5 Minute History: Rhino

The ubiquitous transport vehicle known as the Space Marine Rhino was first unveiled by Games Workshop in 1988. Originally, it was meant as a transport vehicle for squads of Space Marines and Imperial Guard for the tabletop miniatures game, Rogue Trader, the first edition of Warhammer 40,000. It appears as a small, turretless tracked vehicle not unlike the M113 armored personnel carrier used by many of the world's armed forces. Like the M113, the Rhino's use in the various games that it appears in is that of a highly mobile, armoured troop transport.

Modeling: Making Custom Decals

Most, if not all, Games Workshop kits come with water slide transfer sheets that allow for some customization on your miniatures. However, while these sheets are a great starting point they might not provide everything you are looking for. For the hobbyists out there looking for something unique or a very specific symbol, type of lettering or name you can try and search through thousands of decal sheets out there for kits from airplanes to tanks, but its far easier to do what the manufacturers do - make your own.



Anyone know where I can get some WWI ammo crate markings in 1/6th scale?



Deep Thoughts: WYSIWYG?

For the uninitiated WYSIWYG is shorthand Warhammer geek speak for, What You See Is What You Get, which means that if the model has an item of wargear, a weapon, a type of armor or a tooth ache – you gotta represent it on the model. Lots of major events publish rules that say WYSIWYG is the law of the land, but who actually plays WYSIWYG these days?

5 Minute History: Vindicator

Unlike most other Space Marine vehicles, the Vindicator did not originate in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. The first conception of the tank was in 1989 with the 1st edition of another Games Workshop tabletop game, Space Marine. In the same year a Vindicator conversion using the Space Marine Rhino plastic kit was featured in White Dwarf Magazine 118, published in October of 1989. The article showed how to use cardboard and plastic pieces to modify a Rhino MKI into a Vindicator in addition to presenting rules for its use in Warhammer 40k. The first actual Vindicator kit for Warhammer 40,000 would not be released for another 10 years until the height of the 3rd edition in 1999. This kit is based on an original plastic Rhino body with metal components for the frontal Demolisher cannon and the extra armor plating on the sides between the exhaust stacks.



First Vindicator kit released in 1999