The Land Speeder Vengeance is a variant of the standard Land Speeder used only by the Dark Angels and their Unforgiven Successor Chapters. It is the deadliest weapon available in the arsenal of the Ravenwing, the elite 2nd Company of the Dark Angels, and serves as a larger variant of the standard Land Speeder that is armed with the devastating Plasma Storm Battery, with which it lays down a blistering barrage to support the Dark Angels' attack.
The Land Speeder Vengeance couples a larger chassis and four powerful anti-gravitic lifter-engines with a ferocious heavy weapons load-out, providing the Ravenwing with a highly mobile and deadly support battery to aid them in their hunt for the Fallen.
History
The Ravenwing have always sought more firepower to support their hard-hitting attacks. An answer to this quest came in the 36th Millennium, with the discovery of the STC database for a strange type of Land Speeder. Its larger chassis and superior lift-engines could house heavy weaponry, allowing it to mount the plasma storm battery -- a relic weapon long held in the armoury of the Dark Angels' mobile fortress-monastery known as The Rock.
Thus was born the Land Speeder Vengeance, a strike vehicle exclusively employed by the Unforgiven Chapters. In conjunction with the Land Speeders of the Ravenwing's Support Squadron, the Land Speeder Vengeance has proven its worth on the battlefield time and time again, able to keep pace with the fastest of the Ravenwing's vehicles and deliver devastating volleys from its deadly Plasma Storm Battery.
Armament
The Land Speeder Vengeance is normally armed with its Plasma Storm Battery and a Heavy Bolter. Some variants of the Land Speeder Vengeance have the Chapter's Techmarines replace the Heavy Bolter with an Assault Cannon to further maximise the vehicle's firepower.
Unit Composition
- 1 Ravenwing Land Speeder Vengeance
Wargear
A standard Ravenwing Land Speeder Vengeance is armed and equipped with:
A Ravenwing Land Speeder Vengeance may replace its pintle-mounted Heavy Bolter with one of the following weapons:
Variants
The Land Speeder Vengeance has at least one known variant:
- Ravenwing Darkshroud - The Ravenwing Darkshroud is the only known variant of the Land Speeder Vengeance. The Ravenwing Darkshroud replaces the Vengeance's Plasma Storm Battery with an ancient relic, an Icon of Old Caliban known as a Stone Guardian or one of the Ten Brothers of The Order that once stood within the fortress-monastery of The Order on the Dark Angels' lost homeworld of Caliban. The Darkshroud then channels the arcane energies of the ancient relic and projects a field of impenetrable darkness known as the Shroud of Angels, swathing the Dark Angels' forces in a gloom that can swallow even the most potent of incoming enemy ranged attacks and protect the Unforgiven from harm. Those who have witnessed it at close range and felt its murky pall, and lived to tell of it, are disturbed forever more.
Formations
- Ravenwing Attack Squadron - The Ravenwing Attack Squadron consists of one Ravenwing Assault Bike Squadron or one Ravenwing Attack Bike Squadron and one Ravenwing Land Speeder Squadron or a single Land Speeder Vengeance. Dust clouds billow behind the Ravenwing Attack Squadron as it hurtles into battle. Striking swiftly, the 2nd Company huntsmen drive hard into the midst of the enemy, many foes falling before they even realise their danger. With massed firepower, the Attack Squadron mow their victims down in huge numbers. They plough a bloody furrow through the heart of battle, bursting from the foe’s rear ranks before wheeling about and diving back into the fray once more. It is these high-speed attacks for which the Ravenwing are rightly feared, yet this is not the only trick they have to play. Should some vital quarry be sighted, or a mighty enemy strongpoint need to be purged, the hunters activate their Teleport Homers and -- amid a crackling storm of light -- summon the merciless warriors of the Deathwing to join the fight.
- Ravenwing Support Squadron - The Ravenwing Support Squadron consists of a Ravenwing Land Speeder Squadron and a single Ravenwing Land Speeder Vengeance or Ravenwing Darkshroud. If the Attack Squadrons are the sword of the Ravenwing, then the Support Squadrons are their shield. Skimming fast and low over the field of battle, the Land Speeders of the Support Squadrons scan constantly for anything that might threaten the mission. Where heavily armoured war engines or entrenched artillery attempt to devastate the Ravenwing formations, the Support Squadrons swoop low overhead, missiles and plasma blasts reducing the weapons of the foe to blazing scrap. Where infantry mass in sufficient quantities to swamp the huntsmen of the 2nd Company, the Support Squadron's Land Speeders pass back and forth, raking the enemy with bullets, bolts and fiery blasts. In this way, the Support Squadrons combine their strength with their land-bound brothers to crush the foe completely.
Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications
The Adeptus Mechanicus has not yet publicly released the technical specifications of the Land Speeder Vengeance.
Also See
Sources
- Warhammer 40,000 Index: Imperium 1 (8th Edition), pg. 125
- Codex Adeptus Astartes - Dark Angels (8th Edition), pp. 46, 112
- Codex Adeptus Astartes - Dark Angels (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), "Ravenwing Vengeance Land Speeders", "Ravenwing Land Speeder Vengeance (Datasheet)", "Ravenwing Support Squadron (Formation)"
- Codex: Dark Angels (6th Edition), pp. 48, 84, 104