Sentinel

The Sentinel is a one-man, all-terrain, lightweight, bipedal combat walker that is used by the various regiments of the Imperial Guard. The Sentinel is most favoured when Guard patrols must move across rough terrain that would completely immobilise heavier vehicles. The Sentinel uses a robust and highly sophisticated gyro-stabiliser system that keeps the walker steady while traversing any terrain, including steep slopes and deep craters. The articulated legs of the Sentinel allow the walker to stalk quietly through urban ruins or dense undergrowth while still allowing it to achieve an impressive speed over open ground. Scout Sentinels have noise-reduction modifications applied to their power-plants to reduce the possibility of their movements being heard by the enemy. The crews of Sentinel squads will adapt their vehicles for all sorts of difficult operating environments, making use of everything from large chainsaws for cutting through dense jungles and forests to servo-claw spikes that can grip glacial planes. Sentinels are often fielded in squadrons as scouts or infantry fire support vehicles. They can carry a variety of heavy weapons and bring high levels of power and maneuverability together in one highly mobile unit. Sentinels are lightly armoured, however, and are susceptible to heavy barrages of small arms fire. Sentinel pilots are often loners and outcasts in their regiments and are usually considered to skirt the borderline of insolence by Guard officers. Some Sentinels may be better armoured than the norm and are fitted with stabilisers to let them carry heavier weaponry. This transforms the Sentinel's role in an Imperial Guard regiment from one of armed reconnaissance and light infantry support to one of full-on artillery support.

Armament
The Imperial Sentinel can be armed with a wide variety of weapons. The original Sentinel design called for a completely open canopy and an Assault Cannon as the walker's standard armament, but eventually this design fell out of use in place of more common weaponry and an armoured or partially armoured canopy. In the late 41st Millennium the Imperial Guard usually equips its Sentinels with whichever weapons are most tactically useful for a given mission or campaign, but some regiments use their own standard pattern of Sentinel. The most common armament of the Sentinel originates on the Forge World of Mars and carries a Multi-Laser, with a partially armoured canopy and this Mars Pattern Sentinel is used by regiments across the Imperium. Sentinels can also be equipped with Autocannons, Lascannons, Rocket Launchers, Multi-Meltas, Heavy Flamers, Plasma Cannons, and Heavy Bolters. The heavy fire support variant of the Sentinel can be equipped with a Multi-Rocket Pod or Missile Launcher Pod. All Sentinels can be outfitted with camouflage netting, searchlights, and smoke launchers. Sentinels equipped with fully armoured canopies have additional gyro-stabilizers which allow them to carry and fire heavier weapons, as well as Auspex arrays that are used to equip a powerful Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher that allows the Sentinel to serve in an anti-armour role.

Notable Users of the Sentinel

 * Departmento Munitorum - The Departmento Munitorum uses the Sentinel Power-lifter as a logistics vehicle to transport and load ordnance for the Imperial Guard
 * Adeptus Mechanicus - The Adeptus Mechanicus uses the Sentinel Power-lifter as a logistics vehicle
 * Imperial Navy - The Imperial Navy makes use of the Sentinel Power-lifter as an ordnance loader on the flight decks of its starships
 * 17th Tallarn Regiment - The 17th Tallarn Regiment made use of Sentinels when it fought during the Taros Campaign against the Tau
 * 12th Tallarn Armoured Regiment - Fought against the Tau during the Taros Campaign
 * 23rd Elysian Drop Troops Regiment - All 42 Drop Sentinels of the 23rd Elysian Drop Troops Regiment were destroyed fighting against the Tau during the Taros Campaign
 * 2774th Imperial Navy Fighter Wing - The 2774th Fighter Wing, like many Imperial Navy fighter wings, uses the Sentinel Power-lifter as a logistical support platform and ordnance loader
 * 99th Elysian Drop Troop Regiment - The 99th Elysian Regiment commonly deployed Sentinels against the escaped Tyranids at a secret Adeptus Mechanicus research facility on Beta Anphelion IV
 * 266th Cadian Regiment - The 266th Cadian Regiment also made use of the ubiquitous Sentinel against the escaped Tyranids at a secret Adeptus Mechanicus research facility on Beta Anphelion IV
 * Inquisitor Solomon Lok - Inquisitor Lok commandeered several Sentinel Power-lifters to use in combat against the escaped Tyranids of Beta Anphelion IV
 * 181st Elysian Drop Troop Regiment - Used Sentinels during the Raid on Kastorel-Novem against the Orks
 * 226th Elysian Drop Troop Regiment - Fought during the defense of Betalis III against the Eldar of Craftworld Mymeara
 * Cadian 412th Regiment - When the 412th Cadian faced the Eldar, Ork, and Necron forces on the planet of Lorn V, it deployed numerous Sentinels
 * 1st Kronus Regiment - The 1st Kronus Regiment made extensive use of the Sentinel when it fought during the Dark Crusade against multiple enemy forces drawn from most of the major xenos factions in the galaxy
 * 252nd Kauravan Conservator Regiment - The 252nd Kauravan made extensive use of Sentinels when it fought in the defence of the Kaurava System against enemy forces
 * 85th Vendoland - The 85th Vendoland made extensive use of Sentinels when it fought during the First Aurelian Crusade against an invading Tyranid splinter Hive Fleet of Hive Fleet Leviathan
 * Catachan Jungle Fighters - The Catachan Pattern Sentinel is a standard fire support unit for any of the Catachan Jungle Fighters regiments hailing from the Death World of Catachan. It is often their only accessible form of heavy support, since most of the Imperium's main battle tanks would quickly bog down and become unable to proceed in a dense jungle environment.

Known Sentinel Variants
There are multiple known variants and patterns of the Sentinel, and each one presents a different combination of primary weapon, pilot protection, and operational role on the battlefield. The known variants include:
 * Scout Sentinel - The Scout Sentinel has a partially armoured canopy and is used mainly for scouting and reconnaissance purposes. These Sentinels are usually armed with either Multi-Lasers or Heavy Flamers.
 * Armoured Sentinel - The Armoured Sentinel has a fully enclosed, heavily-armoured canopy and is equipped with additional gyro-stabilizers in order to carry and fire heavier weapons such as Lascannons and Autocannons.
 * Drop Sentinel - The Drop Sentinel has a modified engine and a modified canopy in order to fit inside of the Valkyrie Assault Carrier. Two Drop Sentinels can be carried by the Valkyrie Sky Talon and dropped into a combat zone. The Sentinels are dropped from a low altitude and use grav-chutes in order to make a soft landing. These Sentinels are usually armed with either a Heavy Bolter, Heavy Flamer or a Multi-Melta. They are most commonly used as fire support by regiments of the Elysian Drop Troops.
 * Support Sentinels - Support Sentinels are used as support units for armoured companies and fire support for infantry regiments. These Sentinels are usually equipped with either a Multi-Rocket Pod or a Missile Launcher Pod.
 * Sentinel Power-lifter- The Sentinel Power-lifter is a logistics platform and is equipped with two large power claws that are used to grip and hold heavy objects like missiles and other ordnance and transport them short distances or lift them into place. However, the power claws can be used as extremely effective melee weapons against enemy infantry in extreme circumstances.

Known Sentinel Patterns

 * Mars Pattern - The Mars Pattern Sentinel is armed with a Multi-Laser which is effective against infantry formations and lightly armored vehicles. This pattern uses a partially armoured canopy.
 * Cadian Pattern - The Cadian Pattern Sentinel is armed with an Autocannon which is effective against more "elite" armoured infantry units and standard vehicles. Its canopy is fully enclosed and armoured.
 * Elysian Pattern - The Elysian Pattern Sentinel is armed with either a Multi-melta or a Heavy Bolter. The Multi-melta variant is used by the regiments of the Elysian Drop Troops as a substitute for more heavily armed and armored vehicles such as the Leman Russ main battle tank that is not used by the Elysians in their role as light infantry. The Elysian Pattern Sentinel's main weapon is extremely effective against even the most heavily armoured vehicles. The Heavy Bolter variant of this pattern is used to mow down densely-packed infantry formations, and is vital to the Elysians when they are operating against a larger force of infantry. Both variants of this pattern have been modified to fit inside a Valkyrie and are fitted with grav-chutes, so they can be "parachuted" into combat alongside Elysian troops as the engines and canopy of this Sentinel has been downsized in order to fit inside of a Valkyrie. The canopy is only partially armoured.
 * Catachan Pattern - The Catachan Pattern Sentinel is armed with a Heavy Flamer and Chainsword for use in the dense jungles of the Death World of Catachan and planets with similar tropical environments. This pattern is both highly effective at clearing a path through heavy jungle terrain as well as decimating lightly armoured troops. In accordance with Catachan Jungle Fighters combat doctrine, most Catachan Pattern Sentinels are extremely well camouflaged. The canopy of the Catachan Sentinel is only partially armoured, but it is covered in camouflaged netting in order to better blend in with its surroundings.
 * Armageddon Pattern - The Armageddon Pattern Sentinel is armed with a Lascannon, one of the most effective anti-tank weapons the Imperial Guard possesses, and this pattern is used in a very effect anti-armour role. The canopy is also fully enclosed with armour plating.
 * Tallarn Pattern - The Tallarn Pattern Sentinel is armed with a Multi-Laser. It has larger feet than the other Sentinel patterns to provide better balance on the loose sand of the battle zones it is used in. It normally is manufactured with only a partially armoured canopy.
 * Arkan Pattern - The Arkan Pattern Sentinel largely similar to the Tallarn Pattern Sentinel. The only Major difference being that the Arkan variant has hooves rather than feet. This is meant to allow the Sentinels to achieve greater speed on the wide open Badlands of their planet.

Also See

 * Imperial Guard Vehicles

Gallery
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