Imperial Vox Cast

On the Plains of Prion X
By Klarkash-Ton

Three squadrons of Leman Russ tanks advanced across the rolling plain as quickly as their massive bulk would allow. In the distance, an elegant, curved form rose high above the plain, covered in intricate and incomprehensible designs. The plain itself was littered with the wreckage of the previous forces sent to secure the site; faster-moving, but less durable forces. That was why the tanks had been dispatched, because nothing else had made it.

Commander Viljami surveyed the scene through his magnoculars, perched halfway out of the top hatch of his Executioner, the command tank for this mission. The structure in the distance was supposed to be an Eldar Webway gate that would allow the Eldar forces on the planet to escape. The 82nd ITF was under orders to prevent that from happening at all costs. Apparently, Inquisitor Darath was en route with a detachment from the Knights Ultrimar, and he did not wish for his quarry to escape before he could bring them to battle.

Viljami grimaced as he looked out across the line of advancing tanks. With all of them forcing their engines to go faster with varying degrees of success, what had begun as a textbook-perfect formation had turned into a disorganized mob as some of the tanks shot ahead while others fell behind. Still, there were few forces Viljami would rather go into battle with than a force comprised of the might Leman Russ tanks. Looking at the Imperial wreckage around him, though, he wondered if it would be enough.

“Contacts!” crackled the vox, “Xenos skimmer force approaching from ten o’clock. Distance 4000 . . . no, 3000 meters and closing. Closing fast.”

Viljami began issuing orders before he had even spotted the approaching force, “Squadron Tria, acquire targets and fire at will. Squadron Bina, pull up the right flank and turn to engage enemy forces. Squadron Prima, acquire targets but wait for my order to fire.”

Viljami grasped the handrail atop the turret to steady himself as it began to rotate towards the advancing contacts. Through his magnoculars, he could see the sleek shapes of the swiftly approaching Eldar skimmers, six of them. Their forms appeared fragile and delicate, particularly when compared to the solid, armored bulk of the Leman Russ tanks they sought to engage. Viljami smiled, “Squadron Prima, prepare to fire immediately after Squadron Tria’s first salvo. Let them taste the might of the Emperor’s guns.”

The first of Squadron Tria’s Battle Cannon shells overshot the incoming force, throwing up dirt behind them. The second nearly hit one of the Falcons, but the skimmer jinked out of the way at the last moment, the shell exploding harmlessly. Last came the Vanquisher shell, which struck one of the Falcons dead-on. It appeared dead-on, at any rate. With the impact, the air around the Falcon shimmered, revealing a double image of the skimmer. This double image showed the Vanquisher shell striking an unimportant section of the tank’s hull. It slewed, and spun around several times, but soon righted itself, losing precious little speed throughout the whole process.

“Squadron Prima, fire now!” Viljami yelled into the vox, “Squadron Bina, open fire as soon as you’re in position. Quickly now!” The tanks on either side of Viljami’s Executioner let fired their Battle Cannons, but the speed of the Falcons again proved telling and the shells flew wide. Then, the Executioner’s Plasma Cannons opened up, hurling white-hot energy at the lead Falcon. The shots struck home and, though at first the Falcon’s Holo-Fields again rendered the target difficult effectively harm, the sheer quantity of fire the Executioner issued was sufficient to overwhelm the skimmer’s defenses. The Falcon slammed into the ground, smoke issuing from the great holes torn by the Plasma Cannon’s fire.

A brief cheer could be heard over the vox, but Viljami cut it off abruptly, “We’ve hardly anything to celebrate yet, boys. Bring those things down!” While the power coils for the Plasma Cannons recharged, Viljami watched helplessly as the Eldar continued to approach. Suddenly, they slowed; though they were still moving faster than Viljami’s tanks could hope to. Knowing what this would herald, Viljami managed to shout, “Incoming!” over the vox before the Falcons opened fire.

Beams of pure white energy lanced out from the turrets atop the skimmers. Two succeeded only in carving black scars in the thick armor of the Imperial tanks. One ripped the turret off of one of the Battle tanks of Squadron Tria. The two others speared the Vanquisher, reaching the magazine of volatile shells and detonating them, destroying the Vanquisher in a massive explosion. Viljami screamed into the vox as he was buffeted by the shockwave, “Fire now, before they can accelerate again!”

Squadron Bina opened fire. At this range and speed, the two Battle Cannon shells found their targets, but were prevented from doing any serious damage by the Xenos’ Holo-Fields. The Demolisher, however, was able to inflict sufficient damage in spite of the illusions, and the Falcon hit rocketed over the Imperials trailing smoke, crashing into the ground behind them and exploding. The remaining Falcons streaked over head moments later, close enough for Viljami to have reached out and touched them.

“Hurry! Acquire targets and fire before they can come around for another pass.” The next shots were not the organized salvos of an Imperial tank squadron, but rather the frantic shots of terrified soldiers. Still, Viljami knew, fear could sometimes be a useful motivator. The Heavy Bolters of the crippled Battle Tank were the first to open fire, peppering the back of one of the Falcons. Though it failed to significantly damage the Falcon itself, this fire served to slow the vehicle and interfere with its Holo-Fields. The remaining fully-operational tank of Squadron Tria fired its battle cannon at the damage skimmer, smashing through its rear hatch before detonating and shattering the Falcon into wreckage. The Battle Tanks of Squadron Prima failed to find their marks, though, and by the time the Executioner had recharged enough to fire, the Falcons were out of range of the Plasma Cannons.

The Falcon’s weapons, on the other hand, managed another salvo before they began to swoop around to face the Imperials once more. The thick rear armor of the Demolisher held against the first Lance strike, but the second burned its way through, and Viljami could hear the screams of its crew over the vox as they were incinerated. The third Lance struck another Battle Tank, detonating its fuel stores and destroying the vehicle almost instantaneously. Viljami began barking orders, “By the Throne, get us facing them! We can’t give them easy shots!”

As the remaining tanks spun about on their tracks, Battle Cannons hurled shells at the banking Falcons, but none came close to hitting as the Falcons accelerated once more. Viljami gritted his teeth as he saw the Falcons line up for another pass, “Hold your fire until my command! We have to take them when they slow down to fire.” Viljami just hoped there would be something left to shoot at the Falcons when that happened.

The Falcons waited until they were closer than their previous pass to decelerate this time, opening fire almost as soon as they did. One lance finished off the crippled Battle Tank, as the other two claimed a Battle Tank each. Viljami forced himself to focus down the task at hand and ignore the ruthless efficiency of the Eldar tanks. “Open fire, before they pass over us!”

The super-heated plasma from the Executioner felled another one of the skimmers, but the Battle Tanks’ fire was rendered harmless by the Falcons’ Holo-Fields. All too quickly, the Eldar passed over the Imperial forces and rotated their turrets to fire at the vulnerable rear armor of the tanks. In an instant, another Battle Tank was destroyed, leaving only one more, along with Viljami’s Executioner. The Falcons, meanwhile, came to an abrupt halt and spun about while the Imperial tanks struggled to present their front armor to the Xenos.

Before the Battle Tank could target the Falcons anew, both fired their Lances into the Leman Russ, vaporizing the crew inside within moment. Immediately Viljami ordered his Executioner’s gunner to fire before waiting for the capacitors to fully recharge and was rewarded with the sight of the Plasma Cannons burning gaping holes in the Falcon’s rear armor, followed shortly by the skimmer falling unceremoniously to the ground. This didn’t prove to be enough, though, as the remaining Falcon impaled the Executioner with a beam of energy and the overtaxed energy capacitors within exploded with shocking force.

Viljami opened his eyes to find himself lying on the ground, a dozen or so meters from the wreckage of his Executioner. Pieces of the turret still encased him and he realized that the explosion must have thrown the turret, along with Viljami, free. He murmured a prayer of thanks to the Emperor as he scanned his surroundings, trying to locate the single remaining Falcon. He saw its unearthly shape touchdown nearby and a ramp open from its rear. Viljami looked on in horror as a group of white-armored Eldar soldiers emerged, carrying strange weaponry. The last thing Viljami ever saw was the barrel of one of these weapons being leveled at his face.

The Motor Pool
by Luckee

This month I’ve had tanks on my mind. Not to be mistaken for my usual musings on vehicles in general. I mean tanks. The big hulls, bigger guns, and the biggest ball…asts. Tanks come in a variety of flavors and sizes in the 40K universe; with this variety comes the difficulty of classifying what is and is not a tank.
On the one hand, the word itself evokes images of great behemoths trundling across the broken terrain, gouts of destructive power tearing from their cannons. But what about the Tau, the hammer head is mechanically a tank but is lithe and delicate? It certainty has a powerful gun, but it lacks the gravel-churning machismo of the idea of tank. It’s time to widen the paradigm.
Though I’m a confessed Imperial man to the hilt, I’m going to take a broad look at tanks and decide which one is the best in 40K.

The Imperials
Let’s start off with something familiar: the Land Raider–the tank you love to hate. Likely the most identifiable tank in the game, the Land Raider weighs in at an impressive 14 armor all-round and can sport a number of impressive heavy weapons.
The basic model is deployed with two sets of twin-linked lascannons and a twin-linked heavy bolter. The lascannons are a strong choice, but the heavy bolter feels like a weapon from a bygone era; no longer capable of the power expected. You’ll see this vehicle move 6” and fire its two lascannons, and thanks to the Power of the Machine Spirit, these guns can shoot at two different targets. With up to 12 marines or 6 terminators inside, this vehicle can bring the pain.
The other two, which are more modern builds, are close quarters vehicles, sporting either twin sets of hurricane bolters or the redeemer flame cannons. Both are powerful weapon sets, which are devastating to infantry. Top that off with an expanded carrying capacity and a twin-linked assault cannon, this vehicle is perfect for driving straight into large concentrations of enemies.
Cost has ever been the limiting factor for the Land Raider. As one of the most expensive units in the game, it’s often difficult for armies to field multiples of these killing machines. Couple that with a giant melta gun target on the hull and this investment is likely to be high on your foe’s target priority list.

In the Imperial Guard codex, every vehicle is a tank, but only one occupies the place of main line battle tank–the Leman Russ. An impressive and cost effective power house, the Leman Russ can sport seven different cannons for whatever the battle field situation might be. The Eradicator is perfect for destroying infantry in cover while the Vanquisher fires an armor penetrating shell that gives land raiders pause. In addition to its perilous destructive potential, the Leman Russ also carries the daunting front armor 14, making only melta and lance equivalent weapons a good way of taking these beasts head-on.
There are two main distinctions between the Leman Russ variants: field tanks and siege tanks. The field tanks have long range cannons and 10 rear armor. They can sit in a back corner and lob shells at approaching enemies. They can be counted on to support your units across most of the field. They can be equipped for a number of purposes depending on hull and sponson mounts chosen, but they truly flourish as a support unit to a forward moving infantry force.
The siege tanks are the opposite. They have short range cannons with 11 rear armor. These tanks often make the most out of their Lumbering Behemoth rule and are strong center pieces for an advance. They are resistant to assault with their higher rear armor and provide good cover for the trailing foot sloggers. These tanks will take fire and aren’t likely to survive the battle, but the fire power they give and the cover they provide is a potent asset to such an aggressive guard force.
Within the codex, all of these engines can be taken in mixable squadrons of up to three. Squadrons are hardly a subtle or, in many ways, a cost-effective choice. The combined fire of such a squadron is none the less an eye and bullet catching threat. While the do or die mentality of squadrons lends itself well to the nature of the tanks themselves.

The main line tank of the Sisters of Battle is a rhino variant. The soft bellied Immolator makes up for its fragility in availability and speed. The tank maintains only 11 front armor and 10 rear armor but can cheaply take extra armor and smoke. It can also be taken as a dedicated transport for many units within the codex and thus can be repeated thought a list.
The primary weapon for the Immolator is a twin-linked heavy flamer. In addition to the power of the weapon itself, the brutal and direct nature of its application allows the tank to move its full 12” and still fire the gun. It can also be upgraded for machine gun and melta purpose allowing for a greater range of versatility, albeit at a loss of speed.
The Immolator sports a transport capacity of only six but can serve as the dedicated transport for the dreaded Dominion squad. This tank is fast, deadly, and a dime a dozen.

The Imperials bring heavy armor to the field with the purpose of getting their infantry to where they need to be. Completely unsubtle, Imperial tanks draw the eye and intimidate their opponent with their potent firepower and thick armor. However, Imperial vehicles are often little more than that. Their few modifications are often expensive and give little variance to the vehicle itself. When playing against an Imperial foe, remember their vehicles are just big and scary but won’t really have any tricks to throw at you.

The traitors are similar with a few minor but notable distinctions. The Chaos Marines’ line vehicle is the unrelenting defiler. Though truly a walker, the defiler bears a mighty battle cannon and can sport up to four close combat arms for tearing into opponents at strength 10. As a walker it can run in the shooting phase to better position itself but the Defiler also has the USR fleet allowing it a dangerous threat range for its close combat attacks. Massive, quick and powerful, the defiler fills its tank role much the same way as the siege tanks of the imperial guard, it’s simply too big to put out of your mind.
The daemons also field a tank-like walker but the Soul Grinder is a poor mirror of its big brother Defiler. It lacks the traitor marine’s full destructive power and is relegated to an inferior position in this analysis.

The Xenos

The Orks possess an odd combination of rules that create very flavorful, powerful and cheap tanks. The Baggle Wagln is chief among them and serves as the races’ main line battle tank. It possess a wide array of upgrades and modifications making it one of the hardest vehicles to type cast but there are a couple notable builds.
As a transport the Battle Wagon can carry up to 20 Orks or 10 mega armored nobz and bosses, which combined with its size and relative resilience makes it an excellent platform for Meks and hammer Warbosses.
It can sport a prodigious volume of weapons and a wide variety of the available weapons. It makes up for a low BS and comparably weak nature of the weapons fielded by the potential for volume of fire. The gunship role, while less popular is a potent attention grabber for its destructive potential it simply lacks the synergy that some of the other builds better achieve.
Even more impressive is the deff rolla. After the recent FAQ update, this is almost a must have for many Ork armies and is an unrivaled tank killer within the list itself. With a red paint job this vehicle rushes forward, disgorging ravenous boyz and a crushing power all its own.

The Necrons have only the Monolith. Though not a true tank by game mechanics, it none the less features all the important aspects of staying power, fire power and mobility.
Though incredibly slow, the monolith is a skimmer allowing it easy passage over obstacles that may immobilize a land raider. Its true mobility lies in its support function for the army at large. The teleport effect grants a bubble of safety where no warriors will fear being ground down by a determined assault foe, and can bring in reinforcements to an objective from up to 18” away. The monolith itself possesses the rare tank ability deep strike and is immune to many deep strike complications. This power effectively minimizes the speed issue for many of its applications and can create a dangerous strike vehicle for objective grabbing.
The firepower of the Monolith is not as impressive as some of its tank companions, but it’s steady and saturating fire makes it unavoidable for many forces. The constant threat of D6 str 5 attacks can be a powerful disruption for the lighter armor save armies. The particle whip also has a powerful blast that when leveled at a tank has the dual power of both being an ordnance weapon and ap1, however this is one of the few MEQ killers in the army making target priority a must skill for effective use.

The Tau field the Hammerhead as their main line battle tank. Though more fragile than most other armies, and not nearly as cheap as some, the hammer head provides power that cannot be easily replaced within the codex.
It’s a skimmer allowing it daring moves that terrestrial vehicles would not be able to take, and between its smaller size and longer movement, has a mobility that out classes the monolith. With a 10 point upgrade it also can fire as if it were a fast vehicle making it an agile firing platform.
Its weapons are somewhat lack luster and expensive. This usually relegates it to the role of MEQ hunter with the ap3 ion cannon. However the range of either of the main cannons allows the Hammerhead to remain safely in the back field and support the infantry.
Its cost is often prohibitive for the army to fully exploit the potential of the tank and its weaker armor leaves something to be desired when stacked against the tanks of the other factions. But it is certainly in keeping with the Tau play style and is a good representative for the Tau’s take on this role.

The Dark Eldar Ravager brings an incredible volume of powerful fire and puts it on the fastest chassis, the fast skimmer. With its volume of lances the ravager can scythe down tanks from a distance and its range allows for impressive alpha strikes when coming on from reserve. Or can be cheaply upgraded to carry disintegrators making an MEQ killing nightmare. For only 10pts the Ravager can also be given creaming jets which allows for the vehicle to deep strike. In the way of these arcane evils, the deep striking Ravager only counts as moving 6” and so can easily drop behind the enemy and pour its dark lances into vulnerable rear armor.
The ravager excels in its support role and can easily be worked into any Dark Eldar list. This is undoubtedly one of the most powerful tanks in the game. However all this is balanced by the incredible vulnerability of the chassis. Most armies’ anti-tank power will be able to respond in kind after the ravager’s initial salvo, and transport poppers can easily be trusted to swat this nuisance from the sky. It also has only limited access to protective upgrades that are limited in scope and do not significantly expand the Ravagers durability. The Dark Eldar player can only hope that his raiders are more of a threat than his precious ravagers.

Last is the Eldar, whose clear entry is the Falcon Grav tank. It often comes a bit pricey but is a well balanced tank and worth the investment.
Its weapon load out is easily configured for a multitude of foes and it can function as both infantry/medium vehicle hunter and tank killer.
It, like the ravager, is a fast-skimmer. An impressive movement potential gives this tank nearly free reign over the battle field in the first couple of turns. Combined with its weapon load-out, it makes for an impressive tank hunter as it’s able to seek out and take side armor shots.
As a fast skimmer it has access to a 4+ cover save while it gets into position and can take a potent upgrade: holo fields. This power makes the Falcon a losing prospect to shoot at normally and almost impossible to take down while it’s on the move. Only the commander who is truly feeling lucky will target this tank in the opening game.
Its survivability frees up the Falcon to quickly move into a favorable position and drop off its payload of up to six Eldar warriors.
For another 15pts the Falcon can also be given star engines. A powerful asset, the star engines allow the tank to move a further 12” during the assault phase. Without a doubt a strong investment for the tank but the trick with the Falcon is always balancing the tanks durability with its cost. At some point the Falcon just becomes too pricey for battle field effectiveness. Star engines especially are an upgrade that may be better severed on a wave serpent or as other upgrades.
This powerful combination of firepower, speed, survivability, and tactical maneuverability makes for a daunting vehicle. And though it violates every paradigm of the ‘Tank’ it is my pick for king of the 40K Tanks.

-Luckee

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