30k Vehicle/Automata Concepts - The Manufactorum

[lokkorex]

IHF: interesting idea, that Zhao-Arkad made a lesser/non-Deimos pattern of the Hephaestus.

Another idea i've had is that the Macharius was the missing Perturabo Storm Tank, it's blueprints spread to friends of Perturabo/Iron Warriors such as the Thousand Sons and the World Eaters, each developing their own variants, which the Mechanicus later dug up fragments of.

I envisioned them as having a main hull-mounted weapon, such as a Quad-lascannon or a Mega-Bolter(like the one on the dark talon) with aN optional set of sponsons similar to the predator, and a turreted support weapon or havoc launcher.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

As promised, some Legion-specific turret options (and yes, I have basically given the Salamanders a Thanix cannon ):

 

 

Arsenal of the Legions:

Although in later years the Hephaestus was mainly regarded as a dedicated specialist vehicle, its original function as a testing platform for experimental weaponry resulted in several Legions fielding unique weapon systems that were never distributed outside their ranks, each drawing from the distinct technological acumen, tactical preferences and martial heritage inherent to each Legion. Hephaestus Special Weapon Tanks selected alongside a detachment with the relevant Legiones Astartes rule (indicated below) have access to an additional option for their turret-mounted weapon, as listed below (any such selections are twin-linked):

 

Vortex Pulse Emitter (Legiones Astartes: Dark Angels):

The legacy of weaponry sealed away in the armoury vaults of the I^st Legion since before Unification, the vortex pulse emitter is a weapon of arcane and terrible force, capable of unleashing a fraction of the power of more well-known vortex weaponry but circumventing their inherently disposable nature. Before the Heresy, these weapons were only permitted for use by the hosts of the Dreadwing, whose tenets of total warfare were the only conscionable conditions upon which they could be unleashed – restrictions which were swiftly lifted as civil war tore the Imperium asunder.

 

Vortex Pulse Emitter:           Range: 36”   Str: D   AP: 3   Type: Ordnance 1, Gets Hot, Vortex, Blast (3”)

 

Olympia-Pattern Plasma Bombard (Legiones Astartes: Iron Warriors):

Until civil war swept across the Galaxy, the Iron Warriors’ Lyssatra or ‘Brethren of  Thunder’ had never had full access to the closely guarded secrets of Ryza’s Hellex plasma mortar, and despite their many attempts, replication of the weapon’s success was marred with the same misfortune suffered by the Magos of Esteban III. Only when the chaos of the Heresy provided the IV^th Legion the opportunity to recover examples of the Hellex mortar from the remains of their erstwhile allies did this obscure warrior-cult gain the knowledge they needed to match Ryza’s mastery of plasma-arcana, with the Olympia-pattern plasma bombard being the first in a long line of devious weapons of their ilk created by the Iron Warriors during the Age of Darkness and beyond.

 

Olympia Plasma Bombard:

Range: 12-60”   Str: 7   AP: 3   Type: Ordnance 3, Apocalyptic Barrage, Plasma Wave

 

Endothermic Lance (Legiones Astartes: Space Wolves):

Following extensive study of archaeotechnology uncovered on Fenris, alongside their Primarch’s own armour, the Iron Priests of the Space Wolves developed a series of endothermic weapons, capable of projecting beams of howling power which drained all heat from their surrounds, snap-freezing most materials outright and shrouding the target in a coating of dense ice. Although several variant weapons were developed, miniaturization proved unreliable and often hazardous, meaning the Hephaestus’ bulky endothermic lances proved to be the only stable application of the technology, with the added advantage of variable output controls allowing for dual firing modes to shatter armour or freeze flesh.

 

Endothermic Lance:            

(Dispersed)                                         Range: 30”   Str: 6   AP: 3   Type: Heavy 2, Fleshbane, Strikedown, Large Blast (5”)

(Focused)                                            Range: 30”   Str: 8   AP: 1   Type: Heavy 2, Lance, Exoshock

 

Stheno-Pattern Heavy Laser Destroyer (Legiones Astartes: Iron Hands):

The stheno-pattern was one of several attempts by the forge-brethren of the Iron Hands to enhance the standard laser destroyer arrays in use across the Legions, combining a heavier incarnation of the las weapons with neutron wave technology. While the outset of the Heresy prevented distribution of the stheno-pattern outside of the X^th Legion, it did lay the foundation for the neutron wave capacitor, a common modification to Legion falchions during that dark era capable of increasing the potency of their volcano cannon even further.

 

Stheno Heavy Laser Destroyer:      Range: 48”   Str: 9   AP: 1   Type: Ordnance 2, Feedback, Sunder, Shock Pulse

 

Æther-fire Caster (Legiones Astartes: Thousand Sons):

Among the largest armaments harnessing the Thousand Sons’ hybrid plasma technology, Æther-fire casters proved incredibly effective against massed infantry, the eerie fire of their blasts seeming to seek out fresh victims.

 

Æther-fire Caster:                Range: 48”   Str: 6   AP: 3   Type: Heavy 1, Crawling Fire, Soul Blaze, Massive Blast (7”)

 

Soulburner Siege Gun (Legiones Astartes: Word Bearers):

These sinister weapons are believed to have been developed in concert between the Word Bearers Legion and certain extremist sects of the Mechanicum in the immediate aftermath of the dropsite massacre, with their baleful power first unveiled during the XII^th and XVII^th Legions’ despoiling campaign into Ultramar. Clearly the fruits of experimentation with ruinous powers, while these ‘soulburners’ essentially function in the same manner as orthodox projectile weapons, both their munitions and the guns themselves seethe with dark energy, tainting the earth wherever their destructive power is unleashed and inflicting horrific psychological effects upon any unfortunate enough to survive.

 

Soulburner Siege Gun:         Range: 60”   Str: 9   AP: 2   Type: Ordnance 1, Ignores Cover, Howling Death, Lingering Death, Large Blast (5”)

 

Galvanic Furnace (Legiones Astartes: Salamanders):

Ostensibly a fusion of melta and plasma weaponry, the galvanic furnaces’ basic operating principle involves the acceleration of alloy projectiles to hypervelocity, advanced magnetic impellors and poorly understood phasic technology enabling impact speeds conventionally impossible in most atmospheres. The crux of this technology was discovered by elements of the XVIII^th Legion in the ruined planetary system of Haestrum, a handful of incredibly potent archaeotech weapon cores studied for decades by the Salamanders’ Artificers. Despite the power of the armaments eventually fashioned around these fragmented weapons by the Salamanders’ skilled forge-craft, replication of their technology proved impossible, and the few score galvanic furnaces initially produced remained the only known examples of their kind in the Imperium.

 

Galvanic Furnace:                Range: 48”   Str: D   AP: 1   Type: Ordnance 1, Machine Destroyer

 

 

 

IHF: interesting idea, that Zhao-Arkad made a lesser/non-Deimos pattern of the Hephaestus.
Another idea i've had is that the Macharius was the missing Perturabo Storm Tank, it's blueprints spread to friends of Perturabo/Iron Warriors such as the Thousand Sons and the World Eaters, each developing their own variants, which the Mechanicus later dug up fragments of.
I envisioned them as having a main hull-mounted weapon, such as a Quad-lascannon or a Mega-Bolter(like the one on the dark talon) with aN optional set of sponsons similar to the predator, and a turreted support weapon or havoc launcher.

 

Oh, those sound like cool ideas - I can never remember whether the perturabo storm tank was an official design or another fan project?

[Fenbain]

All look good to me bar the Galvanic Furnace. Assuming I'm not misunderstanding something, you've basically described an advanced/alternate sort of railgun, which doesn't add up to the combination of melta and plasma technology you state initially. If that is the case, I think the concept needs some more refinement :-)

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

All look good to me bar the Galvanic Furnace. Assuming I'm not misunderstanding something, you've basically described an advanced/alternate sort of railgun, which doesn't add up to the combination of melta and plasma technology you state initially. If that is the case, I think the concept needs some more refinement :-)

 

Yeah my idea for the galvanic furnace changed a bit as I designed the rules, the plasma / melta hybrid is more in a mechanical sense - plasma weapons are railguns that fire ionised gas, and metals moving at hypervelocity act as liquids & vaporise upon impact, along with the target, so that's the melta component. As you said, that isn't clear in the blurb, so I'll probably change the intro.

[lokkorex]

 

IHF: interesting idea, that Zhao-Arkad made a lesser/non-Deimos pattern of the Hephaestus.

Another idea i've had is that the Macharius was the missing Perturabo Storm Tank, it's blueprints spread to friends of Perturabo/Iron Warriors such as the Thousand Sons and the World Eaters, each developing their own variants, which the Mechanicus later dug up fragments of.

I envisioned them as having a main hull-mounted weapon, such as a Quad-lascannon or a Mega-Bolter(like the one on the dark talon) with aN optional set of sponsons similar to the predator, and a turreted support weapon or havoc launcher.

 

Oh, those sound like cool ideas - I can never remember whether the perturabo storm tank was an official design or another fan project?

apparently the sketch for the tank is from a concept book by Jes Goodwin.

 

a third party made a complete kit a couple of years ago, but they apparently stopped producing it quite some time ago.

 

i've seen one conversion made out of the oop rogue trader land raider which looked particularly cool. (even though it was in imperial fist colours, ugh)

 

maybe i could base it upon your concept for the thunderstrike?

[Marshal Rohr]

Going off of the old sketch, a reversed version of the new death guard assault mortar tank would be pretty cool. 

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

 

 

IHF: interesting idea, that Zhao-Arkad made a lesser/non-Deimos pattern of the Hephaestus.

Another idea i've had is that the Macharius was the missing Perturabo Storm Tank, it's blueprints spread to friends of Perturabo/Iron Warriors such as the Thousand Sons and the World Eaters, each developing their own variants, which the Mechanicus later dug up fragments of.

I envisioned them as having a main hull-mounted weapon, such as a Quad-lascannon or a Mega-Bolter(like the one on the dark talon) with aN optional set of sponsons similar to the predator, and a turreted support weapon or havoc launcher.

 

Oh, those sound like cool ideas - I can never remember whether the perturabo storm tank was an official design or another fan project?

apparently the sketch for the tank is from a concept book by Jes Goodwin.

 

a third party made a complete kit a couple of years ago, but they apparently stopped producing it quite some time ago.

 

i've seen one conversion made out of the oop rogue trader land raider which looked particularly cool. (even though it was in imperial fist colours, ugh)

 

maybe i could base it upon your concept for the thunderstrike?

 

 

The design always reminded me of the Land Raider Achilles personally, maybe swapping out the quad mortar for something else (tri-barreled design is reminiscent of the stalker's icarus storm cannon, so maybe some kind of storm cannon?) - it's an approach I've taken with the Land Raider Terminus (sponson TL lascannon, hull laser destroyer).

 

I found an old thread from the First Expedition where Laurie Goulding discusses it a bit:

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thefirstexpedition/perturabo-storm-tank-t1915.html 

 

Going off of the old sketch, a reversed version of the new death guard assault mortar tank would be pretty cool. 

 

I'm working on a design based off the Plagecrawler in a similar ilk - the tank's design is so reminiscent of Deimos aesthetics (the sponson mounts, curved plating etc.) I have to give it a go - the 'Maelstrom Artillery Tank' will be a typical artillery tank, rather than a reversed-chassis storm tank, but it should be fun to work with.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

I'm gradually going through and writing up the background text for the vehicles in the pipeline (most of which I've already designed rules for), and as usual I'm gonna be releasing them in thematically consistent groups of three. The Hephaestus was part of the 1st group, which covers 3 Legion vehicles which all have entirely new chassis designs:

 

 

FAST ATTACK: Legion Warg Attack Squadron

 

 

The Warg assault tank is a vehicle most commonly compared to the Legions’ ubiquitous Predator, being of a similar weight class and possessing roughly equivalent fire power, albeit in a very distinct battlefield role. Unlike the Predator however, the Warg is not another variant of the versatile Rhino chassis, seemingly purpose-designed as a battle tank, with none of the hallmark adaptability of the Rhino. Known to possess some fleeting similarities to certain components of the hulking Mastodon’s design, the Warg’s STC template was discovered as the Great Crusade spread beyond the Segmentum Solar, and once declared doctrinally pure by the Fabricator-general, the Warg was mass-produced on several secondary Forge Worlds in preparation for the next stage of the Imperium’s expansion.

 

Primarily designated as an assault vehicle, the Warg’s squat hull affords a reduced profile in confined warzones but lacks the capacity for the bulky generators typically required by longer-ranged armaments. Instead, the Warg can mount a variety of brutal short to medium ranged weapons, making it well-suited to infantry support, a role for which it has found favour with several more aggressively predisposed Legions, most notably the VI^th, IX^th & XII^th.

 

Warg Assault Tank:                   BS: 4   Armour (Front/Side/Rear): 13/12/10 HP: 3

 

Unit Composition:

* 1-3 Warg Assault Tanks

 

Unit Type:

* Vehicle (Tank, Fast)

 

Wargear:

* Turret-mounted kheres pattern assault cannon

* Hull-mounted twin-linked heavy bolter

* Extra Armour

* Search light

* Smoke launchers

 

Special Rules:

* Galvanic Traction Drive

 

Options:

* Any model may exchange its kheres pattern assault cannon for one of the following:

            - Reaper autocannon battery

            - Frag cannon

- Melta cannon

* Any model may take any of the following upgrades:

            - Hunter-killer missile

            - Auxiliary drive

            - Armoured ceramite

* In a squadron of three, one Warg may be upgraded to a:

            - Squadron Command Tank

 

Frag Cannon:

The patterns of fragmentation cannon in use by the Legions were brutally simple weapons, firing blasts of adamantium shrapnel to shred anything in range without heavy armour. While often overlooked in favour of more powerful volkite armaments, the robust and easy to repair frag cannon was still relied upon in many engagements, especially longer duration campaigns.

 

Frag Cannon:                        Range: Template   Str: 6   AP: -   Type: Assault 2, Rending

 

 

HEAVY SUPPORT: Legion Mauler Heavy Battle Tank

 

 

The Mauler heavy tank was one of many additions to the Imperial host made upon the union of Terra and Mars, manufactured in bulk for the nascent Legions as the Great Crusade began in earnest. Heavier than most of the battle tanks in use by the Legions at the time, the Mauler served to anchor battle-lines and endure devastating firepower, with numerous weapon mounts providing potent anti-armour and anti-infantry offensive capabilities. Whether fielded in massed linebreaker formations or as mobile bastions, the Mauler was key to several of the great Crusade’s early victories, earning a reputation as a reliable cornerstone for the Legions’ armoured divisions, although its complex atomantic reactor proved difficult to repair should the vehicle suffer internal damage.

 

As numerous Forge Worlds were encompassed by the growing Imperium, the Legions’ array of armoured vehicles multiplied at a prodigious rate, providing access to tanks which could fulfil specific roles encompassed by the Mauler’s broad purview with greater proficiency. Resultantly, the Mauler was generally reassigned to massed armour divisions, although Legions for which the Mauler’s sophisticated reactor and relatively ponderous speed was small issue still fielded it as a line tank, with the Iron Hands in particular known to use the Mauler as a matter of course, often in place of lighter battle tanks like the Predator.

 

Mauler:                   BS: 4   Armour (Front/Side/Rear): 14/13/13 HP: 6

 

Unit Composition:

* 1 Mauler Heavy Battle Tank

 

Unit Type:

* Vehicle (Super-Heavy)

 

Wargear:

* Turret-mounted magna-cannon

* Hull-mounted twin-linked heavy bolter

* Two sponson-mounted twin-linked lascannon

* Two sponson-mounted twin-linked heavy bolters

* Armoured ceramite

* Dozer blade

* Extra armour

* Search light

* Smoke launchers

 

Special Rules:

* Crushing Weight

 

Options:

* The Mauler may take any of the following upgrades:

            - Hunter-killer missile

            - Flare shield

* The Mauler may exchange its two sponson-mounted twin-linked heavy bolters for one of the following:

            - Two twin-linked heavy flamers

            - Two twin-linked multi-meltas

* The Mauler may take one of the following pintle-mounted weapons:

            - Twin-linked bolter

            - Combi-bolter

            - Heavy bolter

            - Heavy flamer

            - Multi-melta

            - Havoc launcher

 

Magna-Cannon:

A rapid-fire battlecannon variant, the magna-cannon fires shells encased in high-density adamantium that can tear through armour upon detonation, sacrificing a larger blast radius to increase their stopping power against hardened targets.

 

Magna-Cannon:        Range: 60”   Str: 8   AP: 2   Type: Ordnance 2, Sunder, Blast (3”)

 

 

LORDS OF WAR: Legion Hephaestus Special Weapons Tank

 

One of the most advanced vehicles of its time, the Hephaestus was designed in a concerted effort to expand the Legions’ wargear during the early Great Crusade, incorporating several novel systems into a super-heavy chassis which could feasibly mount almost any prototype heavy weaponry for rigorous field testing. Across its lifetime, these weapons laid the groundwork for armaments later found throughout the Legions’ arsenals, weapon systems of such destructive mien that they became bywords for utter desolation, from the Glaive’s colossal Volkite Carronade to the Grav-flux Bombard of the Leviathan Dreadnought.

 

Not only did the Hephaestus’ weapons propagate further Legion wargear; but the vehicle’s chassis itself proved fundamental to the development of various super-heavy vehicles, such as the Glaive and Scourge special-weapons tanks, as well as playing a role in the design of the highly successful Sicaran main battle tank.

 

While frontline deployments of the Hephaestus dwindled towards the end of the Great Crusade, replaced by purpose-built vehicles equipped with more reliable and stable incarnations of their prototype armaments thanks to dedicated weapons projects which sought to avoid the need for lengthy field trials, the destruction unleashed by the Heresy called forth the Hephaestus in greater numbers than ever before, bearing dark weaponry once consigned to history.

 

Hephaestus:                   BS: 4   Armour (Front/Side/Rear): 14/13/12 HP: 8

 

Unit Composition:

* 1 Hephaestus

 

Unit Type:

* Vehicle (Super Heavy)

 

Wargear:

* Hull-mounted twin-linked heavy bolter

* Extra armour

* Search light

* Smoke launchers

Special Rules:

* Arsenal of the Legions

 

Options:

* The Hephaestus must select one of the following turret-mounted weapons:

            - Twin-linked volkite cavalcade

            - Twin-linked neutron pulse cannon

            - Twin-linked conversion annihilator

            - Twin-linked grav-flux projector

* The Hephaestus may take any of the following upgrades:

            - Hunter-killer missile

            - Armoured ceramite

* The Hephaestus may exchange its twin-linked heavy bolter for one of the following:

            - Twin-linked heavy flamer

            - Twin-linked lascannon

 

Hephaestus Weapon Systems:

The Hephaestus’ weapon systems commonly became templates for devices of ruin which would become widespread across the Legions - such as the earliest incarnations of neutron weaponry - but some few esoteric designs, including conversion beamers with advanced suspensor fields mitigating their notorious stability requirements, were never proliferated further.

 

Macro-accelerator Autocannon:   

Range: 72”   Str: 8   AP: 3   Type: Heavy 8, Sunder, Rapid Tracking

Volkite Cavalcade:                Range: Template   Str: 7   AP: 3   Type: Heavy 1, Deflagrate, Haywire, Torrent (24”)

Neutron Pulse Cannon:        Range: 60”   Str: 10   AP: 1   Type: Ordnance 1, Concussive, Feedback, Shock Pulse, Blast (3”)

Conversion Annihilator:      Range: Up to 12”   Str: 6   AP: -   Type: Ordnance 1, Exoshock, Ignores Cover, Large Blast (5”)

Range: 12-24”   Str: 8   AP: 4   Type: Ordnance 1, Exoshock, Ignores Cover, Large Blast (5”)

Range: 24-48”   Str: 10   AP: 1   Type: Ordnance 1, Exoshock, Ignores Cover, Large Blast (5”)

Grav-flux Projector:             Range: 36”   Str: *   AP: 2   Type: Heavy 1, Graviton Collapse, Ignores Cover, Sunder, Strikedown, Torsion Crusher, Large Blast (5”)

 

Arsenal of the Legions:

Although in later years the Hephaestus was mainly regarded as a dedicated specialist vehicle, its original function as a testing platform for experimental weaponry resulted in several Legions fielding unique weapon systems that were never distributed outside their ranks, each drawing from the distinct technological acumen, tactical preferences and martial heritage inherent to each Legion. Hephaestus Special Weapon Tanks selected alongside a detachment with the relevant Legiones Astartes rule (indicated below) have access to an additional option for their turret-mounted weapon, as listed below (any such selections are twin-linked):

 

Vortex Pulse Emitter (Legiones Astartes: Dark Angels):

The legacy of weaponry sealed away in the armoury vaults of the I^st Legion since before Unification, the vortex pulse emitter is a weapon of arcane and terrible force, capable of unleashing a fraction of the power of more well-known vortex weaponry but circumventing their inherently disposable nature. Before the Heresy, these weapons were only permitted for use by the hosts of the Dreadwing, whose tenets of total warfare were the only conscionable conditions upon which they could be unleashed – restrictions which were swiftly lifted as civil war tore the Imperium asunder.

 

Vortex Pulse Emitter:           Range: 36”   Str: D   AP: 3   Type: Ordnance 1, Gets Hot, Vortex, Blast (3”)

 

Olympia-Pattern Plasma Bombard (Legiones Astartes: Iron Warriors):

Until civil war swept across the Galaxy, the Iron Warriors’ Lyssatra or ‘Brethren of  Thunder’ had never had full access to the closely guarded secrets of Ryza’s Hellex plasma mortar, and despite their many attempts, replication of the weapon’s success was marred with the same misfortune suffered by the Magos of Esteban III. Only when the chaos of the Heresy provided the IV^th Legion the opportunity to recover examples of the Hellex mortar from the remains of their erstwhile allies did this obscure warrior-cult gain the knowledge they needed to match Ryza’s mastery of plasma-arcana, with the Olympia-pattern plasma bombard being the first in a long line of devious weapons of their ilk created by the Iron Warriors during the Age of Darkness and beyond.

 

Olympia Plasma Bombard:

Range: 12-60”   Str: 7   AP: 3   Type: Ordnance 3, Apocalyptic Barrage, Plasma Wave

 

Endothermic Lance (Legiones Astartes: Space Wolves):

Following extensive study of archaeotechnology uncovered on Fenris, alongside their Primarch’s own armour, the Iron Priests of the Space Wolves developed a series of endothermic weapons, capable of projecting beams of howling power which drained all heat from their surrounds, snap-freezing most materials outright and shrouding the target in a coating of dense ice. Although several variant weapons were developed, miniaturization proved unreliable and often hazardous, meaning the Hephaestus’ bulky endothermic lances proved to be the only stable application of the technology, with the added advantage of variable output controls allowing for dual firing modes to shatter armour or freeze flesh.

 

Endothermic Lance:            

(Dispersed)                                         Range: 30”   Str: 6   AP: 3   Type: Heavy 2, Fleshbane, Strikedown, Large Blast (5”)

(Focused)                                            Range: 30”   Str: 8   AP: 1   Type: Heavy 2, Lance, Exoshock

 

Stheno-Pattern Heavy Laser Destroyer (Legiones Astartes: Iron Hands):

The stheno-pattern was one of several attempts by the forge-brethren of the Iron Hands to enhance the standard laser destroyer arrays in use across the Legions, combining a heavier incarnation of the las weapons with neutron wave technology. While the outset of the Heresy prevented distribution of the stheno-pattern outside of the X^th Legion, it did lay the foundation for the neutron wave capacitor, a common modification to Legion falchions during that dark era capable of increasing the potency of their volcano cannon even further.

 

Stheno Heavy Laser Destroyer:      Range: 48”   Str: 9   AP: 1   Type: Ordnance 2, Feedback, Sunder, Shock Pulse

 

Æther-fire Caster (Legiones Astartes: Thousand Sons):

Among the largest armaments harnessing the Thousand Sons’ hybrid plasma technology, Æther-fire casters proved incredibly effective against massed infantry, the eerie fire of their blasts seeming to seek out fresh victims.

 

Æther-fire Caster:                Range: 48”   Str: 6   AP: 3   Type: Heavy 1, Crawling Fire, Soul Blaze, Massive Blast (7”)

 

Soulburner Siege Gun (Legiones Astartes: Word Bearers):

These sinister weapons are believed to have been developed in concert between the Word Bearers Legion and certain extremist sects of the Mechanicum in the immediate aftermath of the dropsite massacre, with their baleful power first unveiled during the XII^th and XVII^th Legions’ despoiling campaign into Ultramar. Clearly the fruits of experimentation with ruinous powers, while these ‘soulburners’ essentially function in the same manner as orthodox projectile weapons, both their munitions and the guns themselves seethe with dark energy, tainting the earth wherever their destructive power is unleashed and inflicting horrific psychological effects upon any unfortunate enough to survive.

 

Soulburner Siege Gun:         Range: 60”   Str: 9   AP: 2   Type: Ordnance 1, Ignores Cover, Howling Death, Lingering Death, Large Blast (5”)

 

Galvanic Furnace (Legiones Astartes: Salamanders):

A weapon capable of vaporising armour upon impact, the galvanic furnaces’ basic operating principle involves the acceleration of alloy projectiles to hypervelocity, advanced magnetic impellors and poorly understood phasic technology enabling impact speeds conventionally impossible in most atmospheres. The crux of this technology was discovered by elements of the XVIII^th Legion in the ruined planetary system of Haestrum, a handful of incredibly potent archaeotech weapon cores studied for decades by the Salamanders’ Artificers. Despite the power of the armaments eventually fashioned around these fragmented weapons by the Salamanders’ skilled forge-craft, replication of their technology proved impossible, and the few score galvanic furnaces initially produced remained the only known examples of their kind in the Imperium.

 

Galvanic Furnace:                Range: 48”   Str: D   AP: 1   Type: Ordnance 1, Machine Destroyer

 

 

 

You already know what the Hephaestus is roughly supposed to look like - the Warg is based off the front tracks of the Mastodon, split in half (so each of the twin tracks form a single set), with a turret similar to the Sicaran Punisher's, but more compact, with the cupola to one side and the turret cut away to mount the weapon to the other, with an ammo feed dropping down into the hull. The Mauler is a very blocky tank, with a hull mount akin to the Spartan, and front armoured sponsons (with the Heavy Bolters) mounted like the armoured proteus / Thunderhawk's frontal HBs, and the second set of sponsons being the more common Deimos style, projecting further out to the sides of the front set. The bit about the Iron Hands in the background is because the two times I've found these tanks mentioned in FW's HH series they were fielded by the X^th. Pretty sure this art from Collected Visions is the basis of the Mauler's name - 'Horus's Thunder' was the name of the individual tank, listed as a mauler tank (the little turret is the basis for the hull heavy bolters):

 

Edited December 29, 2018 by Iron Hands Fanatic

[lokkorex]

both the warg and mauler would be cool to see a model version of!

 

also, realized the other day the gorgon assault transporter existed during the heresy, so i wonder how that works with Zhao-Arkad?

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

On 9/21/2018 at 10:48 AM, lokkorex said:

both the warg and mauler would be cool to see a model version of!

 

also, realized the other day the gorgon assault transporter existed during the heresy, so i wonder how that works with Zhao-Arkad?

 

Thanks - I'm considering using the Warg (after I've done a lineart wireframe) for one of the proof-of-concept PDFs.

 

The 40k fluff for the Gorgon says it comes from Vannaheim, while the 30k background lists its origins as unknown, but it did operate in the early Great Crusade, which kinda precludes it coming from Zhao-Arkad (having not been discovered yet).

Edited October 24, 2022 by Iron Hands Fanatic

[Beren]

It's the Crassus hull that came from Zhao Arkhad.

[lokkorex]

Beren: and the macharius is from fragments found on forge world Lucius.

but the macharius, gorgon and crassus all share a common ancestor, otherwise their basic hull wouldn't be similar or identic.

so did Zhao-Arkad manufacture a variant during the great crusade which later were forgotten?

did Lucius as well?

and where did the gorgon come from?

[Beren]

In that case the Arkhadians most likely adapted the Gorgon to Zhao-Arkhadia's toxic atmosphere, but due to their limited status and production capabilities it never proliferated beyond their planet. Especially since the Mechanicum, Astartes and Solar Auxilia all had equal or better hostile environment transports.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

While the forum was down I went to work on some Dreadnought designs - everyone likes Dreads, right?

 

 

HQ: Legion Eternal

 

Exemplars of battle to have even been considered for interment, most Dreadnought pilots once held significant positions of rank among their mortal brethren, often venerated as warrior-sages and physical embodiments of their Legion’s history. Nevertheless, the extended periods of suspended animation required to maintain these Ancients’ psychological stability typically required their removal from line command, scattered awakenings usually leaving them disjointed from the evolving nature of their Legion.

 

In spite of this, Ancients of especial legend or stability came to bear distinct ranks of office, some being highly ceremonialised roles, such as the III^rd Legion’s Ancient of Rites, while others had a more practical battlefield application, even if they technically lay outside of typical line command. The Iron Hands were known in particular to maintain significant numbers of Dreadnought ‘Veneratii’ among their command structures, no doubt heavily influenced by their Techmarines’ remarkable understanding of cybernetic interface.

 

Regardless of their individual role, Legion Eternals were incredibly influential figures, as well as near-unkillable forces upon the battlefield, with names such as Rylanor, Cassian Dracos and Lhorke etched into the very warrior-spirits of their Legion. Throughout the Heresy’s span, these ‘Eternals’ were repeatedly turned to as leaders of circumstance, ironclad manifestations of values and ideology violently discarded at the civil war’s outset.

 

Legion Eternal:         WS: -   BS: -   S: -   Armour (Front/Side/Rear): -/-/-   I: -   A: -   HP: -

 

Unit Composition:

* 1 Legion Eternal

 

Unit Type:

* Vehicle (Walker, Character)

 

Wargear:

* Legion Standard (the Legion Eternal does not have to carry an actual standard, but this should be represented by suitably ornate decorations on the model)

* Nuncio-vox

 

Special Rules:

* Eternal Form

* Legion Forebear

* Legion Support Officer

* Venerable

 

Options:

* The Legion Eternal has no specific options. The base Dreadnought they are selected from, however, may receive options as normal for its type.

 

Eternal Form:

The Legion Eternal must be chosen from a Legion Dreadnought Talon, Contemptor Dreadnought Talon, Legion Mortis Dreadnought, Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought, Contemptor-Cortus Class Dreadnought Talon, Legion Lucifer Class Dreadnought Talon, Legion Leviathan-Thrasos Assault Dreadnought Talon, Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought Talon or Deredeo Pattern Dreadnought unit which numbers a single model. This model changes its Unit Type to Vehicle (Walker, Character), and gains the Wargear and Special Rules listed here in addition to its own, becoming a HQ selection.

 

Additionally, the Legion Eternal increases either its BS or WS Characteristic by one, and gains one of the following special rules:

* Counter-attack

* Crusader

* Fear

* Move Through Cover

* Outflank

* Rage

* Rampage

* Tank Hunters

 

Legion Forebear:

The Legion Eternal may be selected as the army’s Warlord even though they do not have a Leadership Characteristic, and if they are your Warlord, you may select rather than roll randomly for your Warlord trait.

 

Additionally, the Legion Eternal has the Legiones Astartes special rule possessed by the other units in the Detachment, with the following exceptions and additions depending upon which version of the rule that is:

* Dark Angels: The Legion Eternal may re-roll failed To Wound rolls against Monstrous Creatures and Flying Monstrous Creatures.

* Emperor’s Children: The Legion Eternal may be given a sonic shrieker

* Iron Warriors: All shooting attacks made by the Legion Eternal with a Strength of 8 or above gain the Wrecker special rule. A Legion Eternal acting as the army’s Warlord may select Shatter Defences special rule in place of their usual Warlord Trait.

* White Scars: A Legion Eternal with the Legiones Astartes: White Scars special rule may never be the army’s Warlord, but the opposing player never gains Victory points for specifically destroying this unit in missions where this is relevant.

* Night Lords: For the purposes of the Nostraman Blood special rule, the Legion Eternal counts as five models. A Legion Eternal with the Legiones Astartes: Night Lords special rule may take Trophies of Judgement.

* Blood Angels: For the purposes of the Host of Angels special rule, the Legion Eternal is not considered as having the Legiones Astartes: Blood Angels special rule.

* Iron Hands: A Legion Eternal ignores the Stand and Fight component of the Legiones Astartes: Iron Hands special rule and may not select a Cyber Familiar.

* Death Guard: The Legion Eternal has the Move Through Cover special rule.

* Thousand Sons: A Legion Eternal with the Legiones Astartes: Thousand Sons special rule may never be the army’s Warlord and may be upgraded to an Osiron Dreadnought if they are selected from a Contemptor Dreadnought Talon.

* Sons of Horus: For the purposes of the Merciless Fighters special rule, the Legion Eternal counts as five models and is counted as an Infantry model. A Legion Eternal with the Legiones Astartes: Sons of Horus special rule may take Banestrike bolter rounds for any bolters or combi-bolters they have.

* Word Bearers: The Legion Eternal gains the Adamantium Will special rule and may purchase the Dark Channelling upgrade if the detachment contains a Diabolist. A Legion Eternal with the Legiones Astartes: Word Bearers special rule may take the Burning Lore upgrade, giving them the Psychic Pilot special rule (Mastery Level 1), and allowing them to generate their power from either the Pyromancy or Telepathy disciplines.

* Salamanders: The Legion Eternal ignores the points cost to Master-craft a single weapon under the Artificer Weapons rule.

* Raven Guard: For the purposes of the Flesh over Steel special rule, the Legion Eternal is not considered as having the Legiones Astartes: Raven Guard special rule. Additionally, the Legion Eternal gains the Furious Charge special rule.

* Alpha Legion: A Legion Eternal with the Legiones Astartes: Alpha Legion special rule may not benefit from the Infiltrate special rule if it is selected under the provisions of the Mutable Tactics special rule and may take Banestrike bolter rounds for any bolters or combi-bolters they have.

 

 

ELITES: Legion Lucifer Class Dreadnought Talon

 

The Lucifer was the smallest Dreadnought pattern fielded by the Legions, one of the ‘first wave’ Dreadnought designs envisaged after the emergent Imperium had wedded Mars to its cause, in this case conceived to operate in confined warzones typical of ‘Zone Mortalis’ engagements. To this end, the Lucifer was constructed around a compact but powerful plasma core, and unlike later patterns possessed an integrated sarcophagus, permitting a much smaller torso housing but requiring an elaborate and often hazardous disconnection procedure to remove a pilot once interred.

 

Benefitting from a fusion of Martian and Terran artifice, the Lucifer paved the way for the advanced systems of the Contemptor pattern and its variants, as well as providing a crucial step in the ongoing tactical dreadnought project, but soon came to be overshadowed by enhanced capabilities of later Dreadnought designs. Regardless, the Lucifer’s tactical specialty ensured it was retained to some degree across all Legions, often held in stasis for extended periods until specific need arose, the dangers involved in transferring pilots to newer Dreadnought patterns too significant to risk. As such, many Lucifer Dreadnoughts that fought in the Heresy did so in a Galaxy utterly changed since they had last awakened, roused to wage war in an age entirely inimical to everything they had once known.

 

Lucifer Dreadnought:          WS: 5   BS: 4   S: 5   Armour (Front/Side/Rear): 12/12/12   I: 4   A: 3   HP: 3

 

Unit Composition:

* 1-5 Lucifer Dreadnoughts

 

Unit Type:

* Vehicle (Walker)

 

Wargear:

* Heavy bolter

* Dreadnought close combat weapon

* Twin-linked bolter

* Searchlight

* Smoke launchers

 

Special Rules:

* Compact Build

* Dreadnought Talon

* Move Through Cover

 

Options:

* Any Lucifer Dreadnought may exchange their heavy bolter for one of the following:

            - Heavy flamer

            - Twin-linked rotor cannon

            - Missile launcher with frag and krak missiles

            - Multi-melta

            - Reaper autocannon

            - Volkite culverin

            - Plasma cannon

            - Lascannon

            - Conversion beamer

- Dreadnought close combat weapon (granting the dreadnought an additional attack unless it is also equipped with a breaching mantlet)

* Any Lucifer Dreadnought may exchange their dreadnought close combat weapon for one of the following:

            - Chainfist

            - Siege wrecker

            - Breaching mantlet

* Any Lucifer Dreadnought may exchange their twin-linked bolter for one of the following:

            - Two hunter-killer missiles

- Twin-linked volkite charger

- Twin-linked flamer

            - Twin-linked grenade launcher with frag and krak grenades

            - Twin-linked melta-gun

            - Twin-linked plasma gun

            - Twin-linked graviton gun

* Any Lucifer Dreadnought may be equipped with:

            - Extra armour

            - Shock chargers

 

Breaching Mantlet:

The breaching mantlet carried by some Lucifer dreadnoughts in the later years of the Great Crusade was an attempt to increase the Lucifer’s durability in so-called ‘Zone Mortalis’ engagements where larger dreadnought patterns would be severely hampered by confined environments. Effectively an up-scaled incarnation of the various patterns of storm shield beginning to enter service with some Legions, this breaching mantlet replaced the Lucifer’s close combat arm, providing a heavy ballistic shield supplemented by protective energy fields and studded with fragmentation charges.

 

A model equipped with a breaching mantlet has a 6+ invulnerable save against shooting attacks originating in its front arc as well as in close combat and counts as being equipped with assault and defensive grenades.

 

Compact Build:

Transports which allow dreadnoughts to be embarked can carry Lucifer dreadnoughts as if they were models with the Extremely Bulky special rule (overriding any other indications of how many models they count as regarding transport capacity). This rule extends to any pattern of Drop Pod which can carry other types of dreadnought (including the Kharybdis Assault Claw) – in this case, Legion Dreadnought Drop Pods can carry up to three Lucifer Dreadnoughts.

 

Dedicated Transport:

A Lucifer Class Dreadnought Talon numbering no more than two Dreadnoughts may select a Legion Drop Pod as a Dedicated Transport, or Legion Dreadnought Drop Pod if it numbers no more than three Dreadnoughts.

 

 

ELITES: Legion Leviathan-Thrasos Assault Dreadnought Talon

 

Initially encountered by embattled Loyalist forces on Korhlus, the Leviathan-Thrasos was believed to be an inferior reproduction of the Leviathan Dreadnought by Traitor forces, presumably attempting to overcome Terra’s singular ability to produce the Leviathan. However, records uncovered after the reunification of Mars indicate the pattern’s origins were significantly earlier, before the first Leviathan Dreadnoughts had even been distributed to the Legions.

 

Despite the considerable secrecy shrouding the Leviathan’s development, it is evident that by some underhand means – perhaps even darker than was once thought possible – the Fabricator general acquired fragments of the Dreadnought’s schematics, designs that clearly set his mind on a devious path. Whether he did indeed fear the possibility that the Leviathan had been devised to outmatch the Mechanicum’s various battle-automata, or merely saw the Dreadnought’s development as an opportunity to further galvanise schisms within the Mechanicum in preparation for Horus’s planned conquest, the Fabricator general spread word of the Leviathan’s existence across the various Forge Worlds, all the while laying down designs for a supposedly equivalent pattern in service to the Warmaster.

 

While the Leviathan-Thrasos has several inferiorities when compared to the primary Leviathan design, created as it was from incomplete templates and in lieu of many specialist components possessed by its predecessor, it is still a potent war machine, and ultimately achieved its goal of mitigating some of the incredible resource cost of the original design. Unlike the original Leviathan which remained solely the product of Terra, the template for the Leviathan-Thrasos, distributed to several Traitor-aligned Forge Worlds just prior to the Heresy, did end up in the hands of the opposing faction, with both sides fielding the assault Dreadnought in some of the civil war’s most infamous battles.

 

Leviathan-Thrasos Dreadnought:   WS: 5   BS: 4   S: 8   Armour (Front/Side/Rear): 13/13/11   I: 4   A: 4   HP: 4

 

Unit Composition:

* 1-3 Leviathan-Thrasos Dreadnoughts

 

Unit Type:

* Vehicle (Walker)

 

Wargear:

* Two leviathan siege claws, each with an inbuilt heavy bolter#

* Smoke launcher

* Searchlight

* Frag assault launchers

* Extra armour

#Note that the bonus close combat attack is already included in the Dreadnought’s profile.

 

Special Rules:

* Atomantic Shielding

* Crushing Charge

* Dreadnought Talon

* Move Through Cover

* Rampage

* Unstable Internment

 

Options:

* Any Leviathan-Thrasos Dreadnought may exchange either of their heavy bolters for a:

            - Heavy flamer

* Any Leviathan-Thrasos Dreadnought may be equipped with Armoured Ceramite

* Any Leviathan-Thrasos Dreadnought may be equipped with one of the following:

            - Up to three hunter-killer missiles

            - Havoc launcher

            - Missile launcher with rad missiles

* Any Leviathan-Thrasos Dreadnought may exchange one of their leviathan siege claws with inbuilt heavy bolter for one of the following options, losing one attack:

            - Avenger bolt cannon

            - Cremator magna-flamer

            - Volkite conflagrator

            - Nimbus plasma thrower

 

Leviathan-Thrasos Weapons:

Rapidly designed and manufactured in anticipation of the Heresy by the agents of the Fabricator general, the Leviathan-Thrasos did not benefit from the extensive development and resource dedication of its predecessor, meaning most of its armaments had to be hastily adapted from extant weapon systems. These included volkite beam weapons secretly held within Kelbor-Hal’s armoury vaults, macro flamer devices primarily used in terraforming systems, and plasma throwers able to unleash monstrously destructive blasts by sacrificing the extensive containment fields required in longer-ranged plasma weaponry.

 

Cremator Magna-Flamer:               Range: Hellstorm   Str: 5   AP: 3   Type: Heavy 1

Volkite Conflagrator:                       Range: 30”   Str: 7   AP: 4   Type: Heavy 7, Deflagrate, Shred

Nimbus Plasma Thrower:                Range: 18”   Str: 8   AP: 2   Type: Heavy 1, Gets Hot, Plasma Burn, Plasma Wave, Large Blast (5”)

 

Dedicated Transport:

A Leviathan-Thrasos Dreadnought Talon numbering a single Dreadnought may select a Legion Dreadnought

Drop Pod or a Kharybdis Assault Claw as a Dedicated Transport. Note that owing to its size, it may not be

transported in other types of Drop Pod.

 

 

[Charlo]

Love em all as usual!

 

Really intrigued to see images of the mini-dreads, aka; Astartes Killa Kanz!

[lokkorex]

Charlo: IHF posted some sketches he had for the Lucifer the first time he worked on the older rogue trader/space crusade dreadnoughts.

 

Edit: here http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/295603-30k-vehicleautomata-concepts-colour-design/page-5

Edited October 12, 2018 by lokkorex

[Charlo]

Thought he must have, but cheers for digging them out. So awesome.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Yeah, thanks for digging that up Lokkorex

The basic design I have in mind has changed a little since that, mainly that the servo-arm's gone in favour of mounting the twin bolters in the upper torso in the same placement as the two holes above the Contemptor's head, kinda like this:

Edited October 12, 2018 by Iron Hands Fanatic

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Just swinging by to share another vehicle design commissioned by Brother Tholath - this one's a Legion bomber, and something I designed pretty much from scratch, which was a really interesting challenge for me, & I'm pretty happy with the results:

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by Iron Hands Fanatic

[Marshal Rohr]

Amazing design!

[Phatsquirre1]

Wow, that Bomber is absolutely awesome... 

[Brother Tholath]

Thanks! I wanted a suitable astartes bomber for my War of Light legion who are void specialists. It carries a plasma torpedo, and while a singular one may not hurt a battleship, enough will. Plus you then have some crazy pilots who aim at holes in the hull!

[malika666]

Please share us your rates and / or website with such info for commissions. I'm trying to convince Vanguard Miniatures to hire you.

[Marshal Rohr]

Best investment ever

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Thanks folks, it was a really fun opportunity to integrate design aspects from various different vehicles in new ways (and create some of my own)

Please share us your rates and / or website with such info for commissions. I'm trying to convince Vanguard Miniatures to hire you.

Huh - that's ah, not really a path I'd considered (partially 'cause I'm probably gonna have another go at applying for a GW position in the new year)

Here's a rough pricelist, although individual pieces may exceed the range given depending on detail / size / etc. (also, doing stuff for external companies would have different adjustments if it involved doing work for miniatures 'cause of profit from resulting work etc.)

Icon:

• Basic:

• malika666
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