Vehicles of the Imperial Guard

This is a list of vehicles used by the Imperial Guard faction in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe. The Imperial Guard sports the largest selection of ordnance and armoured fighting vehicles among the different armies in the game. These vehicles range from conventional tanks such as the Leman Russ which has appeared in various boxed sets for the different Warhammer 40,000 games to obscure vehicles like the Atlas Recovery Vehicle that has only appeared in optional sourcebooks by subsidiaries of Games Workshop.

Since the inception of the Imperial Guard as an entirely separate army with The Release of Codex: Imperial Guard for the second EDition of the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures game, its vehicles have been a part of the army's unique character. Since then, subsequent editions of the game and its Imperial Guard-related sourcebooks have added dozens of new vehicles for the army to use.

These vehicles appear not only in the main Warhammer 40,000 game, but also its spin-offs such as the smaller-scaled Epic 40,000 strategy game. Wherever the Imperial Guard have been represented in the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, their vehicles have also appeared. These appearances include video games such as the tactical strategy game Final Liberation and the first-person shooter Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior. More recently, some of these vehicles have appeared in the highly popular real-time strategy game series Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and its expansions.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles - Official

Over the years, various official rulebooks and army lists have been released for the Imperial Guard, including descriptions of the vehicles used by the Guard. Many of these vehicles have had official rules entries in the various iterations of Codex: Imperial Guard, and official boxed sets of the vehicles were produced by Games Workshop. This sublist contains vehicles that have appeared at least once in official Imperial Guard army lists published by Games Workshop for various editions the Warhammer 40,000 game. The sublist includes vehicles from the 2nd Edition and both 3rd Edition releases of Codex: Imperial Guard.

Basilisk

The Basilisk is an artillery tank used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 wargame. It appears similar to real-life self-propelled artillery howitzers, essentially an artillery piece mounted on a stripped-down chassis of another Imperial Guard vehicle, the Chimera. Since its introduction during the game's second edition, the Basilisk has mounted one of the longest-ranged weapons in the entire game, the Earthshaker Cannon.

Unlike other vehicles that used the Chimera chassis such as the Hellhound and the Griffon, the original Basilisk boxed set was released in early 1996 as a full-plastic kit: the only metal parts in the set were the crew. The official rules were published in the March issue of White Dwarf that year. The vehicle has since appeared in every Imperial Guard army list since then.

The Basilisk also appears in Epic 40,000, 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, included entire Basilisk squadrons as available unit choices for the Imperial player. In the RTS 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.

Chimera

The Chimera is an armoured personnel carrier used by the Imperial Guard army in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. Along with the standard tank, a few variants such as the Chimedon, the Chimerax and the Chimerro also appear in other Warhammer 40,000 related games. The tank appears as a large, turreted tracked vehicle with six rifle barrels protruding from the top of the tank's rear compartment. The original Chimera was armed with a Multilaser and a Heavy Bolter but subsequent updated rulesets have expanded the weaponry that the tank can be armed with.

The first Warhammer 40,000-scale miniature of the Chimera was released in 1995 during the game's second edition. A complete plastic boxed-set of the tank was made, which included the game rules on vehicle data cards. The rules for the vehicle were also published in the June 1995 issue of White Dwarf. The Chimera chassis is the basis for many other Imperial vehicles, including the Basilisk and Hellhound.

Chimeras have also been present for the Imperial Guard in the Epic 40,000 tabletop game. Variants of the tank are much more common at the smaller Epic 40,000-scale. Three variants, the battle cannon-armed Chimedon, the quad-autocannon equipped Chimerax and the slightly-upgraded Chimerro were detailed in the May 1995 issue of White Dwarf. While models of these variants have been made by the Games Workshop-affiliated company Forge World, they have yet to receive official Warhammer 40,000 rules and boxed sets.

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

Griffon

The Griffon is a self-propelled artillery tank of the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 game. It carries a Griffon Mortar and a Heavy Bolter. While the vehicle has been part of the Imperial Guard army before, it was not included in the official third edition Imperial Guard codex and for a time could only be fielded using supplemental rules from the Imperial Armour series of sourcebook until it was reinstated in the forth edition codex.

The rules for the Griffon were first officially published in the September 1995 issue of White Dwarf. This coincided with the first release of an official plastic boxed set the same year. Similar to the Hellhound, the miniature was a composite of plastic and metal parts specifically the plastic chassis of the Chimera tank while the Griffon Mortar and several other parts were metal bits packaged in a separate blister pack in the boxed set. The Griffon remained a part of the Imperial Guard army list until the second version of the Imperial Guard codex released for the third edition of Warhammer 40,000. The revised army list omitted the Griffon along with a few other vehicles present in earlier codices,thought the Griffon did make a comeback in the 2009 issue codex.

Hellhound

The Hellhound is a tank classified as a fast-attack unit of the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. The tank, which uses the Imperial Guard Chimera chassis, is armed with an Inferno Cannon and a Heavy Bolter.

The Hellhound was first released in 1996 as a composite plastic-metal boxed set designed by Normal Swales for the second edition of Warhammer 40,000. The set consisted of the chassis and turret assembly of the Chimera, while the Hellhound's additional armor plates, Inferno Cannon and external fuel tanks were included as metal conversion parts. Rules for the Hellhound were published in the February 1996 edition of White Dwarf, in addition to being included in the boxed set as "vehicle datafax cards". The 3rd edition Imperial Guard Codex was the first to include the Hellhound as an official unit choice. Since then, the tank has remained a stalwart unit in the Guard's arsenal.

Some alternate versions 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.

   The Devil Dog variant is armed with a Melta cannon, and the Bane Wolf is armed with a Chemical Projector.

Leman Russ

The Leman Russ Battle Tank is a main battle tank used the Imperial Guard army in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures game. The tank's appearance is reminiscent of World War I-era tanks with completely exposed tracks and armed with sponson-mounted weapons. Atop its rhomboid hull, the Leman Russ sports a Battle Cannon mounted in a boxy, angular turret.

The original plastic model sold by Games Workshop is a modification of a French World War II B1 bis tank kit that the company purchased the rights to early on in the company's history. The first boxed set was released in 1994 during the game's second edition. The accompanying ruleset for the vehicle was also first released with the codex for the new Imperial Guard army at that time. Originally, the miniature was armed with a hull-mounted Lascannon and Heavy Bolter sponsons. Later re-releases of the boxed set would add accessory sprues that gave modelers the option to replace the sponson weapons with Heavy Flamers.

As the iconic Imperial Guard tank, the Leman Russ appears in spin-offs of the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, such as the Epic 40,000 wargame. The tank has also made appearances in the various video games that have included the Imperial Guard. Leman Russ squadrons are fieldable units in SSI's 1997 turn-based strategy game, Final Liberation. The tank is also a fieldable unit for the Imperial Guard faction in the popular RTS game Dawn of War. Even before the release of the Guard as a playable faction for the game, Leman Russes were featured as controllable units in one of the latter missions of the Dawn of War campaign.

Named after the Primarch of the Space Wolves, the Leman Russ is also fielded by that Space Marine Chapter.

Leman Russ Demolisher

The Leman Russ Demolisher or simply Demolisher is a variant of the Imperial Guard Leman Russ Battle Tank in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. Appearance-wise, the tank is extremely similar to the standard Lemar Russ, except for some extra armour plating and weaponry. The Demolisher replaces the standard Battle Cannon with the more powerful but shorter-ranged Demolisher Cannon.

The Demolisher first officially appeared as a supplement for the second edition of Warhammer 40,000 in 1995, but has been retained in every Imperial Guard Codex since then. A boxed set was released during the second edition days, consisting of a plastic Leman Russ kit with additional metal parts to convert it into a Demolisher. The boxed set contained an entire Leman Russ kit, plus enough metal parts to replace the turret gun with the Demolisher Cannon assembly. Metal sponsons were also included with the set, with interchangeable Plasma Cannon and Multimelta barrels.

While it was introduced in Warhammer 40,000, the Demolisher also appears in the Epic 40,000 tabletop game. Outside of the tabletop games, the Demolisher appears in at least one derivative video game of the Warhammer 40,000 franchise. The player can field squadrons of Demolishers in the turn-based strategy game Final Liberation.

Leman Russ Exterminator

The Leman Russ Exterminator is a relatively new variant of the Leman Russ that was first appeared in 1999 in the first version of Codex: Imperial Guard for Wahammer 40,000 3rd Edition. The boxed set came soon after that, consisting of a plastic Leman Russ kit with additional metal conversion parts. A metal Heavy Bolter replaced the plastic hull-mounted Lascannon while the Battle Cannon was replaced with a metal twin-linked Autocannon. While the Exterminator made its debut in the 3rd Edition Imperial Guard codex, it was also included as a fieldable unit by the Space Wolves Space Marine chapter with the release of Codex: Space Wolves for Warhammer 40,000 3rd Edition. It is the only Imperial Guard tank that can be fielded by Space Marine players. The Exterminator was one of several vehicles removed from the Imperial Guard army list when their codex was re-released in 2003, but has returned in the 2009 codex. Outside of Warhammer 40,000, the Exterminator also appears as a fieldable unit in Epic 40,000. So far, it has not appeared in any video games.

Leman Russ Vanquisher

The Leman Russ Vanquisher is a variant of the Leman Russ that only officially appears in the first release of Codex: Imperial Guard for the 3rd Edition of Warhammer 40,000. The next release of the codex in 2003 omitted the Vanquisher entry. While no official boxed set of the Vanquisher has been produced by Games Workshop, it has appeared in a few pieces of artwork in the game's sourcebooks. In addition, the Games Workshop subsidiary Forge World has released resin conversion kits for players to convert a standard Russ into a Vanquisher. The Vanquisher is identical in appearance to a standard Russ, albeit having a much longer barrel and has a co-axial storm bolter or heavy stubber. In game-terms, it is armed not with a Battle Cannon as the standard Russ is, but with a Vanquisher Cannon. No official boxed set exists for the Vanquisher. However, Forge World has released three resin replacement turrets to convert standard Russes into a Vanquishers, this may change soon as the Vanquisher has returned as a option in the 5th edition Imperial Guard codex.

Other Leman Russ variants

Aside from the Demolisher, the Leman Russ has several variants that appear both in various official army lists and in the game's background material. These variants usually replace its Battle Cannon with another weapon altogether. While the information on the standard Leman Russ can be found in the various Codex: Imperial Guard army books, many of the game rules for the Leman Russ variants have only appeared in the Imperial Armour series of sourcebooks. The major Leman Russ variants, such as the Demolisher and the actual Leman Russ battle tank are available as plastic model kits from Games Workshop. In contrast, almost all of the variant tanks are only available as resin models kits from Forge World.

The Leman Russ Annihilator is a variant of the Leman Russ released solely as a resin kit by Forge World in 2007. This variant replaces the standard tank's Battle Cannon with a pair of Lascannons. This is similar to the identically-designated Predator Annihilator tank of the Space Marines.

The Leman Russ Conqueror is a Leman Russ variant that mounts a smaller Conqueror Cannon with a co-axial storm bolter in place of the standard Battle Cannon. The rules for this variant were first published in the Imperial Armour range of supplemental material for Warhammer 40,000. Since it appears in a semi-official sourcebook, no official miniature or boxed set has been produced by Games Workshop. However, a conversion kit was designed by Tony Cottrell and is sold by the Games Workshop-subsidiary, Forge World. The Conqueror appears both in Warhammer 40,000 and in Epic 40,000.

The Leman Russ Executioner is another variant that appears only as a Forge World-released resin kit. The rules for the Executioner were published in the Imperial Armour series of supplements. Following other Leman Russ variants, it replaces the standard Battle Cannon with a Plasma Destructor. This variant also appears in Epic 40,000.

Sentinel

The Sentinel is a walker used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures wargame. It appears as an armless mechanical, bipedal walker armed with one or more heavy weapons.

The Sentinel was first introduced into the Warhammer 40,000 ruleset in the May 1989 issue of White Dwarf magazine. This rules addendum for the Imperial Army was for the first edition of the game, Rogue Trader. The first model for the Sentinel appeared in the 1991 citadel miniatures catalogue, alongside early models for imperial guard support weapons. Made entirely from metal and resembling an 'egg on legs' it mounted an assault cannon and had the option of two different pilots. This was replaced by a boxed set in July 1998. In time for the last days of Warhammer 40,000 2nd Edition, this Sentinel kit was also made entirely out of metal and was still armed with an Assault Cannon. Two years later, the kit received a makeover and a new, all-plastic Sentinel boxed set was released to coincide with the release of Codex: Imperial Guard for the third edition of Warhammer 40,000. This version of the sentinel featured more poseable legs, an almost-enclosed cockpit and either a Multilaser or a Heavy Flamer. The Heavy Flamer, along with parts to replace the pilot's head and arms and other jungle-warfare mods were included on a separate "Catachan Sentinel Sprue". The first release of the plastic Sentinel featured three of the walkers in a boxed set. Later re-releases and repackaged versions of the basic plastic Sentinel would be produced by Games Workshop, including an Armageddon-pattern Sentinel which contained metal parts to build a fully-enclosed cockpit and replace the main weapon with a metal Lascannon. This version was released with the campaign sourcebook Codex: Armageddon which included rules for a variant of the Imperial Guard army, the Armageddon Steel Legion. Steel Legion Sentinels were fully enclosed and were armed with Lascannons, according to the Legion army list. Another refit of the Sentinel was released with Codex: Eye of Terror in 2003. The Cadian army list in the codex contained an additional weapon option for Sentinels, an Autocannon. The Cadian-pattern Sentinel boxed set contained metal bits to add extra armor to the cockpit assembly plus a metal Autocannon. The Autocannon and Lascannon options from Codex: Eye of Terror and Codex: Armageddon were later included as viable options for Imperial Guard Sentinels in the 2003 Edition of the Imperial Guard codex. Since the release of the 5th edition Codex, Sentinels have been split into two different unit categories, the Scout Sentinel and the Armored Sentinel. In addition, the Armored Sentinel can carry a plasma cannon. GW have brought out a new Sentinel boxed set with a variety of new weapons options, including a missile launcher.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles - Imperial Armour

Many Imperial Guard vehicles are present in various background material but not officially represented in the various Imperial Guard army lists and codices released by Games Workshop for the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures game. Some of these vehicles appear in the smaller-scaled, spin-off game Epic 40,000, while the Warhammer 40,000 rules for others are only published in optional, supplemental sourcebooks such as the Imperial Armour series published by Games Workshop's subsidiary Forge World. This subsection covers Imperial Guard vehicles whose rules have not yet appeared in any official codex, whether current or defunct. It takes from various sources such as the 1st and 2nd editions of Imperial Armour.

Atlas

The Atlas Armoured Recovery Vehicle or Atlas ARV is a support vehicle that first appeared in the Imperial Armour Update 2002 sourcebook. The miniature is a nine-piece resin kit designed by Tony Cottrell as a conversion for the Leman Russ plastic kit. The vehicle itself appears as a turretless Leman Russ with a boom crane projecting posteriorly similar to that of a tow truck. The game rules for the Atlas are unique in that the ARV can drag destroyed or immobilised vehicles (which are otherwise obligatorily stationary) like modern recovery vehicles.

Bombard

The Bombard is a heavy artillery vehicle used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. It appears mostly in supplemental material outside of the official game. The vehicle essentially appears as a tank chassis with the turret replaced by a large Siege Mortar. The 28mm scale miniature, designed by Daren Parrwood and sold by Forge World as a conversion for the Leman Russ chassis, is exactly that - a Siege Mortar on a Leman Russ hull. The smaller-scaled Epic 40,000 versions produced in metal by Games Workshop have their own chassis only slightly resembling that of a standard Russ. Bombards can be taken as effective artillery squadrons in the 1997 turn-based strategy game Epic 40,000: Final Liberation.

Centaur

The Centaur Carrier or Centaur is a utility vehicle used by some Imperial Guard armies in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures game. It is a relatively new vehicle, introduced in 2007 with the release of the optional supplement Imperial Armour Vol. 5: The Siege of Vraks. The vehicle resembles a scaled-down Leman Russ chassis armed with a Heavy Stubber. In the game's background, the Centaur is widely-used by the Death Korps of Krieg.

Cyclops

The Cyclops Demolition Vehicle is a small, remote-operated demolition vehicle used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures game. It appears as a miniaturized Leman Russ hull, smaller than a Imperial Guardsman model. The single-piece resin model was designed by Tony Cottrell and released by Forge World. The rules for the Cyclops appear in the Imperial Armour series of sourcebooks.

Deathstrike

The Deathstrike Missile Launcher is a mobile tactical ballistic missile launcher used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The appearance of the Deathstrike resembles that of modern tactical launchers such as Scud launchers. It is essentially a single, large missile mounted on top of a vehicle chassis. The Deathstrike appears in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game, and also appears in the smaller-scaled Epic 40,000 sister-game and a few of its spin-offs. Deathstrike launchers are fieldable units in the turn-based strategy game based on the Epic 40,000 franchise, Final Liberation.The Deathstrike missile launcher was never released as a plastic kit, though this may change soon as the vehicle is soon to be introduced to the tabletop game in the 5th edition of the imperial guard codex.

Destroyer Tank Hunter

The Destroyer Tank Hunter is an Imperial Guard vehicle that appears only in the Imperial Armour series of supplements for Warhammer 40,000. Like historical tank destroyers, the Destroyer does not have a main gun mounted on a turret. Instead, its appearance is that of a typical (albeit turret-less) Leman Russ chassis with a long gun barrel protruding from the front of the tank. This gun is the long-ranged Laser Destroyer. Unlike most other Imperial Guard vehicles, the Destroyer does not have any secondary weapons. Game rules for the Destroyer were first published in 2001 in the Imperial Armour supplement for the Warhammer 40,000 game by Forge World. It has been retained in the 2006 release of the second edition of the Imperial Armour series. So far, no boxed set exists for the Destroyer Tank Hunter. A resin conversion kit designed by Tony Cottrell for the plastic Leman Russ is sold by Forge World.

Hydra

The Hydra Flak Tank or simply Hydra is a self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon occasionally used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop wargame. Another vehicle visually based on the Chimera APC chassis, it appears as a Chimera with the turret replaced by a rotating assembly that mounts four long-barreled Autocannons. The rules for fielding a Hydra in Warhammer 40,000 were published in the Imperial Armour series of sourcebooks by Forge World. Forge World also sells a six-part resin conversion kit designed by Tony Cottrell for converting a Chimera into a Hydra. The Hydra appears as fieldable units in the strategy game Final Liberation.

Manticore

The Manticore is a mobile multiple-missile launcher used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures game. It is based on the Chimera chassis, with the primary weapon being replaced by a rack of four, large Manticore Missiles.

The Warhammer 40,000-scaled Manticore miniature was designed by Tony Cottrell and produced by Forge World as a ten-part resin conversion kit for the Basilisk plastic kit. Unlike the original design of the Manticore seen in background art and in the Epic 40,000 game, the missile rack on top of the Forge World version holds the missiles in two rows, one missile on top of the other. In contrast, the original version of the Manticore mounted the missiles in a single row of four on top of the vehicle. The original version is the model used for the metal Manticore miniatures produced by Games Workshop for the Epic 40,000 tabletop game. The Manticore appears in the 1997 strategy game Final Liberation as a fieldable unit by the Imperial side. The version that appears in the game is the original one and not the version designed by Tony Cottrell.

Medusa

The Medusa is a self-propelled gun artillery vehicle used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. It does not officially appear in official primary Imperial Guard sourcebooks, and is only available in the Imperial Armour series of supplements by Forge World. A resin kit designed by Daren Parrwood was made available by Forge World as a conversion for the Games Workshop plastic Chimera kit.

Ragnarok

The Ragnarok is a relatively new Imperial Guard tank in the Warhammer 40,000 metaverse. It appears only in the Epic Armageddon supplement Swordwind. It appears as a boxy, slab-armoured tank armed with a Battle Cannon mounted on a large turret. Two Heavy Stubbers protrude from the tank's hull. In-game, it is only fielded by the Death Korps of Krieg. It does not appear in Warhammer 40,000-scale and only Epic-scaled metal miniatures have been produced by Games Workshop.

Salamander

The Salamander is a light tank used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures game. Based on the Chimera chassis, rules for two variants currently exist - the fast Salamander Scout and the Salamander Command. Both variants first appeared in the first edition of the Imperial Armour supplement for Warhammer 40,000. The command version of the Salamander is armed with a Heavy Flamer in addition to the Chimera's hull-mounted Heavy Bolter while the scout variant replaces the flamer with an Autocannon. Since they have not appeared so far in Codex: Imperial Guard, official miniatures have not been produced by Games Workshop. Instead, resin conversion kits designed by Tony Cottrell have been produced for both variants by the Games Workshop subsidiary Forge World. Interestingly, even though the Salamander is based on the Chimera chassis, the Forge World conversion kits are meant for the Basilisk plastic kit.

Thunderer Siege Tank

The Thunderer Siege Tank is a highly specialized Imperial Guard vehicle that uses the Leman Russ chassis. It is similar to the Destroyer Tank Hunter in that it lacks both a turret and secondary weapons and instead mounts a single, forward-facing Demolisher Cannon on the front of its hull. According to background information, the Thunderer was the result of field modifications made to Destroyer Tank Hunters that had lost their main gun in battle. The Laser Destroyer was replaced with the much more prevalent Demolisher Cannon. This changed the tank's role on the battlefield from a long-range tank destroyer to a short-ranged siege tank.

The rules and background information for the Thunderer appear only in the Imperial Armour series of sourcebooks. As with many of the Imperial Armour vehicles, Games Workshop has not produced a boxed set of the Thunderer. Instead, Forge World sells a three-part resin conversion kit designed by Tony Cottrell to convert a plastic Leman Russ kit into a Thunderer.

Trojan

The Trojan Support Vehicle is a non-combat, support vehicles that can be used by the Imperial Guard in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures game. Based on the Chimera chassis, its appearance is that of a turretless Chimera hull with a winch arising from the rear-top part of the vehicle. The Trojan does not appear officially in the Warhammer 40,000 game and its rules can only be found in the Imperial Armour series of optional sourcebooks. A six-piece resin conversion kit designed by Tony Cottrell has been produced by Forge World to make a Chimera into a Trojan.

Super heavy vehicles

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 kit1. 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 the RTS game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War it is the Imperial Guard faction's superweapon, of which only one can be built by a player at a time.

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.

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 and stormlord) the turret is replaced by a fixed-forward housing, in order to accommodate a larger weapon.

Stormlord

Weaponry: Vulcan Mega-Bolter, twin-linked Heavy Bolter, and 0, 2, or 4 heavy flamers and lascannons.
Role: Infantry fighting vehicle (transport and anti-infantry fire support)
Details: The Stormlord is rather favored by mechanized armies, due to its ability to transport forty men. Its main weapon is the Vulcan Mega-Bolter, capable of easily ripping through infantry and light vehicles.

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.The volcano cannon is so huge it can be used to defend planets against space attacks. It can fire against landers or low-orbit vessels. A typical Shadowsword would have the following armament:

• A hull mounted volcano cannon.
• Two sponsons, each with a lascannon and a twin-linked heavy bolter.
• Hull mounted heavy bolter.
• Optional weaponry e.g. pintle mounted heavy stubber.

The Shadowswords are rarely seen at regiment level where there would be ten or eleven Shadowswords alongside a huge flotilla of support vehicles. Usually you see Shadowswords in ones or twos spread along the battle line, only in dire times do a company (three vehicles) or a regiment turn up together for a fight.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Gorgon

The Gorgon is a superheavy, amphibious, open-topped, armoured assault transport; roughly the same size as the standard Baneblade chassis. 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.

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

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.

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 compared to the British WW1 MK I to VIII Heavy Tanks. 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.

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.

Capitol Imperialis

The Capital Imperialis Mobile Fortress is larger than a Leviathan and is capable of transporting two companies of Imperial Guard Troops. It does not appear in the current version of Epic and is not available as a model. Its main weapon is the "Behemoth Cannon" which is a short ranged (for epic) Barrage weapon, which fired four barrage templates of 4 Bp each, per turn. it also had a large number of heavy bolters mounted On It and some troops could fire from its upper decks, while riding the vehicle. The Imperialis was also protected by 6 void shields.

Miscellaneous Vehicles

Burrowers

In early versions of Epic burrowing vehicles were introduced.

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.

Mole

The Mole is an intermediate size burrowing vehicle, that can carry a platoon (aprox 50 men) of imperial guard into battle.

Termite

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

See also

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