Imperial Vehicles

The following is a description of vehicles used by the Imperium in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. It includes mostly vehicles from the Warhammer 40,000 and Epic line of tabletop games.

The Imperium of Man is composed of several armed branches, much like modern armed forces are composed of armies, navies and air forces. These armed branches each have their own specific vehicles, but they also field several vehicles common to more than one branch, such as the Rhino. These separate armed branches are represented in the games by different armies, and the organization of list reflects this.

These armed forces of the Imperium include, but are not limited to the Space Marines, the Imperial Guard, the Adeptus Mechanicus including the Titan Legions, the Inquisition, the Adeptus Arbites and the Orders Militant of the Sisters of Battle. In addition, owing to their nature as the antagonistic counterparts of the Space Marines, the Chaos Space Marines use many of the same vehicles that the Space Marines of the Imperium use.

Space Marine Vehicles


The vehicles of the Space Marines are suited to their rapid-strike tactics, focusing more on speed and mobility rather than protection or sheer destructive potential.

Imperial Guard Vehicles


The Imperial Guard have access to the most types of vehicles available to any Warhammer 40,000 army. From tanks and artillery to armed transports and scout vehicles, almost all classes of battlefield vehicle have analogs within the Imperial Guard's ranks.

Adeptus Mechanicus Vehicles
While the Adeptus Mechanicus are not a Warhammer 40,000 army on their own, in the background they are responsible for a great majority of the Imperium's technology.

Knights

 * A Knight is a semi-humanoid war machine used by the forces of the Imperium in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.


 * Knights were introduced in the late 80's with release of the Adeptus Titanicus sourcebook for the Epic tabletop game. Three types were introduced in the early 1990s. The Knight Wardens had a defensive role. They were armed with long ranged, heavy weapons and were well armoured. Knight Paladins were jack-of-all-trade units, armed with a ranged and a close-combat weapon. Knight Lancers were scout units, armed with a single ranged weapon but were faster than the other Knights. Afterwards, the miniature range was reworked and the rules were updated. Knights were subdivided into the Paladin, Knight Errant and Lancer types, along with the Knight Baron as a superior command unit. A number of Knights were included in the Titan Legions box set.


 * In the background, they were smaller, one-man counterparts of the much larger Titans which were crewed by many more people. Originally, they were derived from Eldar technology and were copies of Eldar Knights, used by Exodites to assist in the herding of large, dinosaur-like reptiles they used as livestock. Human Knights were used in the same fashion, and were assimilated by the Imperium's armies whenever they were encountered.


 * Outside the tabletop games, Knights have not appeared much in other media. Knight Paladins were secret units in PC game Epic 40,000 Final Liberation.

Ordinatus

 * The Ordinatii were enormous siege machines available to Imperial Titan Legions or Tech-Guard armies for the Epic 40,000 tabletop miniatures game. The rules for them can be found only in the November 1995 issue of White Dwarf magazine published by Games Workshop.


 * Each Ordinatus was unique, and in the game's background, could only be sanctioned by the Centurio Ordinatus. They generally appear as a huge tracked vehicle, as large as a building, with a massive weapon system mounted on top. Individual Ordinatus machines were constructed for a sole, original purpose for a particular battle. This is why the different Ordinatii have very specialized weapon loadouts configured for their intended role. According to the background information, only a few of the machines were actually built, and each was named for the specific planet upon which it was built.


 * Armed with a ferocious Nova Cannon, Ordinatus Armageddon was originally constructed for the first battle of Armageddon, against the forces of Chaos. Background-wise, this machine was constructed to take on and destroy enemy Titans head-on with its Nova Cannon. A metal miniature of this war machine was released in 1995. During the Third War for Armageddon, the Ordinatus Armageddon destroyed the Ork Great Gargant Skullsmasha at Sreya Rock.


 * Ordinatus Golgotha was an Ordinatus armed with eight, massive Hellfire missiles mounted in a battery on the surface of the machine. Background-wise, it was constructed for combat on the Squat homeworld of Golgotha. Along with Ordinatus Armageddon, this machine received a metal miniature released by Games Workshop.


 * During the Horus Heresy, even the Adeptus Mechanicus planet of Mars was in a state of rebellion. One of the first to be constructed, Ordinatus Mars was created during this time to break through the defenses of the rebels holding up in the city of Castellum Jericho. The Ordinatus was armed with a massive Sonic Disruptor, which was well-suited for bringing down even the reinforced walls of the city. This massive siege engine was one of three Ordinatii to have metal miniatures made of them, along with Armageddon and Golgotha.


 * The Ordinatus Priam was a huge machine equipped with various drilling and digging implements. It was originally designed to travel through a planet's mantle in order to bypass the defenses of the city of Priam. No model was ever released for this particular machine and it was mentioned in the Ordinatus article only in passing.

Unnamed Ordinatus on Volcanis Ultor: Mentioned only in pasing in the novel "Grey Knights" This Ordinatus was intended to destroy the Grey Knights before they could manage to breach the defense lines. However, this Ordinatus is destroyed by the wreckage of the Grey Knights strike cruiser, Rubicon, after it was destroyed by the ships defending the planet from space, crashed into the defense lines.

Robots

 * War Robots were introduced in the early days of Warhammer 40,000. They were also introduced later for the Epic 40,000 setting with the Adeptus Titanicus expansion.


 * Background-wise, Imperial Robots were the jurisdiction of an obscure branch of the Adeptus Mechanicus called the Legio Cybernetica. Robots were fielded in organizations similar to the reformed Roman Legions of old. Three to five robots, plus their attending tech-adept were organized in a single maniple, which were then organized into a cohort of less than a hundred maniples. During this early time, entire cohorts of Imperial Robots were spread across the armies of the Imperial Guard (then-called the Imperial Army) and the Space Marines. On at least one occasion, Robots were made honorary members of a Space Marine chapter for exemplary service. This was after marines from the Desert Lions chapter participated in Operation Carthage on the planet of Isstvan V. Because of the actions of a legion of Robots, the Space Marines lost only seven of their battle brothers in their siege.


 * Five types for different battlefield roles were described. The robots with their typical though armament loadouts were:


 * The Castellan was armed with twin power fists and a heavy bolter.
 * The Cataphract had a bolter, arm-mounted flamers and a back-mounted weapon.
 * The Colossus was armed with a bolter, had "siege hammer" arms and a back-mounted weapon.
 * The Conqueror variant had a power fist, autocannons mounted on its arms and a heavy bolter.
 * The Crusader had twin power-sword arms and a back-mounted lascannon.


 * In Warhammer 40,000, each robot's points cost was determined by the sophistication of its programming - the programming being a set of simple instructions that the player would draw up. In game play the robot followed these instructions slavishly whether to the advantage of the owning player or not. At Epic scale, individual metal models were available and robots were also included on plastic sprues for Space Marine and Imperial Guard units.

Titans

 * Titans are humanoid war machines seen in the armies of the Imperium in the Epic tabletop miniatures wargame. They have been the subject of specific games such as Adeptus Titanicus.


 * According to the game background, they are usually 50 to 200 feet tall and often carry large amounts of firepower. It has been mentioned in the game's background that a single Titan has the ability to level a city. The armament of a Titan is flexible and many weapon combinations are possible. In-game, they are so large they are not tied down in battle and can destroy small vehicles and entire units of troops by stepping on them.

Aquila Lander

 * The Aquila Lander is a light shuttle typically used by the Imperial Navy in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It is used to carry officers or other important persons.


 * Games Workshop's Forge World subsidiary has released a complete Aquila resin miniature kit while Games Workshop itself has produced a plastic kit featuring the ruins of a crashed Aquila Lander in The Battle for Macragge introductory boxed set.

Arvus Lighter

 * The Arvus Lighter is a small landing craft typically used by the Imperial Navy in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Lightning

 * The Lightning is a type of aircraft used by the Imperial Navy in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. It is described primarily as an air superiority fighter similar to the F-15 Eagle and its primary role is the elimination of enemy aircraft.


 * Forge World has released the official Lightning miniature as a resin. The aircraft has a forward-swept wing design, similar to the Grumman X-29 experimental craft, or the Su-47. It has no wheels and instead lands on retractable skids. The Lightning is armed with an underslung long-barreled autocannon and two lascannons mounted on its wingtips. Rules for the Lightning have been published in the Imperial Armour sourcebooks for Warhammer 40,000.


 * The Lightning has one notable variant, the Lightning 'Strike' Fighter, which is configured for ground assault, similar to how the F-15E Strike Eagle is a ground-assault variant of the F-15. The Lightning 'Strike' variant replaces the long-barreled autocannon with Hellstrike missiles.

Marauder Bomber

 * The Marauder Bomber is a tactical bomber used by the Imperial Navy in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.


 * In rules published in the Imperial Armour series of sourcebooks for Warhammer 40,000, the Marauder Bomber is classified as a "super-heavy flyer". As its in-game role is a heavy bomber, it can be fitted with a large payload of bombs and is manned by a crew of six. In addition, it is armed with nose-mounted twin lascannons and two pairs of heavy bolters, one in a turret in the tail and another in a turret located dorsally behind the cockpit. Warhammer 40,000-scale resin miniature of Marauders have been released by Forge World.

Marauder Destroyer

 * The Marauder Destroyer is a ground-attack bomber aircraft used by the Imperial Navy in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Its role in-game is to support Imperial troops on the ground by low-level bombing and strafing enemy positions similar to the A-10 Warthog.


 * The Destroyer does not carry as many bombs as its counterpart. Instead, it has six nose-mounted autocannons for strafing enemy ground positions (similar to the B-25 Mitchell medium bombers modified for strafing in the Pacific Theater of WWII). For defense, it retains the twin-heavy bolter turret behind the cockpit, but the tail turret's weaponry is upgraded to twin-assault cannons. As with the Marauder Bomber, Forge World released a Warhammer 40,000-scaled resin kit for the Marauder Destroyer.

Thunderbolt
The Thunderbolt is a heavy fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Navy in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.


 * It originally appeared in the Epic tabletop game, but was somewhat incorporated into the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game through the release of optional-yet-official rules by Forge World. The rules for using the Thunderbolt in Warhammer 40,000 were published in the Imperial Armour series of sourcebooks, and more recently in the Apocalypse rulebook. Warhammer 40,000-scale miniatures of the Thunderbolt were released by Forge World. Thunderbolts are armed with quad autocannons and twin lascannons, all mounted in the plane's nosecone. It can be further armed with bombs or Hellstrike missiles. The miniature itself has no wheels, but instead lands on retractable skids.


 * It is mentioned in Imperial Armour that the Thunderbolt is primarily an atmospheric aircraft; It can operate in space only for a limited amount of time, which is why it does not appear in Games Workshop's space combat game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Battlefleet Gothic.

Valkyrie

 * The Valkyrie Airborne Assault Carrier is an armed VTOL transport used by the Imperial Navy in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. In the game background, the aircraft's role is the transportation of special forces infantry in the same way as the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters used by the 160th SOAR of the US Army. Its vertical take-off and landing characteristic is similar to that of the Royal Navy Harrier jump jet.


 * The Valkyrie is armed with either a multilaser or a lascannon in a mount beside the cockpit, and wing mounted hellfire missiles, rocket pods, or extra gas tanks (for heavy loads). In addition, it has two heavy bolters mounted in its cargo bay for door gunners to operate. The Valkyrie first appeared as a resin kit released by Forge World.


 * Outside of the tabletop game, the Valkyrie appears as an enemy boss in the PC/Windows/Playstation 2 first-person shooter game Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior.

Vulture

 * The Vulture Gunship is a VTOL gunship used by the Imperial Navy in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It is an armed gunship, similar to the modern-day Mi-24 or AH-64 Apache helicopters.


 * Unlike the Valkyrie, the Vulture has a modular weapons fit and can be armed with a larger variety of weaponry. In addition, a heavy bolter is mounted under its nose for anti-infantry work. Forge World has released a resin kit of the Vulture.

Other Spacecraft

 * From Space Fleet
 * Emperor Capital Ship
 * Gothic Battleship
 * Ironclad Battleship
 * Firestorm Cruiser
 * Cobra Destroyer
 * Castellan Shield Ship
 * Annihilator Battleship
 * Dictator Battleship
 * Thunderbolt Cruiser
 * Stalwart Escort Ship
 * Dominator Battleship
 * Goliath Factory Ship
 * Galaxy Troop Ship


 * From Battlefleet Gothic, capital ship classes, and other vessels, of the Gothic Sector:
 * Emperor-class Battleship
 * Retribution-class Battleship
 * Vengeance-class Grand Cruiser (and various configurations that go by different names)
 * Mars-class Battlecruiser
 * Overlord-class Battlecruiser
 * Lunar-class Cruiser
 * Tyrant-class Cruiser
 * Dominator-class Cruiser
 * Gothic-class Cruiser
 * Dictator-class Cruiser
 * Dauntless-class Light Cruiser
 * Sword-class Frigate
 * Firestorm-class Frigate
 * Cobra-class Destroyer
 * Fury Interceptor (large fighter spacecraft armed with several banks of lascannons and missiles, 2-4 crew)
 * Starhawk Bomber (very large spacecraft, about the size of a modern naval destroyer, armed with plasma bombs and missiles)
 * Shark Assault Boat (docks with enemy vessel, clamps to its deck, and deploys melta charges to pierce outer hull)

Inquisition Vehicles
The various Ordos of the Inquisition appear in at least two armies in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. These include the Daemonhunters, where they are paired with the Grey Knights Space Marine Chapter, and the Witch Hunters, where the Inquisition is partnered with the Sisters of Battle, the Adepta Sororitas. Many of the vehicles in use by Inquisition forces are simply slightly modified versions of the vehicles used by the Imperial Guard and to a lesser extent, the Space Marines.

Chimera

 * Main article: Chimera

While the Chimera is the standard armoured personnel carrier of the Imperial Guard, Imperial armies making use of the Inquisition can also take them as transports. Both Inquisitorial Stormtrooper squads and Inquisitorial retinues can be mounted onto their own Chimera transports.

Land Raider

 * Main article: Land Raider

The Land Raider, the heavily-armoured assault transport of the Space Marines, can also be used by the forces of the Inquisition. For both Daemonhunter and Witch Hunter armies, Land Raiders can be fielded as transports by Inquisitors and their retinues.

Penitent Engine
The Penitent Engine is a war machine fielded by the Witch Hunters army in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. The machine itself is a large semi-humanoid combat walker, with two long arms tipped in buzz saws. The "pilot", which in the game background is a repentant zealot, determined to become a martyr in the fires of battle for whatever real or imagined sins they may have committed, is strapped to the unarmoured front of the machine. In addition to its cutting implements, the Penitent Engine is also armed with two flamers attached to each arm. Penitent Engines are an awe-inspiring sight to any who walk into battle alongside it as they potent reminders of the fate of heretics.

In the game's background, Penitent Engines are used by the Ecclesiarchy as a form of punishment/reward for repentant sinners and criminals, though it is not strictly necessary for the individual in question to have actually committed any sin before they are installed in the machine. The pilot is hard-wired into the frame of the engine and is pumped full of drugs and chemicals, driving them into a frenzied state in combat. They are then pointed in the general direction of the enemy and unleashed, whereupon they charge out of control at the nearest enemy, ripping them open with its dreadnought close-combat weapons or incinerating them with the built-in flame throwers. As a tool of the Ecclesiarchy more than the inquisition, Witch Hunters armies that intend to field Penitent Engines must also take a priest to accompany the baroque machines.

Rhino

 * Main Aricle: Rhino

The Rhino, one of the most common vehicles available to the Imperium, can be fielded by numerous elements in a Warhammer 40,000 army making use of the forces of the Inquisition. While it is best known as a Space Marine transport, Rhinos can be used to transport Inquisitors and their retinues. Entire squads of Inquisitorial Stormtroopers can also be transported in Rhino APCs.

Sisters of Battle Vehicles
The Sisters of Battle are the female warriors of the Ecclesiarchy, featured in the Witch Hunters army of Warhammer 40,000. They are similar in many ways to the Space Marines, and they share some vehicles with them. However, Sisters of Battle also make use of a few vehicles unique to their forces as well.

Exorcist

 * The Exorcist is a specialized artillery platform utilized by the Sisters of Battle in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures game. It is usually fielded within a Witch Hunters army making use of the forces of the Adepta Sororitas.


 * The tank first appeared in the Sisters of Battle army list published in the Chapter Approved Annual compilation released in 2001. The Exorcist in its first incarnation has just as much protection as a standard Rhino. For armament, the tank had a single weapon - the armor piercing, yet extremely random Exorcist Launcher. While it was as powerful as a krak missile launcher, the launcher was a rather unreliable weapon in-game as the number of shots it fired was determined with the roll of a die. The tank's stats were updated and upgraded with the release of Codex: Witch Hunters. That version of the Exorcist featured upgraded armour, more in-line with the tanks of the Space Marines. The newer rules for the Exorcist also gave it better accuracy and the Exorcist Launcher received better armor-piercing capabilities although it was still random.


 * [[Image:WH40K_Witch_Hunters_Exorcist_Mk2.gif|thumb|220px|right|The official Sisters of Battle Exorcist tank showing the pipe-organ appearance of its exorcist launcher.]]
 * For a while, most Sisters of Battle players had to convert their Exorcists from other, more readily-available vehicles. The only model available was a resin conversion kit produced by Forge World. This version of the Exorcist sported two missile pods similar to the modern-day Hydra 70 rocket pod system. Soon after, Games Workshop released an Exorcist kit combining the new MkII Rhino with metal conversion parts, along with the plastic Sisters of Battle Immolator sprue. This official release of the Exorcist gave the tank a more baroque make-over, with the tank's signature exorcist launcher shaped more like a pipe organ than a conventional missile launcher.


 * According to background information, Exorcists are incapable of being manufactured in the game's current timeline. Thus, they are rare vehicles and are regarded as works of art, as much a symbol of the Emperor as a provider of long-range fire support. As the STCs for the Exorcist have been lost, fewer and fewer people are capable of conducting repairs and the remaining tanks that are in service are rather unpredictable in operation. This is reflected by the randomness of the vehicle's Exorcist Launcher rules in-game.

Immolator

 * The Immolator is a specialized assault/transport vehicle used by the Sisters of Battle in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. It is used to carry small squads of sisters into the thick of battle.


 * The Immolator is a simple variant of the Razorback armoured transport commonly used by the Space Marines. Like the Razorback, the Immolator uses the same body as the Rhino armoured personnel carrier and thus has similar game stats to both vehicles. Like the Razorback, it more-or-less had half the transport capacity of a Rhino. In the game background, this was justified by stating that the Immolator's transport space was taken up by ammunition or fuel for the turret weapons. Originally, the Immolator could be armed with either twin-linked Heavy Flamers against infantry or twin-linked Multi-meltas against vehicles. In the 2004 release of Codex: Witch Hunters however, twin-heavy bolters were added to the list of weapon loadouts that the Immolator could be armed with.


 * [[Image:WH40K_Witch_Hunters_Immolator_Mk2.gif|thumb|250px|left|The new Sisters of Battle Immolator based on the Rhino Mk2 chassis.]]


 * The first Immolator boxed set was released by Games Workshop in 1997 to coincide with the release of Codex: Sisters of Battle for the second edition of Warhammer 40,000. The original Immolator was visually very similar to the Space Marine Razorback. Instead of a Space Marine, a Sister of Battle sat in a rather exposed turret assembly, manning the vehicle's guns. That Immolator kit only had twin-heavy flamers for the turret armaments. In 2004, using the new MkII Rhino chassis, the Immolator model was revamped and modernized. The new kit featured an exclusive all-plastic Sisters of Battle customization sprue that allowed players to personalize their new Immolators extensively. This new Immolator differed from the earlier ones by having a more baroque design. The shield protecting the Sister of Battle manning the Immolator's turret resembled a stained-glass panel more commonly seen in churches and cathedrals.

Incarcerator

 * The Incarcerator is a specialized, non-combat vehicle occasionally used by the Witch Hunters army in the Warhammer 40,000 game. It is essentially a combination of a holding cell and execution chamber mounted on the chassis of a Rhino armoured transport.


 * The Incarcerator appeared in a special Witch Hunters scenario published online by Games Workshop. In that particular scenario, the vehicle was used by the Witch Hunter forces as a mobile holding cell for captured heretic psykers. In line with the character of the Witch Hunters, the Incarcerator was no mere holding cell. It could also be used to execute any prisoners held within it since the cell itself was actually a heavily-modified jet turbine engine. In game background terms, the prisoners would have been incinerated and minced to death when the turbine was activated.


 * The design of the Incarcerator was heavily inspired by a particular illustration in the Tau codex showing a small Imperial vehicle holding a captured Tau specimen. The vehicle itself was an amalgamation of the Rhino APC chassis, other household items and miscellaneous computer parts, such as a CPU heat sink and a cooling fan. It appears as a standard Rhino with a transparent tube ending in a turbine mounted vertically on top of the vehicle. The inside of the tube is the holding cell itself.

Repressor

 * The Repressor is a specialized armoured assault transport used primarily by the Sisters of Battle in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game.


 * The Repressor was available only as a Forge World-released resin conversion kit for the newer Rhino MkII. It is essentially a Rhino with a specially-constructed dozer blade in front and an expanded passenger compartment in the rear. Armed with a small turret with a storm bolter and a pintle-mounted heavy flamer, the Repressor is kitted-out for crowd-suppression and general anti-infantry work. In addition, the expanded passenger compartment has six firing slots so that up to that many passengers can fire out from the vehicle with their personal weaponry.


 * In the background, the Repressor was originally designed for use by the Adeptus Arbites, the Imperial Creed enforcers force in the world of Warhammer 40,000. The tank is primarily used for an anti-insurgency and mob-suppression role, equipped with a dozer blade in front for battering through gates and mobs of people.

Rhino
Main article: Rhino
 * While the Rhino Armoured Transport is the standard transport of the Space Marines, it is also in wide use by the forces of the Adepta Sororitas. Rhinos can be fielded as transports for most troops of the Sisters of Battle. These Rhinos are mostly identical to the ones fielded by the Space Marines, however they are usually adorned with various sigils and symbols used by the Sisters of Battle.