Well we’ve all see the rumors floating around about a supposed new Space Marine skimmer in the works, and I thought I’d take the time to weigh in with my opinion.
First of I’d love to see it. I was super excited for the Stormraven when the Blood Angel book hit, and even went so far as to build my own Chaos Legion version (above).
I just love new and exciting models, and as modelers I feel we’ve been quite spoiled as of late-GW has really uped their modeling game over the last several years.
Anyone remember the old deodorant pattern skimmer from Rogue Trader? Lol (and I don’t know if I can start a sentence with LOL), yeah that’s our roots guys let’s not forget it.
So what will we get? Well lets take a look- we have now the Stormraven, Scout Speeder Storm, Land Speeder, and from Forge World the Speeder Tempest and Thunderhawks.
Plus we know of the Strombird from the Heresy novels.
I doubt it will be a Stormbird, as being the pre-curser to the Thunderhawk, it was both bigger, and more cumbersome, able to hold 60ish? marines, both bad for regular games of 40k.
No, what I imagine we will get is something like the Stormraven, but for all other chapters sans Blood Angels and Grey Knights. Some sort of hybrid vehcile between the ‘raven and a T-hawk.
There isn’t much more you can carry I mean infantry (termies and power armor), and Dreadnoughts is about the end of it. So I think it will end up being more gunship than assault vehicle, as the remaining chapters are not specifically assault oriented.
Lets take a look at the rumor round up, compiled here http://natfka.blogspot.com/2011/12/firespite-gunship-coming-to-space.html#more
via BigRed on BOLS
There’s word of a new Space Marine vehicle in the works. Here’s the latest we’ve heard.
Apparently this is the big “new kit” to accompany the updated Codex:Space Marines.
-The term “Space Marine Gunship” has been mentioned.
-It’s NOT the Stormraven
-It’s NOT the Caestus Assault Ram
-Its NOT an “assault themed” vehicle
-There are whispers of that ancient bit of fluff regarding the “missing link transport” Astartes vehicle.
Think about the existing Space Marine vehicle range to see where the obvious holes are if you were in charge of designing a range of fighting vehicles for the Astartes.
Also note that for the first time ever for an Edition changeover, the Space Marine range may be kind of challenging to expand upon in a big way due to its existing size and almost 100% plastic status.
via Ghostwolf
If you have a look in the Badab War books you might find a reference to this new gunship. If I remember rightly, one of the chapters is recorded as making use of both Stormraven and Firespite Gunships.
via StraightSilver
during one of the seminars at UK games day somebody asked the question “why do only Blood Angels and Grey Knights get Storm Ravens?”.
The answer was essentially, they are the only 2 chapters that still use them, and other chapters won’t get them, but that doesn’t mean that other chapters don’t have their own variation.
Almost all Codexes since the last IG one have hada model which uses the new oval flying stand.
Space Wolves seem to be the exception, ‘Nids will have the harpy at some point which will be on that stand.
This is because those stands are actually quite expensive to initially produce, mainly due to the clear plastic, and so it is more cost effective to release lots of models that use it to recoup some of the money.
Therfore it stands to reason that the new Space Marine Codex will have some form of flyer in it.
It won’t be the Thunderhawk though as GW have stated they will no longer be copying FW designs any more.
Having said that in a couple of instances that has just meant a different model (ie IG Manticore).
I suspect due to the massive unpopularity of the Storm Raven kit it will be like a Storm Raven, only better if that makes sense?
It’s not impossible they would do a T.Hawk.
It would just have to be different design-wise to the FW one, to give people the option of buying one or the other (they wouldn’t want FW to lose sales)
Jes Goodwin did say that they are now able to use 2ups instead of 3ups when designing plastics which makes making really big models that much easier.
However believe it or not the biggest restriction on kits is the box size.
The box size dictates how many sprues will fit in the box, which therefore restricts the size of the model.
Boxes are also surprisingly expensive to produce, and there is also the shelf space they occupy to consider.
I think the last model to get a unique box was the Stompa, which I believe comes on 8 sprues? (I have never built one, it could be 6).
If they could get the T.Hawk on that many sprues and fit in that sized box then I would say it would be likely they would go for it.
Somebody also told me that the FW molds for the T.Hawk were completely knackered and needed redoing, but that there was a problem with the original model.
So it’s not impossible, but I just think it’s highly unlikely
So what do YOU think? -MBG
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.
