space marines Archives - Page 5 of 21

Dark Angels Thunderhawks

Dark Angels Thunderhawks travel across an industrial sector in support of marines on the ground.

The Thunderhawk gunship is used by the Adeptus Astartes as their primary means of deploying forces for ground combat as well as their primary source of air support. The Thunderhawk gunship is often considered the lynchpin of any Space Marine Chapter, as it is able to fulfill many combat roles. The Thunderhawk is fully capable of functioning as an orbital drop ship, a heavy ground attack gunship, or as a bomber. The aircraft is able to quickly carry Space Marine forces from orbiting starships down into the midst of a battle, while at the same time providing supporting fire against enemy ground or air targets.

Dark Angels Thunderhawk firing rockets at the enemy.

Dark Angels Thunderhawk swooping out from its strafing run.

View of the industrial sector.

A close up of the Munitorum Armoured Containers which are being transported by rail.

Duels

This lovely St George’esque Bretonnian Knight was one of many duel dioramas which were on display at Warhammer World. The knight is facing down a lovely red dragon (which I didn’t photograph).

I really like the scenic base, which is nice and rocky.

This is one half of an Elven duel, this was the High Elf, his opponent was a Dark Elf on a Cold One.

This is a Warhammer 40000 duel between a Space Marine Chaplin and an Exodite Eldar. The Chaplin is riding a bike.

The Exodite Eldar is on a lizard.

The Exodites were a concept that had Eldar using giant lizards as mounts and large mounts for weapons (in a similar way to Elephants or Squiggoths). It was never taken further by Citadel, though some Epic concepts were sculptured and cast, but never went on sale. The concept proved popular with some and as a result there is an unofficial codex out on the tubes and some lovely models such as this one.

This was a Golden Demon winning Duel which I photographed on my most recent visit to Warhammer World in January 2020.

I first photographed the duel on a visit to Warhammer World back in 2007.

Red Scorpions Thunderhawk

The front of a Red Scorpions Space Marine Thunderhawk flyer from the display cabinets at Warhammer World.

Land Raider Excelsior

At Warhammer World you can buy an Exclusive Space Marine HQ Command set of a Land Raider Excelsior and a Rhino Primaris. This is the Land Raider Excelsior.

The Land Raider Excelsior is a specialised variant of the Adeptus Astartes Land Raider that serves a command and control function for a Space Marine planetary assault as well as a role as a heavy main battle tank and armoured transport.

Rhino Primaris

At Warhammer World you can buy an Exclusive Space Marine HQ Command set of a Land Raider Excelsior and a Rhino Primaris. This is the Rhino Primaris.

The Rhino Primaris is a specialised variant of the standard Adeptus Astartes Rhino Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) that serves a battlefield support and command and control function. As a designated command vehicle, it possesses an unusually powerful array of Augur sensor arrays, Cogitators and advanced communications gear to carry out ship-to-surface coordination of a planetary assault.

It often acts in concert with the Land Raider Excelsior, a variant of the standard Land Raider also intended to carry out command and control functions, to help target orbital bombardments from a Space Marine fleet in high orbit of the embattled world.

Thunderhawk Transport

The Thunderhawk Transporter is a logistical variant of the standard Thunderhawk gunship used by the Adeptus Astartes to carry Space Marine vehicles into combat zones. The Thunderhawk Transporter, while lacking the firepower of the standard Thunderhawk, is no less important to an Astartes Chapter. The Thunderhawk Transporter can quickly load up to two Rhino sized vehicles of any type, or as seen here (hiding underneath), a single Land Raider sized vehicle.

This Thunderhawk Transport was part of a airbase diorama at Warhammer World where there were all the different kinds of Space Marine Flyers, complete with marching squads of Space Marines and Space Marine armoured vehicles.

There were some nice touches such as armed guards surround the flyers and ammo supply vehicles getting in close to rearm the transports.

See more photographs of the Thunderhawk Transport.

Sokar Pattern Stormbird

The Sokar pattern Stormbird is a dedicated attack lander. It has served as a high-durability orbital assault craft, a mobile bastion and firebase which could land a Space Marine strike force and withstand heavy ground fire while its cargo or troops and war machines disembarked to press the attack. One of the later patterns developed, the Sokar was the design precursor to the smaller Thunderhawk Gunship.

The Stormbird’s standard armament is four turret-mounted twin linked lascannon, three twin-linked heavy bolters, and a complement of six dreadstrike missiles. It is also equipped with particularly dense composite armour plating, and is further protected by a series of void shield generators which it can extend to protect disembarking troops and war machines.

Its cavernous transport bays can hold 50 fully armed Space Marines. Alternatively it can carry up to 5 Dreadnoughts, including the mighty Leviathan; Jump-pack equipped infantry; Rapier batteries; bikes; jetbikes; a Rhino armoured transport; or a mixed force of all of the above.

In the photographs you can see a Contemptor Dreadnought coming out from the side door.

A huge model that would make for an ideal objective for a game, though of course there are rules for using the flyer in games, but I think you would need a really large table…

This Sokar Pattern Stormbird was part of a airbase diorama at Warhammer World where there were all the different kinds of Space Marine Flyers.

Thunderhawk Gunship

This model is one of the Forgeworld Display models. When you see it for “real” you realise how large the model is. I am not a great fan of the model, however I do quite like the Thunderhawk Transporter.

This Thunderhawk was part of a airbase diorama at Warhammer World where there were all the different kinds of Space Marine Flyers.

There were lots of nice touches in this diorama, such as the above Thunderhawk getting rearmed for its next mission, whilst Space Marines guard the landing pad. Around the airbase, there were squads of Space Marines marching , as well as vehicles moving around and into position.

Deredeo Pattern Dreadnought

The Deredeo pattern Dreadnought was in the displays 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.

Xiphon Pattern Interceptor

This Xiphon Pattern Interceptor was on display at Warhammer World.

With unparalleled speed and manoeuvrability, the Xiphon pattern Interceptor saw increasing service in the Legiones Astartes during the dark days of the Horus Heresy. Based on ancient designs, the void and atmospheric craft carried heavy armaments into battle, allowing it to destroy both air and ground targets with apparent ease. Its pair of twin-linked lascannon and Xiphon rotary missile launcher combined with the Interceptor’s speed and agility to make it a deadly opponent from which the enemies of Mankind could not hide.