Forgeworld Newsletter #140

++++ MESSAGE BEGINS ++++

Welcome to issue 140 of the Forge World Newsletter. We’ve started gearing up for this year’s events and we have more information on the first Games Day for 2006 this issue. Of course, we also have some more models for you to take a look at!

Thanks
Dean Winson
Forge World

Sabre Defence Platforms


Sabre defence platforms are most often employed in the defence of Imperial Installations which are not in immediate danger or when larger defences are needed elsewhere. Sabre platoons often have some of their platforms upgraded with anti-aircraft mountings allowing them to be fielded in both ground support and AA roles. Should an Imperial Installation come under attack, it’s defenders will often form around the Sabre Platoons, taking advantage of the overwhelming firepower they can bring to bear. If you want to give your Imperial Guard army lots of impressive looking heavy weapons (and who wouldn’t?) then these great new models are definitely for you. My favourite has to be the quad linked heavy stubbers, while it may be the weakest strength weapon available, the sheer rate of fire easily makes up for that, Tyranid Swarms beware! These models have come from the talented hands Daren Parrwood and Mark Bedford. Warwick Kinrade is hoping to have a playtest version of the rules ready for download soon. The Sabre Defence Platforms are available to pre-order now and will be shipped week commencing 27th February.

Cadian Vehicle Crew


We have some more Cadians for you this issue, Mark Bedford has sculpted a trio of tank commanders to lead your vehicles to victory! These are great figures with loads of character, particularly the Gung-ho officer with the plasma pistol. He obviously prefers to let his troops see him commanding and has invested in extra armour to shake off those enemy sniper shots. One of the first things that occurred to me when looking at these models was that the heads are separate, which means they can be easily swapped with the rest of the Cadian range to give even more variety. Anyone else thinking the head with bionic eye would look good as a lieutenant? The Cadian Vehicle Crew pack is available to pre-order now and will be shipped week commencing 27th February.

Searchlights

Night-fights can be the bane of an Imperial Guard force, particularly when faced with an opponent who excels at close combat and when compared to Guard, there aren’t many who don’t. So, to prevent your enemy sneaking up in the dark, Guard players have the option of taking Searchlights to allow your troops those precious rounds of shooting. To further aid you in these dark times Darren has made a new, large searchlight model. It can be fielded in one of two ways, either mounted on a vehicle or on a Sabre Defence Platform in support of your infantry. The vehicle mounted version come with a handy plate that slots into the hatch hole on top of a Chimera but will also happily sit on the back of other vehicles. Both Searchlight variants are available to pre-order now and will be shipped week commencing 27th February

Games Day Atlanta


On the 18th March, Forge World will be in Atlanta for Games Day. As with last year we will be awarding the Forge World “Best of Show” trophy to our favourite entry using a Forge World model. We will be attending with a large amount of stock but if you want to be absolutely sure of getting what you want then please make a reservation. We are taking reservations from now until the 10th March, just send us an email to forgeworld@games-workshop.co.uk or call us on (001 44) 115 916 8177.

New Forge World Catalogue


The 2006 Forge World catalogue is almost finished and we expect to have it available in March. If you would like one of these catalogues please email this address with your full name and address, including Country and state where appropriate, and we will send one out to you as soon as it comes in from the printer.

I want to place an order…
If you would like to place a pre-order the link below will take you to the ‘New Releases’ section of the Forge World online store where all of the new items mentioned above are now available.

Forge World
Games Workshop
Willow Road, Lenton
Nottingham, NG7 2WS

++++ MESSAGE ENDS ++++

Forgeworld Space Marine Thunderhawk

his is a Forgeworld Space Marine Thunderhawk from their Display Cabinets at GamesDay 2005.

Forgeworld Space Marine Thunderhawk Gunship. This model is one of the Forgeworld Display models. When you see it for "real" you realise how large the model is. I am not a great fan of the model, however I do quite like the Thunderhawk Transporter.
Forgeworld Space Marine Thunderhawk Gunship. This model is one of the Forgeworld Display models. When you see it for “real” you realise how large the model is. I am not a great fan of the model, however I do quite like the Thunderhawk Transporter

I am not a great fan of the Thunderhawk, it just doesn’t look right. Though I quite like the Transporter. I think it is the big gun on the top!

Forgeworld Newsletter #139

++++ MESSAGE BEGINS ++++

Welcome to the first proper Forge World Newsletter of 2006. Today, as I had mentioned last newsletter, I have news on most of the shows and events that Forge World should be attending throughout the year. Of course I also have a fair number of new releases to show you too. Lots of these will be making an appearance in the forthcoming ‘Imperial Armour Volume 4 – The Anphelion Project’!
Thx,

All new 40K monster – The Tyranid Malanthrope

We are going to start off today with a big, gribbly monster. If you like your monsters to have lots of claws and tendrils, then the wonderful new Tyranid Malanthrope could be right up your street. Alongside the far more common Ripper, Malanthropes harvest battlefields for the DNA material of fallen enemies. The Malanthrope is surprisingly swift for its size, propelling itself forward using its many tendrils and powerful tail. These same tendrils gather the dead and dying but are also quite capable of ensnaring living beings. These unfortunates are injected with bio-toxins to incapacitate them before they are wholly engulfed and stored in the bloated sacks of the Malanthrope’s torso. Simon Egan has done a great job sculpting the Malanthrope. The detailing is of course up to Simon’s usual excellent standard and I think he has really captured the essence of how terrible a creature this is. Just look at the storage sacks on either side: You can see a pair of hands trying to claw their way out and two human faces pressing through. What a truly horrific way to die! Warwick sent us a set of experimental rules for the Malanthrope that you can download and try out. The link to these rules are further down the page. Pre-orders for the Tyranid Malanthrope can now be placed over the telephone with our sales guys, Simon, Dean or Chris, or online at the Forge World online store for release from Monday February 27th onwards.

Here be monsters! You have been warned.

Tyranid Ripper Swarms

To better represent the waves of Rippers that literally flow over Tyranid battlefields, Daniel Cockersell has recently completed a set of three Ripper Swarms. Each swarm was made by carefully combining around over twenty individual Rippers to give us these great little one-piece models. There are differences between the three swarms like one Ripper biting another one and little details such as a Ripper being crushed underneath the mass of bodies. Daniel started the Tyranid Ripper Swarm project by making several individual Rippers with separate arms/claws which could be useful for adding to bases of larger Tyranid creatures or scenery and can be seen on the Forge World online store via the pre-order link at the bottom of the page. These great new Tyranid Ripper Swarms and packs of individaul Rippers can be pre-ordered for release from Monday February 27th via the Forge World online store or over the phone right now.

Tyranid Brood Nest

Once a planet has become infested with Tyranids, their spores rapidly take hold, polluting the atmosphere and local fauna. It is theorised that these spores are the initial process in creating new Tyranid creatures. How this might occur is unknown, but Tyranids regenerate their numbers at a terrifying pace, quickly producing new bio-killers. These creatures often grow below ground, safely hidden away in Brood Nests, before pushing their way to the surface. They then emerge from the nest covered in mucus and ichor in a horrible parody of human-birth. Mark Bedford has made a great model of a Tyranid Brood Nest which shows several Tyranid creatures clawing their way out of their gestation-sacks. I like this horrid looking thing quite a lot. It just begs for a few grenades or a demo-charge to be dropped down inside! Better still, virus bomb the site from orbit: It’s the only way to be sure. Warwick has also made a set of experimental rules for the Tyranid Brood Nest that you can download and try out. The link to these rules are further down the page. The Tyranid Brood Nest will be released from Monday February 27th and can be pre-ordered the Forge World online store or the Forge World mail order phone lines.

Available NOW! Black Templars Etched Brass Icons
The latest addition to our popular range of etched brass sets, these Black Templars icons perfectly compliment Games Workshop’s recent Codex Black Templars release. Available for immediate despatch, each sheet contians lots of individual 3D icons that have a huge mount of potential uses. From the ornamentation of single Black Templars Marines and Dreadnoughts through Rhinos and Land Raiders to Thunderhawk Gunships or fortifcations these beautifully detailed little icons are very versatile. As previously mentioned, these sheets of Black Templars Etched Brass Icons are available to be sent out right now.

Forge World 2006 Events Calendar

Please note that the following is only a provisional list and we hope to confirm Forge World’s attendance at more events and shows later on. As we get more information to pass on to you all, we will update the dedicated Forge World Events webpage. Games Day Atlanta March 18th. Games Day Los Angeles April 8th. Games Day France in Paris April 9th. Salute ’06 in London April 22nd. Games Day Baltimore May 13th. Conflict Scotland in Glasgow May 21st. Games Day Canada in Toronto May 27th. Conflict North in Bolton June 4th. Conflict South in London June 18th. The KM War and Peace Show between July 19th to 23rd. Games Day Chicago July 29th. Games Day Germany in Cologne August 6th. Games Day UK is going to be sometime towards the end of September but I don’t have a solid date to give you yet, sorry. Scale Modelworld 2006 in Telford November 18th and 19th. Games Day Spain will be sometime in November we are sure but again I do not have a confirmed date yet.

40K Tau Manta – A progress report

We thought that it was about time we showed you how a certain Mr William Hayes was getting on making the largest 40K vehicle to date.I won’t say too much as there is still quite a lot of work for Will to do but these pictures really do give a very good idea of the vast size of the Manta and also the effort Will is putting into making this model.

Forge World
Games Workshop
Willow Road, Lenton
Nottingham, NG7 2WS

++++ MESSAGE ENDS ++++

Note I did not post Newsletter #138 as it was just a short newsletter saying that Christmas postage rates would continue until the 4th January…

Forgeworld Newsletter #137

excellent small Imperial shuttlecraft…

++++ MESSAGE BEGINS ++++

Welcome to the latest Forge World newsletter. We have got quite a lot of new models to show you today, all of which have just been made available to pre-order on the Forge World online store. We’ll be taking a good close look at each of these new releases and we’ve a couple sets of experimental rules that go along with some of the models too.
Thx,

Ewen Little,
Forge World.

Cadian Infantry Squad with Respirators Upgrade Pack
Nooooo! I want to start a Cadian army now. This comprehensive upgrade pack is just lovely and just needs some plastic Cadian infantry to complete. In here you get a sprue of beautifully sculpted heads, mostly helmeted but one wearing an officer’s/squad leader’s cap and another just wearing the respirator which really shows off the straps holding it to his face. Popping back to the ‘normal’ helmeted heads for a second, there are actually eight different designs, some of which have small pieces of equipment or decoration. With all these facemasks, this pack is absolutely perfect for people who don’t like to paint faces or eyes! I think my favourite component is the officer/sergeant torso pulling a pistol from his holster and then the slung lasgun. Of course there are absolutely masses of little component parts like ammo clips, pouches, knives and the like to super-detail your squad with. We’ve got a plasma pistol, a really nice sword and an arm carrying a box of las-rifle clips to name but a few more.

Cadian Infantry Squad Upgrade Pack
This Cadian upgrade pack is very similar to the one we have just taken a look at with the main difference being the heads. In this pack you get all the same exquisite little parts to add to your infantry models, but all ten heads are individually detailed with different expressions! With this upgrade pack you can make your infantry into highly detailed individiuals, perhaps going as far as naming them and their unit, even coming up with a back-story for them too. If that isn’t your sort of thing you’ll still have some of the most enviable Imperial Guard models available.

Cadian Hardened Veterans Upgrade Pack
With their hard-won experience, Hardened Veterans can often sneak into advantageous positions before a battle begins and can out-shoot regular line infantry once they are there. In addition, the wider selection of weaponry available to these elite troops makes them even more useful to Imperial Commanders. In this release, we have armed the Cadian Hardened Veterans with pump-action combat shotguns, useful for showering the enemy with a veritable hail of fire before charging in to mop up the bloody remnants in a good old fashioned close assault. (But of course everyone knows that shotguns just look cool!) What we have done is try to portray that special something that makes a unit of Hardened Veterans what they are. We started by making five different heads so that you can identify each guy in the squad as an individual, not just yet another Cadian trooper. We made two different complete torso-arm-gun combinations which give a more integrated look to the completed model which is sometimes difficult to achieve with models with more component parts. Finally, we made lots of different small pieces of equipment that are used to uniquely alter the load-out of each Veteran. These parts include field-packs, grenades, shotgun belts, combat knives and helmets complete with liners. Now, if I’m going to get one of those Arvus Lighters (see below) it would make sense to get some troops wouldn’t it? Just a couple of packs so I can drop in a few special weapons…

Tyranid Floating Spore Sacks
Tyranid Floating Spore Sacks trail long, groping tentacle sensors underneath them and are full of bio-acid, toxins and smaller spore mines. They are larger and more deadly versions of the common spore mine clusters. Unlike ‘lesser’ spore mines, Floating Spore Sacks can drift high into the sky, forming drifting minefields perfectly capable of destroying enemy aircraft. A Spore Sack drifting high will actively seek out enemy aircraft, being drawn towards a target before exploding in a huge shower of bio-acid, toxins and chitinous shrapnel. Floating Spore Sacks carry other spore mines inside them and when the Sack detonates many of these mines are destroyed – adding to the force of the explosion, but some will be flung clear and continue drifting to find new targets. These are great! I really like the size and shape of these ugly so-and-sos; they just fit my idea of what this sort of critter should look like. Well done Daniel!Warwick’s rules look fun too, though I must admit I don’t really want to be on the receiving end of them!

Imperial Navy Arvus Lighter
A couple of weeks ago we showed a picture of Daren Parrwood working on the fuselage of a small ‘shuttlecraft’. Today we are able to share the finished product with you; the Imperial Navy Arvus Lighter. The Imperial Navy commonly employs a wide variety of smaller craft aboard its vessels, from brigs, dories and pinnaces to couriers and the Arvus Lighter. The Arvus is a small utility cargo shuttle used by the ships of the Imperial Navy for transferring cargos of supplies or small units of personnel from ship-to-ship or ship to planet. The Arvus is commonly seen on the launch decks of large Imperial ships or making repeat runs from surface to ship, transporting supplies and men. Arvus Lighters are also used as utility transport craft on Imperial worlds, ferrying supplies and manpower between installations. Squat and durable, with powerful engines for carrying heavy loads, most are not armed as the Arvus is not a combat vehicle. At need the Arvus can also be employed as an assault boat and although it is not designed for this role it can transport a squad of infantry, (but not in any comfort). I am a big fan of how the Arvus Lighter looks and love the idea that not all the vehicles in the Imperium are armed. Despite my slowly growing 40K Eldar force I can see an Arvus appearing on my painting table before too long…

Imperial Navy Arvus Lighter

Experimental Rules
Like I mentioned above, Warwick has given us a set of experimental rules for the Tyranid Floating Spore Sacks. They can be downloaded as a .pdf file from the link below. If you have any feedback then please feel free to email your comments to us at imperialarmour@games-workshop.co.uk We do read all the emails we receive but unfortunately are just not able to reply to every question.

Tallarn Sentinel
The Sentinel is used extensively by the Tallarns for reconnaissance, patrolling and hit-and-run attacks, often working some distance away from the main body of the Tallarn force. Over the many years that Tallarn Imperial Guard regiments have served the Imperium, their Techpriests have developed numerous field modifications for their vehicles and equipment. Without these modifications it is possible that the Tallarns would not be able to fight the enemies of Humanity in desert environments to their best of their ability and so are quite commonplace in Tallarn regiments. This version of Tallarn Sentinel has been upgraded with a large air filter on the rear of the power-plant to try to improve its reliability when operating in excessively dusty environments. It has also been equipped with larger feet to better spread the vehicle’s weight over soft, shifting surfaces and maintain the mobility that is key to the effective use of Sentinels. Finally, this example has also had the cockpit covered in an attempt to offer the pilot some respite from the sometimes harmful rays from alien suns and shelter from blowing dust and sand when caught in poor weather. I like the simple but realistic ideas that Mark Bedford has put into this kit and the new resin Tallarn pilot he sculpted is just great.

Forge World
Games Workshop
Willow Road, Lenton
Nottingham, NG7 2WS

++++ MESSAGE ENDS ++++

I really like the small Imperial Flyer, seriously thinking about getting one for my Daemon Hunters force.

Forgeworld Imperial City Walls

This is the Forgeworld Imperial City Walls from the Forgeworld Display at GamesDay 2005.

You can see this is a huge piece of scenery, those are long barreled autocannons on the walls.

The entrance is certainly imposing and an Imperial BaneBlade can fit through those doors.

I do like this, but is it worth £625? Well from what I have heard they have been flying off the *shelves* at Forgeworld. This model took something like twelve days to make and paint.

I want two!

Forgeworld Tyranids

These are some wonderful Tyranid models from the Forgeworld Display cabinets at GamesDay 2005. The big model in the middle is the Harridan, the Tyranid flyer.

Scythed Hierodule
Scythed Hierodule

This is the Barbed Hierodule.

Tyranid Barbed Hierodule

This is the Scythed Hierodule.

Scythed Hierodule
Scythed Hierodule

I am tempted to get a Tyranid army, however only tempted