So I kind of dithered slightly, but this morning I changed my mind and picked up an Aeronautica Imperialis Adeptus Astartes Thunderhawk Gunship from my local FLGS.
Designed to operate in both planetary atmosphere and the cold void of space, the Thunderhawk Gunship combines the roles of orbital troop lander, heavy gunship, and bomber into a single, brutally effective aircraft. Sturdy and well-armoured, Thunderhawks deliver their Adeptus Astartes passengers into the very heart of raging battle, and provide fire support with a truly fearsome array of weapons afterwards. These iconic vessels have come to be feared as the harbinger of doom by the enemies of the Imperium of Mankind.
The box contains two sprues to make up the model. There are a fair few parts as one would imagine for a kit of this size (even if it is a tiny plane). The model is very well detailed. It does make me think that would GW ever decide to re-issue Space Marine or Epic40000 (as in WH40K ground combat) but in the new Adeptus Titanicus scale? Part of me thinks they won’t, it could possibly cannibalise sales of (proper sized) Warhammer 40000.
Another thing is that the pricing of the models would be quite extorinate compared to previous versions of Epic. The original metal 1997 Epic40000 Thunderhawk was £7.00, whereas this plastic kit has a list price of £26 nearly four times as expensive. Yes it has been over twenty years, but even so this means we would be paying £5 for an Ork vehicle and £10 for a Land Raider if GW ever did go down a path of making vehicles and infantry for Adeptus Titanicus.
I will be painting my Adeptus Astartes Thunderhawk Gunship as a Grey Knights Thunderhawk as discussed in this earlier post.
So over the last week we have had Warhammer Fest Online.
Last weekend as I looked over the list of live shows, it was apparent to me that what I was most interested in was, would there be new Orks for Warhammer 4000, what would be revealed on Thursday for the boxed games and what would be the BIG mystery on Saturday.
Well we found out on Saturday that the mystery was a new edition of Age of Sigmar.
I am guessing exciting for players of Age of Sigmar, for me not so much.
I was hoping we would see the return of the Old World and Warhammer. We know from previous reveals that this was in the works and I am intrigued to see what this new (old) game looks like and what the models will be like, especially as we have seen massive jumps in model detail and development since the end of Warhammer back in 2015.
I was secretly hoping that we would see a relaunch of Epic in the (new) Adeptus Titanicus scale, but that was a far out dream… Well one can dream….
The Manticore, also known as the Manticore Rocket Launcher, is a self-propelled rocket artillery piece used by the Astra Militarum that is based on a variant of the Chimera armoured personnel carrier chassis.
This Manticore was painted many years ago for Epic 40000 (so well before Epic Armageddon as well).
Epic Manticore
These were quite fiddly models to glue together. I remember getting the rockets stuck on my fingers a few times…
Epic Manticore
It was a pity that when we finally saw the 40K scale version, it wasn’t anything like this.
I always liked the original Space Marine Land Speeder, which a version, the Proteus Pattern is available from Forge World.
Legion Javelin Attack Speeder with Missile Launchers
Larger and more heavily armoured than the common pattern of Land Speeder, the Javelin Attack Speeder is a nigh-irreplaceable relic of a bygone age of technological mastery. Gravitic nullification plates, the secret of whose production and maintenance have long since been lost, allow the Javelin to mount an array of heavy weaponry more akin to a heavy tank destroyer than a nimble Land Speeder, allowing them to make pinpoint strikes on enemy armour or infantry with devastating lascannon or missile barrage. Those Chapters of Space Marines whose histories stretch back into the grim days of the Imperium’s founding may, if they are fortunate, still possess a few justly revered Javelins within the sanctified depths of their armouries.
This version is similar to that original, but reminds me of the plastic Epic version.
Nice to see one of my favourite rule sets of all time, Dirtside II available for free download.
I played Dirtside quite a bit in the 1990s and even put on a display game for it at Salute one year. I much preferred it at the time to the Epic rules which were around. Though when Epic40000 was released I did start playing those rules for a while.
Dirtside II is a rules system for playing combined-arms ground combat with miniatures in a science-fictions setting.
They were first published in 1993 by Ground Zero Games.
They are now available as free download from the GZG website.
I saw this post as I was updating some other stuff, so I thought I would add an update. Alas this never got further than the ideas stage and the kit was eventually sold on eBay a few years ago.
Today saw the release of Adeptus Titanicus from Games Workshop. Though I did not play the original Adeptus Titanicus fgame back in 1988, I did buy some of the miniatures and bought more when Space Marine was released in 1989. I also didn’t buy Titan Legions which came out in 1994. I really did get into Epic though in 1997 with the release of Epic 40000.
Adeptus Titanicus: The Horus Heresy has probably been for me the most anticipated game from Games Workshop for some time. I don’t think I have been this interested or excited about a release for years.
Adeptus Titanicus: The Horus Heresy is a tabletop game of devastating combat between awe-inspiring machines, set during the civil war that tore the galaxy apart. 2 players take control of a variety of Titans – colossal, bipedal war engines covered in thick armour and weapons which can level a city in a single salvo. It is a strategic challenge in which you pit your skill and cunning against your opponent in a battle to the death; a test of tactical skill demanding the management of the resources at your disposal, determining the optimal reactions to the evolving state of the battlefield.
I decided to buy the Rules Set for £35 which includes loads of stuff, but no Titans.
There is inside the box
a 96 page rulebook
6 Titan Command Terminals: 2 Warlord Titan, 2 Reaver Titan, and 2 Warhound Titan Command Terminals, large card surfaces used to track the status of your Titans during games;
2 Questoris Knight Command Terminals;
28 Titan Weapon cards : these double-sided cards are placed on the Titan Command Terminals in-game to keep track of the weaponry you’ve deployed, with one side showing the weapon characteristics, and the reverse showing that it is disabled;
24 Mission and Stratagem cards;
Battlefield Assets are a frame of 6 plastic miniatures, used to represent certain Stratagems – this set includes 1 Macro Cannon Battery, 1 Apocalypse Missile Strongpoint, 1 Command Bastion, 1 Plasma Generator, 1 Communications Relay and 1 Void Shield Relay.
Also included are markers for initiative, a wrecked Titan head which can be used as an objective marker, 50 status markers for use with Command Terminals, 6 designation markers for the Titans on the battlefield and 3 arc templates used to determine weapon firing arcs;
2 reference sheets;
21 Adeptus Titanicus dice;
2 clear blast markers and a flame template.
That’s quite a box full of stuff.
The new plastic Warlord Titan, which is modelled after the Forge World model is amazing. However I didn’t buy one (yet).
I also like the new buildings, the two Civitas Imperialis sets look very appealing.
Designed for use in games of Adeptus Titanicus, this is a set of modular, plastic buildings which can be configured and stacked in a variety of configurations – multiple small buildings, several medium structures or a tower large enough to provide cover for a Warlord Titan can be assembled!
They look as if they will fit in with the existing Epic buildings, even though this game is at a different scale.
So what of the future? Well, we know from the rules there will be a Reaver Titan and the smaller Warhound Titan. We saw in White Dwarf there the Reaver Titan.
