Warhammer 40K: Forgotten Grimdark Ghosts – Classic Units Lost to Time
Warhammer 40K is nearing 40 years old. Along the way, we’ve lost some units to the mists of time. Let’s look at some of our dearly departed favorites.
It’s nostalgia time, so get on your rose-colored glasses and fasten your seatbelts. Today’s units come to us from the very early Forge World Imperial Armour I and II books. These were the very first softcover books Forge World put out way back in 2000 and 2001.
No hardcovers yet, no Horus Heresy, and a whole, whole lot of Imperial Guard tanks. OF course Forge World cranked out some love for the other races, but this was an early awkward phase with several really odd designs, and many of these didn’t made it out of FW’s infancy.
Over the years, Forge World has had a lot of terrific units, campaign books, and rules – but there were complications. Sometimes units got redone in plastic, invalidating the older resin models – such as the Baneblade and Valkyrie. Sometimes, game systems went out of print, and the miniatures had no reason to exist, like the old EPIC Forge World range.
Behold the EPIC Manta – long forgotten.
Some were just too odd or niche and were subtly pulled from production – like the Atlas Recovery Vehicle. Even within these, some still soldier on in 10th Edition in Legends for the old-schoolers who can use them in narrative games. But some like these below are now just grimdark myths – curiosities to pull off the shelf to wow and impress the newer folks in the hobby.
The OLD Dark Eldar Air Force
Raven / Razorwing
The Raven was firmly set in the design aesthetic of the 3rd edition plastic Dark Elf range. It also has a lot of Joel Schumacher Batman thrown in.
Batwing- “Batman Forever”(1995) – Who wore it better?
Even rarer and more exotic was the twin-hulled Razorwing. These are a Dark Eldar version of the real life F-82 Twin Mustang.
The Grot Bomb Launcha
Looking for some Grot “volunteers.” Adventure seekers wanted, no experience necessary. These guys were great and led to under-wing mounted versions for the bigger Ork flyers. Ahh, an old classic “GUESS WEAPON,” but note you get to reroll the scatter due to the pilot.
Salamander Commander Vehicle
While the related Salamander Scout vehicle survives to this day, the Salamander Command tank is no more. Open-topped, and sporting only a flamer and heavy bolter to keep away plucky attackers, this tank was purchased for the boost it gave Imperial Guard reserve rolls and preliminary bombardments. It’s the 40K equivalent of Rommel’s GREIF (Griffon) command tank.
The Unremembered Eldar
Eldar Firestorm
There was a brief window in the game when AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery) vehicles started to become a thing. The Firestorm was the Eldar contender – originally hailing from EPIC. Today the Hydra and Marine AAA tanks remain (arguably the T’au Skyray) – mostly on dusty shelves. The Firestorm was an odd duck, effectively a Falcon variant. It replaced its main turret with the Firestorm Scatter Laser, but retained the 6 model transport capacity. Neat!
Eldar Type 1 Scorpion / Cobra
Some of the first Forge World Eldar “big kits” were this pair of super heavies. While these units remain in the game with minis and rules to this day, they have had 2 sets of models. These early and short-lived “Type 1” kits were withdrawn from production and completely redesigned to better fit the overall Craftworld Eldar Aesthetic. The current kits are much lower, wider and sleeker than these early versions. Every now and then you may still come across one of the “chonky” Type 1s out there in the wild, abandoned or perhaps still in use by some minor Craftworlds, or Corsairs.
Eldar Nightwing
This was the original Eldar air supremacy fighter. The Nightwing was a really innovative kit, that arrived alongside the Phoenix Bomber. It’s was fast as hell, could turn on a dime, and packed more than enough firepower to deal with other flyers (it’s whole purpose for existing). The model was classic early Forge World, resin with the clear plastic canopy like the others above. It had an internal gearing mechanism within the fuselage that let its swing-wings move in tandem – super cool! Alas, it was replaced years later in 40K by the plastic Crimson Hunter, and faded away; with a brief second life in EPIC scale in Aeronautica Imperialis. Now it flies in our memories.
~Which other units and models have been lost from that game that you miss the most?
Special Bonus… The Kroot Bird
Finally I leave you with a unit that came (and went) a little later. The Kroot Bird. This is the original creature that all Kroot evolved from, and is still found on the forests of Pech. I always considered him to be the Toucan Sam of the Grimdark. So cute.
How I miss you little guy…
