Devil Dog

The Devil Dog is a variant of the Hellhound flame-thrower tank that is used by the Imperial Guard, both vehicles are based upon the Imperial Chimera armoured transport chassis. The Devil Dog variant of the Hellhound replaces the Hellhound's Inferno Cannon with a Melta Cannon and is used by the Imperial Guard for anti-armour fighting, and for engaging enemy heavy infantry, such as those wearing Power Armour. As the devil Dog is a variant of the Hellhound its troop compartment has long since been replaced with an armoured storage area for Promethium, although since the Devil Dog's Melta Cannon does not use any type of fuel it is unknown why this is still a feature on the Devil Dog. There are several different patterns of the Hellhound and its variants in use by the Imperium, such as the Artemia Pattern which replaces the vehicle's turret with one that is remotely controlled from inside the vehicle by the vehicle's commander which allows the tank to make do with a crew of only two, and the Mars Pattern which replaces the standard Pattern's single large fuel tank with several smaller fuel tanks that can be hidden inside the remnants of the Chimera chassis' troop compartment. The use of the smaller fuel tanks is preferred due to it making the Hellhound and its variants more difficult to identify when compared to regular Chimera transports.

Armament
The Devil Dog replaces the standard hull-mounted Inferno Cannon found on the Hellhound with a Melta Cannon. A Melta Cannon is an Imperial Plasma Weapon that makes use of a miniature fusion reaction to produce a blast of intense, searing heat. This weapon system is commonly mounted on Reaver-class and Warlord-class Titans, yet the Devil Dog uses a much smaller scaled-down version. The Melta Cannon used by the Devil Dog, while not nearly as powerful as the full size Titan version, is still one of the most powerful Melta Weapons used by Imperial ground forces and is very capable of destroying enemy heavy infantry and armour in short order. When the weapon is fired it makes a high-pitched howl as the moisture in the air vaporises, becoming a roaring blast as the target detonates. The vehicle is also armed with a hull-mounted Heavy Bolter, which can be replaced with either a Heavy Flamer, or a Multi-Melta. The tank can also be outfitted with the following enhancements: camouflage netting, extra armour plating, a Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher, improved communications equipment, a mine sweeper, rough terrain modifications, a Pintle-mounted Heavy Stubber or Storm Bolter, track guards, a searchlight, a dozer blade, and smoke launchers.

Also See

 * Imperial Vehicles