Caladius Grav-Tank

A Caladius Grav-Tank of the Adeptus Custodes.

A Caladius Grav-Tank, also known simply as a Caladius, is a heavily armed and armoured anti-gravitic tank utilised exclusively by the Legio Custodes during the time of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. This vehicle utilised anti-gravitic plate technology which enabled it to be highly manoeuvrable and to hover effortlessly over the field of battle, giving it a distinct advantage over terrain-bound conventional tanks.

Armed with the formidable double-barrelled Iliastus Accelerator Cannon and twin-linked Lastrum Bolt Cannon, the customised mass-reactive heliothermic warheads of Lastrum bolt shells can lay down a withering hail of punishing fire. It is unknown if the Caladius is still in use among the forces of the Adeptus Custodes of the 41st Millennium.

History

The Caladius Grav-Tank was 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 ancient Legio 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.

The principal armament of the Caladius is a double-barrelled Iliastus Accelerator Cannon, an advanced weapon which was the precursor of the more commonly-produced Accelerator Autocannon used as the armament of the Legiones Astartes Sicaran Battle Tank, which fulfilled a similar role to the Caladius as a high speed armour-destroyer.

Wargear

• Turret-Mounted, Twin-linked Iliastus Accelerator Cannon

• Twin-linked Lastrum Bolt Cannon

• Flare Shield

• Machine Spirit (Artificial Intelligence)

Optional Wargear

• Armoured Ceramite Plating

• Searchlight

• Extra Armour Plating

A Caladius Grav-Tank may exchange its Iliastus Accelerator Cannon for a:

• Twin-linked Arachnus Blaze Cannon

Caladius Annihilator

A Caladius Annihilator, armed with the powerful turret-mounted Arachnus Blaze Cannon.

A less common variant, the "Caladius Annihilator" features a turret-mounted, enhanced capacitor-fed Arachnus Blaze Cannon potent enough to pose a threat even to super-heavy armour.

When fired, large cooling flasks dissipate the immense energies unleashed whenever this tank attacks. This vehicle is also armed with twin-linked Lastrum Bolt Cannons on the front of the hull for anti-personnel firepower.

Sources

• The Horus Heresy - Book Seven: Inferno (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 278
• Legio Custodes Caladius Grav-Tank
• Legio Custodes Caladius Grav-Tank Annihilator