Combat Card Thursdays - Ork Gibletgrinda

In a hugely ironic twist of fate (given Ork spellings), this vehicle was actually responsible for teaching me a new word.  At the age of around 10 I had no idea what a giblet might be and why anyone might want to grind it.  I asked my mother what the word meant and was told it was the insides of a chicken, which confused me even more.  I can completely forgive her response given that I gave her no context when I framed the question, but I did then look it up in the dictionary and it made a lot more sense after that.  Incidentally, it also freaked the hell out of me. 

Back in the day, all Ork tracked and wheeled machines were named like this.  Crazy yet visious sounding adjectives, what could be more Orky? I have to admit I miss that about the Orks these days, they seem to have lost a little of their crazyness and have become significantly more sinister, something which they never should have been. 

The Gibletgrinda is probably the archetypal Ork battlefortress.  A battlefortress is built by a Mek or Warboss who cant quite afford to create a stompa, or by one who has a preference for speed over armour.  The reason for its name is obvious, a giant deffrolla the height of a Dreadnought sits at the front of this giant vehicle.  Towering behind are two banks of massive cannons and a large roofed plaform where the Warboss can sit with his Nobz and bellow orders to the masses of Boyz. 

My reason for posting this as my first Ork vehicle in Combat Card Thursdays is because I am currently building a 40k scale one of these.  The going is slow, but I should be posting something in the next few weeks about it. 

Combat Card Thursdays - Chaos Tower of Skulls

Today we have something truly bizarre. The Chaos Tower of Skulls is a Khornate daemon engine, roughly equivalent in wheelbase size to a Baneblade or Macharius super heavy, but is obviously considerably taller.  Back in the early days of Epic there was a fascination with building towers on wheels.  Everyone had them.  There was the Plague Tower of Nurgle, the Floating Tower of Tzeentzch, the Ork Weirdboy Tower and undoubtedly a few others as well.  This is the Khornate version. 

The concept is simple, and actually quite poorly represented in the model.  The Tower of Skulls should be just that, a wheeled base with piles and piles of skulls studded with battle cannons and bolters, protected by blades, all held together by chaotic energy or something.  You can just imagine a Bloodthirster sitting upon a brass throne on the top of the pile, lording it over the battlefield like a mini version of Khorne himself.  Instead, we get some kind of skull-studded mosque on wheels, with an unnaturally large skull stuck to the front and some blades that look like they'd have trouble cutting through a cotton thread. 

Once again, a couple of these have been scratch built on a 28mm scale using the plastic Baneblade as a base, but I never felt that they did the concept justice.  This thing needs to look completely insane, and the Baneblade hull is far too sensible.  Additionally, far too few of them have the requisite blades. 

Conclusion, great concept, poorly executed all round!

Combat Card Thursdays - Eldar Wave Serpent

With the Eldar Codex out in a few weeks time I felt it appropriate that I jump on the bandwagon for the second part of this series.

The Eldar Wave Serpent has a long history that as far as I know, actually began in epic scale.  The model above is the first representation of the now famously tough troop transport.  I for one would love to see a 40k scale model of this design, because I have always loved the huge prow, sleek lines, and massive wave turret. 

I feel it is a shame that the Wave Serpent that most gamers know and love is but a pale reflection of the original concept.  The whole reason it is called a Wave Serpent is because of the shield and 'wave' it can produce with that shield.  While the shielding is represented in game, the wave is not. There is a piece of art in one of the 3rd edition rulebooks, by John Blanche if I remember correctly, showing a battle scene in which several wave serpents are combining their shields and overrunning the foe.  I can't seem to find it on the internet, despite searching for the last hour, but just imagine if this was possible in 40k.  I don't hold out any hopes for this to change in the coming codex, but I do maintain that it would be very cool rule if done correctly. 

I feel the paint job on the above mini is worthy of note.  The Alaitoc sword and wave symbol are impressively painted by hand on a small scale, and the colours really suit the mini, unlike the bright yellow Leviathan last week!

Combat Card Thursdays - Imperial Leviathan

Hello and welcome to a new weekly feature here on SoS.  I recently reacquired a partially complete set of Epic Battles: Citadel Combat Cards.  This was a card game produced by GW in the late 80's and through the 90's.  It is effectively a form of Top Trumps.  I am missing three or four cards from the set, but I'll be posting what I have every Thursday until I run out!  First off we have the mighty Imperial Leviathan.

Most people will be familiar with what a Leviathan is.  Several 28mm scale scratch-builds have appeared over the years and lets face it, the damn thing is pretty representative of the absurdity of most Imperial war machine designs. 
This thing is a mobile fortress, armed with a massive doomsday cannon, a battle cannon for all round defense, and a broadside of lascannons to deter smaller armored enemies. 
However, it is ponderous, highly visible and impossible to hide.  It just sits there and trusts its void shields and heavy armour to fend off enemy attacks.  A visible manifestation of the invincibility of the Imperium. 

I especially like this image because of the banner.  This Leviathan belongs to the Necromunda VIIth.  I cant recall a single mention of these guys in the fluff, but there is quite a lot about the Necromunda VIIIth, nicknamed the 'Spiders', and actually my own guard army contains several members of that regiment.  I am quite glad this Leviathan belongs to the former, because I don't fancy repainting anything of mine this shade of yellow. 

Next week, I'll mix it up with something Orky, Eldar or Chaos.
Atreides out.