Constructing the Legion Deimos Pattern Rhino

I pre-ordered the Horus Heresy Deimos Pattern Rhino and having picked it from my local FLGS I did think, would I leave it on the shelf for a few months (or years) before I started on it. Well I even surprised myself and actually started it a day or so after picking it up.

The model has many more parts and is a more detailed kit than the original plastic Rhino kit that came out in the 1980s.

It does go together quite easily, though I found some parts challenging.

I did think the rear door ramp was hard to attach. Also ensuring there are no gaps with the top superstructure was a bit of a challenge.

I decided not to paint the interior, though I am tempted to get another kit and do the interior on that one.

I added the final parts to the model.

I went with a simplistic version, single bolters.

I have left the tracks off and will be painting those separately.

The next stage will be a white undercoat.

What kind of Legion Deimos Pattern Rhino?

Having pre-ordered the Horus Heresy Deimos Pattern Rhino though I don’t pick it up until next week I have been thinking about how to paint it.

When I ordered it I did think initially about following the paint scheme on my other Imperial armoured vehicles, which is a desert brown colour.

Reflecting on my purchase I did think if I should follow one of the original Rhino colour schemes. Or even paint it as an Imperial Guard Rhino.

Then I thought about going or legit on the fluff and actually paint it as a Legion Rhino, if so which Legion? Well I do like the Imperial Fists colour scheme (as seen here on this Golden Demon winning entry of the “modern” Rhino).

Decisions, decisions.

 

Pre-ordered the Plastic Deimos Pattern Rhino

I was pleased to see that one of the new Horus Heresy released announced at Warhammer Fest today was the Plastic Deimos-pattern Rhino.

I was pleased to see one of the new Horus Heresy releases announced at Warhammer Fest was the Plastic Deimos Pattern Rhino. So when it was available today for pre-order I clicked through and ordered the kit from my local FLGS.

Looking at the sprues (on the GW site) there are a lot of parts, a lot more parts than when the original plastic Rhino kit came out in the 1980s.

I like the kit and retro yet modern look they have achieved with the kit. Well Forge World did do that ten years ago… This is of course a plastic version of that Forge World resin and plastic hybrid kit.

I did think about ordering the big £180 Age of Darkness boxed set, but decided I would probably never paint all that plastic.

 

 

Plastic Deimos Pattern Rhino

I was pleased to see that one of the new Horus Heresy releases announced at Warhammer Fest today was the Plastic Deimos Pattern Rhino.

Hot on the heels of the RTB01-esque Mark VI Space Marines comes the classic look of the Deimos Pattern Rhino. It will be easier than ever before to roll out a fully mechanised army for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy.

I like the kit and retro yet modern look they have achieved with the kit. Well Forge World did do that ten years ago… This is of course a plastic version of that Forge World resin kit.

This release of the new plastic kit really feels like Games Workshop going full circle. The Plastic Deimos Pattern Rhino is of course a homage to the original plastic Rhino from the 1980s, which was Games Workshop’s first tank kit for Warhammer 40000 Rogue Trader. This will be a different kind of kit though.

Of course that kit when released the fluff allowed the Rhino to be used by the Imperial Guard. You can see this in this camouflage schemes for the then plastic Rhino kit, which was published to help people paint their new models.

So wonder how many people will buy the plastic Deimos Pattern Rhino for their Imperial Guard armies?

Some more variations. I do like the way that (back then) Space Marine chapters used camouflage on their vehicles.

So will we see a plastic Land Raider Proteus as some point in the future? Well it wouldn’t surprise me if we did.

New boxed set for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy revealed

new boxed set for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy

So we now have details of the new boxed set for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy. You get forty “beaky” Space Marines in Mark VI armour, Terminators, Contemptor Dreadnought and a Spartan Assault Tank.

It was revealed on the Twitter.

I do quite like the idea of this box set, lots of nice retro style beaky marines and a great looking tank as well.

Plastic Land Raider Proteus perhaps?

With the announcement of the plastic Spartan Land Raider Assault Tank it got me thinking, will we also a plastic Land Raider Proteus?

Land Raider Proteus
Land Raider Proteus on display at Warhammer World

There is a resin model from Forge World currently available.

It wouldn’t be too much of a step to have a plastic kit of this Land Raider? Essentially the Spartan is a stretched Land Raider.

Spartan Assault Tank

It would mean producing a new hull for the plastic tracks, but that would mean replacing potentially one sprue with another.

Of course this would mean returning full circle to the original plastic Land Raider model which was released in 1988, well nearly.

Plastic Spartan Assault Tank

Over on the Warhammer Community site they have revealed a new plastic Spartan Assault Tank .

Spartan Assault Tank

The mighty Land Raider is a design that has stood the test of time ever since Arkhan Land dug it out of the catacombs on Mars – but what’s a Legion Praetor to do when their prized Terminator squads can’t quite squeeze into its armoured hold? They reach for the Spartan Assault Tank – and now, with a stunning new plastic kit, you can too.

I do quite like the new model, the retro vibe, I might get one.

Also known as the Land Raider Spartan, this armoured carrier was designed to punch through the most overwhelming enemy defences and deliver a knock-out blow of massed Astartes infantry. It became a common assault vehicle during the Great Crusade, where its nigh-impervious chassis could shrug off regular anti-tank weapons as it ferried up to 26 Legionaries – or 13 Terminators – into the fray, with a surprising turn of speed for its size.

Of course we have had the Forge World resin version for some time now, though this has been deleted from the Forge World store.

This was based on a conversion from White Dwarf 119.

The article in White Dwarf had instructions for the conversion of a Land Raider and a Rhino into two new Imperial vehicles. One was the Spartan, Terminator Battle Tank using the kit parts with the addition of plastic card or cardboard. and an Imperial Tank Hunter utilising the remainder of the parts from the two kits.

The article also had an overview of the Spartan Assault Tank.

Horus had thrown around the captured Adeptus Mechanics city of Aries Primus. This was then the second city of Mars and the largest single source of war munitions in the Imperium. With the city in Horus’ hands, the besieged Earth stood no chance against the forthcoming attack from his Rebel forces. Only by recapturing Aries Primus and its weapons factories could Earth’s hard-pressed forces be resupplied. Horus had ordered a defensive plasma ring to be constructed around the city and called it the Ring pair can shoot against targets on that of Death. Without vehicle transport, even the Terminators were unable to get through. The Imperium had lost most to hit with each pair – so either both of its armoured carriers in the first battle for Aries Primus, and facilities to replace them were meagre. So, taking what spare parts and production facilities were available elsewhere, the Spartan and vehicles much like it were hastily devised. Although many died attempting to cross the Ring of Death, it was eventually penetrated and destroyed, and the city was carried thanks to the devotion and sacrifice of the Terminator Suicide Squads. The Spartan design proved so successful that it was refined and retained as a standard part of Imperial equipment.

The Spartan is a special conversion based on the well known Land Raider. The extra luggage space and open-top main hatch are designed to accommodate the extra bulk of Space Marines wearing Terminator Armour. The Spartan is armed with two sets of twin lascannon, exactly as the standard Land Raider, and it is provided with an additional forward facing heavy bolter and rear facing bolt gun. Both these hull-mounted weapons are designed to be operated by a Terminator standing in the Spartan.

 

The Battle of Signus Prime

The Battle of Signus Prime was a diorama at Warhammer World where the Blood Angels Legion are advancing towards the Cathedral of the Mark across the devastated landscape of Signus Prime.

Mastodon Heavy Assault Transports lead the forces into battle.

The Mastodon was one of the heaviest assault transports in the arsenal of the Legiones Astartes during the Great Crusade, and is still found in the armouries of the Space Marine Chapters of the 41st Millenium. Its cavernous assault bay, capable of housing almost half a Company, is protected both by thick layers of ceramite armour as well as crackling void shields.

Mastodon Heavy Assault Transport

It also mounts a fearsome siege melta array, allowing it to breach even the most formidable defences with ease, as well as an array of secondary weaponry intended to defend the vehicle as it approaches its target. Unleashed only against the most fearsome of enemy redoubts, there are few obstacles that can stay the wrath of this relic of the Imperium’s bloody birth.

Mastodon Heavy Assault Transport

Under the assault of the Chaos gods and their dominion, Signus Prime has been turned into a  field of stinking mud and broken rocks.

Visibility was heavily reduced due to the slow relentless rain of sulphur and brimstone.

You can hear the cries of Daemons, nightmares given a corporeal form. Weapon platforms, such as the Legion Deimos Pattern Whirlwind Scorpius are made ready to launch death and destruction on the chaos forces.

An ancient variant of the more common Whirlwind missile tank, the Scorpius was designed with a single purpose in mind – the destruction of heavily armoured infantry. The Scorpius variant replaces the Whirlwind’s multiple missile launcher system with the intricate drum-fed scorpius launcher, whose implosive warheads are devastating to armoured infantry and light vehicles.

The roar of engines of thousands of vehicles is heavy in the air, the Blood Angels Legion anticipate victory. The skies are filled with the aircraft of the Blood Angels Legion.

Sacred Legion Javelin Attack Speeders are flanking the battlefield to take out the enemy.

Larger and more heavily armoured than the common pattern of Land Speeder, the Javelin Attack Speeder is a nigh-irreplaceable relic of a bygone age of technological mastery. Gravitic nullification plates, the secret of whose production and maintenance have long since been lost, allow the Javelin to mount an array of heavy weaponry more akin to a heavy tank destroyer than a nimble Land Speeder, allowing them to make pinpoint strikes on enemy armour or infantry with devastating lascannon or missile barrage.

Attacking the T’au

There are a range of huge dioramas in Warhammer World in Nottingham. One of them involved Imperial Titans attacking a T’au base.

Imperial Titans attacking a T’au base.

Including the powerful Warlord Titan armed with Mars Pattern Warlord Titan Apocalypse Missile Launchers

Imperial Warlord Titan

The Apocalypse Missile Launcher is a Titan-class support weapon capable of firing volleys of missiles to saturate a wide target area. The superior elevation and mobility of a Battle Titan as a firing platform makes the Apocalypse launcher a surpassingly flexible weapon. When mounted in pairs on the Mars pattern Warlord Titan, the Apocalypse launcher becomes even more deadly.

Supporting the titans was a Mechanicum Ordinatus Ulator.

Mechanicum Ordinatus Ulator

A rare and truly arcane weapon system of staggering power, the Mechanicum Ordinatus Ulator is of the smaller classes of Ordinatus, but nevertheless is one of the most potent war machines at the Imperium’s disposal.

The Ordinatus Ulator carries a trio of Volkite Culverins as its secondary armaments, but its primary weapon is the Ulator class Sonic Destructor. A terrifying weapon whose origins lie in the shadows of the Age of Strife, the Sonic Destructor generates a wave of annihilation that wreaks havoc across the battlefield.