A Short History of the 40K Land Speeder

Land Speeders. I suppose most people now saw the leaked White Dwarf Dark Angels pictures. Lots of interesting things to start the Hobby Year 2013. One of the most controversial is clearly the new Ravenwing Land Speeder Vengeance. For me, it is as good an opportunity as any for a trip down memory lane. A short history of the 40K Land Speeder!

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#1987 – A ‘Eavy Metal Taste of Things to Come

We start with White Dwarf No. 95. It is November 1987. The world’s reeling from the Black Monday stock market crash and the pilot for Star Trek TNG premiered a few weeks ago.

There’s no real Land Speeder model yet. But, as was custom these days, the White Dwarf featured a nifty ‘Eavy Metal article to make yourself some cool sci-fi vehicles to go with your Space Marine miniatures. This issue featured the Space Marines ‘Grav-Attack Vehicle’ made from a deo-stick. Literally! Building it is the content of the WD hobby article.

It is not truly a Land Speeder, yet. But it is bloody cool.

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#1988 – Warhammer’s First Land Speeder Arrives!

The first “real” Land Speeder also arrives in 1988 (pic below is from a 1992 White Dwarf). George H. W. Bush is elected U.S. president and the Soviet Union is still kicking.

The original Land Speeder was available to both Space Marines and Imperial Guard. The lack of – um – any sort of front or protection probably still made flying one while wearing Power Armour the wiser choice by far.

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#1993 – Warhammer 40K Second Edition

Late in 1993, the infamous second edition of Warhammer 40K was released. The “Rogue Trader” days were officially at an end. The 40K background we know today was starting to fall into place. Outside gaming, it’s mainly Whitney Houston and Black Hawk Down!

While the first metal Land Speeder didn’t stay around for long, this slightly beefier version became the standard for many years of 40K gaming. Though the Imperial Guard lost access to the speeder, it appeared in the 1994 Ultramarines Codex and the later 1995 Angels of Death Codex (naughty Dark Angels, always nicking other Chapters’ toys).

April 1996 sees the release of the Ravenwing Land Speeder.

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#1998 – Plastic Land Speeder

In November 1998, the humble Land Speeder is one of Games Workshop’s first models to move to plastic, just a month after Tactical Space Marines. France had won the FIFA World Cup in the summer and a little company named Google was founded a month before.

Plastic brings many advantages. Games Workshop used them to roll out a few variants of the Space Marines Land Speeder.

• March 1999 – Land Speeder Tornado (and Earth is first orbited in a hot-air-ballon)
• June 1999 – Master of the Ravenwing hybrid-kit (Scotland gets a Parliament)
• October 1999 – Land Speeder Typhoon is released (and not much else happens)

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#2009 – A Land Speeder for Scouts

10 years of silence.. at least as far as Land Speeders go. Fast forward to Warhammer 40K 5th Edition. July 2009. Planetstrike is released and the Land Speeder family adds a Space Marine Scout Transport to its ranks. Also, Michael Jackson is no longer with us!

The Land Speeder Storm is an awesome and popular kit. It is certainly proof that there is still life in the Land Speeder concept.

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#2013 – Ravenwing Land Speeder Vengeance

If you read this post, it means blogging is still possible on the new cycle of the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar.

We will celebrate the new 40K year with the Ravenwing’s Land Speeder Vengeance!

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Which Land Speeder design is your favourite? Which one the least favourite?

I’d love to hear your “Land Speeder-opinions”. Leave a comment!

Z.