What is to become of Forge World?

I was a little saddened and disappointed by some recent news about Forge World.

I was reading the latest news, Warhammer 40,000 and Forge World: Legends and Last Chance to Buy,  on the Warhammer Community about the retirement of certain models.

There’s slightly bittersweet news for Warhammer 40,000 fans today, as some long-serving miniatures will be retiring from the range – both classic Space Marines, and a selection of Forge World kits. 

I do accept the retirement of Forge World resin models, those where models have been replaced by plastic kits, or those where the models are no longer in the codex or the rules. That I get.

What makes me a little saddened and disappointed was this comment in the article:

There will still be Forge World units for Warhammer 40,000, but the focus for them will be on the really big stuff – like Titans, and other kits that we can’t reasonably produce at that scale (yet!). When we add new units in future, they will almost always be in plastic – and there are a lot of plastic kits on the way over the next few years!

I like the idea of new plastic kits, but where I think they are missing the trick is to use Forge World not only to produce those big kits (that they won’t do in plastic) but to produce two types of kits that would enhance and expand the Warhammer 40000 game.

The first of these is new units, those that add real variety to the armies you can field. A past example of that was the Grot Mega Tank. Another example was the Grot Tanks.  These were not in the main Ork Codex, but certainly added something different to an Ork army. I liked how there were not just four models in the pack, but the way the models were designed, you could build them in a variety of ways.

I guess the reasoning here is not just about the range of models, but the need to provide rules for these types of models as well.

The second kind of model I think they should produce are variant units. I have in my own collection for example the Ork Halftrakk which is a variant Trukk. I think there could be a range of variant models that would enable for some armies a more varied and cosmopolitain look. This would be critical for some armies, such as Orks, but also Genestealers, Chaos, Tyranids, and others.

Reflecting on Orks, I would like to see a much wider range of buggies for example different kinds of Snazzwagons. I like what Forge World did in the past with the Battlewagon (now the Bonebreaka).

I did like the Imperial variants that Forge World produced as well. I much prefer my Forge World Razorback compared to the plastic kit at the time.

I guess though that Forge World will still be making new resin models for The Horus Heresy. Though this will mean Imperial (and Traitor) units only and not Xenos stuff like Orks! 

So what do you think?

Continuing the Forgeworld Grot Bomb Launcha

The Forgeworld Grot Bomb Launcha is probably one of my all time favourite models.  I have three of these, one is finished, the other two are a work in progress. Having painted the chassis with a spray of Citadel Zandri Dust. I painted the exhausts and the rear deck with Leadbelcher. I then gave the model a wash using Citadel Shade Agrax Earthshade. I drybrushed the model. I gave the tracks a heavy drybrush of Gorthor Brown, followed by a lighter drybrush of Leadbelcher.

I used some Agrax Earthshade on the fuel tank and the leather seat.

I then drybrushed the launcha with Leadbelcher. This is the right one for this Grot Bomb Launcha and is slightly warped. I also used some Seraphim Sepia to add some rust style effects.

This is the launcha on the Wartrakk.

Now to find the rider.

 

Launcha for the Grot Bomb Launcha

The Forgeworld Grot Bomb Launcha is probably one of my all time favourite models.  I have three of these, one is finished, the other two are a work in progress.

I found the chassis of one in of the boxes with my Land Raiders. Having painted the chassis with a spray of Citadel Zandri Dust. I painted the exhausts and the rear deck with Leadbelcher. I then gave the model a wash using Citadel Shade Agrax Earthshade. I drybrushed the model. I gave the tracks a heavy drybrush of Gorthor Brown, followed by a lighter drybrush of Leadbelcher.

The launcher system (launcha) was already painted black and drybrushed with a metallic paint. Though I think this one was from my other Grot Bomb Launcha.

I touched up the white paint on the Grot Bomb pilot to later paint with green flesh tones.

I also need to paint the driver. Well I also need to find the driver as well.

Still some work to do.

See the workbench feature on the Grot Bomb Launcha.

Further work on my Grot Bomb Launcha

The Forgeworld Grot Bomb Launcha is probably one of my all time favourite models.  I have three of these, one is finished, the other two are a work in progress.

I found the chassis of one in of the boxes with my Land Raiders. Having painted the chassis with a spray of Citadel Zandri Dust, I used some other brown paints to paint the boxes on the chassis. I painted the exhausts and the rear deck with Leadbelcher. I then gave the model a wash using Citadel Shade Agrax Earthshade.

I then drybrushed the model with various shades of brown. I found the tracks. These had been undercoated black. I gave them a heavy drybrush of Gorthor Brown, followed by a lighter drybrush of Leadbelcher.

I also used Leadbelcher lightly on the motorcycle engine.

I had already painted the fuel tank.

More work to do.

Painting the Grot Bomb Launcha Mk II

The Forgeworld Grot Bomb Launcha is probably one of my all time favourite models. I already have a workbench feature on that Grot Bomb Launcha however I did get another model of one at GamesDay 2005.

I found the chassis of this one in of the boxes with my Land Raiders. Having painted the chassis with a spray of Citadel Zandri Dust, I used some other brown paints to paint the boxes on the chassis. I painted the exhausts and the rear deck with Leadbelcher.

I then gave the model a wash using Citadel Shade Agrax Earthshade.

The next stage will be a drybrush.

Painting the Grot Bomb Launcha Mk II

The Forgeworld Grot Bomb Launcha is probably one of my all time favourite models. I already have a workbench feature on that Grot Bomb Launcha however I did get another model of one at GamesDay 2005.

I found the chassis of this one in of the boxes with my Land Raiders.

I gave the model a spray of Citadel Zandri Dust.

Now I just need to find the rest of the model!

Warhammer World Grot Tanks

In the Ork display cabinets of Warhammer World are the Forge World Grot Tanks.

The lunatic product of the deranged imaginations of grot riggers and scavs that have spent far too long basking in the insane genius of the Big Meks, Grots Tanks are diminutive armoured vehicles made to imitate the far larger Ork Wagons and Tanks.

I really liked these models and I bought them when they were released, but alas they spent many years on the Grot Tank workbench before this year when I got some real painting done and virtually finished all four tanks.

I think the next time I visit Warhammer World I might pick up another pack of the tanks and build different variants and maybe add some more details as well.

See the Grot Tank Miniatures Gallery for more photographs of these little tanks.

 

Grot Tanks

The lunatic product of the deranged imaginations of grot riggers and scavs that have spent far too long basking in the insane genius of the Big Meks, Grots Tanks are diminutive armoured vehicles made to imitate the far larger Ork Wagons and Tanks.

I bought these Grot Tanks ten years ago and I built them quite quickly and then they were undercoated. However for most of the next ten years they were kept in a box. In the last few months though, I got an itch and decided to finish them. I painted them all different colours

I am quite pleased about how they have turned out. Here is one of them with a Killa Kan.

I think I would like to have some more of these, but hopefully I can build and paint them quicker than I did with these.

Here are the workbench guides on how I painted the four Grot Tanks.

 

Grot Tank on patrol

The lunatic product of the deranged imaginations of grot riggers and scavs that have spent far too long basking in the insane genius of the Big Meks, Grots Tanks are diminutive armoured vehicles made to imitate the far larger Ork Wagons and Tanks.

This is one of my Grot Tanks. I bought these ten years ago and I built them quite quickly and then they were undercoated. However for most of the next ten years they were kept in a box. In the last few months though, I got an itch and decided to finish them. Here is one of the four that I have finished on my desert scenery tile.

Very bright for a tank, but I do like how this one turned out.

The model was then given various shades and washes before being slightly drybrushed. I did use contrast paints on the rockets on the back.

Here is the guide to how I painted it.