First we have #201 - The vanquisher belonging to the commander of 2 Squadron 451st Tallarn Tank Regiment - Captain Naji Raji.
With the others I put the tanks name at the back of the turret buckets and the tank's number on the sides of the buckets. But this one had spare track glued on there. I tried taking a section of it off, but it just wrecked the buckets, so I glued it back in place and painted the numbers and name elsewhere.
This tank I named "Quns" or "Snipe" (the verb, not the bird).
This Vanquisher was actually made from part of a metal barrel for an old Demolisher with a battle cannon barrel attached to the end of it. It wasn't a pretty conversion, but I hadn't the parts to completely replace the barrel. So I tried to hide the joint with some camouflage netting (made from a gauze pad).
I'd have preferred a regular Battle Tank or a Demolisher... or anything other than a Vanquisher, really. Vanquishers seem pretty weak in 8th. Fluff-wise, I think the Vanquishers are supposed to be bad-ass longer range versions of the battle tank. But in 8th edition 40K basically the battle tank fires HE and the Vanquisher fires an AP round.
The way AP rounds are represented in 8th is Heavy1 and a higher AP (-3 instead of -2), and damage per hit (d6 damage instead of d3).... Which is great, if you can actually HIT the target! As the bog standard Leman Russ crew has a 4+ Ballistic Skill (I should say "STARTING" ballistic skill, as it quickly degrades as the tank starts to take damage). A regular battle cannon had Heavy D6 - which means, on average, it's going to get 3 shots at a target rather than one, so it's more likely to hit. As the regular battle cannon has the same strength as the Vanquisher... I'd rather have more chances to hit!
This is why I made this a company command tank - the company commanders tank has a veteran crew with a 3+ Ballistic Skill. It'll probably only get fielded when I need more than the 3-5 tanks in the 2 Troop are needed.
Why did I pick this up...? it was $20 (CAD) and already assembled... so, it seemed like a good idea at the time...?
Second is a Demolisher.
This is an old school demolisher with a cast metal barrel and sponson guns! The Demolisher is #832 and named "Matraqa" (which, if Google Translate is to believed, means "hammer" or "maul") commanded by Warrant Officer Mzali.
The first number in the numbering system I use indicated the squadron (company) the tanks is from, the second is the troop (platoon), and the third is the number of the tank within the troop. This is thus the second tank, 3rd Troop, 8th Squadron.
I figured the Demolisher is more like an assault vehicle, probably from a specialist engineering or support squadron, so I decided the 8th Squadron could be an assault engineer or support squadron within the 451st Tallarn Tank Regiment.
I'm getting to have quite the armoured force! I have two more Leman Russ tanks to assemble - they will both be regular Battle Tanks to finish off #2 (Arkan) Troop, 2 Squadron, 451st Tallarn Tank Regiment.
I also have a Basilisk to paint up. I need to do a bit of work on it - it was missing the railing and steps... and the BFG from the Bones 3 Kickstarter, which I thought I'd be able to pass off as Earth Shaker Cannon on a carriage mount. And a few more Sentinels... and loads of infantry and support stands and roughriders...
Oh, this will all keep me busy for some time.
Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:
I have the Arvis Lighter back on the painting desk along with all the Terminators from the Space Hulk game... They seem rather daunting. I should probably only put 2-3 on the table at a time. There are also piles of assorted sci-fi bits and bobs cluttering up the periphery of the table... Who knows what I'll actually finish up next...
We're heading into a long weekend, so hopefully we'll get some gaming in and I'll have some reports to post!
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Absolutely wonderful work, both captivating and inspiring.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI think they both look great. Of course, you know what you wanted and what flaws are there, but most other people won't.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteGreat looking tanks, the writing works really well on the side, very impressive tank force you've built up!
ReplyDeleteI need to clear stuff from my painting .tray and associated boxes, I've just got to much stuff in the way!
Best Iain
Thanks Iain.
DeleteBoth of those look rather good! And hard to pass up a tank for $20. Now you just need another 6-9 tanks to justify the company commander! ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteFor years my FLGS had a Hammer of the Emperor boxed set - 10 Leman Russ tanks for, I think, $450(CAD). Even though I wasn't playing 40K at the time, I was tempted every year on Boxing Day to pick it up at 20% off... Just... because... This past year, when I got playing 40K again more regularly, I started thinking seriously about it again, but when I went into the store one day I realized someone had bought it!!?
The only problem is that I decided, fluff-wise, to organize my tanks in troops of five (so I could name one after each of the five pillars)... so how many troops do I have in a squadron. Two? Three? FIVE!? How many troops to I have to field to justify the presence of the Squadron Commander?
I was thinking afterwards that I should have numbered it 202 and called it the Squadron 2IC... Perhaps she's be more likely to accompany a single troop...
The Troop Commander will likely also be fielded as a Tank Commander.
Looking great, Tim. It's evil of me to suggest this, as the tanks are all painted now, but would you consider Arabic numerals for the tanks? https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Arabic/Arabic_numbers
ReplyDeleteThanks Will!
DeleteI had actually considered it at one point, but eventually settled on Arabic lettering but European numerals... Not going to change it now...
Yeah, sorry, not much help to make that suggestion after you've already painted up the whole fleet! ;)
ReplyDeleteOh no, I've repainted the "Tallarn" bit on most of the tanks TWICE now... So, I've done sillier things... Also on TWO of them I painted the tank names wrong and had to repaint those! (I painted them white with a red outline, rather than red with a white outline).
DeleteI've repainted all the markings on entire platoons of tanks (ww2) because I decided I wanted then to be a different unit... so...
DeleteJust to let you know, someone's created a 40K conversion of TFL's What A Tanker. They had some stats for the Tallern tanks in it and it made me think of your work.
ReplyDelete