"Abide not the alien, burn his from his fastness with purifying flame and cast his ashes into the void"
- — Cardinal-Astral Borja
The Macharius Omega is a variant of the Macharius Heavy Tank used by the Imperial Guard. The Macharius Omega differs from the standard Macharius tank and its other variants due to its unique main weapon. The Macharius Omega is a war-machine built with a single purpose, the battlefield deployment of the Omega Pattern Plasma Blastgun.
This weapon is a variant of the common Ryza Pattern Plasma Blastgun commonly deployed on the Stormblade super-heavy tank. The Omega Pattern is smaller and lighter than the Ryza Pattern, as it uses a compact generator and smaller force crucible allowing it to be mounted on smaller armoured hulls, such as the Macharius. The downside of this version of the Plasma Blastgun is that it is less stable and generates considerably more heat than the Ryza Pattern, but fortunately it is also much easier to manufacture.
History[]
The Standard Template Construct (STC) design for this weapon was originally discovered by an Explorator Magos known as Hum’nal in the late 39th Millennium, but a schism within the Adeptus Mechanicus over the purity and completeness of the weapon's template delayed the testing and eventual deployment of the Omega Pattern Plasma Blastgun for centuries.
After the weapon was approved for mass manufacture, large quantities of the Macharius Omega were fabricated at the Forge Worlds of Lucius, Hellgrace, and Dynax Primus. When the Macharius Omega was finally deployed to the battlefield it proved its worth during the battles on the planets of Orask and Nicanodes where it led the Imperial counter-assaults that drove the Tyranids out of the Sable Nebula.
Armament[]
The Macharius Omega differs from the standard Macharius solely in its replacement of the standard Twin-linked Battle Cannons of the Macharius heavy tank with an Omega Pattern Plasma Blastgun. The weapon is mounted on an unusual open-topped, forward-facing mount rather than the standard, enclosed Macharius turret. The Omega Pattern Plasma Blastgun is prone to overheating when fired too often, but due to the fact that it can be produced much faster and with less difficulty than the standard Ryza Pattern Plasma Blastgun its use is still economical.
The Macharius Omega is also equipped with two sponson-mounted Heavy Bolters on each side. All Macharius tanks can be upgraded with the following improvements: a Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher, an improved communications system, a minesweeper, a Pintle Mounted Heavy Stubber, a Searchlight, and a Smoke Launcher. The tank's sponson weapons can be replaced with either Heavy Flamers or Autocannons.
Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications[]
The technical specifications of this vehicle have yet to be released for public consumption by the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Sources[]
- Imperial Armour Apocalypse (2nd Edition), pg. 20
- Imperial Armour Apocalypse (2013), pg. 35
- Imperial Armour Volume One - Imperial Guard (Second Edition), pp. 119, 121, 267