Forge World Imperial Heavy Bolter Turret Emplacements: January Terrain 2019

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Forge World Imperial Heavy Bolter Turret Emplacements

Here’s a trio of models that I’ve had for a very long time. These Forge World turret emplacements had been sitting in my collection unpainted for many years intl 2016 or so, when I started painting them in a military green, with desert setting bases. I was …unhappy with how they were shaping out, so – as so many things end up doing – they just sat uncared for in a box for another couple of years. With my challenge for this month being terrain, I found them and knuckled down to give them the paint that they deserve.

Forge World Imperial Heavy Bolter Turret Emplacements

That paint is actually pretty plain. I went with spray-can mid-grey, followed by a bit of a lighter drybrush. Added some German WWII stencilled letters and some Aquilias for decals, then some Vallejo washes – first a mix of dark and mid-grey, then “European Earth”, going for a rain/moisture-streaked look on both. Bases drybrushed in my usual “dark earth” manner. Followed that up with some powder (Dark Sienna) and we’re done.

Forge World Imperial Heavy Bolter Turret Emplacements

I’ve avoided edge highlighting, as I like the dark, moody, “realistic” look that they seem to have. Similarly, I’ve skipped giving them a bunch of weathering and chipping that I’d put onto “working” tanks and armoured vehicles, as these are basically static defensive emplacements. The Imperial Grey scheme makes them generic enough to use alongside pretty much any Imperial force,

Forge World Imperial Heavy Bolter Turret Emplacements

Amusingly, these models are now so old (and discontinued) that there aren’t any current rules for them. Not even any rules in the 8th edition Forge World Indices. I guess I can use the rules for Tarantulas if I need to, though I’m also the kind of guy who will just use them for terrain as well. Hence their inclusion in this month’s challenge!

37 thoughts on “Forge World Imperial Heavy Bolter Turret Emplacements: January Terrain 2019”

  2. Very nice, the weathering looks spot on. You could always use them as an objective, or if you wanted to use them in game play, work out the equivalent armour and weapons would be in the current rules and as long as both sides are in agreement you get to game with them

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    • Cheers Dave. The Tarantula weapons platform is probably close enough. It’s not as armoured as these things look to be, but we can just call it “better tech” and call it good, I reckon.

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    • Yeah, as I mentioned, the Tarantulas would probably work (and I have a couple of those.. I should find them and paint them as well! Narrative games using them would be great, though. Something for Kill Team!

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      • Yeah, narrative, small points campaigns, all that good stuff. Having said that, I’m happy for any games I can get in these days as I entirely avoid tournaments and their derivatives – games with randos in game stores and their WAAC netlists!

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    • I haven;’t for many years, and 40k has changed so much since then, that while I’m sure there are chill people like most of us at them, there’s a guarantee of people who are only there to WIN!
      Makes sense for a competitive event, I guess….

      Looking forward to your dug-in tank, as well. Reminds me I have some of those emplacements for Konflikt ’47. I’ll need to paint those alongside the tanks, though.

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  8. Those look great! I’ve always loved those Models, but never had the cash to pick them up when they were available. They’re arguably the most realistic armoured things GW or FW have ever put out, vehicle or structure. Nicely sloped armour, low profile, no major bullet traps.

    The lack of edge highlights really helps the look, too. They’re good for some things (particularly somewhat reflective/specular surfaces), but they’ve become so overused on so many things that it’s very refreshing to see them left off of something that they don’t belong on.

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    • Thanks Alexis. They are a great model. I think I may have one or two more that I picked up for my original Forge World purchases back in the mid-noughties – some variant IG turrets (and a chimera conversion kit, which wouldn’t need a turret base!) It’ll be hell to find those, though – if I even still have them?

      Funny thing is looking at those pics they do look like they’ve had a serious edge highlight applied to them, particularly the bases. It’s actually a matter of not having added streaks to those edges, nor or the “reverse” edge highlighting of darkening the edges that you see on historical kits – because these wouldn’t have that edge wear due to being static emplacements!

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    • Haha, that reminded me…I needed to touch up an already painted an Orc I had picked up on Ebay. Flip him upside down to add some wash, and tucked underneath the solid chunk of armor is a shiny, edge highlighted belt buckle. Like finding a beacon of light in a dark cave. Yea, I’m sure they had painted the buckle *before* the armor went over the top, but just found it amusing to find this edge highlight stuff tucked away.

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      • Yea, I err on that side for the most part with sub-assemblies. Though I tend to highlight after everything is glued together now. Partly because it saves time, but I’ve also mistakenly got the light wrong on parts that I highlighted before attaching them too.

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  9. Love the dark grey look, reminds me of those defensive walls that installed tank turrets and were left to age. Although here you can see a narrative of sorts. These would be great in Combat Patrol or any other game – just treat them as immobile tanks. Nice save on these, I really like them.

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    • Thanks Mark – these really qualify as more of those models that sit around, and they give you the shits whenever you see them – but now that they’re (finally) done, I really like the outcome. I’ve got a bunch of defensive walls that will go with these very nicely. I was going to edge them in metallics, but now I’m thinking I might just do them all in weathered grey.
      Whether they’re metal or concrete underneath, the Imperium doesn’t care – just spray it all grey! (which was the military mentality that I used to stop me picking out all the bits on these!)

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  10. Excellent! I really like the down to earth look of these. Nothing fancy, but functional, utilitarian pieces of a defence line. They fit in well with the bleak, WW1 part of the 40K aesthetic – the one usually reserved for the Imperial Guard.

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  12. Like the minis, like the paints, and the commentary! Skipping the edge highlighting was smart, and the weathering looks ace. I like how you make grey work and it would be interesting to see a bunch of your ‘war machines’ and walls all lined up.

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    • Too many models, not enough time, methinks. There’s a lot of stuff that just needs a couple of hours, but when you multiply that by a backlog that reaches back to the early 1990’s you get the answer to your question!

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