Venerable Land Raider

The Venerable Land Raider is a variant of the standard Land Raider used by the Adeptus Custodes, the valiant bodyguards of the Emperor Himself. The most ancient and honoured of these tanks are the Venerable Land Raiders used by the Adeptus Custodes. Many can trace their history all the way back to the earliest days of the Imperium. These tanks rolled forwards amidst the earth-shaking armoured spearheads deployed during the Great Crusade. They ground alien oppressors beneath their treads as they fought to liberate Humanity from the horrors of Old Night, and turned their guns mercilessly upon the Traitor Legions once their betrayal was revealed. For ten thousand years these noble war engines have fought for the Imperium, and each has built a legend every bit as magnificent as those possessed by the greatest Imperial champions.

Role
The Land Raider is arguably the most powerful and versatile battle tank available to Imperial forces in the late 41st Millennium. Possessed of a fearsome array of weapons, hyper-durable adamantium armour, and the transport capacity to bear a full squad of heavily equipped warriors into battle, the Land Raider can function as both war engine and assault transport with equal ease. A single Land Raider can turn a desperate battle in the Imperium's favour -- a massed spearhead of them can win a war.

For all this, Land Raiders are in comparatively short supply. Few Forge Worlds still possess the secrets of their creation, and even those that do must sink enormous resource and time into the making of each one. Land Raiders have bellicose and complex Machine Spirits (artificial intelligences) that take time to tame, and for the material cost of but one of these tanks it is possible to churn out a hundred lesser vehicles. Every Land Raider is thus venerated as a priceless relic, entrusted only to the most elite forces of the Imperium and deployed when victory is absolutely vital. It is considered a near-irredeemable sin to allow such a vehicle to be destroyed, and entire campaigns have been fought to recover Land Raiders lost upon the field of battle.

Venerable Land Raiders possess Magos-class Machine Spirits, noble and aggressive entities that can independently aim and fire the tank's guns and coordinate its auto-repair rituals when circumstances require it. Stories exist of these dauntless war engines fighting on even after their Custodian crews were slain, wreaking bloody revenge for their deaths.

These vehicles are the primary ground transport of the Adeptus Custodes, a statement of how unstoppable and elite the Ten Thousand truly are. Tracks churning, guns thundering, Venerable Land Raiders ferry their passengers into the heart of battle, then support them with unparalleled armoured might once they disembark. In extreme circumstances these amazing war engines have even been teleported directly onto the battlefield, their hulls warded against the empyric corruption that is a common side effect of travelling through the Warp, their passage assured through use of an ancient Godstrike Pattern teleportarium. This tactic has won many victories for the Adeptus Custodes; it is a rare enemy indeed that can survive the sudden appearance of a Land Raider full of demigods in the middle of their battle lines.

Armament

 * Twin-linked Heavy Bolter
 * 2 Twin-linked Lascannons
 * Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher (Optional addition)
 * Storm Bolter (Optional addition)
 * Smoke Launchers
 * Magos-class Machine Spirit (Artificial Intelligence)

Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications
The specifications of the Venerable Land Raider have not been made public by the Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Notable Venerable Land Raiders

 * Glory to the Throne - This potent war engine saw its very first battle in the defence of the Imperial Palace at the culmination of the Horus Heresy during the Battle of Terra. Though severely damaged during that apocalyptic conflict, Glory to the Throne has remained with the Adeptus Custodes ever since, repaired time and again, and blooded on battlefields beyond count.