Malcador Assault Tank

The Imperial Malcador heavy tank is a venerable pattern of armoured vehicle that predates the Leman Russ tank in the Imperium of Man's service. It is not widely used by Imperial armed forces at the present time and is in fact little known even within the Imperial military. In many regions of the Imperium, the Malcador passed out of common service many millennia ago. The few Malcadors that remain in the Emperor of Mankind's service have been relegated to the Departmento Munitorum's strategic reserve, to the arsenals of second-line Planetary Defence Forces or are maintained in active service only by a few units of the Imperial Guard due to ancient tradition.

History
The Malcador and its various replacement parts are produced on very few of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Forge Worlds, though the planet of M'Khand Secundus in the Segmentum Pacificus is one rare exception. The exact origin of the Malcador's pattern is a mystery even within the Mechanicus. It is commonly believed that the pattern itself is named after Malcador the Sigillite, the shadowy figure who was an immensely powerful psyker and who served as the Regent of Terra and the Emperor's closest advisor during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. This attribution may hold the key to the pattern's origins, as the time immediately after the end of the Heresy was dangerous and uncertain. During this ancient era of Imperial history there was a great need for new strateguc resources because so much had been lost during the terribel battles of the Warmaster Horus' rebellion against the Emperor, including technical knowledge and production capacity. For example, it was during this time that the valuable Land Raider pattern was first reserved for the exclusive use of the Adeptus Astartes and that patterns like the Malcador may have been recovered or put into mass-production to fill the need for a heavy tank for the Imperial Guard with the Land Raider now off-limits. However, like so much from that war-torn period of Imperial history, the truth has long since been obscured by myth and legend.

Siege of Vraks
During the Siege of Vraks, after the Apostate Cardinal Xaphan had led the planet's defence forces into rebellion against the Imperium and into eventual service to Chaos, the Malacador heavy tank saw extensive service with the Vraksian Traitor Militia. Vraks was a Departmento Munitorum Armoury World, a massive storehouse of Imperial arms stockpiled over the centuries and mothballed amongst them were a large quanity of Malacador heavy tanks and its variants as well as considerable stores of spare parts for the tank. Although not often seen during the early stages of the campaign on Vraks Prime because it was passed over for the use of more common and reliable machines, the Malcador took on a more prominent role in the fighting as the campaign ground on. Malacadors were used by the Traitors both to anchor their defensive lines and to spearhead their suicidal counteroffensives into the lines of the besieging Imperial Guard Regiments of the Death Korps of Krieg.

The Malcador Defender variant of the tank was a highly-valued weapon against the Death Korps Regiments who favoured massed infantry assaults for their main offensive strategy. The Defender's multiple Heavy Bolters could be used to decimate the assaulting infantry lines, especially if they could counterattack into the main body of the Krieg assault, though this was a dangerous tactic for the tank's crew. This tactic proved successful, however, as the campaign progressed and the Vraksian Traitors devolved further into the fanaticism and savagery of Chaos. Chaotic corruption amongst the Traitors became more evident as the war continued and their Malcadors and other war machines became adorned with the iconography and foul symbols of the Ruinous Powers and many eventually sported bloody trophy racks and other bloody decorations in imitation of the warbands of Chaos Space Marines that were drawn into the conflict.

Operational Role
The Malcador was designed to fill the role of a main battle tank for the Imperial Guard, though the standard Malcador pattern is somewhat larger and heavier than the Leman Russ pattern that replaced it as the standard tank of the Guard. The Malcador has considerable durability as a result of its sheer bulk and the heavy layers of armoured plating that it is warpped in and it is well-armed for its size with a Battle Cannon mounted in a limited-traverse turret embrasure. This main weapon is supplemented by a hull and 2 additional sponson heavy weapons mounts that can carry attached Heavy Stubbers, Heavy Bolters, a Lascannon or an Autocannon. The Malcador does possess some limitations, however, especially when compared to the lighter but more versatile Leman Russ tank. The overall shape of the tank because of its heavy armour plating and reinforced weapons mounts reduces the traversing range of its sponson and hull weapons, producing a limited arc of fire. Its immobile main turrent can also prove to be a problem in a chaotic engagement where the lines of battle interpenetrate and the foe's infantry or armour units can take advantage of the Malcador's vulnerability. Experienced commanders minimize these problems by combining other armour variants and infantry support alongside their squadrons of Malacadors.

However, the tank has another major problem, the vulnerability of its engine. The Malacador's main engine plant, a thermic combustor design that is a variant for military use of a common pattern used in industrial and agricultural machinery, is underpowered in relation to the Malacador's sheer size and mass. This reduces its performance and provides very poor fuel efficiency. This problem has often plagued the Malcador pattern and its variants and has been the primary reason why this pattern of heavy tank has bneen relegated to second-line status amongst the Imperial military forces.

Variants
Like the much more common Leman Russ main battle tank, the Malcador has had numerous hull variants designed over the course of its long service with the Imperial Guard, which were created to fulfill a specific battlefield role or to overcome a particular problem with the pattern's design. These variants have included siege weapon platforms, self-propelled artillery and other specialised versions. The two most common variants are the Malcador Annhilator tank hunter and the Malcador Defender breakthrough tank.
 * Malcador Annhilator - The Malcador Annhilator replaces the standard variant's limited-traverse Battle Cannon with a Twin-linked Lascannon and its forward hull weapons mount with a Demolisher Cannon. This variant was a field modification carried out on battle-dmagaed or unfinished production hulls intended to "up-gun" the tank's weaponry and extend its battlefield utility. The pattern's detractors hold that the variant is a hybrid intended to carry out two roles, neither of which it can fulfill with any ability. The tank is simply too slow and too large to serve as a true "tank hunter" but is not large enough or heavily armed enough (due to the limited supply of shells for its Demolisher Cannon) to be matched against a true super heavy tank like an Imperial Baneblade in open combat. Against other, more conventional armour when it is partof a larger offensive force, the Malacador Annhilator can still prove its worth in the hands of a skilled crew.
 * Malcador Defender - The Malcador is arguably the most effective of the Malacador tank variants. It is more common in many Imperial armouries than the standard heavy tank upon which it is based. Like the Malacador Annhilator, the hull weapon mount is replaced by a Dmeolisher Cannon but the upper turret embrasure is heavily modified to mount 5 separate Heavy Bolters angled to provide 360 degrees of fire coverage. This shifts the tank's role to that of serving as a mobile fortress that is often referred to as a breakthrough tank. It is well-suited to close-quarters combat, trench warfare and urban warfare engagements. In this role the variant's Demolisher Cannon can be used against well-fortified positions and enemey strongpoints, while its multiple Heavy Bolters can sweep areas for hidden infantry and defend the tank from a close assault. Although the Malcador Defender is very cramped, fitting a large crew of 8 into its tightly-packed and blazingly hot hull, and is as probe to engine problems as th other variants, its battlefield role means that it seldom operates far from support or resupply. This can mitigate the design's problems and its firepower and considerable protection can make it a valuable asset to Imperial forces for both offensive and defensive engagements.

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