From Mike W. Millsy's Millpond - 20 x Original Warhammer 40K Epic (6mm) Marine Vehicles (60 Points )

Some of the models straight
out of the loft!

So by my reckoning I have had these vehicles since late 1989, when the original Warhammer 40K Epic came out as a boxed set in the UK. If anyone has a better grasp of the dates then please chime in and correct me!

I'd always been a fan of Warhammer Fantasy and the new fangled Warhammer 40K that had been around for a couple years by then and I'd been dabbling in Space Marines and Space Orks in the larger scale and enjoyed the painting and gaming challenges that this new Sci-Fi period opened-up.

So when the option became available to do bigger games in a smaller scale came along I was pleased to give it a go....

All 20 Warhammer 40K Epic vehicles, finally painted

Trouble is life got in the way, in a good way!

Soon after acquiring the Epic boxed set, my first son arrived on the scene and my spare time disappeared very quickly, then we got married soon after and I kind of lost focus on little toy soldiers for quite some time, as I had a new family to bring up.

I did have a half-hearted attempt at painting-up these vehicles on the early 2000s after I got hold of a copy of what I seem to remember was the 3rd edition Epic rules but my enthusiasm had turned to historical figures and so did not allow me to see through that project!

So there they sat for over another 15 years until reaching Millsey's Millpond in 'Challenge X' and I remembered that I had these vehicles to finally paint-up.

Land Raider

Rhinos, Company Commander and Regular Troop Configs

Well I have long given up any idea of Wargammer 40K Epic games, I think I gave away my 3rd Edition rule set as well, but I have always liked the Rhino APC and the WWI-like Land Raider Tanks. So I have painted these vehicles up as a generic Task Force.

I orgaised the vehicles as follows - 4  x Companies each of 4 x Rhino APCs, one in each company designated Company Commander with Red & White flashes on the front side of the Rhino Hulls - a nod back to British WWI tank markings.

2 x Companies of Rhinos are paired together to make a Squadron, so that's 2 x Squadrons in total. Each Squadron is assigned a Land Raider (designated with Blue and White hull flashes), plus a Scout Rhino (designated by Green and White hull flashes).

2 x Squadrons, each with 2 x Companies of Rhinos

All of the vehicles were undercoated in white, then washed in a slate grey water / paint mix, this was to ensure that the moulded detail was not blocked out by too many layers of paint.

Rhino - Scout Config

Models were then washed with a thinned down Gun Metal paint to give a real metallic look to the vehicles, then exhausts on the Rhinos were painted a dull rusty orange/brown, dark terracotta type colour,  as were the tracks in the Land Raiders - really only to break-up the mass of grey colour on these larger models.

Note that some of these models had been previously painted with red or blue paint during my last attempt at painting up a unit - luckily using a thin undercoat and the wash approach worked well on the Rhinos but on the Land raiders I had to resort to dry brushing the Gunmetal colouring due to the thickness of pre-existing paint layers .

Finally Organisational flashes were added as described above.

Points: 
20 x 6mm vehicles at 2 Points ea = 40 Points
10 Points Bonus for pre-1990
10 Point Bonus for Back Story
TOTAL: 40 + 10 + 10 = 60 Points

These are very cool. For many of us life seemed to get in the way, in a good way, in the late 1980s. Nice to complete stuff at the botttom of the lead mountain