Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

What do we know about them? Size Lifespan? etc?

I think theyre a little bigger and tougher than Spehss Mahreens. Its been said that one on one a Thunder Warrior could take out an Astartes. But they were bred to be a little out of control but subservient, and to "expire" when Big E no longer needed them.

I havent read The Outcast Dead yet but I believe there is TW in it that got around the expiration date. That book may have more info.

This.

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Thunder_Warriors

GW produced a mini as part of the "Armour Through the Ages" set here - guy on the left:

...Is the thunder warrior's gun a plasma rifle?

God I am happy I entered 40k when I did, those minis look AWFUL

 Galdos wrote:
God I am happy I entered 40k when I did, those minis look AWFUL

There is something drawing about them. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I still have a special place in my heart for how over the top they were.

 Galdos wrote:
God I am happy I entered 40k when I did, those minis look AWFUL

It doesn't look like the backpack has changed though...

Tiger9gamer wrote:...Is the thunder warrior's gun a plasma rifle?

I would think it is a boltgun, but ... you have a point, the topside makes it look like some weird hybrid.
Perhaps it is just the paintjob and it's actually supposed to be a "blast compensator" like the one shown in this cross-section, just larger / more visible.

Never actually noticed this until now. Good eyes, sir.

 snooggums wrote:

 Galdos wrote:
God I am happy I entered 40k when I did, those minis look AWFUL

It doesn't look like the backpack has changed though...

GW didn't release them with the old backpacks, they just included four modern designs.

 Lynata wrote:

Tiger9gamer wrote:...Is the thunder warrior's gun a plasma rifle?

I would think it is a boltgun, but ... you have a point, the topside makes it look like some weird hybrid.
Perhaps it is just the paintjob and it's actually supposed to be a "blast compensator" like the one shown in this cross-section, just larger / more visible.

Never actually noticed this until now. Good eyes, sir.

Why thank you maybe it's a weird combi-plasma, like you turn the bolter around to shoot out the back.

 Tiger9gamer wrote:
...Is the thunder warrior's gun a plasma rifle?

I think it's a combi-weapon.

Also potentially GW's version of a Volkite weapon: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Volkite_Weapon#.ULb8iqxJNq9

Anyway, this goes over the Thunder Warriors the best without putting in fanfiction (a common problem on 40k wiki if you want to reference things, their articles make for more entertaining reads though).

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Thunder_warriors#.ULb8uKxJNq8

In Answer to OP orignial Q, in the FW HH book in the section about the World eaters and some of the battles they fought before the HH when they were the warhounds.

The Big E sent them to quell a rebillion of thunder warriors and it states that for every corpse of a Thunder there was several astartes, which in my opinion makes them stronger and tougher than marines, as it seems the only way to take them down is to swarm them with more numbers of blood mad manics than they can handle.

in the outcast dead the thunder warrior in there was after geneseed which he thinks can help him, so that makes me think they had a expriy date genecoded in to them.

I'm sure it's no accident Bligh mentioned the Thunder Warriors in that instance. It's rife with ambiguity. Even in those days, the War Hounds were recklessly aggressive. Also, the War Hounds had been held in reserve for some time before that incident and were chomping at the bit for combat. When you consider those factors, the matter isn't really great evidence that a Thunder Warrior is one-for-one tougher than a Space Marine.