A variant of the Sicaran battle tank introduced towards the end of the Great Crusade, the Sicaran Venator is a purpose-built tank destroyer. It mounts the fearsome neutron laser system and the atomantic arc-reactors required to power it. The neutron laser is a formidable anti-armour weapon, and is capable of penetrating any known armour. The combination of mobility, protection and firepower being highly valued by the Space Marine Legions.
This Forge World model was on display at Warhammer World.
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.
The Achilles-Alpha pattern Land Raider is the most durable vehicle currently in the service of the Legiones Astartes. These vehicles shrug off weapon strikes that would cripple other battle tanks, and are proof against even the most toxic environment. The weaponry of these vehicles is formidable, featuring an advanced quad launcher and powerful volkite batteries.
Imperial Fists Typhon Heavy Siege Tank at Warhammer World
Named for the ‘Great Beast’ of Ancient Terran myth, the immense Typhon Heavy Siege Tank was developed by the Mechanicum alongside the Spartan, with which it shares a basic chassis design.
The Typhon’s primary armament is the massive Dreadhammer cannon, and was created in response to a request from the Primarch Peturabo, master of the Iron Warriors. He demanded a Legiones Astartes war engine that could rival the great batteries of the Imperial Crusade Army in firepower, but manoeuvre and deploy at the speed of a Space Marine force.
This Cerastus Knight-Castigatorwas on display at Warhammer World.
Cerastus Knight-Castigator
Armed with the fearsome Castigator pattern bolt cannon, the Cerastus Knight-Castigator is favoured by those households faced with hordes of lesser foes that might otherwise overwhelm even a mighty Knight through sheer numbers. Capable of obliterating infantry formations in a thunderous rain of mass-reactive explosions and whirling power blade, or carving apart light vehicles with ease, the Castigator is a formidable opponent.
I really quite like the design of this Imperial Knight and the paint scheme is very impressive.
One of the huge dioramas at Warhammer World was a Space Marine space port or airfield. There were plenty of Forge World aircraft on display.
This is the Space Marine Storm Eagle
A formidable gunship, the Storm Eagle mounts fearsome firepower for a vehicle of its size and is capable of transporting twenty Space Marines directly into the thick of an assault. The exact provenance of the Storm Eagle is unknown, but it bears clear similarities to the Stormravens employed by the Blood Angels and Grey Knights. Certain sources place the principal manufacture of the Storm Eagle upon Tigrus and Anvilus IX, both primary-grade Forge Worlds that suffered catastrophic damage during the Horus Heresy. In recent decades the number of Storm Eagles in active service has begun to increase, especially amongst those Chapters known to have favourable relations with the Adeptus Mechanicus. This has lead some observers to believe that production has been restored at an as yet unknown location.
Thunderhawk Transport complete with load.
The Thunderhawk Transporter is a logistical variant of the standard Thunderhawk gunship used by the Adeptus Astartes to carry Space Marine vehicles into combat zones. The Thunderhawk Transporter, while lacking the firepower of the standard Thunderhawk, is no less important to an Astartes Chapter. The Thunderhawk Transporter can quickly load up to two Rhino sized vehicles of any type, or a single Land Raider sized vehicle.
The Thunderhawk transporter is no longer available from Forge World.
This is the Sokar pattern Stormbird.
The Sokar pattern Stormbird is a dedicated attack lander. It has served as a high-durability orbital assault craft, a mobile bastion and firebase which could land a Space Marine strike force and withstand heavy ground fire while its cargo or troops and war machines disembarked to press the attack. One of the later patterns developed, the Sokar was the design precursor to the smaller Thunderhawk Gunship. The Stormbird’s standard armament is four turret-mounted twin linked lascannon, three twin-linked heavy bolters, and a complement of six dreadstrike missiles. It is also equipped with particularly dense composite armour plating, and is further protected by a series of void shield generators which it can extend to protect disembarking troops and war machines. Its cavernous transport bays can hold 50 fully armed Space Marines. Alternatively it can carry up to 5 Dreadnoughts, including the mighty Leviathan; Jump-pack equipped infantry; Rapier batteries; bikes; jetbikes; a Rhino armoured transport; or a mixed force of all of the above.
Providing fuel and supplies for all the aircraft was this tanker. I think this model was a conversion as I don’t recollect seeing it before and it’s not mentioned on the Forge World website.
The aircraft colour scheme did remind me of the old BOAC livery used in the 1960s and 1970s.
I was browsing the Forge World web store when I found the Mechanicum Krios Battle Tank.
The more I looked at it, the more I thought that this would make a wonderful steampunk or Victorian Science Fiction heavy artillery piece. You could quite easily imagine a British artillery crew preparing to fire this on the surface of Mars. You would need to replace the Mechnicum crew and the icon on the back of the tank, but not a huge amount of work.
This beautifully painted Legio Custodes Coronus Grav-carrier was on display at Warhammer World.
Legio Custodes Coronus Grav-carrier
Armed with twin-linked Lastrum bolt cannon and Arachnus blaze cannon, the Coronus Grav-carrier is perhaps one of the most recognised vehicles used exclusively by the Legio Custodes. This heavily protected transport skimmer provides them with a degree of speed and agility unmatched by the grinding armour of others who fight in the name of the Emperor, allowing the Legio Custodes to deploy rapidly into a range of terrain whilst reducing the risk of being pinned down by enemy forces.
Principally used as a transport, the strikingly-designed Legio Custodes Coronus Grav-carrier served as the technological basis for the Pallas and Caladius grav-craft. While its primary function is transporting a unit of warriors into battle, its armaments – hull-mounted Lastrum bolt cannon and turret-mounted Arachnus blaze cannon – ensure that it is more than capable of mounting appropriately aggressive defenses.
Mechanicum Castellax Battle-Automata on display at Warhammer World
The Thanatar-Calix class Siege-automata is a potent war machine and a wonder of the Mechanicum’s craft. Combining arcane and secret technologies, it carries a twin-linked mauler bolt cannon alongside a rare solex pattern heavy lascannon, whose beams of coherent light can reach far across a battlefield to lethal effect. The Thanatar-Calix’s most destructive armament though is the graviton ram, a weapon whose origins are lost in the Dark Age of Technology. The ram’s crushing waves of gravitational force can pulverise infantry and vehicles alike, and it can be utterly devastating at both range and close quarters.
Mechanicum Castellax Battle-Automata on display at Warhammer World
The Thanatar frame, designed as a heavy weapons platform, is well armoured and further protected by atomantic shield generators, making it nearly impervious to all but the heaviest of weapons fire. Whilst it is slow to advance, the Thanatar-Calix’s durability allows it to close steadily on its target, moving ever nearer until its formidable weaponry can be brought into range.
This beautifully painted Questoris Knight Magaera was on display at Warhammer World in July 2018.
Questoris Knight Magaera on display at Warhammer World
Magaera type Knights are most often used as shock assault units, breaching the most heavily defended enemy positions, while shrugging off heavy weapons fire and self-repairing even devastating weapon strikes in a few minutes. To aid in this role it is armed with a complex lightning cannon, using focussed electro-magnetic beams to vaporise infantry and blast apart armour.
