Terrain
Introduction
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Stand-Alone Pieces
Stand-Alone Pieces:
Fighting Tiger Bunker #1 (“Chaos” Bunker)
Bunkers are
handy fortifications used to protect your troops. In 3rd Edition, you use
them in the Bunker Assault, Strongpoint, and Blitz
missions. You can find rules for using them on page 133 of the main rulebook:
basically, they're considered an immobile vehicle with an Armor Value of
13 on each side. Troops on the roof count as having a 4+ cover save.
My motto concerning
terrain is that terrain doesn't have to be boring, and of course this applies
to bunkers as well. I built the bunkers you see here and on
the next page using plans originally published several years ago
in White Dwarf magazine. Instead of using cardboard, like they suggested,
I used wood, because if I'm going to take the trouble to build a piece
of terrain I want it to be durable.
Bunker Specifications
Each bunker
is a cube, 3 1/2" on each side. I made the main structure of each bunker
by gluing together wooden blocks--yes, plain wooden blocks like the type
a toddler might play with (my daughter had outgrown hers). The main structure
was 3 blocks wide, 3 blocks long, and 2 blocks high. Then I glued strips
of balsa wood along the top to make a wall that would protect troops on
the roof.
I glued several
sheets of stiff cardboard together and attached them to the bottom of the
structure for a base. I painted the bunker Codex Grey, to resemble stone,
and the base Chaos Black, to look like asphalt.
Then it was
time to get creative.
The “Chaos” Bunker
I could have
just left this bunker as it was, a plain gray lump, but what fun is that?
Taking the approach that these bunkers were built by Fighting Tigers (they
were MY bunkers, after all), it seemed quite reasonable that the Tigers
might decorate them. The first bunker I have to show is one I call the
“Chaos” bunker, not because it's used by Chaos Marines, but because it's
been decorated as a monument to an episode in Fighting Tiger history.
Thousands of
years before the present time in the 40K universe, the Tigers were lured
into a trap and nearly destroyed by the Warband Bloodcomet, a Khorne army
led by Lord Baalzephon Zgorch. This
bunker, then, not only protects current Fighting Tigers, but it remembers
Fighting Tigers who fell in battle against the forces of Chaos.
Front view
To me, Chaos
Marines have a very Gothic feel to them, so in decorating the bunker, I
tried to go for a style reminiscent of Gothic cathedrals, including gargoyles,
large buttresses, and spikey bits. The firing slits are Games Workshop
slottabases, the gargoyles are devil figures taken from a non-GW fantasy
range, and the spikey bits are accessories from Space Marine and Ork vehicles.
I could have made the bunker more ornate, but I prefer pieces that are
simple and durable--I don't have a lot of free time to make extravagant
terrain.
 
Left:
The view from the front.
Right:
A
close-up of the banner hanging from the front. It reads:
In
memory of the 812 Fighting Tigers--and their founder, Maharaja Shiva Nagordarika--
who
sacrificed themselves to defeat the Chaos Warband Bloodcomet
during
the Shindering of the Templars
Above:
Close-up of a gargoyle
Side views
Cathedrals
frequently have statues, so I added some to the sides of the bunker. The
first is a statue of Maharaja Shiva Nagordarika, Founder and first Chapter
Master of the Fighting Tigers, who was mortally wounded in the initial
ambush by the Warband Bloodcomet and was later reborn as the Dreadnought
Shiva
the Destroyer.
 
Left:
Statue
of Maharaja Shiva Nagordarika, Founder of the Fighting Tigers
Right:
Close-up
of Shiva
The Shiva figure
is an out-of-production Marine commander figure from the Rogue Trader days.
I actually used this figure as my Chapter Master figure for many years.
 
Left:
Statue
of Baalzephon Zgorch, Lord of the Warband Bloodcomet
Right:
Close-up of Zgorch
A statue of
Lord
Baalzephon Zgorch, the nemesis of the Fighting Tigers, is on the
side of the bunker opposite Shiva. I modeled Zgorch's statue using a plastic
RTB01 Space Marine figure (circa 1987), adding the head from an old Grenadier
AD&D minotaur and several additional Marine arms sprouting from Zgorch's
chest and back.
Rear view
Though the
Fighting Tigers suffered terrible losses during the initial onslaught of
the Warband Bloodcomet, they ultimately prevailed. Zgorch was a true disciple
of Khorne and had no interest in holding back his forces. In pursuing the
Tigers back to Veda, the Bloodcomet overextended themselves and were annihilated
by the surviving Tigers and their allies.
The Tigers
managed to capture the Bloodcomet's battle standard, and display it as
a trophy. I made the standard out of paper, painted a fiery comet across
it, then tore some holes in it and painted on simulated dirt and grime
to make it appear properly battleworn.
 
Left:
The
tattered battle standard of the Warband Bloodcomet
Right:
Close-up;
note the symbol of Khorne in the upper right hand corner
Introduction
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Stand-Alone
Pieces
Related
Pages
Fighting
Tiger Bunker #2 (“Dark
Eldar” Bunker)
Baalzephon
Zgorch and the Warband Bloodcomet
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© Copyright Kenton
Kilgore, November 2000
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