A Coronus Grav-Carrier armed with a turret-mounted Arachnus Blaze Cannon.
An Arachnus Blaze Cannon is a powerful relic Laser Weapon utilised exclusively by the Adeptus Custodes since the eras of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.
The weaponry of the Custodians' unique war machines are an expression of the height of the Imperium's technological capabilities. Many could be described as paragon variants of well-established Imperial patterns such as the Arachnus Blaze Cannon.
By the time of the Horus Heresy, this particular weapon was a recognisable development of widely-used Imperial las technology, but built with esoteric and powerful components which could never be replicated en masse, like most of the vehicles and wargear used by the Custodians.
Arachnus Heavy Blaze Cannon[]
A Caladius Annihilator with a turret-mounted Arachnus Heavy Blaze Cannon.
The Arachnus Heavy Blaze Cannon was an even larger variant of the Arachnus Blaze Cannon that possessed greater stopping power. It was often deployed on the Caladius Annihilator grav-tank employed by the Legio Custodes.
Arachnus Magna-Blaze Cannon[]
The Arachnus Magna-Blaze Cannon was a heavy Laser Weapon deployed on the vehicles of the Custodian Guard during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.
An Arachnus Magna-Blaze Cannon deployed as a nose-mounted weapon on a Legio Custodes Ares Gunship.
The most powerful variant of the Arachnus Blaze Cannon, the Arachnus Magna-Blaze Cannon was one of the most potent directed energy weapons ever used by Humanity and one of the most jealously guarded secrets of the Legio Custodes.
However, such incredible firepower came at great cost, for the housing needed to protect and keep cool the mechanisms that unleashed such tremendous energy pulses was so resource-intensive in its construction that all of the wealth of a noble family of Terra could be consumed firing just one shot.
To this end, to make use of the Arachnus Magna-Blaze Cannon effectively, it must be cooled by heat dissipation engines such as those mounted within atmospheric re-entry cargo voidcraft. The Arachnus Magna-Blaze Cannon was most commonly deployed on the Custodes' Ares Gunship.
Notable Users[]
- Coronus Grav-Carrier - Armed with twin-linked Lastrum Bolt Cannons and a turret-mounted Arachnus Blaze Cannon, the Coronus Grav-carrier is perhaps one of the most recognised vehicles used exclusively by the Adeptus Custodes. Principally used as a transport, the strikingly-designed Adeptus Custodes Coronus Grav-Carrier served as the technological basis for the Pallas and Caladius grav-craft. While its primary function is transporting a unit of warriors into battle, its armaments ensure that it is more than capable of mounting an appropriately aggressive defence.
- Caladius Annihilator - Based upon the technology of the Coronus Grav-Carrier, the smaller Caladius grav-tank was designed to utilise the firepower afforded by the heaviest elements of the Adeptus Custodes' arsenal on a highly mobile, protected platform. Given the fusion of advanced systems and weapons, the Caladius is perhaps the most powerful battleline armoured unit of its size in the Imperium's forces, utilising technologies and materials derived not only from the Dark Age of Technology, but from developments made as a result of the Great Crusade's two centuries of warfare and the recovery of archeotech long lost to Humanity. A particularly powerful variant was the "Caladius Annihilator" which featured an enhanced, capacitor-fed Arachnus Blaze Cannon potent enough to pose a threat even to super-heavy armoured vehicles.
Sources[]
- The Horus Heresy Book Seven: Inferno (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 246
- The Horus Heresy Book Eight: Malevolence(Forge World Series), pp. 258, 287
- Forge World Webstore - Legio Custodes Caladius Grav-Tank Annihilator
- Legio Custodes Coronus Grav-Carrier