Widgets via brush, but didn't bother painting them beyond that.  The Prime would help me know which widgets were mine! 

You can see a barricade in action in this game!

From there, I assembled the Kill Teams.  I had to make some decisions early on, and here are some of the key ones.  For the Vet Guardsmen, I decided not to use all the fancy guys I could.  I went with a Vet Sarge, two vet guardsmen, a Medic, a Spotter, a Hardened Veteran, a Melta, a Plasma, a Sniper, and a Zealot.  I skipped out on a few of the special dudes.  Controversially, I had to do some conversion work as some of the gunners re-used parts from others, so it was tough to get the load-out I wanted.   

For the Orks, I also made some controversial choices like skipping the Power Klaw on the Nob, ditching the Comms boy, and skipping the Burna.  Instead, I used like 4 standard Kommando Boyz.  Orks have gotten a LOT bigger than when I started with them in 1st edition- RT days! 

Then, I managed to get a sunny, warm-enough day and got them all primed with Grey Seer from a spray can.  This was the Orks, Vets, and the Octarius scrap terrain.  From there, I followed my usual approach of Dark Grey wash and then dry-brushed with white.  This was to prepare them for a good Speed painting! 

I decided to start with the Vet Guardsman.  After all, the Siege Perilous campaign I was part of was Imperial vs. Chaos.  Sure, my Orks were Blood Axe mercenaries and have been since 'Ere We Go days, but I figured the Imperials might get used first.  Plus, they were much more uniform in color and would be easier to batch paint.  

I actually started painting their boots, and just kind of worked my way up the models as I went.  A slightly different approach to how I usually paint.  I typically start at the lowest level, i.e. exposed skin;  and then work up from there.  Since they don't really have any exposed skin I figured this approach was as good as any.  I pretty much made up the color scheme as I went, using the Armypainter Speed Paint colors I had.  These guys took me about 10 hours to completely paint, wash, paint the base, and seal.  The bases came-out way too dark though, but I am not going back to fix them.  These guys are perfectly usable in games now.  

Next, I turned my attention to the Blood Axe boyz.  I figured I would tinker with the Ork terrain as I went along too.  Again, I didn't really start off with a color scheme in mind.  One of the fun "ideas" about Blood Axe boyz from first Edition was that they tended to wear camo colors, but combinations that weren't very effective!  I liked that idea, but was not sure I could pull it off.  Plus, my older Ork boyz were a combination of Bright Blue and Light Grey.  I figured I might want these new ladz to blend in with that force a bit.   

These guys were a bit of a bear to paint.  They are much bigger than the Vets, and they have a lot of stuff going on with them.  A simple speed paint ended up painting the boyz themselves, and then their packs.  It was like painting two different models there was so much going on with their packs!  These guys will fit in just fine with the rest of my Ork Boyz.  

The only parts left to do were the terrain bits.  Honestly, an air brush would have made short work of these, but I don't have one.  Therefore, I decide to brush the majority of it with Speedpaint using Fiery Orange and Grim Black for the bulk of it.  I could have really gone into detail, as these scrap piles had a ton of it.  Ultimately, I decided that I didn't need terrain to overshadow my minis, so I skipped most of the finish work. There is too much detail and I question if "scrap piles" was the best choice for a starter box.  Something that you could paint easier might be a better choice in the future.  Something like crates and barrels, craters, or rock spires maybe?  These were a bit of a chore and slowed down my ability to just play some games.     

There you go.  All the terrain done and ready to game with! 

Final Thoughts

Well, there you go!  That wrapped up my Octarius Boxed Set.  I think the whole thing took me about two months from purchase to finishing the painting on it.  Of course, I am an experienced painter who has spent a lot of time learning how to paint quickly, and who has most of the proper tools.  

As a place for a beginner to start on Kill Team who hasn't played miniature wargames before?  I am not sure this is a great place to get started.  The minis are awesome, but not that easy to paint or assemble.  The terrain is mostly big pieces, but not easy to paint.  The play mat will tear in a matter of days playing and would be better served with a folding, thicker board.  You know, like a Blood Bowl board.  The basic rules are solid and not too complex, and the way they introduce the rules via scenarios is good.  However, each Kill Team has a lot of special rules with individual models often having something unique about them.  

Is this a good place to start wargaming?  Without a mentor or local gaming group?  Probably not.  If you do have a local store, group, or a fellow experienced gamer though it is a pretty good value.  

Could I make a better starter box to attract existing gamers and be good for complete newbies?  Nope.   

Until next time.         

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