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Mk IIA Light Tank

This Mk IIA Light Tank was on display at the Bovington Tank Museum.

The Mark IIA Light Tank was a British light tank that was produced in the early 1930s. It was a development of the Mark I Light Tank, and it featured a number of improvements, including a more powerful engine, a larger turret, and a better suspension system. The Mark IIA was used by the British Army in the Middle East and India, and it saw some action during the Second World War.

The Mark IIA was a two-man tank, with the driver sitting in the front and the commander/gunner sitting in the turret. The tank was armed with a single .303 Vickers machine gun, which was mounted in the turret. The Mark IIA had a maximum speed of 25 mph, and it had a range of 100 miles.

The Mark IIA was a relatively successful tank, and it was well-liked by its crews. However, it was soon outclassed by newer tanks, such as the Matilda II and the Crusader. As a result, the Mark IIA was withdrawn from front-line service in 1941.

Despite its relatively short service life, the Mark IIA played an important role in the development of British tank design. It was the first British tank to be equipped with a radio, and it also featured a number of other innovations that were later adopted by other British tanks. The Mark IIA is a significant example of British tank development in the interwar period, and it played a small but important role in the Second World War.

Here is a photograph of the same tank, taken ten years earlier, painted in a brown camouflage pattern.

More photographs of the Mark IIA Light Tank.

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I do accept the retirement of Forge World resin models, those where models have been replaced by plastic kits, or those where the models are no longer in the codex or the rules.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

Vindicator Siege Tank available to pre-order

Next week you will be able to pre-order the Vindicator Siege Tank plastic kit for The Horus Heresy.

Lay waste to enemy fortifications and pulverise whole squads of Astartes with salvos of shells spat from the hull-mounted demolisher cannon of the Vindicator Siege Tank.

I do like this model, but of course I already have its larger brother the Typhon heavy siege tank, so not sure I need another siege tank for my Imperial Fists.

But I like the model….

I prefer it over the previous Vindicator model.

Horus Heresy options

Classic tanks from the Forge World range return to the Horus Heresy at the Games Workshop webstore, upgraded with new plastic sponson sprues that make it easier than ever to add weapon variety to your armoured companies.

The various resin models, such as the Mastodon Heavy Assault Transport, will now come with the sponsons sprue that is available now with the plastic releases that we have seen.

There is an implication here that future Horus Heresy releases may now be resin models. Especially as the only preview we have seen over recent months has been the Vindicator.

Though that may also mean that the Legion models we have seen, will now be supplemented with plastic releases for other Horus Heresy forces, such as the Solar Auxilia.

Returning to the Spanish Penisular War

I saw on the Twitter a link to a Radio 4 show, The Reunion, which brings together people from a common event or background. The most recent episode was about the Sharpe TV series.

It’s a great insight into the background of the making of the series, some of the challenges that the cast and crew faced.

It was a Napoleonic war drama to be shot in the Crimean Peninsula. But little did the producers know that they would be sending the cast and crew to film in a rapidly disintegrating Soviet Union.

Once in Crimea, the whole production faced near-starvation and danger around every corner as they set about creating one of Britain’s most successful and critically acclaimed 90s television programmes, Sharpe.

It was to go down in television folklore for its unique tales of mishaps and hardship. Renowned actor Paul McGann was originally cast to play the lead character, Sharpe. But only six weeks into filming he picked up a serious injury and had to pull out.

It left the production in chaos and saw one of the highest-ever insurance pay-outs for a television series.

Everyone packed up back to the UK with the future of the series left in suspense. That was until a relatively unknown actor called Sean Bean took on the part and the show was back on the road. The cast and crew headed back to Simferopol in Crimea (later to be nicknamed “simplyawful”) and filming resumed.

Sharpe became a six series hit across nearly 15 years, with viewing figures topping 10 million.

Our panel includes Sharpe’s author Bernard Cornwell, then-assistant producer Stuart Sutherland, one of the “chosen men” Jason Salkey who played one of Sean Bean’s right hand men, Michael Cochrane who played Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson across the entire series, and Diana Perez who played Ramona.

What I didn’t know, and was quite a surprise was that Paul McGann was originally cast as Sharpe. I thought I knew a lot about the series (I even have a book about the making of the series). However, I didn’t know that.

I do wonder how different the series would have been with Paul McGann in the lead role.

I really enjoyed the series when it was broadcast and though around thirty years old, is still great television. I also love the books as well.

It certainly has rekindled my interest in the subject matter, I re-watched an episode of Sharpe, thinking about re-reading the books, and looking back into my Flintloque collection and digging out my 25mm Napoleonic Rifles figures.

Legion Reinforcements

Next week you will be able to pre-order some Legion reinforcements for The Horus Heresy.

There is the Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer.

The massive Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer is an armoured beast, mounting a triple-barrelled neutron laser battery onto a rugged Spartan hull to create a devastatingly focused anti-tank weapon. It can detonate tanks in a single blast while shrugging off return fire like it’s nothing – everything you want in a Lord of War.

I prefer the Typhon Heavy Siege Tank. Given the choice between the Cerberus and the Typhon, I would choose the Typhon. I just think it is a better looking tank.

There is also the Sicaran Venator Tank Hunter.

If you prefer your anti-tank options a little more discrete, the Sicaran Venator trades mass for speed and can wind its way around enemy flanks before lancing neutron beam laser blasts right through the sides of opposing tanks.

I am not a fan of this tank, so it won’t be added to my (long and) never-ending wish list.

Plastic Legion Vindicator

Over on the Warhammer Community website they have previewed a new plastic Legion Vindicator.

The last word in mobile wall-removal packs a massive centerline-mounted demolisher cannon – a huge shell-lobbing bombard that trades the long range of artillery for awesome destructive power. It’s quite content to turn anything it hits into confetti, but excels at cracking Fortifications and other buildings.

Of course Forge World gave us a resin conversion kit many years ago.

The Deimos pattern is an early type of Vindicator used by the Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, although many are still operational in the service of Space Marine Chapters in the 41st Millennium. A powerful assault tank, the Vindicator’s principal armament is a heavy-calibre demolisher cannon capable of shattering fortifications and breaching the armour plates of tanks with equal ease. It is invaluable in urban warfare as it can blast and shunt its way through barricades and obstacles, enabling troops following behind free passage through streets that might have otherwise swiftly degenerated into kill zones.

This Forge World Space Wolves Legion Vindicator was on display at Warhammer World.

The new plastic kit also allows you make a Vindicator Laser Destroyer. This Legiones Astartes Ultramarines Deimos Vindicator Laser Destroyer was on display in the cabinets at Warhammer World.

Deimos Vindicator Laser Destroyer at Warhammer World

Another model to add to that wish list.

Plastic Typhon Heavy Siege Tank

Games Workshop having announced back in December that there will be a plastic Heavy Siege Tank for The Horus Heresy, you will be able to pre-order this huge tank on Saturday.

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.

I’ve always liked the Forge World model and I took a photograph of this Imperial Fists painted model at Warhammer World on a visit a few years ago.

There are some great Horus Heresy models available now and the question I have is, which one do I get next after I finish painting my Land Raiders. I think this one is now top of the list.

Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer

Revealed at the Las Vegas Open was the all new plastic Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer.

The Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer has one job – blowing up other tanks. To that end, it is armed with a centreline-mounted neutron laser battery, a relic of the dark age of technology that dooms its crew to a horrid death thanks to the exotic radiation it pumps out – but not before it dooms dozens of enemy vehicles to a much more immediate death.

We first saw this as a resin Forge World model in 2012.

I have to say I am not a fan of this vehicle. Apart from the fact that it dooms its crew to a horrid death; I am not a fan of the weapon mount. I much prefer the cannon on the Typhon tank. I think it is, because it looks like it is missing a mantle for the main weapon.

A gun mantlet is an armour plate or shield attached to an armoured fighting vehicle’s gun, protecting the opening through which the weapon’s barrel projects from the hull or turret armour and, in many cases, ensuring the vulnerable warhead of a loaded shell does not protrude past the vehicle’s armour.

I think that is similar to the reasons why I am not a fan of the Ork Kill Blasta as well.

Plastic Space Marine Jetbikes swooping in soon

The Scimitar Jetbikes of the Age of Darkness are modifications of complex pre-Imperium designs. Essentially compact aircraft with the addition of grav-impellors, they rush your Space Marines into combat at great speed. And soon you’ll be able to add them to your army in plastic.

There will be plastic Scimitar Pattern Space Marine Legion Jetbikes for The Horus Heresy game.

Forge World released resin Scimitar Pattern Jetbikes in 2012 and these new plastic ones are very similar (if not nearly identical) to those.

Back in 2012 I said

They do look interesting models, but I am not sure if I like them. They seem more like space ship models than bikes.

Now over ten years later I think I may have changed my mind, but they still look quite clunky.

What do you think?