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A plastic manta? Does your GW friend even know what it is or how BIG it is? Seriously, build one and it can double as your living room coffee table. No, the day GW makes a plastic manta, game tables will be 20'x20'. More likely plastic Orcas if anything large and tau were ever done in plastic.

Actually, a Manta-Like flyer for the Tau would not be too farfetched considering that the rumor mill around the new Tau codex mentions something similar. The Tau rumors did state that it would be something new though, as opposed to a FW resin to plastic conversion.

The Manta has a 34 inch wingspan! Given that the size of a plastic Thunderhawk and the casting resources it would consume is one of the supposed reasons why that kit hasn't materialized, a Manta is unlikely given what it would cost to even package or ship it. And how many people would shell out massive dollars for a model they don't even have room to store? Most private game tables aren't big enough to allow for it and anything else on the table. If people are going to make a wish-list for a Tau flier first mainstream GW kit can we at least try to be a bit realistic? A Barracuda or even a Tiger Shark would be a little more likely one would think. For the moment at least GW is still trying to respect the $100 price mark and not go beyond it for model kits, even the Apocalypse sized ones. Let's hope it stays that way a little while longer.

Howard A Treesong wrote:Thunderhawk would be great but it always sounds like wishlisting sadly.

I don't know about that anymore. The major hurdles for it have been overcome, for the most part, and the TH molds from Forge World are getting old enough that likely they'll be retired soon.

Johira wrote:
I believe the rumours I've heard about flyers this summer. While it would be nice to see a plastic manta, I think I'd need a mortgage before its feasible to me (both in the sense that I need that much money to pay for it, and in the sense that it makes little sense to own a model that large and (likely) fragile when I'm renting and moving every couple years.) A plastic thunderhawk would probably be a no-brainer. Personally I'd rather have plastic Tallarns, but whadduyagonnado?

Likely realize that plastic Tallarns are waaaaaaaaaaay back on the burner compared to revamping Catachan models to be more in line with the Command/Heavy Weapon teams, convert hybrid metal/plastic kits to pure plastic, etc etc.

Plus, they'd likely be(if ever) done in conjunction with an Imperial Guard Codex redo. This "plastic flyer" rumor ties in with whisperings of a set of rules for using dedicated flyers in standard games of 40k.

BrookM wrote:

NoBaconz4You wrote:and this guy came from another store.

Aha, the plot thickens.

Ehhhh. Not so much. GW (according to whisperings I've heard) has started up a policy that they use for the UK's smaller shops to bring in management staff from the more "crowded" stores or mail order/studiomonkeys to help staff for the holiday rush.

If they can do a Stompa, they can do a Titan.

Meh it sounds like wishlisting, but sometimes, it's nice to kick around a few good ideas anyhow.

I wanna see something titan-y, I'm sick of tanks, bring on the flyers and mega-walkers!

The funny thing is a week or two ago my friend showed me a pic from a White Dwarf mag (I'll find out what issue and provide the pic) and it had a Tau Barracuda in one of the battle pictures and it looked plastic, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that when I update again.

-Pat

Barracuda is high up on the possible plastic flyer list.

BrassScorpion wrote:Given that the size of a plastic Thunderhawk and the casting resources it would consume is one of the supposed reasons why that kit hasn't materialized, a Manta is unlikely given what it would cost to even package or ship it.

A while ago I heard a rumour that when Forgeworld was looking at making their Manta, they checked out a combination of plastic and resin in order to gain strength. But that they couldn't follow through because they didn't have the capability to mold the large sheets of plastic needed to make the manta wings without experiencing unacceptable warpage. No idea if it's true or not, but one of my first ever model kits as a kid was a plastic space shuttle with like a 2 ft. long fuel tank made of two halves and I still remember how hard it was to get those both sides to line up.

Kanluwen wrote:Likely realize that plastic Tallarns are waaaaaaaaaaay back on the burner compared to revamping Catachan models to be more in line with the Command/Heavy Weapon teams, convert hybrid metal/plastic kits to pure plastic, etc etc.

Yes, Kan. That was the joke.

I would rather see kits for the all the HQ choices for 40K and Warhammer plastic Autarchs and Ork Warboss and Wierd boy would b top of my list followed by a Chaos Lord for Warhammer, I know its possible to make these from kits already and I do when the whim takes me but a dedicated kit would be a great asset.
As far as Thunder Hawks etc go I really don't have the space to use them in a game or store them in my cabinets.

Apostle Pat wrote:The funny thing is a week or two ago my friend showed me a pic from a White Dwarf mag (I'll find out what issue and provide the pic) and it had a Tau Barracuda in one of the battle pictures and it looked plastic, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that when I update again.

If it was a picture then how on earth can what it was made of?! When painted they'd look identical

Plastic Warhounds I can definitely see in the near future, really it's a surprise the Stompa came first.
Plastic Thunderhawks I think are a possibility, I'd really like to see it happen
Plastic Manta's are just flat out crazy!

I heard it was a plastic orca type craft not mata for the tau.

Reecius wrote:@NVS
Hav efun playing 40K with that Gundamn model! I know what you mean though.

@OP
Yeah that all sounds plausible to me, although the Manta is a bit of a stretch, I have seen that thing in real life and it is absurdly big. Perhaps an Orca or Baracuda? But I don't know, perhaps a Manta is in the works!

Don't mind the nay sayers. A bunch of dudes on the net with no more insight than anyone else, just bigger egos and opinions. It makes perfect sense for GW to release bigger models, it is the natural progression of the game. Bigger models, more models, bigger games=more sales to new and existing customers. It is perfectly logical.

Thanks for the yummy rumor stew!

Generally if you want bigger games you used to be able to play epic/warmaster but now GW dont push it as it wasn't a good enough profit maker

Gorechild wrote:

Apostle Pat wrote:The funny thing is a week or two ago my friend showed me a pic from a White Dwarf mag (I'll find out what issue and provide the pic) and it had a Tau Barracuda in one of the battle pictures and it looked plastic, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that when I update again.

If it was a picture then how on earth can you tell what it was made of?! When painted they'd look identical

That's not entirely true. Some of the lines get lost/altered in the translation from resin to plastic, things get moved around, etc.

Or in the case of the Baneblades, they get entirely reworked

Apostle Pat wrote:The funny thing is a week or two ago my friend showed me a pic from a White Dwarf mag (I'll find out what issue and provide the pic) and it had a Tau Barracuda in one of the battle pictures and it looked plastic, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that when I update again.

-Pat

WD december 2010 page 7 maybe?
Tau vs Ultramarines ( FW written all over it ).
Would be funny to find out the T-hawk and Tau whatshisname are NOT FW as these seem to be the only 2 FW products on that pic ( except the suit maybe ).

If big tau stuff is to ever get to plastics my money's on the orca. It's vaguely thunderhawkish too.

The Orca, would not sell well with it's current rules. The baracuda or tiger shark would better alteratives for Tau. Or perhaps something totally new, such a transport with some sort of main fire power, like a hammerhead with transport capacity. Maybe the Drone Harbinger.... from the DOW games.

Who knows how the rules may change until then.
As for the harbinger it's just a standard tau chassis with a fat and boxy ass, not very fitting with their esthetic at all.

The orca fits in the same role as the thunderhawk, but it's not nearly as fun. The thunderhawk has a battle cannon and heavy bolters all over the place, in addition to its troop transport capabilities. The orca has... ?? It's kinda a suppository-shaped flying school bus. I'd rather a barracuda or an entirely new vehicle with a bit more jazz.

The FW Orca model has a better "toy factor" than the other models. The top is removable so that you can look inside and even place models there and the turret on the bottom is retractable! It's fun to play with, literally, in a way the other models are not. Unfortunately, without hands-on examination those features are not obvious when browsing the catalogue.

JOHIRA wrote:The orca fits in the same role as the thunderhawk, but it's not nearly as fun. The thunderhawk has a battle cannon and heavy bolters all over the place, in addition to its troop transport capabilities. The orca has... ?? It's kinda a suppository-shaped flying school bus. I'd rather a barracuda or an entirely new vehicle with a bit more jazz.

The Orca/Thunderhawk thing is untrue.

The Orca and Thunderhawk don't "fit the same role". Thunderhawks are designed to provide air cover after disgorging their cargo and deal with threats that the Astartes on the ground aren't equipped to handle.
Orcas are just designed to ferry troops into battle, and have very minimal armament(twin-linked burst cannons in a pop-down turret ala the Millenium Falcon, if I remember right) due to that but they do pack some seriously heavy armor plating.

But yes. An Orca is quite unlikely. A larger Devilfish-esque vehicle that's heavily armed is more likely to be the "big" Tau vehicle equivalent to a Valkyrie/Vendetta.

And the Barracuda is pretty likely for the flyer expansion(if it's real), as it's around the same size as a Thunderbolt or Lightning.

Kanluwen wrote:

JOHIRA wrote:The orca fits in the same role as the thunderhawk, but it's not nearly as fun. The thunderhawk has a battle cannon and heavy bolters all over the place, in addition to its troop transport capabilities. The orca has... ?? It's kinda a suppository-shaped flying school bus. I'd rather a barracuda or an entirely new vehicle with a bit more jazz.

The Orca/Thunderhawk thing is untrue.

The Orca and Thunderhawk don't "fit the same role". Thunderhawks are designed to provide air cover after disgorging their cargo and deal with threats that the Astartes on the ground aren't equipped to handle.
Orcas are just designed to ferry troops into battle, and have very minimal armament(twin-linked burst cannons in a pop-down turret ala the Millenium Falcon, if I remember right) due to that but they do pack some seriously heavy armor plating.

But yes. An Orca is quite unlikely. A larger Devilfish-esque vehicle that's heavily armed is more likely to be the "big" Tau vehicle equivalent to a Valkyrie/Vendetta.

And the Barracuda is pretty likely for the flyer expansion(if it's real), as it's around the same size as a Thunderbolt or Lightning.

Pretty sure it's a TL Burst Cannon and a Missle pod, but 14 AV. Book is at home though. Still a Crisis Suit can match that fire power.

Acardia wrote:
Pretty sure it's a TL Burst Cannon and a Missle pod, but 14 AV. Book is at home though. Still a Crisis Suit can match that fire power.

Unless it's been changed from IA3 significantly, it'd be AV11 for front+side, 10 for rear and has twin-linked "long barreled burst cannons" and a missile pod(I knew just the single burst cannon sounded a smidge weird).

But given that it's also a "super-heavy flyer" that has such crummy armament(who wants something that can't fight well for a large point cost?), I wouldn't really expect it to be put into plastic.

I have to agree - it just doesn't pass the 'sexy enough' test.

It would have to be modified and up-gunned or else I can't see it generating many sales, except maybe as a nice scenery piece crashed Xenos vehicle.

But not at the prices GW will charge!

If a plastic warhound ever came out I would probably buy like 5 of them lol.

I would too...

...IF it is the far superior MARS pattern version.

Which, given the awesome, cool rounded shape will... probably not be the case!

NoBaconz4You wrote:

BrookM wrote:

NoBaconz4You wrote:and this guy came from another store.

Aha, the plot thickens.

See what I mean by the nazi thing lol. Honestly I am not lying, i have no reason to lie either, just telling you what I was told...

I dont doubt he said that. It doesn't make it less true or false. I had a red shirt at one of the 1 man stores tell everyone that Jan was going to be GK.

What someone told me a while back re: plastic Thunderhawks is that the issue with the big kits -- especially a TH -- is that they suck up all their available plastics production. So they have to have a good-sized "hole" in their production schedule, because they can't produce much else while a big kit is being run. Obviously that could require quite a bit of juggling on GW's part.

I also had the impression back then -- although I was not specifically told this -- that the TH was already designed. Perhaps only as CAD drawings, etc. but designed nonetheless.

I'm waiting but not holding my breath for a plastic warhound. These big model rumors come up all the time, I'll believe em when I see the models...