Orktober’s Last Orks: A Flash Gitz Captain and Bomb Squig Finish the Month

Orktober ends with a score of 67 points, two long-awaited miniatures finished, and a rematch already in mind. The painter came up short against IRO, who takes the month’s top spot, but the final models make a satisfying close: a Flash Gitz captain that had spent years waiting for paint, plus a bomb squig that had also been on the wish list for ages.

A captain finally leaves the desk

The captain had become a recurring fixture on the painting desk without quite making it across the finish line. Each Orktober, the painter meant to tackle him; each year, another project took his place. Getting him done at last is the real win here. A miniature can sit unfinished so long that completing it feels like closing a chapter, even when the event’s scoring system awards only a handful of points for the work.

This one earns four: three for the big boss and one for his small squig companion. The painter jokes that the captain deserves a couple of hundred points for surviving years of postponement, then accepts the actual tally with good humor. That gap between the private satisfaction of finishing a model and the tidy arithmetic of a hobby challenge is familiar to anyone who has a backlog. The score tracks the event; it can’t measure the relief of finally clearing a stubborn project from the desk.

The paired photographs give the captain and his companion their own moment in the spotlight. They also show why a character model can be a rewarding choice for a painting stretch: it gives a painter a clear focal piece to work toward, while a small companion adds another detail to enjoy without turning the finish into a much larger project. Here, the two models count together in the writer’s own playful points breakdown.

A squig with a short fuse

The bomb squig is another overdue addition. The painter has wanted one in the collection for a long time, but the miniature kept slipping down the priority list. Now it’s finished, and the score is a modest one point. That doesn’t seem to dampen the affection: the writer calls it a good boy, with the obvious qualification that its habits include biting faces and going up in a blast.

That contrast gives the model its charm. It’s a small figure with a clear, unruly character, and the caption lets that character come through without taking itself too seriously. For painters working through a collection, a miniature like this can also make a useful change of pace from a larger centerpiece. A compact sculpt is a distinct finish to aim for, and ticking off a long-held wish-list model can keep a month of painting feeling personal even when the points don’t add up quickly.

67 points, and another round to plan

The final tally is 67 points for the month. The writer admits that anyone who expected a stronger showing has lost out, but the score doesn’t define the experience. Orktober provided a welcome escape during a difficult month at work, and the practical result is a batch of painted green miniatures for the collection. That combination—making progress while finding a little space away from everyday pressures—is part of what gives a month-long hobby challenge its appeal.

The contest with IRO adds a friendly rivalry to the finish. The writer congratulates the winner and promptly turns the loss into motivation, promising to try again next year. There’s no detailed strategy in this instalment; instead, the writer plans to share a round-up soon and think through what might improve the next attempt. That leaves room to consider how to balance ambitious, long-delayed pieces with smaller projects that can be completed along the way.

For now, the takeaway is concrete: the captain is painted, the bomb squig has joined the collection, and the final score stands at 67. The painter may not have claimed the top spot, but Orktober delivered the finished models and the escapism they were looking for. Next year’s plan can start with those lessons—and with one familiar target in mind: IRO’s pedestal.