Scythes' Scout Speeder Storm

Back in 2008, the Space Marines 5th edition codex came out. It was filled with new pictures and new units that were not yet released. One of those units was the Scout transport, the Land Speeder Storm. A concept I attach to Agis Neugebauer way back when. He originally came up with the idea of using a standard Speeder to carry space marines into combat with them hanging onto the sides. His inspiration came from the movie Blackhawk Down. Alas, he no longer has the pictures on the site of his original creation. From what I remember, GW had asked a few of their dedicated gamers to submit ideas for new units. That was his submission with rules and a painted up model to boot.

Back from the digression, GW at one time had a habit releasing units with no models to support them. That was the case with the Storm. I was in the process of beginning my Scythes in early 2009. I was needing a full army for the 2009 Necronomicon Gaming tournament that was held every June down here in Orlando, since kaput. My Scouts had no transports and Game Workshop had not yet released the Storm. So I had to build my own. Mind you, this article is pretty useless now as GW released the Storm in May of 2009...

The process I followed utilized three Speeders to create the two Storms, as they had three engines each. Not very cost effective money-wise, but needs must.

                          

  

I had no help with the build. The only thing going for me was a pre-release image of the CAD design of the Speeder and whatever was in the 5th edition codex. Otherwise, I was winging the production.

                          

 

I even had to create my own Scout crewmen. They way I envisioned it, there would be one pilot and no gunner. I figure he's a space marine and he can control the gun himself much like the pilot of an Apache gunship. The other seat would be taken up by the Sergeant when the squad was embarked, getting his info and data from the onboard systems.

                         

 

The most difficult part was the bay in between the cockpit and the engines. I had to concoct a way to get them to join and make it sturdy enough that it wouldn't just fold in on itself. To do this, extra sprue was cut to act as the support beams. Diamond pattern sheet styrene was put down for the bottom of the crew bay. A blank sheet of styrene was placed as the bottom of the bay to give it thickness.

                          

 

You can get an idea of what extra bits were put to use. Lots of extra Leman Russ parts everywhere. Anything extra from the third Speeder was also put to work. The extra fins were used a rudder else it looked a bit off and unbalanced.

                           

 

To give the bottom of definition, I just cut squares of styrene out and glued them randomly to the bottom. Much like the appearance of the standard speeder. You can also see I went for a Heavy Flamer and Assault Cannon approach for weapons.

                           

 


The completed and painted Storms. In general they came out much like the actual models. A tad bit longer though. I even used a smoke launcher for the Cerberus Launcher.

In game, the Storm is fun to use. It's far from durable, but with the ability to charge from the vehicle, my Assault Scouts put it to good use. The flamer doesn't require a roll to hit, making it a nice easy weapon to use. The assault cannon does, but with 4 shots, it's got a good chance to connect. The model may not be the best, but I love the uses.

Needless to say, when I brought them to the Necronimocon tourney, the real Storm was released, upstaging my creations to no end. Nobody knew that mine were throw-togethers. I don't remember much from that weekend except I went 2-3, but I had a good time. Not too bad for a Scout heavy army.

Dark Angels' Dark Shroud and Vengeance Speeders

I wanted some of the new iconic Ravenwing speeders to add to my force. Picking up two of the kits to make one of each, I constructed them and painted them at the same time. Painting them simultaneously allows me to keep a uniformity among the two. I am able to keep the same coloration of certain parts, namely the window.

Land Speeder Vengeance

This Vengeance was built with magnets holding the plasma cannons in place. This allows for them to be removed and for it to be used as another Dark Shroud should it be needed.


In combat the Vengeance has been hit and miss. I was able to cause some real damage to a Tyrannic Exocrine once. It has damaged itself once which did not help its survivability. Being that it has only two hull points is a real downer. I tend to stick with the large blast template when I do run it.

Honestly, I love the concept. My opponents get scared crapless about the potential of what it CAN do. In practice, it rarely carries out the threat. Still, when running nothing but Ravenwing, it fills a heavy slot.

Land Speeder Dark Shroud

This speaks volumes of the Dark Angels and their dark gothic background. The relic of a statue being used to project a shadowy field around the craft is a pretty cool visual to me. The art from GW accompanying the craft is damn sharp too!

In-game, the Shroud is quite effective. It definite gives the enemy something to think about. How much effort do I put into taking down the portable cover save over the approaching bikes? Unless you are playing Tau, the Shroud should at least make it long enough to deliver the bikes safely. As you do have to keep the other units somewhat close enough to get the saves, large blast weapons can be damaging.

 As for painting, the glass on both of the speeders was done as one large pane of glass as opposed to many individual ones. The blue really stands out among the black. These two are some of my favorite vehicles because of that.



The stone was painted grey, with some slight darker streaks added for a marbling effect. Then a light dry brush over it. I gave it a very watered down wash to tie it all together.



If you are a Ravenwing fan, the Dark Shroud is a must item simply for the fluff feature. The shrouding effect is just an extra bonus giving it a nice use. Also, the assault cannons that you get for cupola gunner can be used for the gunners on your other speeders.

Dark Angel Speeders

I am showing off two Speeders for my Dark Angels 2nd Company, The Ravenwing. One is a Typhoon to give me some long range punch. The other is Sammael's personal speeder, Sableclaw.

Like many of my models, they had been sitting in storage awaiting construction. In the process of making space, these two got put together. Only to take up a different form of space by being on display now, much like kernels become popcorn! I am trying really hard to complete what I already have. Trying my best to avoid picking up new boxes of goodies.

If you follow my blog, you know when these two were originally painted up just by looking at the bases. A simple paint job, slight highlighting, a wash over the metal, sealed and ready to go. Black models are almost unfair to paint at times, too easy... until you have to highlight or show shades. The interior controls were painted too, no shortcuts there.

Sableclaw is a build from a standard speeder with the parts from the Ravenwing Accessory Pack available from GW. Being an avid Dark Angels fan, I grabbed several of these sprues, and whenever a friend didn't want his, I gladly accepted them. Besides, to use the original metal bits that GW offered before, would have made the model impossible to mount on a stand, it would have been so heavy. Imagine a metal twin-linked heavy bolter and a metal twin-linked assault cannon. Not only would they never properly stay attached to the model; it would be enough to require a warning should you ever fall in the water with the piece!

Being that this is an HQ choice, I took a bit more time detailing the piece. Giving the book some extra attention can be time consuming, but it makes a huge difference on the table. The head and shoulder pads are from the Black Knights sprue. The script decal is from the Sororitas decal sheet. 

The focus grabbing book was relatively easy. Paint the pages bone white first. Add the writing with either watered down black or to really ease it out, use a micron pen, love these things! A general square of yellow was added. It does not have to be perfectly squared. Once you outline it with the black, any mistakes disappear. A letter of choice was carefully added to the inside and voila!

Gamewise, when I have used Sammael, he is quite the terror for enemy squads or anything with an armor save of 4+. As long as you keep his front towards the enemy and out of combat, he should be fine. Just remember, he only has two hull points, so he is quite a glass hammer. Keep him sitting next a Dark Shroud won't hurt either. I'll show pics of that in next week's post.

Thanks for looking!