Felix, Author at Felix's Gaming Pages

Lanchester Armoured Car

The Lanchester armoured car was a British armoured car built on the chassis of the Lanchester “Sporting Forty”, it saw wide service with the Royal Naval Air Service and British Army during the First World War. The Lanchester was the second most numerous World War I armoured car in British service after the Rolls-Royce armoured car.

Thirty-nine armoured Lanchesters were built, starting in 1928, and they were issued to the newly mechanised cavalry regiments. They spent most of their time in Britain although in 1935 the 12th Lancers took some cars out to the Saarland and a few were tested in the Middle East. The cars were used for training in the early years of the war and one was converted into a secure VIP transport for use in London. A few were still operating in Malaya in 1941 with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders; these ultimately fell into Japanese hands.

This got me thinking about possible uses for the Lanchester armoured car in A Very British Civil War scenarios, but also in an Operation Sealion scenario where German paratroopers attempt to kidnap Winston Churchill who is being moved in a convoy including the Lanchester armoured car which was converted into a secure VIP transport for use in London.

More photographs of the Lanchester Armoured Car.

The Battle for Ceres City

This was the Legions Imperialis Diorama at Warhammer World. One of the reasons I wanted to visit Warhammer World was to see what Legions Imperialis models they had on display. I was not to be disappointed.

Ceres City changed hands nine times during the campaign for control of the Delta-Garmon system, and the diorama captures the Blood Angels and the Titans of Legio Solaria waging war against the Iron Warriors and Legio Fureans.

Iron Warriors’ Deimos Pattern Predator tanks move forward down the street.

Overhead view of the Deimos Pattern Predator tanks supporting the advancing Titans.

Overhead view of the Warbringer Nemesis Titan.

Reaver Titans advance past the destroyed remains of fallen titans.

Warhound Scout Titans advance.

There was a lovely display of a ruined Imperial city with vehicles and titans fighting through the ruins.

Mark IIb Land Raider

This Forge World Mark IIb Land Raider was on display at Warhammer World.

It was looking a little dusty.

The Land Raider MkIIb is probably my favourite Land Raider variant. I do have one of them in my collection.

Grey Knights can use Land Raiders! When I first started putting my Grey Knights force together I knew that if I was going to get a Land Raider it would have to be the Forgeworld MkIIB Land Raider. I did get one in the end at GamesDay 2006. Sadly it was recently retired from the range.

I wrote up some reflections on my MkIIB Land Raider, on the current state of the painting and what I needed to do next. In the end I went down a different route.

The standard Land Raider, also known as the Land Raider Phobos, is an Imperial main battle tank and troop transport which serves as the “armoured fist of the Space Marines.” Available to the Space Marines, the Traitor Legions of the Chaos Space Marines and the forces of the Inquisition and Adeptus Mechanicus, it is one of the most resilient and iconic armoured vehicles in the galaxy.

The Land Raider’s heritage predates even the founding of the Imperium of Man, yet it remains the single most destructive weapon in the Adeptus Astartes’ arsenal. Protected by bonded Ceramite and Adamantium armour, the Land Raider is nearly impervious to all save the most destructive weaponry.

The Mark IIb Land Raider Phobos is one of the earliest marks of the standard pattern of Land Raider, and it still bears similarities to both the Land Raider Proteus and the Spartan Assault Tank that served as the models for the design.

The Mark IIb Land Raider Phobos is the only pattern of the standard Land Raider Phobos that uses the older armoured sponsons, as they do not allow the weapons they hold to fully rotate. This pattern of Land Raider is mostly extinct within Space Marine Armouries, having been replaced with newer marks and patterns of the standard Land Raider Phobos. However, some Chapters may still possess one or two as treasured relics of their ancient past.

Of course the Mark IIb reflects the Epic 40000 version of the Land Raider from the late 1990s.

Vickers Crossley Armoured Car Chevrolet

This Vickers Crossley Armoured Car Chevrolet (Indian Pattern) was on display at Bovington.

In 1915 the British Army started to use armoured cars in India, particularly on the North West Frontier, to relieve troops needed elsewhere. They proved so successful that this soon became standard policy. Shortly after the war the Indian Government purchased 16 Rolls-Royce cars to a new design but these proved so expensive that subsequent orders were placed with Crossley Motors in Manchester who made a tough but cheap 50hp IAG1 chassis. Substantial numbers of these cars were supplied between 1923 and 1925.

The body design, which was very similar to the Rolls-Royce version and built by Vickers at Crayford, had a number of interesting features. These included a dome-shaped turret, with four machine-gun mounts, which was designed to deflect rifle shots from snipers in ambush positions in the high passes. A clamshell cupola surmounted the turret for the commander, while side doors opened opposite ways on either side so that a crew member could dismount safely under fire. The crew area was lined with asbestos to keep the temperature down and the entire body could be electrified to keep large crowds at bay.

By 1939, when the Royal Tank Corps in India had handed most of its equipment over to the Indian Army, the Crossleys were worn out. The bodies were then transferred to imported Canadian Chevrolet chassis, with pneumatic tyres, and in this form served with Indian forces in the Middle East in the early years of the war.

More photographs of the Vickers Crossley Armoured Car Chevrolet (Indian Pattern).

You can imagine in an early Very British Civil War scenario in the early 1920s, the Vickers factory making these armoured cars available to one of the armies for fighting the civil war. You would have to think about some rules for allowing the entire body could be electrified and the impact that this would have in games.

The Vickers Crossley Armoured Car was also exported to Japan who made use of them in China.

Company B make a 1/56th scale metal and resin version which is available.

Whilst you can get a 3D printed version in 15mm from Shapeways.

Cargo-8 Ridgehauler

The Necromunda Cargo-8 Ridgehauler was on display at Warhammer World.

The Guild of Coin rules the roads of Necromunda. They transport material between hives and, for a hefty price, they’ll even smuggle weapons and people. Crossing the arid, violent, and irradiated ash wastes is a risky business, so the guild employs convoys of Cargo-8 Ridgehaulers. These hulking vehicles are perfect for traversing the dunes thanks to their massive wheels and sturdy engines, hauling trailers of armoured containers and transport carriages across the Great Equatorial Wastes, but their true appeal comes from their modularity – it takes little effort to outfit one with enough guns to make it a mobile fortress, ready to repel gang ambushes and raids.

Back in January 2022 we were given a glimpse of a vehicle used in the Ash Wastes of Necromunda, though we had no idea what it was. It looked interesting though, I did like the concept of a land train running though the ash wastes and getting attacked by raiders.

There were echoes of Mad Max and Car Wars in all this. However at this stage this was a concept, and we got some idea about the vehicle from the drawings in the animation.

Then we found out that the land train was the Cargo-8 Ridgehauler.

Goods from the hive manufactories are ferried across the poisoned wastes on great land trains. There’s money to be made from protecting the Guild of Coin’s Cargo-8 Ridgehaulers, which are juicy targets both for the nomadic denizens of the Ash Wastes and for gangs of underhive bandits.

My reaction was a little muted to the reveal. It wasn’t quite what I was thinking it might be. It seems to have been built around the Munitorum Armoured Container and I am not sure if this works. Well I get that the background is about moving goods across the ash wastes, so need containers to move it.

We did get some additional trailers, but I really felt that this wasn’t the concept we saw in the original animation. I decided that this wasn’t a model I would buy. However, I still like the concept of an armoured land train.

Master of the Ravenwing

The Master of the Ravenwing on display at Warhammer World.

Master Sammael of the Ravenwing is a true Angel of Death. From the saddle of his jetbike he cuts down any foolish enough to stand in his path with the infamous Raven Sword, its blade cut from the same meteorite as the Sword of Secrets. A highly accomplished hunter of The Fallen, Sammael is rightly honoured by his brethren and he is feared by his foes as few other holders of his rank have ever been.

The technology used in the production of these jetbikes has long since been lost to the Imperium. The only jetbike known to survive into the 41st Millennium is Corvex, used by the Grand Master of the Ravenwing company of the Dark Angels chapter, currently Sammael.

Imperial jetbikes were common among the Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade and the Heresy, typically operated by Sky Hunter Squadrons.

The Sky Hunter models have been recently released as a plastic kit for The Horus Heresy. Previously there were resin models from Forge World.

When Warhammer 40000 was originally released their was a jetbike available for both Space Marines and (interestingly) the Imperial Guard. The Mk14 Bullock original miniature first appeared in White Dwarf 96 in December 1987. It was designed to be used with the RTB01 plastic space marines.

I did buy a pack, but not sure where they are now, or even if I sold them on eBay twenty years ago.

When the Dark Angels were released I really liked the Master of the Ravenwing on the “last” remaining Imperial Jetbike, so much so I knew I had to get one for my Grey Knights army.

At the time I thought possibly maybe more than one!

Mark II Female F53 285 The Flying Scotsman

Mark II Female F53 285 The Flying Scotsman was on display at Bovington. It took part in the Battle of Arras in April 1917.

Originally intended for training in the UK, this Mark II wasn’t built for battle. Made from boilerplate steel, it lacked the hardened armor to resist machine gun fire. Despite this, it found itself thrust into combat at Arras in 1917. One of 25 Male Mark IIs built by William Foster, it’s the world’s oldest surviving tank to see battlefield action.

Christened “Dahlia” (D5), it belonged to 3 section, 10 Company, D Battalion. A shortage of Mark I tanks forced the use of 45 training Mark IIs, including Dahlia, during the Battle of Arras in April 1917.

D5’s story continues. With the arrival of the more advanced Mark IV tanks, many Mark IIs faced decommission. D5, however, dodged the scrap heap and received a new lease on life. Its guns were removed, replaced by a larger roof hatch, transforming it into a vital supply carrier christened “The Flying Scotsman” with the designation F53. Some believe it even saw action at the Battle of Cambrai later in 1917.

Through an extraordinary twist of fate, D5 escaped the fate of most wartime vehicles. It returned to England and eventually found a permanent home at The Tank Museum in Bovington in 1949. Initially mistaken for a Mark I due to its modifications, D5’s true identity was revealed when a real Mark I joined the museum’s collection in 1970. After years displayed outdoors, the museum’s expansion finally offered D5 a well-deserved place in the new tank hall, safe from the harsh British weather.

Today, D5 stands as a testament to wartime improvisation and the sheer resilience of these early armored vehicles. It’s a reminder that even training tanks can play a crucial role, and that sometimes, history takes unexpected turns, preserving a piece of the past for future generations.

Salamanders Primaris Repulsor

This Primaris Repulsor of the Salamanders Space Marine Chapter was part of the displays at Warhammer World.

The Repulsor armoured transport is a deadly combination of manoeuvrability and raw brute force. Due to the turbine array at its rear, it has tremendous motive power, held aloft by powerful anti-gravitic generators. The Repulsor is so heavily armed and armoured that is doesn’t skim over the landscape but instead crushes the ground below it. The tank grinds forward with a deep bass thrum, reducing rock to gravel and fallen bodies to smears of gore and powdered bone.

Ravenwing Darkshroud

Ravenwing Darkshroud at Warhammer World.

Of all the archaic relics deployed in the field of battle by the Unforgiven, the Darkshroud is perhaps the strangest. Those who have witnessed it at close range and felt its caliginous pall, and lived to tell of it, are disturbed forever more. The Ravenwing Darkshroud displays icons and structures from Caliban, evoking glorious religious imagery such as angel wings, shrouded statues, parchments and stained glass with lead frame. It possesses a pulpit-like cupola from which a Space Marine shoots others with either a heavy bolter or assault cannon, and is covered in metal panels.

I am not sure what I really think of this model. My first impressions is that I don’t like it. There is something about the Dark Angels (and the Ravenwing) iconography which always appears a little over the top. It’s not as bad as the (newer) Sisters of Battle adornments, but it’s close. The idea of stained glass on a combat vehicle does not make sense to me. The actual vehicle underneath looks interesting, but the additions seem to be unintegrated and stuck onto the vehicle.

On my models I do and have used Grey Knights iconography to enhance them, as you can see with this Land Raider model.

So I am not entirely opposed to the concept of iconography on Warhammer 40K vehicles, but not sure I like the Ravening Darkshroud.

Little Willie

Little Willie is the oldest surviving individual tank, and is preserved as one of the most famous pieces in the collection of The Tank Museum, Bovington, England.

Little Willie was a prototype in the development of the British Mark I tank. Constructed in the autumn of 1915 at the behest of the Landship Committee, it was the first completed tank prototype in history.