The Unnamed Gorkamorka Site

We’ve been talking about them for a while, but today you can finally use them in their full capacity – Gorkamorka Tagz.

Tagz are our attempt to create a system of “achievements” for Gorkamorka, optional extra challenges for players to attempt. Tagz show off the exploits of your mob and encourage you to try tactics you might otherwise not attempt, helping you keep things fresh and interesting.

We’re not trying to force this on players (we couldn’t even if we wanted to!) and we want to stress that these should work even if no other players want to use them. We also want to make sure you guys understand that this first release is the basic pack, hopefully attainable by all mobs, not just Orks. We’re going to be releasing further packs based around the different factions, scenarios, and campaigns.

There are two ways you can use Tagz – one involves a blank grid and cutting out tagz, the other is a full grid with rivets to highlight upon completion.

So, here you can see the Tag Dominatin’, if you were to pull off this impressive feat you would cut it out and stick it to your grid.

Alternatively, you’d find it on your grid of Tagz and shade in all four rivets with a pen/pencil/blood.

We’re providing these to download in two different sizes – one is A4, the other is US Letter. Both grids are exactly the same size, or should be, the idea being to create a standardized size so that any Tagz created by anyone else will fit your grid, not just ours. Each tag is 47mm wide and 51mm tall, by the way, but we’ll be providing more details on that sort of thing later.

If you’re feeling lazy, just grab the Basic Tagz below. If you prefer to get your hands dirty, a blank grid is provided too.

If you’ve got any questions, post them as comments and we’ll do our best to answer.

It’s that wonderful time of year again for all greenskins – ORKTOBER!

Here at tUGS we have a whole load of things planned for release this month and we’ll do our best to get them released on time. Flamekebab has already mentioned the open beta of the Dust Rats which is going to begin later this month, so as penance we’ve forced him to make some special Orktober signature banners for us:

There’s a smaller one too:

Keep an eye on the site, or subscribe, and you’ll find yourself on the receiving end of some content!

There’s a topic on the Waaagh dedicated to raising the profile of Gorkamorka at the moment. One of the suggestions that has come out of it was to make a quick-start guide to the game available, as was included in the original box, suggested by the ginger hair squig.

Having not been able to find the original “Read Dis Furst” guide anywhere online, we located a copy and provide it for you here. It’s quite short and only covers the very basics, but perhaps it’ll be of use to some of you out there trying to get a GoMo campaign off the ground.

Download PDF

There’s a feature of WordPress that tUGS currently doesn’t use – tags. Our posts are currently categorised, but they don’t have relevant keywords attached to them. This isn’t an oversight, it has been a conscious choice – we didn’t want to tag things until we had a decent number of articles. We’re now approaching a hundred posts on the site (this one is number 93) and the time has now come to begin tagging we feel.

Flamekebab has been posting the articles he has written on Reddit which has been getting us a reasonable amount of traffic, but searching for things on the site isn’t as easy as it should be and we hope that tagging things will make articles easier to find. If there’s any particular things you’d like articles tagged by, leave a comment to let us know.

On a side note, happy birthday to tUGS’ very own Matt, he’s 22 today and stuck at university working.

I recently got hold of a large number of second-hand Gorkamorka models, a find I am still very pleased with. However, in the majority of cases, second hand models are painted. Sometimes the paintjobs are excellent, other times atrocious. However, I prefer to paint my own miniatures, so I usually strip them.

There’s a variety of different ways to strip paint, but my preference is Dettol. It’s not too expensive and doesn’t take very long. It also works on both plastic and metal, which is more than can be said for lots of the other methods I’ve heard of. Brake fluid, for example, apparently takes a week or two to strip the models. Seriously? A few days is too slow in my view. Thankfully Dettol strips the paint in a matter of hours.

There are a few caveats – Dettol will not dissolve superglue, which may prevent paint coming off in some areas. Remove the superglue and then try again. This may well be a non-issue if the models were assembled then painted, but it does come up.

The Rebel Grots in the photo were left in nail varnish remover for a few days as an experiment – it removed some of the paint, but wasn’t particularly effective. So, they’re going in the Dettol!

Step one: Fill a receptacle with models to strip

For individual figures and components I use jars, for vehicles I use ice cream tubs.

Fill the jar as much or as little as you like with pieces. In the photo the larger jar is for metal vehicle components (there’s most of a Big Lugga in there, for example).

Once you’ve got the stuff you’d like in the jar, cover it in undiluted Dettol. It doesn’t need to be immersed to any great depth, just enough to cover the bits will be fine.

Cover the top with clingfilm (“Plastic wrap”) and leave overnight. Or for a few hours, really. You’ll be able to see the paint coming off, so it’s easy to gauge how things are going.

Step two: Safety Gear

The next bit isn’t essential, but given that Dettol is kinda poisonous, it’s probably best to be careful. I wear gloves when dealing with the models and for preference a gas mask, but as long as you’re in a reasonably well ventilated area you should be okay, just don’t treat it like a sauna.

If you do get a little Dettol on you don’t worry, the problem comes when your fingers spend several minutes covered in the stuff. You’ll get numb and your skin will prune. Then it’ll stay that way for a few days, which gets pretty tiresome I can tell you.

As there’s going to be bits of paint everywhere, I recommend you strip the models over a sink or bathtub, something that is easy to wipe down. The stuff gets everywhere, so a sink is ideal.

Step three: Scrubbing

Fish out one of the models in the solution and grab an old toothbrush. Holding it in the sink, gently scrub at the model. The paint should come away in stringy, sticky chunks. It’s a little hard to describe, but you’ll see what I mean when you try it.

Most of the paint should come away easily. If it doesn’t, put the model to one side and continue on. You can then stick the models that weren’t stripped enough in the jar for a second round of stripping. It’s worth mentioning that you can reuse the same Dettol for this.

Step four: Rinsing

Once you’re certain you’re done scrubbing at the models, rinse them in warm water. You can scrub at them as you do this, if you feel they need it. However don’t use the same toothbrush to scrub at them during this as the paint flecks will stick to the model.

Leave the models to dry somewhere and they should be ready to paint. Those that didn’t get fully stripped should be put through this process again, perhaps with a fresh toothbrush. I bought a big pack of them at a rather tatty discount shop for this very purpose.

…and you’re done.

As you can see, the result isn’t too bad and the plastic isn’t warped.

I’ve got a whole load more to strip, so I’m going to get back to work!