WH40K - Assemble the Away Team

I've been away from my hobby table for a while now, and will be for a few more months (hence the break in modelmaking and pictures of things that I have glued to other things.) My boss has asked why someone as nerdy as I am doesn't have some minis on my desk. So now I am wondering, is there a 'starter set' or a 'beginners pack' of WH40K, WFB or any other system, that I could buy on the internets, with figures, glue, paint, clippers etc. Or, do I have to go to some web-shop and pick it all out myself?

WH40K - B-4 M1931 203mm Howitzer model kit

Here's another model kit that would definitely look right on the WH40K battlefield. It's a 1/35 scale model by Trumpeter, of the WW2 Russian M1931 203mm Howitzer.

The tracks aren't powered, they are there to help when the gun was towed over rough, frozen ground. 203mm is about eight inches - that's a big gun, even by WW2 standards. The kit comes with the little trolley for carrying rounds, and a set of large wheels for the towing end of the gun carriage. You would have to do a little work to make it suit 28mm wargaming figures rather than 1/35 scale model figures. Also, being an accurate scale model, the parts would be a bit more fragile than the basic GW kits, when you are physically moving it to and around your games. There were several good reviews of this kit, and the price is about US $70. So, not cheap - but compares well with GW and Forgeworld.

One note of caution - in real life, this gun had a relatively small barrel - 25 calibres - so you might want to modify it for WH40K use. In my opinion the short barrel makes it look more brutal and suitable for the immediate battle, so I would keep it.

WH40K - Opportunity for rethink on Forgeworld

Late news but when I ordered the Forgeworld items I described below, I made a mistake with my credit card. FW sent a polite message letting me know, but I took the opportunity to rethink spending AUD $500 on toy tanks. Maybe when I get into playing the game more... Until then, I have cancelled the order.