An Imperial Hellhammer Super-Heavy Tank
The Hellhammer is a super-heavy tank of the Imperial Guard that is a variant of the infamous Baneblade tank. The Hellhammer replaces the Mega Battle Cannon of the Baneblade with a Hellhammer Cannon. The Hellhammer Cannon is a variation of the Battle Cannon commonly found on the Leman Russ main battle tank. It has a shorter barrel with special heavy-gauge suppressors built into it that allows it to fire extremely high-calibre shells without ripping itself apart. These shells are designed to destroy armour and emplacements with an unstable sub-atomic charge.
The Hellhammer came into being as part of an effort to upgrade the standard Baneblade's performance against heavily armoured targets. The Tech-priests of Mars removed the standard Mega Battle Cannon, and installed the shorter but more potent Hellhammer Cannon. A larger version of the cannon found on the Leman Russ Eradicator, the Hellhammer Cannon fires massive shells whose unstable sub-atomic charge can shred armour and fortifications like paper, and obliterate any infantry attempting to shelter within in one fell shot. The lack of range that plagued the Hellhammer Cannon was an acceptable compromise for the added capacity for destruction, and the design was finalised, blessed, standardised and mass-produced by the Adeptus Mechanicus.
On the battlefield, the Hellhammer's role is that of either a close support tank, or an urban warfare tank. Its Hellhammer Cannon and hull-mounted Demolisher Cannon make short work of any armour or fortification, while its secondary armament of two Lascannons and three twin-linked Heavy Bolters allows it to mop up anything that escaped the devastation wrought by its main armament. When configured for urban assault, it swaps two twin-linked Heavy Bolters for Heavy Flamers, allowing the Hellhammer to flush out infantry from fortifications too flimsy to warrant a shot from the main gun. The Hellhammer also functions well as a close range armour hunter; its main guns can reach only medium range at maximum, but their sheer destructive power allows them to knock out anything smaller than a Titan easily. In situations were the range is short and the fields of fire limited, the Hellhammer is brutally uncompromising in delivering fiery destruction upon Mankind's enemies.
Like its parent tank and all its variants, the Hellhammer suffers from poor top speed and manoeuvrability. Its massive size is also both a blessing and a curse: while it allows the Hellhammer to plow through and flatten many obstacles, it will also deny it passage in many circumstances. Hellhammer crews must be specially trained to identify and avoid pitfalls where their tank would get stuck or shed a track with catastrophic results. Also, due to the short range of its weaponry and slow speed, a Hellhammer is almost useless when fighting enemy armour in the open, for its size makes it an easy target to hit at long range, leaving it vulnerable without any weaponry able to answer in kind, nor the required speed to close the gap to its target in time.
Armament
The Hellhammer is named after its main weapon, the Hellhammer Cannon, but it is also armed with a co-axial Autocannon, a hull-mounted Demolisher Cannon, a Twin-linked hull-mounted Heavy Bolter, two top-mounted sponson Lascannons, and two sponson-mounted Twin-linked Heavy Flamers. The Hellhammer can can also be equipped with a pintle mounted Heavy Stubber or Storm Bolter and a Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher.
Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications
| Vehicle Name: | Hellhammer | Main Armament: | Hellhammer Cannon, Demolisher Cannon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forge World of Origin: | Unknown | Secondary Armament: | 1 co-axial Autocannon, 1 Hull-mounted Twin-linked Heavy Bolter, 2 Sponson-mounted Twin-linked Heavy Flamers, 2 Top Sponson-mounted Lascannons |
| Known Patterns: | Unknown | Traverse: | 360 and 6 degrees |
| Crew: | 1 Commander, 1 Driver, 3 Gunners, 3 Loaders, 1 Comm-Operator, 1 Engineer | Elevation: | -2 to 28 degrees |
| Powerplant: | MR507 v18 Multi-Fuel | Main Ammunition: | Unknown |
| Weight: | 314 Tonnes | Secondary Ammunition: | 300 Rounds and 4000 Rounds |
| Length: | 13.5 metres | Armour: | |
| Width: | 8.4 metres | ||
| Height: | 6.3 metres | Superstructure: | 200 millimetres |
| Ground Clearance: | 1.2 metres | Hull: | 200 millimetres |
| Max Speed On-Road: | 25 kilometres per hour | Gun Mantlet: | 180 millimetres |
| Max Speed Off-Road: | 18 kilometres per hour | Vehicle Designation: | Unknown |
| Transport Capacity: | N/A | Firing Ports: | N/A |
| Access Points: | N/A | Turret: | Unknown |
Sources
- Games Workshop Official Store Page
- Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse, p. 105