warhammer 40k Archives - Felix's Gaming Pages

Moon Base Tau

There was a huge display of Tau forces defending themselves against an attacking force of Imperial Knights and Titans.

At the heart of the display is the huge Tau Manta.

The Manta, more formally known as the Manta Missile Destroyer, is a super-heavy Tau spacecraft that is also the Tau Empire’s closest equivalent to the Imperium of Man’s Titans and Ork Gargants. It is well-armoured for use in frontline combat and can deliver massive amounts of firepower to the battlefield to help support Tau ground forces during a frontal assault against entrenched enemy positions.

As for the model, it measures 630mm/25 inches long and has a wingspan of 860mm/34 inches! Weighing in at 12.5 kilos/28 pounds, it weighs six times as much as a Thunderhawk Gunship.

We never saw a version for Aeronautica Imperialis before the game was retired. As there are no xenon forces in Legions Imperialis, we won’t see one there either. Do think it is a pity that GW aren’t going to produce xenon forces for Legions Imperialis as it is a Horus Heresy based game. I do wonder if at some point in the future we might?

Across the battlefield were many different types of Tau forces.

Attacking were the Mechanicum with Knights and Titans.

The Battle of Khendrel

In this diorama at Warhammer World the Dark Angels are fighting to reclaim the industrial world of Khendrel IV from the clutches of the Death Guard.

Achilles-Alpha pattern Land Raider

Minotaurs Achilles-Alpha pattern Land Raider on display at Warhammer World.

I quite like the up-armoured appearance of this pattern of Land Raider, and the weaponry looks quite formidable. I can imagine this being used to clear barricades in the ruins of an Imperial City.

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.

This Achilles-Alpha pattern Land Raider is from the Minotaurs Space Marine Chapter. The Minotaurs is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter whose true origins and genetic lineage remain unknown. The Space Marine formation by this name at large in the Imperium today appears to bear little resemblance to accounts of its past.

Photographs of the Imperial Fists Achilles-Alpha Pattern Land Raider at Warhammer World.

Salamanders Primaris Repulsor

This Primaris Repulsor of the Salamanders Space Marine Chapter was part of the displays at Warhammer World.

The Repulsor armoured transport is a deadly combination of manoeuvrability and raw brute force. Due to the turbine array at its rear, it has tremendous motive power, held aloft by powerful anti-gravitic generators. The Repulsor is so heavily armed and armoured that is doesn’t skim over the landscape but instead crushes the ground below it. The tank grinds forward with a deep bass thrum, reducing rock to gravel and fallen bodies to smears of gore and powdered bone.

Ravenwing Darkshroud

Ravenwing Darkshroud at Warhammer World.

Of all the archaic relics deployed in the field of battle by the Unforgiven, the Darkshroud is perhaps the strangest. Those who have witnessed it at close range and felt its caliginous pall, and lived to tell of it, are disturbed forever more. The Ravenwing Darkshroud displays icons and structures from Caliban, evoking glorious religious imagery such as angel wings, shrouded statues, parchments and stained glass with lead frame. It possesses a pulpit-like cupola from which a Space Marine shoots others with either a heavy bolter or assault cannon, and is covered in metal panels.

I am not sure what I really think of this model. My first impressions is that I don’t like it. There is something about the Dark Angels (and the Ravenwing) iconography which always appears a little over the top. It’s not as bad as the (newer) Sisters of Battle adornments, but it’s close. The idea of stained glass on a combat vehicle does not make sense to me. The actual vehicle underneath looks interesting, but the additions seem to be unintegrated and stuck onto the vehicle.

On my models I do and have used Grey Knights iconography to enhance them, as you can see with this Land Raider model.

So I am not entirely opposed to the concept of iconography on Warhammer 40K vehicles, but not sure I like the Ravening Darkshroud.

Salamanders Land Raider Tanks

This Salamander Land Raider Phobos was on display at Warhammer World.

The standard Land Raider, also known as the Land Raider Phobos, is an Imperial main battle tank and troop transport which serves as the “armoured fist of the Space Marines.” Available to the Space Marines, the Traitor Legions of the Chaos Space Marines and the forces of the Inquisition and Adeptus Mechanicus, it is one of the most resilient and iconic armoured vehicles in the galaxy.

The Land Raider Redeemer is a variant of the Land Raider Crusader, which itself is a variant of the standard Land Raider used by the many Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes to provide short-range, anti-infantry assault support during urban offensives.

The Land Raider Redeemer replaces the Land Raider Crusader’s weapons with the dreaded sponson-mounted Flamestorm Cannons. These massive flame-based weapons send burning sheets of promethium into the thick of the foe, purging even well-defended bunker complexes in solar seconds. This enables the Redeemer to be highly effective against infantry during gruelling and dangerous urban combat.

This Salamanders Land Raider Redeemer was in the displays at Warhammer World.

The Land Raider’s heritage predates even the founding of the Imperium of Man, yet it remains the single most destructive weapon in the Adeptus Astartes’ arsenal. Protected by bonded Ceramite and Adamantium armour, the Land Raider is nearly impervious to all save the most destructive weaponry.

White Scars Storm Speeder Hammerstrike

The Hammerstrike excels at rooting out enemies from trench and bunker networks. Sweeping low over the battlefield, it employs searing melta blasts and volleys of rockets to crack the foe’s defence lines wide open.

White Scars Primaris Repulsor

This White Scars Primaris Repulsor was in the displays at Warhammer World.

White Scars Primaris Invader ATV

This White Scars Primaris Invader ATV was in the displays at Warhammer World.

The Invader is a highly flexible all-terrain vehicle, perfectly adapted to an aggressive reconnaissance role. Outfitted with either a multi-melta or an onslaught gatling cannon, it can rapidly deliver punishing fire against vulnerable parts of the enemy line, or swiftly engage and destroy scouting elements of opposing forces.

Return of the Terrain

Next week sees the opportunity to order some old Warhammer 40000 terrain kits.

Spice up your 41st Millennium battlefields with a range of classic Warhammer 40,000 terrain returning on a Made to Order basis, starting with a Void Shield Generator complete with functioning cogs that can be left unglued and rotated. The Sub-cloister and Storage Fane set is an all-purpose pair of ruined Imperial buildings, while Plasma Regulators and Conservators make for great scatter terrain between larger buildings.

If you want to give your battlefield the air of an industrial hub or forge world, four returning kits from the Battlezone: Mechanicus range are the perfect way to add some brutal Imperial architecture. The Ferratonic Furnace and Pyrolation Incinerator add high gantries and ample vantage points for getting the drop on your opponents, while towering Alchomite Stacks and buzzing Haemotrope Reactors provide troops with cover as they advance through the forge.

I have some of these terrain models from the Imperium partwork series which was available a couple of years back.

I have quite a few of the ruined Imperial building kits as well as a Haemotrope Reactor.