spartan Archives - Felix's Gaming Pages

Plastic Land Raider Proteus

Back in April I wrote after seeing the plastic Spartan Land Raider Assault Tank I did wonder if we would see a plastic Land Raider Proteus.

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

Well today we see that we are going to get a plastic Land Raider Proteus with an announcement on the Warhammer Community site.

Before the Spartan Assault Tank there was one true king of armoured troop conveyance – the Land Raider. Many patterns of these lumbering tanks exist in Legion armouries, but none have the pedigree of the venerable Land Raider Proteus, which now returns to the Age of Darkness with a new plastic kit.

Dating back to the Dark Age of Technology, these vehicles are no less capable of surviving the harsh realities of civil war than their more spritely cousins, exhibiting uncommonly strong influence from their machine spirits. There are stories of these tanks continuing to blast away as their crew lie dying, or rumbling back to base with damage that would wreck lesser machines.

I do like this model. It will be a few weeks (months) before it is released, but I am seriously considering getting one.

So, now we are returning full circle to the original plastic Land Raider model which was released in 1988, well very close.

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?

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.

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 .

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 British are coming…

…in the meantime let’s take a look at the Germans.

One thing that I thought that Battlefront would do when they released the Germans for Team Yankee was that they would do a minimal release and was pleasantly surprised by the range of models they did in fact bring out.

With the initial releases for the US (and Soviet) I was slightly disappointed with the limited number of models that we got. Though we had the M1 Abrams, we didn’t get the M60A3 MBT.

It felt like a really limited release, so when I saw that Battlefront were going to release German and British forces my expectation was that we would get a limited number of vehicles. So to get thirteen sets for the Germans compared to the seven for the US was really refreshing.

I did like the Raketenwerfer model, something very different.

I also was pleased to see the Marder too.

I think it would be nice to have seen the Kanonenjagdpanzer, but you can’t have everything.

As a result I have higher expectations for the future British releases. I am hoping to see the following models release for the BAOR forces.

I would like to see both the Chieftain and Challenger 1 main battle tanks, but if the American releases are anything to go by then we might only get one tank and I suspect that will be the Challenger.

I think we might also see the light tanks or armoured reconnisance vehicles the FV101 Scorpion and FV107 Scimiatar. They are very similar vehicles I can see how we could have both. The Scorpion and the Scimiatar were part of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) family. As they shared common automotive components and suspension I can see how easy it would be, if we get the Scorpion we could also get other members of the CVR(T) family such as the Spartan armoured personnel carrier (APC).

As well as the Sultan command and control vehicle, Samaritan armoured ambulance, Striker anti–tank guided missile vehicle and possibly even the Samson armoured recovery vehicle.

The main British APC in 1985 was the FV432 APC so I suspect that may be a likely contender for a model. 1985 is a bit early for the Warrior IFV that entered service in 1987.

In terms of artillery, though the British will probably get the M109 it would be interesting to see if we get the FV433 Abbot SPG. If we get the FV432 then we may get the FV438 Swingfire variant (as well as other FV430 series variants).

We already have the German Tornado, so no surprise if we have an RAF version.

I would also like to see, but don’t expect to see various British armoured cars such as the Humber Pig, the Ferret armoured car or even the Alvis Saladin Armoured Car.

So what do you think we will see for the Team Yankee releases for the British?

Image credits: Wikipedia and Battlefront