Blitzkrieg

Flames of War go all early war with their new supplement Blitzkrieg.

fowblitzkrieg

I do quite like the idea of gaming the Early War, playing the French. Well the Char B1 is a classic tank, slightly World War One and quite powerful for that period of the war.

Another thing to think about with Flames of War Early

Many years ago I looked into playing some Operation Sealion games using 15mm miniatures. Didn’t get too far, but did paint a few miniatures.

Home Guard Standard Beaverette
Home Guard Standard Beaverette

A Standard Beaverette of the Home Guard on patrol by a farm. This is a 15mm scale model with farm buildings from Hornby’s N gauge Lyddle End range.

Now that Flames of War are starting an Early War range there is the potential to restart my Operation Sealion idea.

Big Trakk with Big Lobba

One of the highlights of GamesDay 2009 for me was the fantastic Ork Shanty Town display that Forge World did. There were many of the new Forge World models including the excellent Ork Big Trakk. A turbine powered Ork tracked vehicle with twin Big Shootas.

Ork Big Trakk with Big Lobba.
Ork Big Trakk with Big Lobba.

This heavy Ork transport can also be used to carry Big Gunz into battle. A brutal-looking machine, the Big Trakk comes with twin-linked big shootas, a massive gas-turbine engine, and ramming tusks.

I really like this model, which combined with Trukks and Halftrakks gives the Orks a variety of vehicles that you would expect to find in their forces. However the model is shown with the new Big Lobba. Now I don’t really like this weapon that much. Not sure what it does, but I know I don’t like it.

You can check out how I am making my own Big Trakk in my workbench feature.

Check out my Games Day 2009 Gallery.

Grey Knights Jetbike

The greatest threat to the Imperium of Man is, and has always been, the followers of Chaos and the foul daemons of the Warp. The Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus, the Daemonhunters, are at war with forces too terrible to comprehend and, together with the holy warriors of the Grey Knights, they must take the light of the Emperor into the darkness. The threat of the daemonic is so great that only these heroic warriors have the necessary skills and knowledge to stand against such diabolical foes.

When the Dark Angels were released I really liked the Master of the Ravenwing on the “last” remaining Imperial Jetbike.

Master Sammael of the Ravenwing is a true Angel of Death. From the saddle of his jetbike he cuts down any foolish enough to stand in his path with the infamous Raven Sword, its blade cut from the same meteorite as the Sword of Secrets. A highly accomplished hunter of The Fallen, Sammael is rightly honoured by his brethren and he is feared by his foes as few other holders of his rank have ever been.

So much so I knew I had to get one for my Grey Knights army, possibly maybe more than one!  If anyone other than the Master of the Ravenwing was going to have arcane technology it would be the Grey Knights!

This is as far as I have got putting the jetbike together.

See my Grey Knights and Daemonhunters workbench.

Malcador Defender

A renegade Malcador Defender advances during the Siege of Vraks.

Named after a mysterious figure from the Imperium’s earliest days, Malcador the Sigillite (a close advisor to the Emperor during the Battles of Unification, and the man credited with founding the Administratum of Terra), the Malcador Heavy Tank is a mobile fortress, heavily armed and armoured but slow. The Defender variant is perhaps the most common, although also the most unusual – its fixed turret mounts 5 limited-traverse Heavy Bolters, positioned to provide all-round defensive fire. The Defender crams 8 crew into a cramped interior, as it also mounts two sponson weapons and a hull-mounted Demolisher Cannon. Unsurprisingly, the Defender is perfect for the role of a breakthough tank – ably suited to close-quarters fighting, trench warfare and urban engagements in which its multiple fire-points and heavy armour excel.

This is from the amazing Siege of Vraks diorama by Forge World.

See more photographs of the Malcador tank.

You can see all my photographs from the Forge World Open Day 2009 in this gallery.