Vehicles of the Imperial Guard (Warhammer 40,000)

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"Leman Russ" redirects here. For the Space Wolves Primarch, go here.

This is a list of vehicles used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. While lacking the more technologically-advanced vehicles available to the elite branches of the Imperium such as the Inquisition, the Imperial Guard do sport the largest selection of ordnance and armoured fighting vehicles among the armies in the game.

Stylistically, the tanks of the Imperial Guard contain elements of design from all throughout history. For instance, the Leman Russ battle tank has a hull design similar to World War II-era tanks. However, it has exposed tracks around the outside of the chassis and gun sponsons similar to the tanks of the first World War.

The tanks of the Imperial Guard range from lightly-equipped scout tanks, heavily-armoured battle tanks to self-propelled artillery.

This article discusses the various Imperial Guard vehicles in the Warhammer 40,000 and Epic tabletop games. It also takes from the vehicles' other appearances in various 'spin-off' publications such as video games.

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 Gorgon 1.9 Hellhound 1.10 Hydra 1.11 Land Crawler 1.12 Leman Russ 1.13 Manticore 1.14 Medusa 1.15 Ragnarok 1.16 Salamander 1.17 Sentinel 1.18 Trojan 1.19 Atlas 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 Hellhammer 2.7 Gorgon 2.8 Macharius 2.9 Malcador heavy tank 2.10 Leviathan 3 Miscellaneous Vehicles 3.1 Burrowers 3.1.1 Hellbore 3.1.2 Mole 3.1.3 Termite 4 Bibliography 5 References 6 See also

[edit] Armoured Fighting Vehicles

[edit] Basilisk

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, the guns produce a tremendous muzzle report, and it is also mentioned that Earthshaker crews tend to experience hearing loss. 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. In the direst of circumstances, Basilisks may be used as secondary battle tanks if given adequate protection. Consequently, Basilisks are often placed at the front of an artillery detachment.

The Basilisk also appears in Epic, both as a self-propelled gun and as a fixed weapons platform.

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 vehicles available to the Imperial Guard faction, introduced in the expansion Winter Assault as one of the longest ranged weapons of all the races, capable of laying down a devastating barrage of deadly Earthshaker rounds.^[3]

Basilisks can now be bought as a Battery of three Basilisks, but nine Basilisks and a Chimera can make an Apocalypse Emperor's Wrath Artillery Company.

[edit] Bombard

The Bombard mounts a Siege Mortar on a Leman Russ 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 in a siege role, laying fire down on fortresses after the defenders are forced back to within the walls.

The inspiration for the Bombard may have come from the World War II 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 and Ogryns 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, including the Basilisk and Hellhound.

The Chimera appears in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War as the Imperial Guard faction's troop transport.^[3]

[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 or Valkyrie flyer 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.

The Griffon is also present in Epic, where it acts in a similar role, softening up enemy formations before an attack, acting in general as a supporting unit.

[edit] Gorgon

The Gorgon is a super heavy armoured personnel carrier capable of transporting 50 Guardsmen (roughly an entire platoon), it has limited fire power for a vehicle of its size, being armed only with 2 twinlinked heavy stubbers and either 4 heavy bolters or 4 Gorgon mortar launchers. The Imperial Guard use the Gorgon for heavy assaults. It is designed for breaching fortified lines and entrenchments, literally smashing its way through opposing defences to unleash its cargo of troops into the heart of the enemy position. Forge World currently produce resin models of both variants of the vehicle and rules that can be found in "Imperial Armour Volume Five- The Siege Of Vraks Part One"

[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 Hellhound incorporate a thicker turret, as well as a large gas chamber on the back. These were released in early 2006 by Forge World.

Hellhounds in Epic are functionally similar to their 40k counterparts, and are especially adept at flushing enemy infantry formations out of entrenched positions due to the vehicle's main gun having the game-ability to ignore cover.

[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 II German Wirbelwind self-propelled antiaircraft gun. However, the tracking system and turret layout are reminiscent of the German Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer 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 than 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

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

The Leman Russ battle tank is the most commonly found tank in imperial guard regiments. It is a simple design and one that has stood the test of time. Its versatility and relative ease of construction make it the tank most often requested by imperial officers to be attached to their infantry formations.

The Leman Russ has thick armour to the front and relatively thick armour to the side, however, it has quite weak rear armour. It is relatively maneuverable but due to no visible suspension system the ride is assumed to be relatively rough, and the tank is renowned for its loud engine. Based on the scaling of the vehicle the tank is rather small and this space is shared by its crew of roughly five to six (consisting of Commander, Primary Gunner, Sponson gunners and Driver) as well as the engine. Published materials describe the inside as uncomfortable, cramped and loud.

Design-wise, the Leman Russ contains several features from World War I and inter-war tank design, such as gun sponsons, a rhomboid side profile and wrap-around tracks. However, the Leman Russ also bears a resemblance to the Soviet T-34/85, and its compact profile and relative height are reminiscent of the M4 Sherman. But from first glance, one could say that the Leman Russ is basically a WWI British Mk I tank combined with a T-34-like turret. It is by far the most common battle tank in the Imperial arsenal, and many variants have been built on the original design. The plastic model sold by Games Workshop is a modification of a French World War II B1 bis tank kit that Games Workshop purchased the rights to early on in the company's history.

Leman Russes can be bought as a Squadron of three, or in an so called Emperor's Fist Tank Company (holding a total of ten tanks), featured in the Warhammer 40,000 expansion "Apocalypse".

The Leman Russ appears in Warhammer 40k, as well as Epic.

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. This variant appears in both Warhammer 40k & Epic.

• Vanquisher

The rare Vanquisher variant mounts a high-calibre long-range battle cannon and co-axial storm bolter. It is used for long-ranged anti-vehicle support. The longer-bore gun is based on the long barreled howitzer mounted on British WWII Sherman Fireflies. Often sports a mounted heavy stubber also. This variant appears in both Warhammer 40k & Epic.

• 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. This variant appears in both Warhammer 40k & Epic.

• 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. Exterminators are also common tank command vehicles because of their unique weapon systems and defensive capabilities. This variant appears in both Warhammer 40k & Epic. This variant was also made available to the Space Wolves in their independent codex, the only Imperial Guard tank allowed to be used by Space Marines.

• Executioner

This tank replaces the standard battlecannon with a plasma destructor. This is an extraordinarily powerful but temperamental plasma-based weapon which is prone to breakdowns and explosion. This variant appears in both Warhammer 40k & Epic.

• Annihilator

This pattern includes double lascannons in place of the battle cannon, much like the Space Marine Predator "Annihilator" variant. This variant uses experimental rules and appears in Warhammer 40k only.

• Mars/Alpha pattern

Rather than different complment of armament (as with all the other variants mentioned), the difference of this pattern is less distinct. Mars/Alpha pattern Leman Russ tanks feature an increased interior capacity; for this reason, they are favoured as command tanks.

• Destroyer

The destroyer tank is almost a completely different model of the leman russ. The destroyer has no turret mounted weapon, instead its sports a massive turbolaser effective against vehicles, mounted on its hull, and draws heavy influence from German World War II tank destroyers, such the Jagdtiger. Because of its lack of pintle-mounted weapons the destroyer relies on stealth and far ranged attacks to utilize its weapon well. In a way the destroyer is the sniper variant tank. A good account of how a destroyer operates can be found in the book Honour Guard by Dan Abnett, one of the Tanith First and Only books.

• Thunderer

A variant on the Destroyer tank hunter, the Thunderer is an improvised siege tank. The Destroyer turbolaser is an extremely complex weapon and very difficult to repair. Tank crews will often replace their Destroyer lasers with a Demolisher Cannon rather than attempt to fix them. This has created an impromptu siege tank that is similar in appearance and function to the Vindicator of the Space Marines.

[edit] Manticore

The Manticore aka "Kurtis Tank" is a guided missile launcher; 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. It can also be used as a self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon, firing anti-aircraft missiles.

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

The Armaggedon Pattern Medusa bears a strong resemblance to the German World War II 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 or the Vostroyan siege administrate, who refer to it as the "Mk. I Mobile Bunker"

The Epic 40k Ragnarok looks to have been based on the Russian World War II 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. The vehicle is significantly faster than most Guard vehicles, and many crews further modify the engines and transmission of the vehicle against regulations to allow additional bursts of speed. However, most commanders overlook the breach of regulations due to the dangerous nature of the missions Salamander crews must undertake. The Salamander is also often used by artillery company forward observers. The open top provides better visibility when spotting and relaying targets.

It also appears in the "Steel Legion" mod for Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War.

[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 frequently 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. This pattern is the one featured in the PC game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War.
• Tallarn pattern - multilaser. It has larger feet for better balance on the loose sand of the regions it is used in.

In the second edition of the game the most common Sentinel variant was equipped with an Assault Cannon, and a significantly less armoured Cockpit. However, this variant disappeared with the advent of 3rd edition.

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.

Intentional or otherwise, Sentinels show a clear aesthetic similarity to the AT-ST in Star Wars.

Three Cadian Sentinels, three standard Sentinels and four Steel Legion Sentinels make an Emperor's Talons Recon Group in Apocalypse.

[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, and for 40k it is covered by the Imperial Armour rules, while for Epic it is covered by the 'collector's' rules.

The Trojan appears to be based on the WW2 MunitionsPanzer.

[edit] Atlas

The Atlas is very rarely seen in the game, as it is a support vehicle, serving as an Armored Recovery Vehicle to tow or lift immoblized vehicles with its rear-mounted winch and A-frame. It is a Forge World model, and for 40k it is 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 tank is a venerated STC design, with ten people needed to fully crew one.

Massively armed, the standard Baneblade complement includes a turret-mounted Baneblade Cannon with a co-axial Autocannon, three twin-linked Heavy Bolters (one sponson-mounted on either side, and one turret mounted on the front hull slope), two sponson mounted Lascannons on either side (sharing a sponson with the heavy bolters), and lastly, a fixed-forward hull-mounted Demolisher cannon. This totals eleven weapon barrels of various sizes and roles, giving full coverage in all arcs. The Baneblade can be further given a pintle mounted weapon and hunter killer missiles, bringing the total up to 13 (although they only count as 11 weapons). The Apocalypse expansion allows further armament to the Baneblade with an extra pair of side sponsons, giving a possible total of four side sponsons.

In the storyline, the vast majority are produced in the sacred forges of Mars, 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]. This model however, is no longer restricted to Forge World as Games Workshop now offer a multi part plastic kit.

The Baneblade is so powerful that in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Winter Assault, and the following expansions Dark Crusade, and Soulstorm, the Baneblade is the Imperial Guard's Superweapon, requiring considerable resources and preconditions to be met before it can be requisitioned and fielded.

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

Three (or more) Baneblades in Apocalypse can form a Steel Fury Baneblade Company.

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 (At 1:1 scale)	36 ft (11 m)	29 ft (8.8 m)	18 ft (5.5 m)
Official specifications	13.5 m	8.5 m	5.5 m	319 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 all of the currently-produced Baneblade Variants (Aside from the hellhammer) the turret is replaced by a fixed-forward housing, in order to accommodate a larger 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. The single Volcano Cannon is one of the strongest anti-armour weapons in the 40K universe.

[edit] Stormsword

Weaponry: Fixed superstructure Siege Cannon with co-axial heavy bolter, two turreted heavy flamers, two sponson-mounted twin-linked heavy bolters
Role: Urban warfare specialist tank, with assault gun capability
Details: A reconfiguration of the Shadowsword, designed for and only deployed in urban environments. Stormswords are all counterfeit variants, as they are all salvaged from wrecked Shadowswords (hence the similar designs).

[edit] Stormblade

Weaponry: Plasma Blastgun with co-axial heavy bolter, two turreted lascannons, two sponson-mounted twin-linked heavy bolters.
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, and it is not currently sold for Epic scale either.

[edit] Hellhammer

Weaponry: Turret mounted "Hellhammer" cannon, two sponson-mounted twin-linked heavy flamers, two turret mounted Lascannon, one hull mounted demolisher cannon and a hull mounted twin-linked heavy bolter.
Role: Close-in firepower.
Details: The Hellhammer cannon is a longer ranged and even more deadly version of the Demolisher bunker-buster which ignores cover as well as all known types of physical armour. Combined with the other (relatively) short ranged weaponry on the Hellhammer, it becomes an excellent city-fighting vehicle, capable of clearing buildings and bunkers with equal ease, though its shorter range compared to that of the basic Baneblade would leave it vulnerable on an open battlefield. The Hell Hammer is the only official Baneblade variant not produced by Forge World.

[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 with an extremely armoured front prow. This protects the tank and cargo from frontal attack, and is also used to form an assault ramp, allowing infantry deployment in the middle of enemy positions. It is capable of transporting up to 50 Guardsmen into battle.

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] Macharius

The Macharius tank is a super-heavy battle tank used by the Imperial Guard, most notably the Death Korps of Krieg. Developed from the same hull as the Gorgon (in much the same way as the Chimera and Basilisk share a hull), the Macharius is smaller and lighter than the more common Baneblade, but it is becoming increasingly common as it is easier to produce quickly in quantity. The design was originally discovered as a partial fragment in the archives of Lucius Forgeworld by one Magos Nalax who painstakingly reconstructed the original design using the materials available to him. There are several variations on the Macharius, principally distinguished by their main armament.

• The basic Macharius mounts twin battle cannons in its main turret, supplemented by a hull-mounted twin-linked heavy stubber and sponson mounted heavy stubbers, which may be replaced by heavy flamers or heavy bolters.
• The Vanquisher variant replaces the twin battle cannons with twin Vanquisher cannons, which can optionally use the armour-piercing vanquisher shell instead of the standard high explosive version.
• The Vulcan variant replaces the twin battle cannons with a single Vulcan Mega Bolter, a weapon more commonly found on Titans, to give the tank truly devastating anti-infantry power at close range.

[edit] Malcador heavy tank

An ancient tank design perhaps even older than the Leman Russ, the Malcador is a huge, heavy and lumbering war machine intended to smash through enemy lines and batter through fortified defences with brute force. The Malcador effectively works as a mobile fortress, its upper works either mounting a battle cannon or twin-linked lascannon with a limited arc of fire, or 5 heavy bolters, which spread around the upper works present an effective 360^o arc of fire, its hull either mounts a heavy stubber or lascannon when mounting a battle cannon in the upperworks, or if it is the heavy bolter or lascannon variant a powerful demolisher cannon for smashing enemy fortifications. It also mounts either lascannons or heavy bolters in side sponsons. It can be loosely compared to the German WWI A7V. However it is relatively uncommon and has been superseded by superior vehicles and hence only finds use in more specialised regiments such as the Death Korps of Krieg as a fortification clearer or as a battle tank in PDF regiments. It is named after Malcador the Sigillite, one of The Emperor's advisers during the Battles of Unification, and the man credited with founding the Administratum of Terra.

[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, although it is still commonly mentioned in the background stories and excerpts. Its main weapon is the Doomsday Cannon or "Macro cannon" The discharge from these guns is said to be clearly audible from several miles away and the recoil can be felt at similar distances.

[edit] Miscellaneous Vehicles

[edit] Burrowers

In early versions of Epic burrowing vehicles were introduced.

[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] Mole

The Mole is an intermediate size burrowing vehicle.

[edit] Termite

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

[edit] Bibliography

[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

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