Vehicles of the Imperial Guard (Warhammer 40,000)

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The Imperial Guard, while lacking the more advanced vehicles available to elite branches of the Imperium, such as the Inquisition, do sport the largest selection of ordnance and armoured fighting vehicles in the game setting.

Stylistically, the Chimera and Leman Russ tracked vehicles resemble tanks in World War I and the interwar period. They have exposed treads, no apparent suspension system, and numerous independent weapons mounted in a mix of gun turrets and sponsons. However, they are both equipped with an auspex (a radar-like device). The Baneblade possesses a more modern design, with a chassis similar to those of modern main battle tanks. However, it retains anachronisms such as sponsons and a WW2-era turret design. The Baneblade is also equipped with an auspex. Several modelers have made their own variants, however, to incorporate suspension systems and remove the archaic weapons fixations.

The tanks of the Imperial Guard are supported by an array of artillery, ranging from mortars to multiple rocket launchers.

Contents 1 Armoured Fighting Vehicles 1.1 Basilisk 1.2 Bombard 1.3 Centaur 1.4 Chimera 1.5 Cyclops 1.6 Deathstrike Missile Launcher 1.7 Griffon 1.8 Hellhound 1.9 Hydra 1.10 Land Crawler 1.11 Leman Russ 1.12 Manticore 1.13 Medusa 1.14 Ragnarok 1.15 Salamander 1.16 Sentinel 1.17 Trojan 2 Super heavy vehicles 2.1 Baneblade 2.1.1 Baneblade Variants 2.2 Shadowsword 2.3 Stormsword 2.4 Stormblade 2.5 Stormhammer 2.6 Gorgon 2.7 Leviathan 3 Miscellaneous Vehicles 3.1 Burrowers 3.1.1 Termite 3.1.2 Mole 3.1.3 Hellbore 4 Bibliography 5 References 6 See also

[edit] Armoured Fighting Vehicles

[edit] Basilisk

The Basilisk, as seen in Dawn of War: Winter Assault.

The Basilisk is one of the artillery tanks commonly used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It is similar in appearance to real-life self-propelled howitzers, being essentially an artillery piece mounted on a stripped-down chassis of another Imperial Guard vehicle, the Chimera transport. The Basilisk mounts one of the longest-ranged weapons in the entire game, the 'Earthshaker' artillery gun. Basilisks utilise the standard Chimera chassis but replace the passenger compartment and turret with the Earthshaker, leaving it with the hull-mounted heavy bolter weapon and driver's compartment.

In-game, the Basilisk's Earthshaker gun normally is fired like any other ordnance weapon, directly pointing and shooting at a target just like any self-propelled artillery gun. However, the weapon can be adjusted to fire indirectly in a way similar to how artillery guns such as howitzers are used. In-game, this is represented by the adjusted Earthshaker using the special barrage rules for firing artillery.^[1]

In the fiction, the shells are renowned for the powerful shrieking they make during flight, the mere sound of which is often enough to break enemy morale. Additionally, it is also mentioned that Earthshaker crews tend to go deaf. Unlike the other artillery units in the Imperial guard, such as the Bombard, Griffon, and Manticore, the Basilisk is capable of direct as well as indirect fire, giving it a limited ability to defend itself from enemy vehicles and infantry. Consequently, Basilisks are often placed at the front of an artillery detachment.

Outside of the tabletop miniature games, the Basilisk has appeared in at least two computer games based on the Warhammer 40,000 franchise. The first one, Final Liberation, had the player use squadrons of Basilisks as artillery pieces.^[2] In the computer game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, the Basilisk is one of the tanks available to the Imperial Guard faction, introduced in the expansion Winter Assault.^[3]

[edit] Bombard

The Bombard mounts a Siege Mortar on a Chimera chassis. Despite its comparatively short range (as an artillery piece), it is one of the most powerful artillery pieces in the Imperial Guard. This is represented in Epic game rules by the Bombard ignoring cover when being used against fortified troops. Early Epic scale models and the Forge World model are based on the Leman Russ chassis.

Its use is rather limited, however, due its short range and lack of direct fire capability; it is primarily used on fortresses after the fortress's occupants are forced inside their walls.

The inspiration for the Bombard may have come from the WWII German Mörser Karl self propelled gun.

[edit] Centaur

The Centaur is a light vehicle used to transport men and ammunition or tow light artillery pieces. It is lightly armed with only a single Heavy Stubber, but tends to carry weapons teams and heavy mortars. Although not suited for heavy combat, it is popular with the Death Korps of Krieg.

The Centaur is based heavily on the real-life Bren Gun Carriers of World War II.

[edit] Chimera

The Chimera is the standard armoured personnel carrier of the Imperial Guard. It can carry a variety of heavy weapons in its turret, such as heavy bolters, heavy flamers and multilasers as described in the third edition (second release) of the Imperial Guard codex. Other weapons, such as autocannons can be mounted using special rules and conversion kits released by Forge World. The Chimera also mounts a hull-mounted heavy bolter or heavy flamer. The vehicle also has six hull-mounted lasguns on the sides which can be fired from the passenger compartment, making it akin to a modern infantry fighting vehicle. As an apc, the vehicle is capable of carrying up to twelve miniatures, although in-game some miniatures such as Space Marine Terminators take up double the space of a typical model. The Chimera has amphibious capabilities, allowing it to take part in naval assaults.^[1]

There are three specific close variants of the Chimera named; the Chimedon, Chimerax and Chimerro. The Chimedon replaces the gun turret weapon with a battle-cannon, while the Chimerax has four linked autocannons in the turret. The Chimerro is the standard pattern Chimera with a 'Hunter-Killer' missile mounted on the turret in addition to the multilaser.

The Chimera chassis is the basis for many other Imperial vehicles.

[edit] Cyclops

The Cyclops is a remote controlled, tracked, explosive demolition vehicle. Just small enough to fit within the passenger space of a standard Chimera along with its controller, the Cyclops is intended to roll off its parent vehicle and be steered remotely towards its target, at which point it is detonated with devastating force. The Cyclops is most probably inspired by the German Goliath tracked mine of the Second World War.

[edit] Deathstrike Missile Launcher

An Intercontinental-range support weapon, the Deathstrike is no more than a chassis to carry a single ICBM-class Deathstrike missile, for which the launcher is named. The Deathstrike Missile can generally be fired only once during a game, and is only seen in the Epic large-scale battles game.

[edit] Griffon

The Griffon is another example of Imperial Guard self-propelled artillery. It carries a Heavy Mortar mounted in place of the passenger compartment on a Chimera chassis. It is shorter ranged and cheaper to field than other Imperial Guard artillery vehicles like the Basilisk or the Manticore.

Griffons were introduced in White Dwarf 189 in 1995.^[4][5] They were present in the standard Imperial Guard army from the second edition of Warhammer 40,000 all the way to the third edition of the game.^[6] In the second version of the Imperial Guard codex released for the third edition of Warhammer 40,000, a few vehicles along with the Griffon were taken out of the codex.^[1] The original models are still available and Forge World supplies an alternative design.

[edit] Hellhound

The Hellhound, based upon the Chimera chassis, is a flame tank. Its main weapon is the Inferno Cannon (in earlier versions called the "Dragon fire Thrower") which is a large flamethrower which projects streams of burning promethium at range, making the Hellhound well-suited to close-range support (such as countering enemy melee units that attempt to assault Imperial armour) and driving dug-in enemies out of cover. It is also armed with a Hull-mounted Heavy Bolter

The promethium storage is in the form of two large tanks, replacing the passenger area at the vehicle's rear. This makes the tanks, and the vehicle itself, vulnerable to enemy weapons. In the game's fluff, the crews of Hellhounds are often pyromaniacs, and in addition to being considered insane by other Guardsmen for their willingness to operate such a dangerous vehicle are often found modifying the components of their Inferno Cannons to produce even greater output.

Some Alternate versions of hell hound incorporate a more thicker turret, as well as a large gas chamber on the back. these where releases early 2006 by forge world.

[edit] Hydra

Also based on the Imperial Guard Chimera, the Hydra is a self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon, its four long-barreled flak autocannons mounted on a turret that operates automatically. Games Workshop has released official rules for the Hydra for use only in Epic, though Forge World has released conceptual rules that can be used in the main Warhammer 40,000 game, as well as several models.

The Hydra was probably based on the World War 2 German Wirbelwind self-propelled antiaircraft gun. However, the tracking system and turret layout are reminiscent of the German Gepard SPAAG.

[edit] Land Crawler

The Land Crawler is the STC design for a tractor or bulldozer, an all-purpose labor and utility vehicle used for a variety of tasks. In the fiction, it is often said to be the most important discovery made by Arkhan Land, more so that the military-purpose Land Speeder and Land Raider designs. Due to its ubiquity, it has been found modified for military use, as needs dictate.

Variants

• Bruennhilde

The Bruennhilde is a light APC variant armed only with a single heavy stubber. As it's not very good on the front line, it is usually only used by Planetary Defense Forces.

• Siegfried

The Siegfried is a scout tank developed during the 500-year civil war on Krieg as a replacement for lost Sentinels, and is still found in Siege regiments. Like the Sentinel, it is armed primarily with a Multilaser.

[edit] Leman Russ

Main article: Leman Russ

The Leman Russ Battle Tank, named after Primarch Leman Russ of the Space Wolves, is the main battle tank of the Imperial Guard. The standard armament is a Battle Cannon mounted in the turret and heavy weapons (usually Heavy Bolters) in side sponsons and glacis plate mounting.

It is by far the most common battle tank in the Imperial arsenal, and many variants have been built on the original design. Based on the scaling of the vehicle the tank is rather small, and reflected in published materials describing the inside as uncomfortable, cramped and loud.

Design-wise, the Leman Russ contains several features from WW1 and inter-war tank design, such as gun sponsons, a rhomboid side profile and wrap-around tracks.

Variants

• Demolisher

The common Demolisher variant mounts the heavy but short-ranged "Demolisher cannon". It is often used in city fighting or line breaching where its powerful cannon can be used to best effect.

• Vanquisher

The rare Vanquisher variant mounts a high-calibre long-range battle cannon and is used for long-ranged anti-vehicle support.

• Conqueror

The Conqueror mounts a stub-barreled low-calibre battle cannon that can be fired with greater accuracy when on the move. This allows the tank to be used in an assault and infantry support capacity.

• Exterminator

The Exterminator variant carries a pair of linked autocannons in its turret, and heavy bolters in its sponsons. The Exterminator is best suited to anti-infantry work, and has limited anti-air capabilities as well, while it is also faster than the standard

• Executioner

This tank replaces the standard battlecannon with a plasma destroyer. This is an extraordinarily powerful but temperamental plasma-based weapon which is prone to breakdowns and explosion.

• Mars/Alpha pattern

Mars/Alpha pattern Leman Russ tanks feature an increased interior capacity; for this reason, they are favoured as command tanks.

[edit] Manticore

The Manticore is an example of rocket artillery; a Chimera chassis carrying four powerful Storm Eagle missiles. A variety of warheads are often used for a wider range of effects. Its rate of fire is half that of a Basilisk and it does not have the direct-fire capability but a single barrage from a Manticore is twice as powerful and it has a bit more range. It can also be used as a self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon, firing anti-aircraft missiles.

The Manticore may have been based on the design of the Cold War-Era German Wiesel 2 LeFlaSys Launcher

[edit] Medusa

The Medusa is a self-propelled gun like the Basilisk and also built on the Chimera chassis, but with a larger-bore and shorter-barrelled gun. Functioning as an assault gun rather than long-range artillery, it is also commonly deployed in sieges.

The Medusae (there are models for several patterns) bears a strong resemblance to the World War 2-era Soviet SU-14 self-propelled gun.

The Armaggedon Pattern Medusa bears a strong resemblance to the German World War 2 SdKfz 138/1 Grille I/II with the armoured Gun Encasment.

[edit] Ragnarok

In the game's storyline, like the Siegfried, the Ragnarok heavy tank was developed in the Krieg Rebellion out of necessity. It was designed solely to crush the enemy through the sheer weight of numbers. Simpler and more lightly armed than the Leman Russ, the Ragnarok is armed only with a battlecannon and a pair of heavy stubbers. It is still often used by Siege Regiments such as the Baran Siegemasters, who refer to it as the "Mk. I Mobile Bunker", or the Vostroyan siege administrate.

The Epic 40k Ragnarok looks to have been based on the Russian World War 2 KV-2.

[edit] Salamander

Also based on the Chimera chassis, the Salamander is an open-topped, lightly armored scout vehicle armed with a single autocannon. A command variant of the Salamander is armed with a heavy flamer. Due to the dangerous nature of the mission salamander crews must undertake, the vehicle is significantly faster than most Guard vehicles.

[edit] Sentinel

A lightweight walker, Sentinels are often fielded in squadrons as scouts or flank support. They can carry a variety of heavy weapons and bring high levels of power and maneuverability together in one place. They are lightly armoured however, and are susceptible to small arms fire. Sentinel pilots are often loners and outcasts, and are often considered to be on the borderline of insolence by officers.

There are multiple Sentinel variants, each variant a different combination of primary weapon and level of pilot protection. The most commonly used variants are:

• Mars pattern - multilaser, effective against infantry and lightly armoured vehicles.
• Cadian pattern - autocannon, effective against heavy infantry and armoured vehicles.
• Elysian pattern - multi-melta (effective against all vehicles) or a heavy bolter for use against infantry. It has been modified to fit inside a Valkyrie and is fitted with anti-grav chutes, so it can be "parachuted" into combat alongside troops.
• Catachan pattern - heavy flamer and chainsaw for use in jungles both being effective for clearing a path as well as against troops. They are also generally camouflaged.
• Armageddon pattern - lascannon, an effective anti-tank weapon. The pilot area is also, more often than not, fully enclosed with armour.
• Tallarn pattern - multilaser. It has larger feet for better balance on the loose sand of the regions it is used in

On top of these there are Support Sentinels armed with rocket and missile launchers but these are rare. Sentinels are also the base for many service vehicles, often equipped with "power lifters" to transport supplies and for resupplying other vehicles. Powerlifters are not intended for combat use but they can be used as improvised close combat weapons.

[edit] Trojan

The Trojan is very rarely seen in the game, as it is a support vehicle, serving behind the lines to reload heavier tanks and tow fixed gun emplacements. It is a Forge World model covered by the Imperial Armour rules

[edit] Super heavy vehicles

[edit] Baneblade

The Baneblade Super Heavy Tank is the primary super-heavy tank of the Imperial Guard, and one of the largest and oldest armoured fighting vehicles in Imperial service. The Baneblade is a venerated STC design, requiring a crew of no less than 10 and armed by default with a Mega Battle cannon, Co-axial mounted autocannon, Demolisher cannon, twin-linked lascannons and three twin-linked heavy bolters.

The vast majority are produced on Mars in the storyline, with a select few other Forge Worlds granted the right to build it or one of its variants. Every Baneblade bears its own identity number and name, echoed in real-life by Forge World including individually-numbered certificates with every Baneblade resin kit[1].

The Baneblade is so powerful, that in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Winter Assault, the Baneblade is the Imperial Guard's Superweapon, requiring considerable resources and preconditions to be fielded.

In 2003, Games Workshop commissioned a 1/6-scale radio-controlled model of the Baneblade to be built, from Mark 1 Tanks. This was delivered in July 2004 and was shown at a Games Workshop Day at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham. [2]

For the purpose of illustrating the vehicle's size, a table detailing several measurements is provided below. Please note that some of the given values are approximate, and the Challenger 2 entry is intended for comparison against a modern main battle tank.

	Length	Width	Height	Weight
Model	6 ft	4 ft 10 in	3 ft	317 kg (700 lb) minimum
Model (At 1:1 scale)	36 ft (11 m)	29 ft (8.8 m)	18 ft (5.5 m)
Official specifications	13.5 m	8.4 m	6.3 m	316 tonnes
Challenger 2	8.3 m	3.5 m	2.5 m	62.5 tonnes

[edit] Baneblade Variants

There are a number of variants on the Baneblade for different battlefield roles. The major change is in the main weapon(s); for some the turret is replaced by a fixed-forward housing, in order to accommodate some huge weapon.

[edit] Shadowsword

Weaponry: Volcano Cannon, two sponson-mounted, twin-linked heavy bolters.

Role: Tank destroyer-style Titan-hunter

Details: The massive size and energy requirements of the Volcano Cannon preclude the Shadowsword from mounting any other significant weapon. Unlike the Baneblade which fulfills a general purpose on the battlefield, Shadowswords are used in a specialized role with their main armament best being used against war engines and titans.

[edit] Stormsword

Weaponry: Fixed superstructure Siege Cannon, four turreted heavy flamers, four sponson-mounted heavy bolters, one housing-mounted heavy bolter.

Role: Urban warfare specialist tank, with assault gun capability

Details: A reconfiguration of the Shadowsword, designed for and only deployed in urban environments.

[edit] Stormblade

Weaponry: Plasma Blastgun, two turreted lascannons, four sponson-mounted heavy bolters, one housing-mounted heavy bolter.

Role: Tank destroyer-style Titan-hunter

Details: One of the many 'counterfeit' Shadowsword variants, all of them replacing the Volcano Cannon with some other Scout Titan weapon. Though less powerful and having a shorter range, the Plasma Blastgun is cheaper and consumes less energy than the Volcano Cannon, making the Stormblade more easily produced.

[edit] Stormhammer

Weaponry: Twin turrets with two Battle Cannons each and no Demolisher Cannon OR Single turret with two Battle Cannons and Demolisher Cannons, eight sponson-mounted heavy bolters, and sometimes four turreted lascannons.

Role: Extreme firepower

Details: The reason for the odd weaponry loadout listed above is due to the fact that it varies depending on what source material is being referred to. That being said, the Stormhammer is perhaps the rarest of all Baneblade variants both in the in-game universe and real-life. It was initially described as an urban combat vehicle with equal armour all-round, and bears at least some superficial resemblance to interwar tank designs with multiple turreted weapons such as the Soviet T-35, T-100, T-28, the German Neubaufahrzeug, and the UK A9/Cruiser Mk I or the Vickers A1E1 Independent Tanks. The two-gunned single turret configuration is also somewhat reminiscent to the Mammoth Tank of the Command & Conquer series. Unlike the others, this is the only variant not converted into 40K scale by Forge World. However a scratch-built 40k scale Stormhammer does exist.

[edit] Gorgon

The Gorgon is a superheavy, amphibious, open-topped, armoured assault transport; roughly the same size as the standard Baneblade chassis.^[7] The Gorgon is designed to smash its way through most things, allowing infantry deployment in the middle of enemy positions.

The Gorgon bears a pair of twin-linked Heavy Stubber turrets at the rear that can cover the front and sides, as well as a pair of sponsons that may carry Heavy Stubbers/Bolters/Flamers; there is also a variant that exchanges the sponson weaponry for single-shot mortars.^[8]

The Gorgon was introduced in the Epic scale but, has subsequently in 2006, become available in the 28 mm scale through Forge World.

[edit] Leviathan

The Leviathan Command Vehicle is a massive Land battleship commonly used as a mobile command center. The Leviathan was built on a massive vehicle chassis produced by the Squat worlds - the same as that used for the Squat Colossus and Cyclops. With the removal of the Squats from the WH40K universe, it does not appear in the current edition of the Epic game and is not currently available as a model. Its main weapon is the Doomsday Cannon.

[edit] Miscellaneous Vehicles

[edit] Burrowers

In early versions of Epic burrowing vehicles were introduced.

[edit] Termite

Termite is the smallest of the burrowing vehicles. It can carry only a squad or so of troops into combat.

[edit] Mole

The Mole is an intermediate size burrowing vehicle.

[edit] Hellbore

The Hellbore Heavy Mole' is a super-large burrowing vehicle capable of carrying many units of troops safely underground into enemy positions at which point they disembark for close assault. It is equipped with multilaunchers and heavy bolters. The model used the same (non-GW produced) plastic components as the Capitol Imperialis.

[edit] Bibliography

• Chambers, Andy; Haines, Pete, and Hoare, Andy (2003). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Imperial Guard, 4th Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-410-8. 

• Chambers, Andy (2004). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Space Marines, 4th Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-526-0. 

• Games Workshop Design Staff (2002). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-322-5. 

• Haines, Pete. Chapter Approved – Rolling Thunder: Armoured Companies Army List (PDF). Games Workshop. Retrieved on 2006-06-04.

• Johnson, Jervis (2001). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Catachans. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-016-1. 

• Kinrade, Warwick; and Cottrell, Tony (2003). Imperial Armour Volume One - Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy. Nottingham: Forge World. ISBN 1-84154-421-3. 

• McNeill, Graham; and Haines, Pete (2003). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Daemonhunters. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-361-6. 

• McNeill, Graham; Hoare, Andy, and Haines, Pete (2003). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Witchhunters, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-485-X. 

• McNeill, Graham; Thorpe, Gav, and Haines, Pete (2005). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Black Templars, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-685-2. 

• Priestley, Rick (1995). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Imperial Guard, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-872372-92-9. 

• Thorpe, Gav (2001). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Blood Angels. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-869893-45-X. 

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Vehicles of the Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)
• Weapons and Equipment of the Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)
• Warhammer 40,000 Weapons, Equipment and Vehicles