Cerastus Knight-Castigator

This Cerastus Knight-Castigatorwas on display at Warhammer World.

Cerastus Knight-Castigator
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.

Space Marine Flyers

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

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.

Thunderhawk Transport

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.

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.

I’ve always preferred the original concept of the Stormbird.

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.

Supply vehicle

The aircraft colour scheme did remind me of the old BOAC livery used in the 1960s and 1970s.

Steampunk Heavy Artillery

I was browsing the Forge World web store when I found the Mechanicum Krios Battle Tank.

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.

Only downside, it is £81.

Legio Custodes Coronus Grav-carrier

This beautifully painted Legio Custodes Coronus Grav-carrier was on display at Warhammer World.

Legio Custodes Coronus Grav-carrier
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

Mechanicum Castellax Battle-Automata
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
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.

Questoris Knight Magaera

This beautifully painted Questoris Knight Magaera was on display at Warhammer World in July 2018.

Questoris Knight Magaera
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.

One mean looking machine.

Triaros Armoured Conveyer

This beautifully painted Mechanicum Triaros Armoured Conveyer was on display in Warhammer World.

Mechanicum Triaros Armoured Conveyer
Mechanicum Triaros Armoured Conveyer

The Triaros is the primary armoured battlefield transport of the Mechanicum Taghmata during the era of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. Eschewing the more commonplace STC designs, it relies on a number of unique technologies held as arcana by the Magos Autokrator and never divulged for wider Imperial use, even by the Legiones Astartes. Designed for use in hostile environments, it incorporates multiple galvanic traction drives and its defences are comprised not merely of brute armour, but layered techno-cant wardings and interlocking energy shields, particularly around its seemingly exposed control dais, as well as independently animated weapons servitors.

Mechanicum Triaros Armoured Conveyer
Mechanicum Triaros Armoured Conveyer

I rather like this style of models from the Horus Heresy that Forge World have been designing. They strike me as really fitting the gothic future that is Warhammer 40K, more so than the existing models. I also like the fact that they also use futuristic technologies such as anti-grav.

Mechanicum Triaros Armoured Conveyer
Mechanicum Triaros Armoured Conveyer

I took my eye off what Forge World were doing over the last few years, so I feel I am seeing many of the models for the “first” time.

Cerastus Knight-Acheron

This beautifully painted Forge World Cerastus Knight-Acheron was on display at Warhammer World.

Cerastus Knight-Acheron

The devastation wrought by Knights-Acheron is terrifying to behold. Armed with a fearsome reaper chainfist, twin-linked heavy bolters and an Acheron pattern flame cannon, they are employed as weapons of extermination and to inspire fear in their foes. Nothing will sway their attack until the enemy is utterly crushed, never to rise again from the flame-scoured ruins of their strongholds.

Death Korps of Krieg Quad Launcher

The Quad Launcher is a highly effective anti-infantry and suppression weapon, lobbing four shells at a time down onto enemy trenches, or used for point defence in a direct fire role against enemy infantry attacks.

Death Korps of Krieg Quad Launcher

Of course the Quad Launcher is also known at the Thudd Gun. This one was on display at Warhammer World.

Forge World Malcador Infernus

This Malcador Infernus was part of a large diorama at Warhammer World

A “crocodile” style variant of the Malcador, I do like the rear part of the vehicle I am less so sure about the main weaponry. It looks like a big flamer.

Now I know it is a big flamer, but what I mean is that it looks like an out of scale flamer, a 3-up of a standard flamer rather than an actual flamer which is big!