War gaming is great, but it can be a little cumbersome. Last year I took my Thousand Sons with me to Wales for a game at GW: Cardiff. I must admit that it was a pain to bring with me on the train, alongside two suitcases. With that in mind, I wondered if there was a better way to get my gaming fix, without the bulky cases and heavy rulebooks. Whilst pondering, I have across this amazing project, and I decided there and then: I want a travel 40k set. I would use a magnetic travel game, like shown in the link, and use Warhammer 40,000: Epic models and squads.

However, with epic becoming out of print, and being very expensive on EBay, it seemed like a project that would be cancelled before even starting. But when I went on vacation this year, I struck literal gold. I visited ACME Games in Llandudno, Wales, to buy the Warlord Carrier I reviewed this week. Before leaving Wales, I decided to go back one more time. And what did I see on the counter? Bags of Epic Space Marines for sale, at ridiculously cheap prices.


I managed to bag 23 stands of Marines, 12 Rhinos, and ten Dreadnoughts, for the insanely low price of £2. Yes that’s right, £2. Result!


Sure, I don’t have much of a range, but that’s not important: this will be a simple pick-up set ideal for train journeys and airplane rides. Still, it does have potential, and I’ve already begin converting up some units.
Here, we have a Khorne Rhino for one of the teams (I may do a four gods ‘eye of terror’ style set). All I did was add a small Khorne icon from the Forsaken kit, cut in half with each half added to one of the roof hatches.


This next model is more intricate. I wanted to have some sort of battle tank, and a Vindicator seemed like a very easy conversion. I filed the front end flat, and added a short stubby gun barrel, made from plastic pipe. The calibre is a bit large, but then again it does make it easy to identify. A bit of trim was added to the front plate for detail.  I also shaved the roof hatches, so I can add a vent (make from a normal-scale Space Marine’s backpack vent.


This is only the beginning, but I expect to have a lot of fun with this. I've never worked with stuff this small, so it should be an interesting endeavour. Next on my to-buy list is a magnetic travel game to use as the board. If anyone can direct me to somewhere in the UK that sells cheap options, please feel free to comment below or on Facebook.