More importantly though..... Speedfreeks is out to pre-order tommorrow!
via the Warhammer Community
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/10/19/18th-oct-ork-vehicles-through-da-agesgw-homepage-post-1fw-homepage-post-3/
Have you heard the news? The Orks are back, in a big way. With the new Speed Freeks boxed game and a codex on the way, it’s a good time to be green – and did we mention that there are loads of new vehicles coming, too?
The Mekboyz of today are spoiled for choice, with a host of buggies, bikes and Battlewagons to choose from – but what about their forebears? Let’s open the archives and take a look…
Orks have been part of Warhammer 40,000 since its earliest days. While the first few Ork miniatures were infantry, it didn’t take long before some enterprising miniatures designer/Mekboy-in-training had a flash of inspiration and the first Ork vehicles hit battlefields – they’re a bit different from what we have today…
Made of metal and a bit smaller than modern models, these are still recognisably a Warbuggy and Deff Dread – which was just known as a Dreadnought back then.
These were quickly joined by precursors of Wartrakks, Scorchas and Warbikes – and even an Ork Noble on a Warbike. Back then the Nobz, as they’re now known, didn’t ride their own bikes – that wouldn’t leave them enough hands for krumpin’ stuff.
The biggest and most impressive vehicle of this era was the Space Ork Battlewagon. Released as a plastic kit in Orktober 1990, it’s packed with detail, including loads of crew and hangers-on. Notably, the back of the box included banner designs for all six of the Ork Clans, using the same iconography they each use today, nearly 30 years later.
The second edition of Warhammer 40,000 launched with a boxed game that included an Ork Dreadnought! Well, sort of… it was actually a cardboard cut-out that the greenskins could use to bolster their forces. This Dread design was made in metal around the same time, and you can see the genesis of the design elements that led to today’s Deff Dreads in the distinctive silhouette and huge claws.
Later in this edition, we received the first plastic Ork Warbikes, and then, as a real treat, an entire game dedicated to Ork speed freeks taking part in races and vehicular combat. Gorkamorka introduced plastic War Traks, Trukks and Buggies to the Orks range, and with some additional metal parts for the Trak to make the Scorcha.
As time went on and plastic kits became more and more impressive, the Mekboyz got to work and made their vehicles bigger and better. The Warbikes and Trukks were replaced with the models you know and love, and the Battlewagon returned to the game with a versatile plastic kit.
Deff Dreads made the jump to plastic as well, joined by their little cousins, the Killa Kans, allowing an Ork Warboss to field hordes of dead killy walkers. And as Apocalypse hit battlefields in 4th edition, the Orks got their biggest vehicle yet – the mighty Stompa! This was actually the biggest plastic kit in the entire Warhammer 40,000 range at the time, and the techniques used to make it paved the way for Imperial Knights and other huge models. A while later came another class of walker that fit neatly between the Deff Dreads and Stompa – the Morkanaut and Gorkanaut, each named for one of the Ork gods.
As Warhammer 40,000 continued to evolve, war took to the skies, and there was no way the Orks were going to be left out. There are no fewer than four different flyers available in plastic to suit all your aerial needs – the Dakkajet, Blitza-Bommer, Burna-Bommer and the Wazbom Blastajet.
And that brings us to today,* and the new wave of Ork vehicles that will be issuing from Mek workshops across the galaxy soon. Your first chance to get your hands on some of these amazing vehicles will be in the Speed Freeks boxed game. Which Clan will you be pledging your loyalty to? Will your buggies be painted red (and thus go fasta)?
