I thought I’d celebrate the recent Deff Rolla FAQ ruling with a walkthough of my Supa Battlewagons.
When the Ork Battlewagon kit came out I knew I had to have a few. I opened the box up and furiously started assembling it. When I was done I have to admit I was a little let down, it was barely bigger than a Trukk.
While it’s a well made kit, with lots of options, I just didn’t like the size. You may remember back in the day everyone converted these things up from Land Raiders and Leman Russes etc.
The next day I walked into work at TheWarStore, and my friend Mr. Don had done something extraordinary, he had made his Battlewagon bigger by combining two kits! There was much rejoicing, and I went home with two more kits and started anew.
This time it took a little longer because you basically have to saw the two vehicles in half and then assemble them down the middle. The hatch over the driver compartment and the rear armored top, require even more work and dry-fitting to get right. But when the main body is together it looks great!
You can see in some of the shots above how we made this conversion. I also made a custom front gob out of plastic card cause the front tends to look a little janky when combined side by side.
Before I had the time to paint these guys, my friend Pete put the idea in my head to make a custom Deff Rolla just out of various bits cobbled together. I kinda looked confused for a minute until he handed me a cylindrical plastic shelf leg, and then it was off to the bits box
I ended up using a combination of plastic card, plastic rivits, and various armor plates from different 40k kits to make the two Deff Rollas. I magnetized them so I could actually store these monstrosities, and give them a little more support structure wise.
Then I went to work giving the Battlewagons a little character. I love having grots running around up to no good on my vehicles. On one wagon I made a chain-gun big shoota from some defiler bits, and added a cheerful gunner. His buddy is in the back on another big shoota, but he forgot to strap in…
The other Battlewagon has a gunner team, one to point and one to light the Kannon. If I was the Boss I don’t know if I would trust them to get it right.
Here is a shot of the whole model. It breaks down nice and easy. I usually store the turrets in the cabin area, and take apart the Rollas for foam stowage separately.
So here are my two finished Super Battlewagons, what do you think??
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
