Rogue Trader Space Ork Raiders

One of the nice things about Warhammer World is that they don’t ignore what has been before. Here is an original box of Space Ork Raiders from the Rogue Trader era in the late 1980s.

Space Ork Raiders

These Orks were metal castings and are smaller than their later bulky bigger  Orks that came later. Though they had similar poses the castings were all different. I really like the artwork on the box, which is somewhat abstract but it works for me.

I did have this boxed set and this is one of them.

Not entirely sure where all the other Orks went…

I might see if I can find them, or even try and find a box on eBay.

The box was useful as well, as there was an expanded polystyrene tray in the box that the metal miniatures came in, but this meant that it was also useful for carrying the painted miniatures in, to games and for storage. As a result my box became somewhat tatty.

 

Rogue Trader Space Ork Dreadnoughts

I liked these Space Ork Dreadnoughts when they were released back in the 1980s.

They had a certain charm, even they had Imperial weapons on the  arms.

They were a little challenging to put together, well I was using an epoxy resin which took ages to cure, so could only do one part at a time. Today I would probably use the superglue.

Rogue Trader Ork Warbuggy

I recently found the original photograph of my Rogue Trader Ork Warbuggy, so I decided to rescan them as I had only low-res ones on the site.

I had added a jerry can and a (small) oil drum as well. My hazard striped were done by hand (can you tell?).

This was an all metal kit, which made not just the kit rather heavy and challenging to not just to glue together, but to stay together as well.

As for the components, you got the four wheels, the chassis, a rear axle, the engine (with mudguards) a choice of weapons as well as a choice of three drivers and gunners. I did like the variety of crew and guns.

When this was released, Citadel also did a small version, which was awful.

I am not surprised that it didn’t sell, one it didn’t look as cool as the large version and the larger version was only 45p more.

Ork Warbuggy Miniatures Gallery

Forge World Retro Land Speeder

One of the models I did like at Warhammer World was the Forge World Retro Land Speeder.

Forge World Retro Land Speeder
Forge World Retro Land Speeder

This is of course based on the classic metal Rogue Trader era Land Speeder model (which was metal, whilst this one is resin). I did have that metal model which came in a boxed set with a Mole Mortar and a Tarantula. My memory of that model was that it was a real pain to put together, I think though as I was using an epoxy glue, that took ages to dry and didn’t really stick. Whereas today I would probably use superglue!

 

Legion Glaive

I do like these retro models. Very nostalgic reminds of those early days of Warhammer 40K, which shows how old I am, because I do remember those days. I bought Rogue Trader when it came out.

The Glaive Super-heavy Special Weapons Tank

The Glaive Super-heavy Special Weapons Tank is a variant of the Fellblade. Armed with a Volkite Carronade, it is designed to destroy xenos beasts and incinerate enemy light vehicles at a single sweep.

While the Glaive has been issued to all eighteen Legiones Astartes in limited quantities, the Salamanders and Dark Angels have long been noted to field Glaives as a matter of course; the XVIIIth Legion’s artifice is more than sufficient to maintain and replicate the arcane Volkite technology, while the provenance and honour of the Ist Legion means that their war matériel and weaponry are ancient indeed.

Here come the Jokaero

Well I didn’t see that coming…

We are seeing the return of the Jokaero to the Warhammer 40000 universe.

Jokaero are heavyset, orange-furred apes with retractable fingers and toes, similar in appearance to the orang-utans of ancient Terra. Yet this primitive appearance is completely misleading. Jokaero are technosavants without peer and have an instinctive understanding of machinery and technological systems. So great is their skill that they can customise almost any weapon or equipment, giving a group of Henchmen more powerful weapons, better protection or even both at the same time. While outwardly they appear to be unarmed, Jokaero digital weapons can prove to be deadly, whether they choose to use a powerful laser, a flame thrower or a devastating melta weapon.

First seen in the original Rogue Trader Warhammer 40000 rule book, this is the first time an actual miniature has been released. Reminding me slightly of the Librarian from the Discworld novels I think this miniature, as well as working with the Grey Knights and Inquisitors, would also be a handy model to have to use with the Rogue Trader RPG.

Imperial Guard Regimental Advisors

There are some really nice Imperial Guard releases in May from Games Workshop. As well as the nice plastic Valkyrie, one other release is looking like a possible purchase, the Imperial Guard Regimental Advisors.

The commander of an Imperial Guard army is assisted by a host of orderlies, adjutants, aides de camps and specialist advisors from outside the regiment who are able to liaise with other elements of the battle group.

This blister contains three metal Imperial Guard Advisors, including: an Officer of the Fleet, a Master of Ordinance and an Astropath.

I am thinking they might make good characters for the Warhammer 40K role-playing game or as part of an Inquisitorial retinue.

Rogue Trader RPG

After Dark Heresy comes Rogue Trader.

Rogue Trader RPG

Fantasy Flight Games have announced their new Warhammer 40K RPG, and it’s called Rogue Trader.

In Rogue Trader, you take on the role of a Rogue Trader and his most trusted counsellors, empowered by an ancient warrant of trade to seek out profit and plunder amongst unexplored regions of space. Your ship will take you to new worlds and uncharted reaches of the void, where you will encounter rivals, pirates, aliens, and possibly even creatures of the warp. You will acquire and spend great wealth and riches, and fame or infamy will follow. You will discover ancient and forgotten mysteries and search out the unknown to find lost human worlds or never before seen celestial phenomena. You must survive the dangers of space, for beyond the threat of vacuum and deadly radiation lurk things Man was never meant to find.

Those gamers with memories as old as mine will recall that the original Warhammer 40K rule book was called Rogue Trader and though had rules for Space Marines and Orks the background was very much based on the Rogue Trader.

Nice to see it back.