Sons of Horus Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer

This Sons of Horus Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer was on display at Warhammer World.

Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer

The Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer is a fearsome and highly specialised variant of the venerable Spartan chassis, developed during the Great Crusade and unleashed upon the galaxy by the Legiones Astartes. While it sacrifices the Spartan’s substantial transport capacity, its massive hull is uniquely adapted to house the complex apparatus required for its devastating primary armament: a prototype Neutron Laser Projector (often a triple-barreled configuration known as a Neutron Laser Battery).

The Neutron Laser is a weapon of the Dark Age of Technology, its principles still only poorly understood by the techno-savants of the Mechanicum. To manage the immense energies and deadly output, the Cerberus’s hull is crammed with sizeable arc-reactors and heavy radiation shielding. The weapon stands as one of the most effective anti-tank systems available to the Space Marine Legions. 

It fires an intense beam capable of:

    • Punching through the strongest vehicle plating, even the ceramite of other super-heavy tanks.
    • Shorting out a target’s systems with a powerful burst of electromagnetic and radiation energy.
    • Neutralising even Titan-class opponents by inflicting a ‘Concussive’ effect, which dramatically reduces the colossal machine’s operational effectiveness, often forcing its powerful weapons to fire less accurately.

However, this terrifying power comes with a significant drawback. The immense energies and unpredictable nature of the prototype weapon mean that the Cerberus is inherently unstable. Even with extensive radiation shielding, the Neutron Laser Projector’s operation often results in a terrible toll on its crew, and misfires can potentially result in catastrophic feedback that damages the tank itself. Nevertheless, the ability of this impressive tank to threaten the largest and most heavily armoured assets on the battlefield—from enemy super-heavy tanks to even lesser Titan war machines—is regarded by many Legion commanders as a necessary, if grim, calculus of war. The Cerberus is a clear expression of the Imperium’s willingness to accept high operational risk for unparalleled battlefield supremacy.

This is the plastic kit for The Horus Heresy. The original resin kit was announced back in 2012 at Games Day.

Imperial Guard Hellhammer

This Imperial Guard Hellhammer was on display at Warhammer World.

Imperial Guard Hellhammer

The Hellhammer is a super-heavy tank of the Astra Militarum that is a variant of the infamous Baneblade tank. The Hellhammer replaces the rocket-assisted Mega Battle Cannon or Baneblade Cannon of the Baneblade with a Hellhammer Cannon, a variation of the Battle Cannon commonly found on the Leman Russ main battle tank. It has a shorter barrel with special heavy-gauge suppressors built into it that allows it to fire extremely high-calibre shells without ripping itself apart. These shells are designed to destroy armour and emplacements with an unstable sub-atomic charge.

Super Heavy Tanks of the Imperial Guard

In the display cabinets at Warhammer World there are some really nice models of the Astra Militarum Super Heavy Tanks.

Super Heavy Tanks of the Imperial Guard

Though, I like the little Chimera APC which has sneaked into the display.

More photographs of the Astra Militarum Super Heavy Tanks.

A single super-heavy tank is a dominant presence in an Astra Militarum battle line. As it ploughs inexorably forward it lays down a wide path of destruction. Enemy ranks shatter long before it reaches their position, and those unlucky few who are able to maintain their defensive formations are ground to paste under the slab-like plates of its tracks.

The Battle for Ceres City

This was a Legions Imperialis Diorama at Warhammer World. I took some more photographs of the diorama on my last visit to there.

Ceres City changed hands nine times during the campaign for control of the Delta-Garmon system, and the diorama captures the Blood Angels and the Titans of Legio Solaria waging war against the Iron Warriors and Legio Fureans.

More photographs of the diorama.

Solar Auxilia Shadowsword

The Shadowsword is the sister tank to the Baneblade, a super-heavy vehicle employed by Solar Auxilia cohorts to engage and destroy enemy macro-engines with its volcano cannon. The same chassis has also been adapted to mount different primary weapons suited to their own modes of destruction, like the bunker-busting Stormsword siege cannon or the versatile plasma blastgun of the Stormblade.

Solar Auxilia Shadowsword

The Doom of Magma City

A Legions Imperialis diorama from Warhammer World.

Magma City was one of the last Loyalist strongholds on Mars, a bastion of high technology defended by the survivors of the Death of Innocence. High-Adept Koriel Zeth, sovereign of Magma City, fought a desperate defence against overwhelming odds, battling Traitor titans and the warped creations of the Dark Mechanicum. Rather than surrender, Zeth chose to trigger a cataclysm which flooded the city in lava, destroying Loyalist and Traitor alike.

Leviathan Siege Dreadnought

Leviathan Siege Dreadnought

Heavily-armed and impressively armoured, the Leviathan Siege Dreadnought is an alternative development of the highly successful Contemptor design.

Leviathan Siege Dreadnought

These rare and mighty engines are prized by Astartes commanders, recognised as savagely powerful siege and hunter-killer units that can crush any opposition with an unstoppable wrecking charge. Yet such overwhelming strength comes at a cost – a Leviathan’s systems place an onerous and ultimately lethal strain upon its occupant, the entombed incumbent burning brightly but only briefly in their second life.

More photographs of the Leviathan Siege Dreadnought.

Imperial Fists Deimos Pattern Predator

The Predator is perhaps the best known and most widespread variant of the basic Rhino chassis. Augmented with superior armour and firepower, it entirely sacrifices the Rhino’s troop transport capacity in favour of ammunition and generators for its formidable weapon systems.

The Deimos Pattern Predator Battle Tank is a versatile and effective armoured vehicle commonly used by the Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. Based on the ubiquitous Rhino chassis, it sacrifices troop transport capacity for enhanced firepower and armour.

The tank can be configured with a variety of weapons. For the Imperial Fists Legion, specifically, the tank is particularly effective when equipped with the autocannon and heavy bolter configuration, which benefits from their Legion trait that grants a bonus to hit rolls.

More photographs of the Deimos Pattern Predator.