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This Deredeo Dreadnought: Anvilus Configuration was on display at Warhammer World.
The Deredeo pattern Dreadnought is a dedicated heavy support frame, though it shares many core components and systems with the more general assault-based Contemptor class.
Initially deployed in limited numbers to each of the Legions due to difficulties in its manufacture, its durability and firepower saw demand for the Deredeo pattern dramatically increase after the outbreak of the Horus Heresy.
The Devilfish armoured troop carrier is the primary anti-gravitic skimmer transport utilised by Tau ground forces and can carry twelve Fire Warriors or Pathfinders into combat in relative safety, and then provide mobile fire support once they disembark. A resilient and versatile transport, it is the TY7 Devilfish that allows Fire Caste ground forces to successfully execute many of their strategies, whether by rapidly relocating Fire Warriors to new coordinates as part of grand strategic manoeuvers, or punching through enemy lines, guns blazing, to extract Pathfinder teams before they can be overwhelmed. These ubiquitous transports are exceptionally popular with the Fire Caste, and their courageous pilots are offered great respect.
Tau Devilfish Troop Carrier Gallery.
I always thought this model would make a good basis for a 6mm SF dropship. Replace the 28mm weapons with 6mm variants.
This Imperial assault on the Ork Shanty Town to rescue a downed Valkyrie of the Militarum Tempestus.
Leading the assault are three Taurox Prime of the Militarum Tempestus. The Taurox is a robust infantry assault vehicle. It is heavily armoured with thick plates and is equipped with an array of heavy weapons to support the Astra Militarum on the battlefield.
When the Taurox was released back in 2014, I said back then.
The Taurox Prime is a new model from Games Workshop, and I really don’t like it. I think it’s too tall and the tracked “wheels” fail to work for me.
Overhead view of the Ork Shanty Town.
More photographs of the diorama over the years.
The Sky Ray Missile Defence Gunship is a specialised variant of the Hammerhead that replaces its turret gun with an array of deadly seeker missiles.
This model was on display at Warhammer World.
The Rhino is the most widely used armoured personnel carrier in the Imperium.
Based on ancient STC technology, the fundamental design is robust, reliable, and easy to maintain, with an adaptive power plant that can run off a wide variety of fuels, making it perfect for the wide-ranging armies of the Great Crusade – and the wars of the Horus Heresy. As such, the Rhino chassis serves as a basis for many other war machines, and these transports are produced in their thousands – several distinct patterns are in common use throughout the galaxy, with the heavily-armed Deimos being the most widespread amongst the Space Marine Legions.
Deimos Pattern Rhino Miniatures Gallery.
I have two (Imperial Fists) Deimos Pattern Rhinos on my workbench:
A TX4 Piranha is a type of lightly armoured combat scout skimmer used by the Tau Fire Caste – a mobile weapons platform that is capable of great speed and manoeuvrability. Using its jet-thrusters and anti-gravitic engine, a Piranha is a fast moving craft that is extremely hard for a foe to hit, its twin crew well able to hug the terrain and make the best use of any cover. Furthermore, a Piranha’s weaponry allows it to punch well above its own weight, either using its Burst Cannon to slaughter enemy infantry, or using a Fusion Blaster to blow apart battle tanks many times its own size. Along with a nose-mounted main armament, a Piranha carries two Gun Drones — either retained on the vehicle to add firepower, or detached into AI (Artificial Intelligence) mode to perform some other mission. When operating as lone hunters, Piranhas are dangerous enough, but it is when they are fielded in teams that they become truly lethal.
This Sons of Horus Kratos Heavy Assault Tank was on display at Warhammer World.
The Kratos Heavy Assault Tank is based on an Ancient Terran pattern fielded during the Unification of Old Earth, redesigned after the Emperor’s treaty with the Lords of Mars to serve as the spearhead of the Great Crusade, a line-breaker and foe hammer. This grinding battle tank is all but impervious to enemy fire, and its steady, inexorable advance provides an indomitable core to any assault by the Legiones Astartes, enforced by a barrage of overwhelming firepower.
Behind the Kratos Heavy Assault Tank is a Sicaran Battle Tank.
The Sicaran is one of the most advanced armoured units in the arsenal of the Legiones Astartes, a fast-moving destroyer tank designed to outflank enemy formations before unleashing an overwhelming onslaught of mid-range firepower. Though its chassis supports a number of variants fielded throughout the Legions, the core Sicaran battle tank remains a versatile favourite. Armed with Herakles-pattern accelerator autocannons, it provides high-volume, high-velocity fire support that can rip through infantry and vehicles alike – its sophisticated sensors tracking swift-moving targets and pinpointing vulnerabilities in enemy armour.
This is The Battle of Vesh’yo diorama.
The legions of the Cult Mechanicus launch an assault on the resource-rich Tau colony world of Vesh’yo, intent on plundering it to feed the insatiable appetites of their Forge Worlds. The mighty Titans of Legio Atarus walk alongside the Knights of House Col Khak, bound to the Lords of Mars by oaths of fealty even older than the Imperium. But will this be enough to defeat the cutting-edge technology of the upstart xenos? Can even a Titan prevail against Tau Supremacy Armour?
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.
This Legiones Astartes Ultramarines Deimos Vindicator Laser Destroyer was on display in the cabinets at Warhammer World.
The Vindicator laser destroyer array is a devastating weapon, capable of unleashing a torrent of laser energy that can tear through the armor of even the heaviest enemy vehicles. It was first fitted to the heavily armored Deimos pattern Vindicator chassis during the dark days of the Horus Heresy, when several Legions fielded this variant as a mainline battle tank. The Vindicator laser destroyer proved itself to be an able tank hunter, time and again destroying enemy tanks and other armoured vehicles with ease.
After the Horus Heresy, the Vindicator laser destroyer array remained in service with Space Marine Chapters. It is still used today, and remains one of the most feared anti-tank weapons in the Imperium’s arsenal. Vindicator laser destroyer arrays are often deployed to support infantry units, providing them with the firepower they need to break through enemy armour and fortifications.
This Sons of Horus Arquitor Bombard with Spicula Rocket System was in the displays at Warhammer World.
The Legion Arquitor is a heavy artillery platform designed to operate at the forefront of a Legiones Astartes advance. Equipped with a reinforced chassis and brutal short range firepower, it is called upon to break the most stubborn of fortifications or to annihilate massed enemy infantry and armour. The spicula rocket system fires rippling salvos of unguided missiles that crash down on enemy positions, creating massive cumulative blasts that can scatter whole formations.