Armoured Vehicles of the Imperial Fists

There are many different Armoured Vehicles of the Imperial Fists at Warhammer World.

The Rhino, or more formally, the Mars Pattern Rhino, is an Imperial armoured personnel carrier (APC) that is widely used throughout the galaxy by many different factions, though it is a mainstay vehicle of the Adeptus Astartes. It has provided safe transportation since the days of the Great Crusade, transporting its cargo of Space Marines swiftly and safely to the forefront of battle.

The Repulsor is an Imperial anti-gravitic main battle tank intended to provide armoured support for the Primaris Space Marines of many different Chapters.

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 Astraeus is a symbol of the Imperium’s might, unbowed by the dawning of a bloody new millennium and unbroken by the onslaught of its foes. The Astraeus is a super-heavy tank, similar in form to the smaller Repulsor transport in use by the newly created Primaris Space Marines.

Malcador Heavy Tank

The Malcador Assault Tank, also known as the Malcador Heavy Tank is a venerable pattern of armoured vehicle that predates the Leman Russ tank in the Imperium of Man’s service. It is not widely used by Imperial armed forces at the present time and is in fact little known even within the Imperial military.

Malcador Heavy Tank

In many regions of the Imperium, the Malcador passed out of common service many millennia ago. The few Malcadors that remain in the Emperor of Mankind’s service have been relegated to the Departmento Munitorum’s strategic reserve, to the arsenals of second-line Planetary Defence Forces or are maintained in active service only by a few units of the Imperial Guard due to ancient tradition.

Originally this was a resin model from Forge World, but a plastic kit version was released for the Solar Auxilia for The Horus Heresy. At the recent World Championships Preview, as well as the wonderful little Arvus Lighter, it was annnounced there would be Malcador variants available including the Valdor Tank Hunter and the Infernus which mounts a massive Titan-grade inferno gun.

 

Marauder Destroyer

The Marauder Destroyer variant was developed during the second war for Armageddon after heavy losses in the Naval airforces.

Marauder Destroyer

Orkish dominance of the skies over certain areas of Armageddon forced the few remaining Marauders to be refitted to operate at night, flying at extremely low level where they could evade detection.

Their new heavier weapon payload made anything which got in the way seriously regret it!

Marauder Destroyer

This is a really nice model, I really like the paint job on this. I would like to be able to paint like this if I could. I certainly don’t have both the skills and the airbrush to make this happen.

More photographs of the Marauder Destroyer.

White Scars

Across the Warhammer World displays were various armoured vehicles of the White Scars Space Marine chapter.

The Repulsor is an Imperial anti-gravitic main battle tank intended to provide armoured support for the Primaris Space Marines of many different Chapters. This is a White Scars Primaris Repulsor.

The Stormtalon Gunship serves the armies of the Adeptus Astartes as both an interceptor and ground-attack craft. It is fast enough to engage all but the swiftest of enemies, and sufficiently well-armed to reduce the chosen foe to a mangle of twisted wreckage and ruined flesh.

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.

Death Korps of Krieg

One of the reveals at the World Championships Preview was the Death Korps of Krieg models for Warhammer 40K.

Across the range there are soldiers, artillery, heavy weapons, and cavalry.

We first saw the Death Korps of Krieg as a Forge World resin release back in the day. I remember thinking really nice concept, but those resin models filled me with dread, lots of small parts and a high price tag to match. Of course these new plastic models will probably have an equally high price tag as well.

In addition to the infantry, guns, and horses, there are a few plastic tank kits from the Horus Heresy range that the Death Korps of Krieg could use. In addition resin models such as the Gorgon Armoured Assault Transport are still available as well.

For me, the release of the Death Korps of Krieg provides a little hope that other Imperial Guard regiments might again see the light of day, specifically the Tallarn Desert troops. Might be some time though.

Armoured vehicles of the Ultramarines

Across the Warhammer World displays were various armoured vehicles of the Ultramarines Space Marine chapter.

The Gladiator Valiant lays down blistering volleys of fire as its escorts transports or supports infantry in ferocious fighting, crossing rushing watercourses, sucking marshlands and bubbling lava with equal ease. Its twin las-talons spit death at the foe, making short work of enemy armour and cracking open fortified positions.

Like the Predator is to a Rhino, the design of the Gladiator is based upon that of an Impulsor’s chassis, and has been designed to serve as a front line battle tank rather than a transport vehicle.

As the main surface-to-air tank, the Hunter scours the the skies of enemy bombers and fighter craft with its skyspear missile launcher.

The primary weapon of the Space Marine Stalker is the skyspear missile launcher. There are also options to include re-inforced armour on the sides of the tank, as well as pneumatic pins along the base.

The Stalker wields two independently targeting rotary autocannons that fill the air with armour piercing death so that no foe is safe in Imperial air space.

The Invader ATV 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.

Primaris Invader ATV
Ultramarines Primaris Invader ATV

Not quite a vehicle, but the Hammerfall Bunker was also in the displays. Hammerfall Bunkers are launched from Space Marine warships in the same manner as Drop Pods. Automated area-denial assets crewed by hard-wired servitors, they have all kinds of battlefield roles, including securing beachheads, hampering enemy assaults and wreaking havoc behind the foe’s lines.

The Repulsor Executioner is the most heavily armed battle tank available to the Adeptus Astartes, with a choice of murderously powerful, primary turret-mounted weapon – a macro plasma incinerator or heavy laser destructor – supported by a coaxial heavy onslaught gatling cannon.

This was an Attack Bike.

The Stormtalon Gunship serves the armies of the Adeptus Astartes as both an interceptor and ground-attack craft. It is fast enough to engage all but the swiftest of enemies, and sufficiently well-armed to reduce the chosen foe to a mangle of twisted wreckage and ruined flesh. The tide of many a battle has turned with the thunderbolt descent of a Stormtalon Gunship from the war-torn skies.

Alongside the vehicles was this Assault Space Marine.

Space Marine Miniatures Gallery

Provisionally Prepared

Last month I wrote a post about the Citadel Limited Editions that I had seen at Warhammer World. I remember thinking that it was a pity that Games Workshop stopped producing miniatures like this.

Of course the reality is that now and again they do release similar models. We have seen the Red Gobbo festive release and today a lovely little diorama, Provisionally Prepared has gone on pre-order. It features two halflings, sorry abhuman Ratlings, hiding behind some ruins. One is a sniper and preparing to shoot, the other is preparing lunch.

Diminutive, keen-eyed and instinctively stealthy, the abhuman Ratlings serve the Astra Militarum primarily as outstanding snipers – they can take the head off a heretic with their rifles from over a mile away.

Get ready to celebrate with this incredibly detailed diorama showing two Ratling sniper specialists right in the middle of their two most important jobs – fighting and eating.

Thoroughly dug in behind a sturdy barricade, the sniper is shown taking cover and getting ready to shoot. Their colleague, meanwhile, prepares to reload both their bellies and their weaponry, equipped as they are with tasty sausages, a turkey, fresh drinks, grenades, and more, all within easy reach.

This is not a regular army model, this is an amusing scene that captures the essence of halflings in space. It so reminds me of the types of limited editions that we would see in the 1980s.

I really like this model, so I have pre-ordered it from my FLGS.

Magnir’s Crag

Magnir’s Crag is (now) quite an old diorama that has been around at GamesDay 2009 and then into Warhammer World.

A nightmarish tendril of Hive Fleet Behemoth has descended upon an ancient fortress of the Space Wolves. The alien monstrosities are held at bay by the dauntless warriors of Fenris, but for every horror slain, a dozen take its place.

This display was originally made by the Design Studio for Games Day 2009, then displayed in Warhammer World, and now has been restored and updated by the Warhammer World Studio team. Magnir’s Crag has been updated with a variety of newer kits, such as Thunderwolf Cavalry, the Venerable Space Wolf Dreadnought and the Tyranid Trygon.

More photographs of the Manger’s Crag diorama.