Forgeworld Defence Line

This is the biggest Forgeworld scenery undertaking to date and a frustrating tale of working with old resin.

At least part of what you see here is genuine Forgeworld original. It even came in the original Games Workshop box.

Of the rest, it is hard to tell whether some is recast. Part of the problem in that is even with the original stuff there seemed to be a speed rather than precision approach to the belt sander work on the bases.

That means that a lot of these pieces needed work to get the sections to sit level and square with one another and form up the defence line without gaps between the sections.

None of the emplacement sections came with turrets. I opted for Forgeworld Modified Ryza Pattern Turrets with Battle Cannons which I think are a good choice for these.

Decals are thanks to the awesome Mighty Brush. I used a lot, including some very old Games Workshop graffiti from the original Rhino model, because there are a lot of large flat surfaces and the decals help break that up.

In the catalogues, Forgeworld originally offered two sets. The Imperial defense line set forms a defendable perimeter for Imperial forces to take cover behind against a hostile force:

Defense Line Set 2 consists of Defence Line Turret Emplacement (x1), Defence Line Straights (x2), Defence Line Ends (x2), Defence Line Destroyed (x1) and Defence Line Repaired (x1). The set reaches 33inches (830mm) in length and requires a Leman Russ turret to complete as shown.

Defence Line Set 2 (Product Code FWK007) was originally £45.

Defence Line Set 1 is made up of 4x straights, 2x inside corners, 2x outside corner and 1 gun position the set can be put together in many different configurations to give 4 feet (1.2m) of defences.

Defence Line Set 1 (Product Code FWK005) was originally £45.

Master Models by Simon Harris.

I ended up with 26 defence line sections and as there wasn’t a huge amount of variation in the original models I ended up adding to many of the sections.

Extra sandbags, skulls, bits of other scenery and Imperial Guard accessories. Nothing that couldn’t be removed later on.

On balance I think I have two Defence Line 1 Sets and one and a half Defence Line 2 Sets.

Frustratingly I have none of the right angled Defence Line Ends from the Set 2 which means I am missing all four. Would really like to track some of those down at some point.