A Blood Angels Gladiator Reaper ready to take on the Tyranid waves of Hive Fleet Leviathan with its potent anti-infantry firepower.
The Gladiator is an Imperial anti-gravitic main battle tank intended to provide heavy armoured support for the Primaris Space Marines of many different Chapters. Based on the chassis of the Impulsor assault transport, the Gladiator is a fast, flexible battle tank that provides deadly heavy fire support for Primaris Marine forces in the field. Like many of the new vehicles and wargear created for the Primaris Marines, the Gladiator is available with multiple different weapon loadouts to maximise its tactical flexibility.
Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl has continued his quest in pursuit of the techno-heresy called "innovation" to outfit the Primaris Space Marines with the best weapons, armour, and war machines in the galaxy. This brutal armoured behemoth is the first dedicated battle tank to emerge from his forges on Mars. As with the other Primaris tanks created by Cawl's genius -- the Impulsor and Repulsor variants -- the Gladiator uses anti-gravity Repulsor Field technology to drift menacingly across the battlefield as one of the rare Imperial grav tanks.
The Gladiator's chassis is that of a more heavily armoured Impulsor, with its open-topped transport bay replaced with a fully enclosed hull. This design relationship mirrors that of the classic Predator battle tank and the ubiquitous Rhino armoured personnel carrier used by the Adeptus Astartes for millennia, which sacrificed transport capacity for reinforced armour, a powerful, turret-mounted primary weapon system, and sponson-mounted weapons.
Armament
Dorsal view of an Ultramarines Gladiator Valiant, armed with a turret-mounted, twin-linked Las-talon and spnson-mounted Multi-Meltas for close-ranged, heavy fire support.
The Gladiator can be outfitted in three variants -- the Gladiator Valiant, Gladiator Reaper, or Gladiator Lancer -- each with a different combination of formidable turret and sponson weaponry designed to meet changing tactical needs on the battlefield.
The Gladiator Reaper's twin-linked Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon and pair of Tempest Bolters offer this Gladiator variant a level of infantry-shredding firepower that is unrivalled by anything short of a super-heavy battle tank like the Baneblade deployed by the Astra Militarum.
Meanwhile, the Gladiator Valiant pattern is the most aggressive of the three variants, specialising in close-range, heavy fire support for Primaris Marine infantry. It can bring down even the largest vehicle or monstrous xenos organism with a single, devastating salvo of its twin-linked Las-talon and sponson-mounted Multi-Meltas.
Finally, the Gladiator Lancer pattern boasts the longest range of the different Gladiator patterns, granting it the luxury of effortlessly blasting apart its enemy armour prey from extreme range with its bespoke Lancer Laser Destroyer.
Gladiator Reaper
This Ultramarines Gladiator Reaper is designed to provide powerful anti-infantry support to Primaris Marines with its turret-mounted twin-linked Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannons.
When the twin Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannons of the Gladiator Reaper spin to full pitch, the droning makes the teeth of all nearby itch with the intensity of the vibrations. Within seconds, thousands of spent casings pour over the battle tank's armoured hide as enemy infantry are erased from existence by the storm of metallic hail.
Wargear
- 2 Tempest Bolters
- Twin-linked Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannons
- Auto Launchers
- Ironhail Heavy Stubber (Optional)
- Icarus Rocket Pod (Optional)
Gladiator Valiant
An Ultramarines Gladiator Valiant provides close-range, heavy fire support to Primaris Marines and can destroy the largest vehicle or monstrous organism with its twin-linked Las-talon and Multi-Meltas.
The Gladiator Valiant lays down blistering volleys of fire as it escorts Primaris Marine transports or supports infantry in ferocious fighting, crossing rushing watercourses, sucking marshlands and bubbling lava lakes with equal ease. Its twin-linked Las-talons spit directed energy death at the foe, making short work of enemy armour and cracking open fortified positions when it is at close range.
Wargear
- 2 Multi-Meltas
- Twin-linked Las-talon
- Auto Launchers
- Ironhail Heavy Stubber (Optional)
- Icarus Rocket Pod (Optional)
Gladiator Lancer
This Ultramarines Gladiator Lancer is designed to provide long-range anti-armour support to Primaris Marines with its custom-designed, turret-mounted Lancer Laser Destroyer.
With pinpoint accuracy, the Gladiator Lancer picks off the heaviest enemy armour, its Lancer Laser Destroyer punching smouldering holes in their hulls. Such is the range of its heavy, turret-mounted cannon that it can eliminate armoured threats to the Space Marines before they encounter them on the field, storming past the burning wrecks of their foes' vehicles to claim their objectives.
Wargear
- Fragstorm Grenade Launcher
- Lancer Laser Destroyer
- 2 Storm Bolters
- Auto Launchers
- Ironhail Heavy Stubber (Optional)
- Icarus Rocket Pod (Optional)
- Aquilon Optics (Improved range)
Sources
- Codex: Space Marines (9th Edition), pp. 181-182
- Warhammer Community - The Warhammer 40,000 Launch Party Preview
- Warhammer Community - Space Marines Gladiator – Model Focus