Felix's Gaming Pages – warhammer, wh40k, flames of war, bolt action, aeronautica imperialis, star wars, models, news, views and stuff

Cargo-8 Ridgehauler

Dominating the dust-choked highways of Necromunda, the Cargo-8 Ridgehauler is the lifeblood of the Guild of Coin, engineered to endure the lethal journey across the Great Equatorial Wastes.

Navigating the treacherous, highly irradiated ash dunes between hive cities requires serious industrial muscle, which this hulking war-rig delivers via colossal all-terrain wheels and a heavy-duty engine built to haul massive trains of armoured containers and transport carriages. Beyond its impressive freight capacity, the Ridgehauler’s true strength lies in its extreme modularity. Recognising that the open wastes are teeming with desperate ash waste nomads and opportunistic gang raiders, the Guild frequently converts these transports into rolling fortresses. Fitted with heavy stubbers, grenade launchers, and reinforced blast-plating, a fully armed Cargo-8 Ridgehauler can smash through ambushes and return lethal fire, ensuring that valuable cargo—or high-paying contraband—reaches its destination intact.

Constructing the Whirlwind Missile Tank

I did go out and order the new Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – Whirlwind Missile Tank.

The Whirlwind Missile Tank is a certified Legiones Astartes classic, seamlessly marrying the rugged dependability of the venerable Rhino chassis with an automated multiple-missile launcher system. Designed to provide devastating fire support from behind cover, it rains down apocalyptic storms of explosive warheads onto entrenched enemy positions without ever needing direct line of sight. This terrifying artillery piece owes its deadly precision to a suite of sophisticated range-finding and targeting auspexes integrated directly into the launch assembly.

This new model reflects the original conversion from 1989. The original Whirlwind was a conversion using a slottabase and plasticard for the rocket launcher. I have always preferred the original conversion to the newer versions, so it should be no surprise that I ordered one.

In addition I have some doors for it already as well. On a recent visit to Warhammer World I picked up some Forge World Imperial Fists Rhino Doors. I’ve always liked the Forge World doors and have used them on some of my models such as this Land Raider.

This model follows a similar construction process to the standard Deimos Pattern Rhino.

In the box is an additional sprue which as well as the parts for the missile launcher, has a new top superstructure and a new front which is based on the original Whirlwind.

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

I washed the Forge World resin doors to remove the mould lubricant.

They were then stuck to the sides of the Whirlwind.

I now need to construct the weapon system.

Bretonnian Men-at-Arms

Recruited as children into the household guard of their noble lords, the Men-at-Arms form the humble yet steadfast backbone of Bretonnia’s lowborn regiments. Though lacking the glory and gilded armour of the chivalric elite, these simple foot soldiers are far from helpless when gathered for war. Marching beneath a sea of fluttering banners with carefully polished steel and tall shields emblazoned with their liege’s heraldry, they move forward in a vibrant wave of proud colours. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, they provide vital infantry support, holding the line with pikes and halberds so that the knights may deliver their decisive, glorious charges.

Rapier Graviton Cannon Battery

Engineered for specialised siege operations and anti-fortification warfare, the Rapier Graviton Cannon Battery harnesses raw localised gravity to crush the foes of the Legiones Astartes. Built upon the rugged, semi-automated Rapier tracked chassis, these platforms leverage onboard power generators and advanced targeting systems to field heavy esoteric weaponry far too massive for even a Space Marine to carry into battle. When fitted with a graviton cannon, the Rapier fires high-density spatial distortion fields that rupture heavy armour, collapse structural chokepoints, and crush advancing troops beneath their own weight. Though less ubiquitous than the anti-infantry quad heavy bolter variants, Graviton Cannon Batteries are highly prized assets during sieges and breach operations, allowing Space Marine assault forces to shatter reinforced bunkers and pin down heavily armoured enemy units with terrifying gravitational force.

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

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

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.

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.