Land Speeder

The Land Speeder is a light anti-gravity vehicle, serving as the primary reconnaissance, scouting, resupply and fast attack vehicles of the Imperial Space Marine Chapters. Land Speeders are based on Standard Template Construction (STC) template data that was recovered in in the 31st Millennium and they soon became widely produced and used throughout the Imperium of Man by the various Space Marine Chapters. Land Speeders were also originally used by the Imperial Guard, but since then the plasma and anti-gravity technologies required to use them have become increasingly rare, and so only extremely resource-rich Imperial planets or organizations such as Ryza or the Space Marines can afford to create them. As the Land Speeder design was rediscovered after the Horus Heresy ended, there are no Land Speeders in Chaos Space Marines Traitor Legion armies, though they may be available to Renegade Space Marines who turned to Chaos from a Chapter created after the Heresy. On the battlefield, Land Speeders can be organized into squadrons of up to 3. The Land Speeder gets its name from Arkham Land, the Adeptus Mechanicus tech-priest who rediscovered the STC template containing its design. As noted above, the Land Speeder's STC was discovered after the events of the Horus Heresy, so the Land Speeder is not available to the Forces of Chaos. Land Speeders are often used as fast-response units, quickly dropping down from orbiting transports to add their firepower to the Space Marine forces deployed on the ground. In fact, this tactic is seen in action in the introduction movie of the Dark Crusade expansion for the Dawn of War PC game.

Game Origins
Land Speeders were introduced along with the other First Edition Warhammer 40,000 vehicles, the Rhino and the Land Raider. The first Land Speeder model was made entirely of metal. It looked more-or-less like two flying seats in front of two large turbines. The Space Marine crew were entirely exposed. This early version of the Land Speeder was armed with a meltagun and a turret-mounted multi-melta. During this edition of the game, Land Speeders were not entirely limited to the Space Marines; The Imperial Guard had their own Land Speeders. The Imperial Guard Land Speeder model was almost-identical to the Space Marine version, except for weaponry. The Imperial Guard Land Speeder was armed with a hull-mounted heavy bolter and a turret-mounted plasma cannon, then-called a "heavy plasma gun".

When the 2nd Edition of Warhammer 40,000 was released, Land Speeders were taken out of the Imperial Guard's army list. From this point on, they were entirely Space Marine vehicles. The Land Speeder's second incarnation was released in 1993. This all-metal version added more bulk and armor to the vehicle, with pilots being less exposed in the front though not the sides. The meltagun and plasma cannon were replaced by an under-slung multi-melta and a heavy flamer fired by the Space Marine riding in the gunner's seat. In 1997, another Land Speeder model was released for the Ravenwing Company of the Dark Angels Space Marine Chapter. This version replaced the standard Land Speeder's multi-melta with an assault cannon and the gunner's heavy flamer with a heavy bolter.

The current design of the Land Speeder was introduced in 1998 for the 3rd Edition of the Warhammer 40,000 game. Unlike the previous models, this release was a completely plastic kit. The redesign of the Land Speeder made it appear sleeker. The pilots are almost entirely enclosed. Stabilizers and a spoiler were also added to make the vehicle look more aerodynamic. In line with the changes to the Land Speeder's profile in the Codex: Space Marines, the weapons that were included in the kit were changed once more. The boxed set contained a multi-melta and a heavy bolter, only one of which could be mounted onto the Speeder. Several variants were also released, using the same plastic model but including additional metal weaponry. The Third Edition of the game was the first time that Land Speeders could be fielded in squadrons of up to three of the vehicles, although the Tornado and Typhoon variants could only be fielded as individual vehicles. With the release of the Fourth Edition Space Marine codex, players were allowed to field different Land Speeder variants in the same squadron.

The Land Speeder appears in several other games outside of Warhammer 40,000. Land speeders are available as available units for the Epic large-scale battle tabletop game for both the Third and Fourth Editions, similar in design to the corresponding Warhammer 40,000 version.

Land Speeders have also been featured in Chaos Gate and Dawn of War, computer games based on the Warhammer 40,000 franchise. The Land Speeders in Dawn of War are Land Speeder Tornadoes that are slightly different from the ones in Warhammer 40,000. They are armed with twin-linked, under-slung assault cannons and twin-linked heavy bolters that are fired by the gunner.

Variant Land Speeders
Over the years, numerous Land Speeder variant patterns have been created by the Adeptus Mechanicus or various Space Marine Chapter Armouries with a wide array of different weapon combinations. To accommodate these various incarnations, the Land Speeder entry in the Space Marines' army list allows several upgrades to the common single-weapon-armed Land Speeder. In addition, there are a few Land Speeder variants that have gained rules of their own.


 * The Land Speeder Tornado is a much more heavily-armed Land Speeder. The designation was originally created to accommodate the metal Land Speeder models released for the 2nd Edition of Warhammer 40,000 in 3rd Edition Space Marine armies. Tornadoes are essentially Land Speeders with a second weapon underneath, corresponding to the speeder's main weapon. Land Speeder Tornadoes armed with a heavy bolter have an under-slung assault cannon while multi-melta-armed speeders are armed with an additional heavy flamer. These two incarnations corresponded to the Dark Angels' Ravenwing Land Speeder and the standard 2nd Edition Land Speeder.
 * The Land Speeder Typhoon was first released in 1999 as a plastic and metal model kit based on the standard Space Marine Land Speeder. The rules for the Typhoon were actually released a year before in the 3rd Edition of the Codex: Space Marines. The Typhoon sports two metal missile racks mounted on both sides of the plastic speeder model. In-game, they fire as a Typhoon missile launcher, an anti-personnel missile launcher that is best used against lightly-armoured enemy infantry.
 * The Land Speeder Tempest is a heavy-armoured variant of the standard Land Speeder released by Forge World as a resin-kit for Warhammer 40,000. The model itself incorporates many changes to the standard Speeder's design. The Tempest's single-pilot cockpit is entirely enclosed and instead of small stabilizers, full wings extend from the sides of the speeder. It is armed with a nose-mounted assault cannon and twin missile racks along its sides. The rules for the Land Speeder Tempest were first published in Forge World's Warhammer 40,000 sourcebook, Imperial Armour Update: New Vehicles for Warhammer 40,000. In the game's background, the Tempest was originally developed for use by the White Scars Space Marines, a Loyalist Chapter known for their use of lightning-fast raiding tactics. The Tempest is perfect for supporting such raids with its anti-tank missiles and its infantry-shredding assault cannon. It is featured in the Dawn of War expansion Soulstorm as the Blood Ravens Space Marines' primary flying unit.
 * The Land Speeder Storm is a troop-carrying variant of the standard Land Speeder used by Space Marine Scouts as a transport and rapid-insertion vehicle. The cockpit configuration is the same, with the pilot and gunner sitting side-by-side. However, the fuselage has been stretched to add an open troop-carrying compartment capable of holding up to six Space Marine Scouts. Other changes to this variant include the addition of a third engine thruster. As with the standard Land Speeder, the gunner station may still mount either a Heavy Bolter, a Heavy Flamer, or a Multi-melta. The Land Speeder Storm plastic model kit was released in 2009 by Games Workshop to coincide with the release of the new, most recent Space Marines codex for the 5th Edition. Furthermore, a Land Speeder Storm's baffled engines and sophisticated spy array afford it a stealthy profile best suited to the Scouts' mission of clandestine hit and run attacks. As a result, each can be used as a mobile firebase, assault transport or stealth insertion craft as the combat objectives dictate. To further enhance the Land Speeder Storm's effectiveness in strike missions, many Chapters replace a Land Speeder's standard underslung Heavy Bolter armament with a Cerberus Launcher. This tri-barrelled weapon fires a disorienting volley of Frag, Stun and blindfire rockets into enemy positions, allowing the Scouts to move in and mop up any survivors. When combined with the rapier speed of the Land Speeder Storm, the Cerberus Launcher allows Scouts to launch rapid and daring assaults at an otherwise impenetrable defence line with impunity.
 * The Ravenwing Master-Crafted Land Speeder is a unique variant of the Land Speeder ridden only by the Captain of the Dark Angels Chapter's 2nd Company, who are known as the Ravenwing. The Master of the Ravenwing's Speeder is heavily armed with twin-heavy bolters and twin-linked assault cannons, similar to the Dawn of War version described above. In addition, the specialized speeder is equipped with superior targeting equipment and a protective shield generator. The Master of the Ravenwing model kit was released in 1999 by Games Workshop to coincide with the release of the Dark Angels codex.