Distant Thunder
The Death Korps of Krieg like their artillery. No, they REALLY like their artillery, and the bigger the better as far as they are concerned. They use a lot of towed guns in their armies, these being easier and quicker to manufacture than self-propelled guns like the Basilisk and Medusa. Not that the Death Korps dont use those stalwart pieces of Imperial equipment, because they do. It`s just that they just use even more of these:
Heavy Artillery Carriage mounting Earthshaker Cannon and
Heavy Artillery Carriage mounting Medusa Siege Gun as made by Sir William of Hayes.
In my not so humble but completely un-biased opinion, both of these big guns are GORGEOUS!! I get excited about lots of models but these reach a new level of desirability in Ewen`s-world. Why? Read on.
We start off with eight big wheels to spread the weight of these huge weapons. Why not tracks? Guns like these do not need to move relatively often so do not need the all-terrain crossing abilities that tracks would provide.
Then we come to the two big trails of the carriage, and this area of both models is where I start to get VERY enthusiastic. The trails can easily be assembled so that they can be moved between their `deployed for action` and `travel` positions. Because in the `real` world of 40K each trail would still weigh a huge amount alone, and be almost impossible to man-handle, each has a jack-mounted roller and a section of track for the trail to roll over. I love that the jack handles are there in the kit too, you can see them clipped onto each carriage trail.
The end of each trail incorporates a recoil spade and when locked together by the separate linch-pin, can then be winched or jacked up for towing. The front of the carriage also has a large hammer and pry-bar to `persuade` pieces of the huge gun to move when they dont want to. (After all the proscribed incantations and prayers to the machine spirit of course!)
The guns themselves are brutal and workman-like, just what you`d expect dour-faced Imperial Guardsmen to serve for hours on end, shelling the foul enemies of Humanity and the God-Emperor into the beyond.
As the ammunition used by the Heavy Artillery Carriage mounting Medusa Siege Gun is so huge, a two-man trolley is included to enable the crew to move shells up to the gun breech from the included three round ammo box.
The shells used by the Heavy Artillery Carriage mounting Earthshaker Cannon are smaller only in relative terms, but a single round can be hand-carried by an able-bodied Guardsman and a transport pallet carrying six Eartshaker shells is included in the kit.
Of course these massive artillery pieces aren`t solely used by the Death Korps of Krieg, far from it. The Heavy Artillery Carriage mounting Earthshaker Cannon and Heavy Artillery Carriage mounting Medusa Siege Gun are standard pieces of Imperial Guard equipment and can be seen supporting the implacable advance of Cadian, Vostroyan and Valhallan regiments to name but a few.
The models for both of these mighty guns have just been completed, and so they are now available to pre-order. We will release both kits week commencing 26th February. If I were you, Id place my order as soon as possible, these beasts are going to be popular and we send orders out first-come-first-served!
Click here to place your order.
Serve the guns, serve the Emperor
We couldnt NOT make some artillery crew for those big guns, could we? Take a look,
Death Korps of Krieg Heavy Artillery Crew. The end result of collaboration between Will Hayes and Simon Egan, this set of crew is designed to work with either of the two new guns above. Two crew can be assembled with included optional arms to use the Medusa shell trolley or just as normal crew. It`s impossible for me to have a favourite out of the set because they are ALL really nice figures. There is one with a vox-set and a data-slate, another with an artillery rangefinder. Mmm, much modelling goodness. I can feel my credit card getting restless; there might be a diorama in my immediate future.
Again, this lovely set of crew has only just gone up for pre-order and are released week commencing Monday 26th February.
New DKK Grenadier Special Weapons
The Death Korps of Krieg Grenadiers are elite heavy infantry, to be found wherever the fighting is at its most savage, sweeping the enemy aside with their superior training and hellguns.
Available to pre-order from today, the Death Korps Grenadiers will soon be able to call upon the added firepower of a Meltagun to lay waste to enemy strong points and armoured units while a Heavy Stubber cuts swathes through the weaker foot troops.
Take a look here.
I like how the Heavy Stubber gunner has dropped to one knee and is using a rock to brace the gun, whereas the Melta-gunner uses the sling to support the weight of his weapon while he moves closer to bring the fearsome short range power of his gun to bear.
Pre-orders for this pack will start being shipped out from Monday February 26th.
Bring up the Big Guns!
The Heavy Artillery Carriage mounting Earthshaker Cannon and Heavy Artillery Carriage mounting Medusa Siege Gun are so large and heavy that when they are moved they need to call upon the services of Trojan gun tractors. The Trojan is a workhorse used by Imperial Guard regiments as a tractor for towing weapons platforms and carriages and as an armoured munitions carrier, ferrying ammunion to the guns once in position or to frontline units in need of resupply.
Included in both Heavy Artillery Carriage kits are a few extra pieces I havent mentioned so far; a heavy duty tow-hitch and lift-hook which upgrade a Trojan to be able to tow either Heavy Artillery Carriage with ease.
What weve done here is `bundle` together a Trojan, Death Korps Heavy Artillery Crew, and your choice of Earthshaker Heavy Artillery Carriage or Medusa Heavy Artillery Carriage and even thrown in a length of chain for the crane to make possibly the ultimate Imperial Guard heavy artillery section.
Take a look at what you get here.
I think it`ll be the Earthshaker set I`ll be ordering, it`s just too nice a combination of models to pass up. Available to pre-order now for release from February 26th. Race you to the online store?
Newly Upgraded Super-Heavy Tanks
Super-Heavy tanks like the awe inspiringly powerful Baneblade battle tank and the Shadowsword Titan-hunter are among the heaviest vehicles commonly used by Imperial Guard regiments. Their huge size, immense firepower and survivability, all help boost the morale and fighting spirit of nearby troops by the mere presence of these mighty machineries of destruction.
Many super-heavy tanks in the service of Death Korps of Krieg armoured regiments undergo minor modifications before being committed to battle. Similar to many frontline Krieg war-machines, the super-heavies will be fitted out with a comprehensive array of filters, scrubbers and purifiers that cleanse the atmosphere of pollutants and corruptions that might otherwise befoul the sanctified engines and fighting compartments of the vehicle.
What we have done is produce an upgrade kit that will fit on every Imperial Guard Super-Heavy tank to bring it up to the harsh environment operating standards set by the Krieg Adeptus Enginseers.
Take a closer look here. The kit contains a new rear-engine deck incorporating environment scrubbers, an in-line filter just in front and a pair of purifier vents that sit low down below the exhaust stacks of the huge vehicle.
Also included is a Death Korps of Krieg style co-axial autocannon for either Baneblade and a Death Korps tank commander with heavy stubber and binoculars. The heavy stubber mount designed to fit straight onto Baneblades will, with a little modification, fit happily on Shadowswords, Stormswords and Stormblades too.
(Quelle:
www.forgeworld.co.uk)
