Ork Town Terrain Returns for Orktober, Putting the Painting Contest Neck and Neck

The largest unfinished piece returns for Orktober

The biggest remaining piece in this Ork town project is finished, and it’s put the October painting contest within a point of a tie. The large building and a pair of barricades add 10 points to the month’s total, giving this long-running terrain project a timely return during Orktober. That’s a useful milestone on two fronts: the town is closer to being ready as a complete collection, and the new work has immediately changed the shape of the contest.

The town had been waiting in the wings for a while. It was meant to be part of the extended Season of Scenery, but that plan slipped. Orktober offered another good reason to bring it back out, and there wasn’t a huge amount left to complete: most of the terrain had already been made and painted in earlier years. The large building was the main unfinished piece, so completing it clears a substantial part of the remaining work. That matters for a project like this, where the last conspicuous gap can keep a collection feeling unfinished even when most of the pieces are already done.

The building is joined by two painted barricades. Together, the pieces give the town more than a new entry on a hobby tally: they add terrain that can help define the space in a tabletop scene. A substantial building can serve as a visual anchor, while barricades can break up an open stretch of ground and give the eye smaller features to follow. Their placement and the surrounding scenery will shape how the finished setup reads, so seeing the whole collection together is a worthwhile next step. A terrain piece’s value comes partly from its paint job, but also from how it helps a table feel like a place.

Ten points, with a small scoring compromise

The contest with IRO awards five points for each terrain item. By that count, the building is worth five, and the barricades would ordinarily add another five apiece. The two hobbyists agreed to score the barricades as five points for the pair because they took relatively little effort. It’s a generous adjustment with a built-in risk: the writer already suspects it could come back to haunt him if IRO wins by four points. The compromise is small, but the margin between the two painters is smaller still.

That kind of agreement gives the scoring a bit of personality. The pieces still count as part of the month’s work, while the point value reflects the effort they represented to the painter. It also makes the running total more fun to follow, because the contest isn’t just a count of finished objects. The scoring rule has become part of the story. And this is the part most people overlook: a friendly adjustment can make a hobby challenge feel more personal, while also giving both sides one more reason to watch the final tally closely.

The new work brings the writer’s October total to 26 points. At the time of writing, IRO had 25, according to his Orktober update. That leaves the contest separated by a single point at the end of the first seven days of painting. There’s plenty of month left, but the opening score makes each new terrain item matter. The numbers here are close enough to make the agreed scoring worth remembering, even if neither hobbyist intended it to become the decisive detail.

Why the terrain matters beyond the tally

For players, adding a building and barricades can change how a tabletop scene is read before anyone starts a game. A large structure gives the eye a focal point, while smaller barriers can make open ground feel less empty. Their actual effect depends on where they’re placed and what other scenery surrounds them; the current update doesn’t describe a finished layout, so the pieces’ role in a game remains an open question. Still, the collection is getting closer to the point where those choices can be made in context.

This is more significant than it looks. Finishing a long-delayed centerpiece can turn a shelf of separate terrain into something that suggests a shared setting, even before it’s used for a game. If you’re working on a scenery project of your own, the same practical lesson applies: the piece that remains unfinished may be the one that most affects whether the collection feels complete. One building won’t settle every question about the town’s layout. But it gives the painter a stronger basis for judging what the rest of the terrain needs.

A finished collection is the next goal

The next appealing task is to bring out all the Ork town terrain and photograph it set up together. That would show how the new building and barricades fit with pieces completed in previous years, and give the project a chance to read as a town rather than as separate items on a workbench. A group photo could also make the collection’s scale and variety easier to judge than a sequence of individual pieces. It might help identify useful arrangements for a future game, if the schedule allows one. For now, though, that’s a possibility rather than a confirmed plan.

Here’s the thing: a photograph of the assembled terrain would answer a different question from the painting tally. The tally records what’s been finished; a full setup would show whether the pieces work together visually and where the remaining gaps might be. That said, the full layout and any game have to wait until life is less hectic. The delay doesn’t undo the progress: the largest outstanding building is painted, the barricades are ready to join it, and the month’s score has moved into the lead.

For now, the practical next step is clear: set out the terrain, see how its pieces work together, and enjoy the finished town when there’s time to give it the space. A close contest gives the month’s painting a sharper edge. A completed town gives the project a reason to continue beyond the score. Both are still taking shape.