Regular readers will know that I’ve been in the Wargaming hobby for a long time. 24 years this May as it goes. And one thing that I and everyone from back then lusted after most (as a life long Space Marine fan) is a Thunderhawk gunship. Back then it was metal, cost a fortune, came in an awesome fire branded box, weighed a tonne and had four steel pins that ran the length of the body to stop it from collapsing in on itself.
Regular readers will also know that for two years, ten years ago, I was a GW member of staff in a couple of stores on the South Coast. And back then in what I like to call the Golden Age of Games Workshop or the Age of Enlightenment, there was talk of a plastic Thunderhawk gunship. And when I say talk I mean it was something in active development. we saw photocopies photos of mockups etc. It was a real thing. Ultimately though it turned out to be a pipe dream then as sculpting technology had only progressed so far and it just would have been too expensive. So the fact that there is a shot of a Thunderhawk on the back of the latest White Dwarf that seems a tad too crisp to be resin doesn’t surprise me.
So Games Workshop has been talking about a plastic Thunderhawk for years, and it ties in with the impending re-release of Apocalypse not to mention the leaps GW made in plastic casting (the sprueless technology acquired from Lego being one) means it looks to be legit. Plus Space Marines, and Chaos Space Marines, lack something big and tasty for Apocalypse games that you can get off the shelf. And that Land Raider with all the lascannons doesn’t count. Guard get super heavies, Orks got the Stompa. Sure the Eldar didn’t get anything but they’re all a bunch of hippies so sod em. Nids get numbers, Tau are getting the Riptide and the Necrons are just ridiculous all on their own.
It could just be the Forge World model. It could be a massive wind up. But it could be the dream of every gamer of my age coming true. Granted it’ll cost a million pounds but I’m not sure it’s something the Space Marine players of the world could resist. I know I couldn’t. And as it’d be for my Ultramarines I can get round my ‘no new armies’ policy.
Of course the really interesting thing is that I heard rumours of the Stormbird being produced by Forge World. I can’t help but think that by GW effectively taking over production of the Thunderhawk that this may actually be the case. Better start remortgaging the house…
