Junkatrukks

Here are two more Junkatrukks for my Feral Ork army, which will also be used as vehicles for my Ork Airfield Defence Force…

Junkatrukks

I know they could do with some detailing and maybe the odd glyph or two…

The models were painted vomit brown and then given an ink wash.

Before I would use a plain ink wash, but after reading an article on Dropship, I added some Scorched Brown to the ink and water mix and as a result the finished models are not as glossy as when I have used an ink wash.

The models were then drybrushed with the original base coat to highlight and to matt down the slight glossness caused by the wash.

Forgeworld Newsletter #116

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Welcome to the second issue of our new look Forge World Newsletter. The big news in this issue is our last set of Elysian Drop Troop releases for this Spring. There are also some updated information for one of the events Forge World is going to over the next few weeks too.
Thx,

Ewen Little.
Forge World

FREE! New 2005 Forge World Catalogue available now!

If you have not yet got hold of a new 2005 Forge World catalogue then just give us a quick call, or send us an email with your name and postal address and we’ll send one to you right away. Our catalogue has details and pictures of almost every single Forge World product, prices in Pounds Sterling, Euros and US Dollars and can be left lying around the house with big rings marked around what you really want so that other people take notice. (This actually works!)

Elysian Drop Sentinel

As we’ve pointed out on several occasions, Imperial Drop Troop regiments like the Elysians often lack the support of heavy armour and artillery and have to fit what they need into the cargo bay of Valkyries. Perhaps one of the biggest pieces of equipment you can fit into a Valkyrie is a Sentinel. No, we really mean it. Will Hayes made a set of folded legs just to prove to us that the Sentinel fits inside. This variant of the ubiquitous Sentinel incorporates a large Grav Chute system into the body so it can be deployed right at the start of the drop and utilise it’s mobility and firepower to help secure the landing zone. You can see the Grav Chutes at the front and the rear of the Sentinel’s body as well as the different cockpit and engine configuration that makes this variant stand out. The Drop Sentinel kit includes both a Heavy Bolter and the Multi-Melta shown, giving Elysian commanders the choice of deploying their Sentinels for an anti-tank or anti-personnel role.

Elysian Heavy Bolter Squad

I think this new Elysian Heavy Weapons Squad is really very nice. Something I like across the whole Elysian range of models is that the bigger weapons are quite obviously heavy. Something as large as a Heavy Bolter would weigh a fair bit, even allowing for plastic components, and there is no way a mere Imperial Guardsmen could move or fire one of these monster weapons without help. I also like that each weapons team is carrying a decent amount of ammunition as I can see Heavy Bolters being quite greedy and the shells aren’t that small either. Of course my favourite is the team using the drop canister they just got their weapon from as a firing platform. Mmm, big guns gooood!

Elysian Command HQ Squad

Now that we’ve shown you the muscle the Elysians can flex, we need to show you the brains as well. The Command HQ Squad is the senior Elysian officer leading the assault will direct the forces under his command both via the Vox-Operator attached to his squad and orders shouted to nearer sub-unit commanders. The Command HQ squad can also be a powerful fighting unit, with access to equipment and weapons denied to lesser squads. Our officer seems to be looking for a scrap as he is armed with a really nice new powerfist as well as his laspistol. The squad also enjoys the dubious benefit of having one Trooper armed with a Plasma gun, obviously a bit of a gambler, so the inclusion of a Medic in the squad looks to be a good idea.

Elysian Drop Zone Equipment

The first Elysians on the ground set up landing beacons to visually guide in the first wave of Drop Troops to the LZ. They also set up transponders for the second and subsequent waves of reinforcements to home in on from long range. When Elysian Drop Troops make a grav chute assault they do so carrying their personal weapons and equipment but still need a way of getting Heavy Bolters, Mortars and other heavy equipment etc down to the LZ. The Elysians do something really quite simple. They put everything into canisters, mount a heavy duty grav chute on one end and chuck them out the back of the Valkyries and jump out after them. The rest is just war.

Forge World & Games Day Atlanta

Simon Kirkham and I fly over to Atlanta on Thursday to get all set up for Games Day Atlanta which is being held this Saturday. This is our first visit to Atlanta and we are really looking forward to spending a few days there. Apart from working on the Forge World sales stand during Games Day we shall also be taking a good look at the Golden Demon painting competition. At each Games Day that Forge World attends, we choose what we consider to be the best entry from either the Warhammer Monster or Warhammer 40,000 Vehicle categories to receive the Forge World Best of Show Award. Right now we are putting the finishing touches to some new sets of display models to take with us. We should have pretty much a full selection of Elysian Drop Troop Squads on display, including the brand new ones we have shown you today. If you are coming to Games Day Atlanta then do come and take a look.

All These New Models Are Available To Pre-order Right Now!

All of the new Elysian models we have shown you today will be released and shipped out from Monday April 11th. We always ship out pre-orders in the same order that we receive them. What does this mean? If you pre-order early, you are one of the first people to get them, and of course we do not charge your card until we are just about to ship your order to you too. All of these new Elysians are available to pre-order right now over the phone and at our online store.

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Details of “final” episode of Enterprise

Set in 24th Century…

Paramount have released details about the “final” episode of Enterprise.

The series finale is called “These Are the Voyages …” and it’s probably no secret by now that this last episode of the Star Trek prequel features two very special guest stars: Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis.

We are keeping mum on story details right now, but Frakes and Sirtis are indeed playing their Next Generation personas Riker and Troi. As co-executive producer Manny Coto mentioned in a recent interview, the finale does not involve time travel — the most we’ll tell you here is that it does involve the Holodeck.

Will it be the “final” episode, according to one report, the space flight industry has donated $3m to keep the series going.

I for one hope that it does continue, as I do really enjoy the series and series four is certainly the best yet.

Goodnight Portent

It is looking like portent is no more…

We almost made it to seven years. From a small Games Workshop rumours website on free webspace to a dual Xeon 2.4 GHz monster dedicated server with 100,000+ visitors a month, Portent has grown from a fun idea in my head to something far greater than I could ever have anticipated. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. The end result of the recent server troubles is that we no longer have the Portent data, aside from a year old backup. Unfortunate as this is it’s almost as if fate has forced our hand. I can no longer provide the time or finances that Portent requires, not by a long shot. For Nick and myself Portent has practically been a second job. You can only take so many abortive glimmers of hope before you realise it’s time to move on.

There are far too many people to thank before the curtain closes here. Most important of all, Nick has been a complete legend – there are very few people who would do so much for nothing but the odd beer. Portent would have vanished many moons ago without his technical expertise and I’m sure the rest of Portent has just as much to thank him for as I do.

A mere step below Nick in the grand scheme of things are the Inquisitors. I have, and I can say this having administered forums professionally, the best mod team I could ever ask for. Despite countless challenges they’ve been instrumental in tirelessly turning the Portent Forums into a great place to discuss wargaming and more besides. Every single one of you regular members who’ve posted (and not been banned, at least) deserves my thanks too, in particular those who helped support Portent by becoming Guilders. Seeing the end to such an amazing community is unquestionably the worst thing about this. Without you guys I probably would have closed the site long ago, having such a great community made it that much harder.

The chaps at the studio have all proved themselves to be total gents whenever we’ve spoken. Andy, it was always a pleasure to catch up with you at Games Days, I hope things are going well at Mongoose. Gav, many thanks for attending the tourney and posting on the forums. Paul, cheers for putting aside a foolish rumour from long ago and posting on the forums, I appreciate it. Robin, that studio tour was extremely cool and a much appreciated gesture, I hope to catch up again some time. And finally, I’ll never forget Rick Priestly, immortal grand chief games designer supreme, catching me at the last minute before I left that studio tour to essentially say “Hi, and good work on Portent”.

And last of all, the web stores who occasionally advertised with Portent. The Warstore was our longest running advertiser, albeit on and off. It’s also one of the best places around to order miniatures and Neal is just a damn nice guy to do business with. Also check out Chelgames (UK), Whites of their Eyes (Warmachine), Battle Pack and Wargames Dungeon, they’ve all supported Portent over the years.

After thanking so many people it almost feels wrong to turn critical, but some people really do deserve it. Great Canadian Miniatures were invariably rude whenever we talked via email – if none of you guys ever did business with them again I wouldn’t be too upset. And whoever it was at GW US that ultimately decided online GW retailers in the US were “riding on the coat tails of brick and mortar stores” was laughably short sighted indeed, particularly given the real reason for the decision.

Well, the letter I never wanted to write has already got far longer than I expected. We’ll be turning the server off for good on March 20th and then selling it to recoup costs which, sadly, run well beyond what the server sale will recoup, but c’est la vie. We had hoped to keep Portent running for the last week of its existence but sadly the database loss means we can’t do that. Instead, please join #portent on Efnet IRC, I’ll be hanging around there and I’m sure many others will once they read this.

If any Guilders would like a refund on the remainder of your fee past site closure, drop me an email and I promise to sort that, we’re not here to rip anyone off. Please email me at portent.webmas…@gmail.com with any such requests.

Lavfluris is looking to continue his tournaments and I’ll be helping him with that however I can. Some of the mods are also looking into starting a new community, though it will be a separate effort from myself and Nick beyond what initial help we can offer – email oracle.port…@gmail.com if you’d like to help. Keep an eye on this page for news of both things.

It has been an incredible journey, but it really is over. Thank you one and all for helping make Portent something special, I hope you’ll all remember it for as long as I will.

Best of luck to you all, and not just with the dice rolls.

Pete Closs Portent Webmaster April 1998 – March 2005

It’s a sad day as it was a great site (even if it forced my site off the internet due to mentioning my photographs).