With all this talk of new Vehicle Design Rules (VDR) for 8th we’re going back to look at the first set which were penned by Andy Chambers!
Back in the early 2000’s, every month in White Dwarf, they made a lot changes. They went through some serious growing pains with all the Lord of the Rings Money and they where getting. Company wise they were being pushed and pulled into a lot of different directions. Not to mention the transition of going from a skirmish type game in Classic Rouge Trader days, to the slightly bigger game in 2nd edition to the much larger game of 3rd that was faster and simpler.
The vehicle design rules and a lot of other content from this Chapter Approved book came from the White Dwarf issues of yesteryear… I could go 30 minutes to an hour in each of these sections really.
I’m not sure if they’re still going off these kinds of charts on certain models like Knights and Wraithknights but back in the day you could point out all the different options from open-top to weapon options.
Note: Warmachine is the predecessor to Super Heavies or Lords of War like Baneblades, Knights etc.
They had guidelines for all the different attributes to work out on things from speed to armor. Flyers where a thing back then, only they where only made by Forge World. They had bomb runs/strafing runs back in the day from Forge World, they would fly on and fly off in the same turn. There were also limitations like not being able to give bolter weapons blast as well when you were making your custom vehicle.
They also had some neat special rules like Co-Axial, Gatling and Titan Killer weapons; which were the predecessors to D-weapons but way more brutal. Boy am I glad that those never made it to the general table top. You could make a weapon cost 300 points alone here.
A guy at my store cut a rhino into three pieces, made it a capacity of one small transport. We called it the Tiny Rhiny, it was neat and very hobby centric. I’d love to see these rules back on the table top; obviously not the same being nearly 8th edition time but similar…
They also had neat walker rules, like this Chaos Walker; which was essentially a Chaos Furioso. The model in the book used guitar wire for the cabling. If you’ve never used guitar wire before it’s insane to bend… It also used chains and such from craft stores. This stuff was groundbreaking.
Back then White Dwarf would blow your mind because there was no internet for this type of thing.
Then there’s more special rules, tons of them, and a vehicle designer reference sheet to end the article. There’s a lot more in this chapter approved that I’d like to go over. To experience the full 40k flashback hit play on the video below!
VDR – Vehicle Design Rules 40k Flashback RETRO
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.
