(The Emperor Lives In Death!)
And we're almost there, with just one or two more posts in this series after this one. I must say that I've enjoyed writing these entries, coming up with new units, stating and attempting to balance them, maybe I'll do some more for another faction in the future. In the meantime here is a Heavy Support unit for the Adepta Sororitas, in the form of a dedicated battle tank.
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Cremator Battle Tank :
A heavier armed and armoured variant of the Immolator transport used by the Adepta Sororitas, the Cremator forfeits transport capacity in favour of heavier armour and a devastatingly powerful turret mounted Purefire Cannon. Capable of engaging heavy infantry, enemy armour, and even the rampaging abominations fielded all too often by the God Emperors foes it is a powerful and versatile addition to any commandery of Battle Sisters.
This vehicle has its origin in the hard fought Apollyon crusade of the 37th millenium. In addition to the massed ranks of the Imperial Guard the crusade forces included multiple Sororitas commanderies as well as a number of Adeptus Mechanicus tech-covenants, who took exception to the recovery by one Sororitas force of a partially intact data cache located in the ruins of a long abandoned cathedral. The two forces almost came to blows before coming under attack by a vast horde of Orks who had smashed through the Imperial Guard lines, forcing the two factions to join forces or be obliterated.
In the wake of their hard fought victory the Canoness of the Sororitas force surrendered the cache to the Adeptus Mechanicus with the understanding that they would allow the Sisters of Battle access to any weapon designs found within its crystalline archive stacks, an agreement that the senior Magos Dominus found more than agreeable after having his life saved multiple times by the Canonesses sanctified blade.
In addition to numerous minor technologies the cache contained the designs for the Purefire Cannon, a devastatingly powerful Melta weapon that soon found itself mounted on a variant of the ubiquitous Rhino chassis similar to the commonly fielded Immolator. Far bulkier than the Immolators usual armament its utilisation led to the loss of the Immolators transport capacity, allowing the Magi who developed this variant to both increase the vehicles armour and add its namesake Cremation Vents to deal with the excess heat generated by its Purefire cannon.
Though technically a variant of the Immolator the Cremator is still subject to considerable technotheological criticism by many within the ranks of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who view it as a Sin of Invention. As such it is still a rare sight amongst the armouries of most Sororitas orders as many Forge Worlds will not even countenance its construction within their sacred workshops. However as open war continues to engulf the faltering Imperium of Man more Tech Priests are willing to overlook the Cremators somewhat dubious nature in the name of survival.
Cremator Battle Tank (Heavy Support) : 165pts
| BS | Front | Side | Rear | HP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cremator Battle Tank | 4 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 3 |
Unit Composition : 1 Cremator Battle Tank
Unit Type : Vehicle (Tank)
Wargear : Cremation Vents, Purefire Cannon, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers
Special Rules : Shield of Faith
Options :
- A Cremator may take items from the Adepta Sororitas Vehicle Equipment list.
Arc (Special Rule) : When an Arc weapon is fired it emits a lance of energy that the gunner can either sweep across multiple targets or focus on a single foe, inflicting terrible damage as they play their weapons energies across the chosen adversary. When using such weapons the accuracy of the gunner is of paramount importance, with more skilled wielders able to keep the weapon on target for longer in order to inflict more damage.
When firing a weapon with the Arc special rule the gunner rolls to hit as normal, if their roll is succesful they score one hit plus an addition number of hits equal to their dice roll minus the gunners BS. For example a gunner with a Ballistic Skill of 4 will inflict 1 hit if they roll a 3, 2 hits if they roll a 4, 3 hits if they roll a 5, 4 hits if they roll a 6, and will miss if they roll a one or two.
Cremation Vents (Equipment) : The Cremator Battle Tank's Purefire cannon produces an incredible amount of waste heat, whether it is being fired or simply maintained in a battle ready state. In order to prevent this waste heat from crippling the Cremator before it can even fire a shot the vehicle is fitted with dozens of gargoyle mouthed thermal vents that allow it to unleash its built up heat in raging torrents of flesh searing flame.
At the start of the Assault Phase any unit engaging a Cremator Battle Tank suffers 1d6 Strength 5 AP 4 hits at Initiative Step 10. Additionally whenever a Cremator performs a Tank Shock attack the unit attacked likewise suffers 1d6 Strength 5 AP 4 hits.
Purefire Cannon (Weapon) : These devastating weapons utilise the same technologies as the ubiquitous Melta weapons found throughout the ranks of the Imperial armed forces. These weapons however are far more powerful, their intricate mechanisms being capable of maintaining a sustained beam of intense heat as capable of slicing a battle tank to pieces as they are of scything through the ranks of even the most heavily armoured infantry.
Purefire Cannon : Range 24", Strength 8, AP 1, Special : Arc, Melta
Design Notes :
Now, I believe a tank that literally bathes itself in fire whilst unleashing ravening blasts of fusion-fire from its turret weapon is exactly the kind of armoured vehicle that the Adepta Sororitas would appreciate, don't you think? From a fluff perspective I think that what I've written makes sense with regards to both the Adepta Sororitas' requirement for a dedicated battle tank, as well as how such a vehicle was added to their extensive arsenal.
As far as the tank itself goes the Adepta Soroitas are sorely lacking when it comes to heavy armour. I originally considered making the Cremator a Leman Russ variant, but ended up sticking with the Rhino for aesthetic reasons. With its heavier front and side armour it's capable of taking a reasonable amount of punishment (especially in conjunction with some lucky Shield of Faith saves) whilst its Purefire Cannon is a nasty weapon that lets it engage heavy infantry, armoured vehicles and monstrous creatures making it both versatile and powerful though lacking in the range of the Exorcist and the swarm-killing capability of the Immolators heavy flamers.
The rules I came up with for the Arc special rule owe a lot to how I personally view Melta weapons to work, less as a tremendous blast of heat and more as a short ranged but powerful beam used to carve through armour and flesh alike. Something the Arc rule represents quite well. The Cremator Vents are rather more situational, though from a purely fluff perspective I love the idea of a tank literally wreathed in fire smashing its way through the tangle of charcoal that used to be a horde of heretics. What can I say, the idea wriggled into my head and I just HAD to use it.
Now, we've got one more entry to go in this series. I've added characters, superheavy infantry, assault units and a variety of vehicle, what's left? How about... something heavier...
Until Next Time
Happy Gaming
Michael
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