M3 Grant

This M3 Grant tank was running in the arena at Tankfest 26 at the Tank Museum.

The M3 Grant was the British-specification variant of the American M3 Lee medium tank, rushed into service during the Second World War to bolster Allied armour in the North African Campaign. While both models shared the same hull design, featuring a sponson-mounted 75mm gun on the right side and a secondary 37mm gun in the upper turret. The Grant was distinguished by a completely redesigned, lower-profile cast turret engineered to British specifications. This new turret eliminated the high commander’s machine-gun cupola found on the American Lee, reducing the tank’s overall height, and provided internal housing for a radio at the rear of the turret, allowing the radio operator to be positioned alongside the commander rather than in the hull. As a result, the Grant operated with a reduced crew of six (compared to the Lee’s seven) and offered a slightly less conspicuous target on the open desert battlefield, where its dual-gun firepower proved vital in countering German armour during battles such as Gazala Offensive and El Alamein.

Bretonnian Battle Pilgrims

Bretonnian Battle Pilgrims

Shrouded in a haze of burning incense and blind religious fervour, Battle Pilgrims are fanatical zealots who follow in the wake of Bretonnia’s revered Grail Knights. Driven by an obsessive adoration, these humble peasants gather up every scrap of dirt, shattered lance, or discarded rag left behind by their living saints. Should a Grail Knight fall, these pilgrims lovingly enshrine the corpse upon a gaudy wooden litter known as a Reliquae, dragging it into war as a holy icon. In battle, they fight with unyielding, mad-eyed devotion, hacking at foes with rusty cleavers and salvaged weapons, completely unconcerned for their own lives as long as they can bask in the holy aura of their fallen lords.

Rapier Quad Heavy Bolters Battery

Rapier Quad Heavy Bolters Battery

Designed to deploy firepower too massive for even the superhuman strength of a Space Marine to bear, the Rapier Quad Heavy Bolter Battery provides devastating fire support to the front lines of the Legiones Astartes. These semi-automated, tracked weapons platforms operate with their own dedicated targeting systems and onboard power generators, allowing a small Techmarine or crew to lay down an unrelenting wall of suppressive fire. When outfitted with quad-linked heavy bolters, a Rapier battery transforms into an absolute infantry-shredder, churning through advancing enemy formations with thousands of mass-reactive shells per minute. While specialised variants can mount esoteric armaments like graviton cannons for anti-fortification warfare, the quad heavy bolter pattern remains a beloved mainstay—a compact, mobile fire base that turns chokepoints into killing fields and ensures the Space Marine Legions maintain absolute superiority during grinding infantry engagements.

World War One Tanks at Tankfest 26

One of the displays at Tankfest 26 had replica Mark IV tanks and a replica Whippet enter the arena.

These were impressive machines and certainly showcased these early metal behemoths which changed the nature of modern warfare.

This was one of the main reasons I wanted to attend Tankfest, though I should add that my view was obstructed by people standing in front of the seating area next to the arena.

The Fall Of Outpost Sigma-12

One of the displays at Warhammer World was this Horus Heresy battle, entitled, The Fall Of Outpost Sigma-12.

The Fall Of Outpost Sigma-12

Traitor forces breach the Imperial Fist’s last defensive lines at Outpost Sigma-12 on Cthonia. Undermined by the Sons of Horus’ subterranean onslaught, the Loyalists are determined to fight to the last in the name of the Emperor.

They ultimately reap such a toll of Traitor lives that any victory won was a hollow one. This battle would be one of the last fought during the Horus Heresy, for shortly after its bloody conclusion Horus launched his assault on the Emperor’s Palace on distant Terra.

More photographs of The Fall Of Outpost Sigma-12.

The Empire Steam Tank at Warhammer World

These Empire Steam Tanks were in the display cabinets at Warhammer World.

The Empire Steam Tank serves as the ultimate heavy centrepiece and unbreakable anvil for an Empire host. Combining heavy armour plating with terror-inducing impact power, it is a formidable hybrid of heavy chariot and mobile artillery platform. Utilising steam points generated each turn by its internal boiler, the Steam Tank can power its heavy cannon, vent lethal steam clouds, or launch devastating impact charges straight into enemy formations. With high toughness, massive armour saves, and total immunity to psychology, it can single-handedly anchor an entire battle line.

These Empire Steam Tanks were part of the Siege of Volganoff diorama.

I always thought that that a steam tank was something a dwarf would build and use.

Sturmpanzerwagen A7V

Sturmpanzerwagen A7V

Introduced by Imperial Germany near the end of World War I in early 1918, the Sturmpanzerwagen A7V was the German Empire’s sole production tank of the war, designed in response to the unsettling appearance of British and French tanks on the Western Front. 

Resembling a massive, armoured box on tracks, the 30-ton vehicle was armed with a front-mounted 57mm Maxim-Nordenfelt cannon and six 7.92mm MG 08 machine guns, requiring a unusually large crew of up to 18 men to operate effectively. Despite its thick steel plate protection and formidable firepower, the A7V was plagued by a high centre of gravity and low ground clearance, which severely limited its cross-country mobility and trench-crossing ability compared to the British rhomboid design. 

Only 20 chassis were produced, but the A7V secured its place in military history on April 24, 1918, at the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, where three A7Vs engaged three British Mark IVs in the world’s first tank-versus-tank combat.

This replica Sturmpanzerwagen A7V was in the Vehicle Conservation Centre at the Tank Museum.

Sturmpanzerwagen A7V

It is is painted to represent A7V number 504, Schnuck. The actual Schnuck was damaged by friendly fire at Fremicourt on 31 August 1918 then it was abandoned by crew, and captured by troops of the New Zealand Division three days later. Displayed in London on Horse Guards Parade 1918/19 and given to the Imperial War Museum in 1919 but was scrapped and disposed of in 1922.

Bretonnian Knights of the Realm

These Bretonnian Knights of the Realm were on display at Warhammer World.

Bretonnian Knights of the Realm

Forming the shining backbone of Bretonnia’s nobility and martial power, the Knights of the Realm are sworn defenders of the realm who command immense respect for both their high station and the heroic deeds performed to attain it. Clad in heavy, heraldic plate armour and mounted upon fine, powerful warhorses, these proud nobles ride to war under a sea of fluttering banners. When assembled into their iconic, wedge-shaped Lance Formation, their momentum is absolute, a thunderous charge of Bretonnian Knights has the terrifying power to shatter enemy hordes leaving only broken armour and trampled foes in their wake.

Preparing the Snotling Pump Wagon

The original Snotling Pump Wagon released back in the day is probably my favourite Citadel model of all time. What I liked about it most was the humour behind the model, you got the idea that the designer was down the pub when the idea came up. I did originally consider the new model a “monstrosity” but when making a recent order, I added one to my basket.

The Snotling Pump Wagon is a terrifyingly erratic contraption, consisting of little more than a ramshackle wooden hut precariously balanced on crude wheels. This rickety war engine is propelled forward solely by the frantic, sweat-drenched pumping of dozens of hyperactive Snotlings hidden within its frame. Careening wildly across the battlefield with zero steering and infinite momentum, it acts as a crude rolling fortress, crushing, flattening, and piercing any unfortunate foes who fail to scramble out of the way of its spiked rollers and wooden chassis.

This is a metal model and in the box are numerous metal parts, a base, and instructions.

The first stage was to clean the metal castings. After cleaning the snotlings, I stuck two onto coins for painting, the rest of used wooden clothes pegs. These will be painted separately and then stuck to the finished Pump Wagon model.

Originally I was going to fully construct the pump wagon, however as I cleaned the castings I realised that if it was all stuck together it might be challenging to paint. So, I did stick the blades to the main wheels. I added the guard and rear wheel to the core of the wagon. The mast I left off.

I gave all the models an undercoat of Wraithbone.

Then onto painting.

Mark II Matilda

This Mark II Matilda was on display at Tankfest 26.

The Infantry Tank Mark II, better known as the Matilda, was a British infantry tank that served in World War II. It had a crew of four, was powered by two Leyland 6-cylinder diesel engines, and was armed with a 2-pounder gun and a machine gun.

The Matilda was designed in 1936 as a gun-armed counterpart to the first British infantry tank, the machine gun-armed A11 Infantry Tank Mark I. The Mark I was also known as the Matilda, and the larger A12 was initially known as the Matilda II, Matilda senior, or Waltzing Matilda. The Mark I was abandoned in 1940, and from then on the A12 was almost always known simply as “the Matilda.”

The Matilda was an excellent infantry support tank, thanks to its heavy armour. It was impervious to most German anti-tank guns at the time, and it could withstand heavy fire from enemy tanks. However, the Matilda was slow, with a top speed of only 14 mph. It was also not very well-armed, and its main gun, the 2-pounder, was effective against other tanks, but it had limited anti-personnel capabilities.

Despite its limitations, the Matilda was a valuable asset to the British Army during World War II. It was a reliable and well-liked tank by its crews, and it played a significant role in the North Africa Campaign. It was eventually replaced in front-line service by the lighter and less costly Infantry Tank Mk III Valentine beginning in late 1941, but the Matilda continued to serve in other roles until the end of the war.

Overall, the Matilda was a versatile and effective tank that served the British Army well during World War II. Its heavy armour made it a formidable opponent on the battlefield, and its reliability and popularity with its crews made it a valuable asset to the British war effort.

The Matilda II infantry tank from inside the Tank Museum.

A Matilda II infantry tank is at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester.