
The Astra Militarum's Deathstrike Missile Launcher is capable of being outfitted with Deathstrike Missiles carrying a tactical nuclear warhead.
A nuclear weapon, more usually called an atomic weapon or a nucleonic weapon in the Imperium, is one of the oldest types of weapon of mass destruction available to Humanity. First invented in the late 2nd Millennium during the Age of Terra, these weapons unleash a massive explosion of thermal energy and ionising radiation through the fission of atomic nuclei or a thermonuclear fusion reaction initiated by a primary fission explosion.
The explosive yields of nuclear weapons can range in the kiloton to multiple megaton range depending on whether the weapons are intended for tactical, battlefield use or are strategic "city-buster" or "planet-buster" weapons such as those used during Exterminatus actions. These weapons are environmentally devastating, as they produce radioactive fallout that can poison any landscape where they are used and make it unihabitable for Human life for many standard centuries.
History[]
Atomic weapons have been in use by Humanity for many standard millennia, stretching back to their invention and first deployment late during a great global war in the Age of Terra in the 2nd Millennium.
Later, "atomics" would be used indiscriminately by the warring techno-barbarian factions of Old Earth during the Age of Strife, badly damaging the physical environment of Terra and resulting in the evaporation of much of the planet's surface water, including what had been the Atlantic Ocean.
Nuclear weapons were deployed routinely during the ancient civil war that engulfed the Blood Angels Chapter's future homeworld of Baal and its moons during the Age of Strife, and their sustained use produced the same environmental damage seen on Terra, including the transformation of Baal and its satellites into radioactive Desert Worlds where radiation-caused mutation and disease was rampant.
Atomic weapons were regularly unleashed by the opposing techno-barbarian forces against the armies of the early Imperium during the Unification Wars.
The Primarch Corvus Corax and his rebel forces used atomics to unleash a nuclear bombardment of Kiavahr during their revolt against their Tech-Guild masters on its moon of Deliverance.
The Sarosi Daemon-worshippers of the world of Sarosh attempted to assassinate the Primarch Lion El'Jonson of the Dark Angels Legion during the Great Crusade by smuggling an atomic device aboard his flagship the Invincible Reason.
The forces of the world of Gaardinal unleashed nuclear weapons on the Iron Hands Legion during an Imperial Compliance action of the Great Crusade.
At the Battle of Isstvan III during the start of the Horus Heresy the Traitors would use tactical nuclear weapons to clear out Loyalist Space Marines from their fortified positions in the ruins of Isstvan III's Choral City.
During the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V in the Horus Heresy the Iron Warriors unleashed a tactical nuclear strike on the position of Primarch Vulkan of the Salamanders Legion and his honour guard. Vulkan and his gene-sons were slain but the primarch later returned to life because of his status as an immortal Perpetual.
In the Schism of Mars that broke out on the Red Planet during the Horus Heresy between the Loyalist Mechanicum and the Dark Mechanicum, the Traitors unleashed hundreds of tactical nuclear strikes on the forge cities and other outposts of the Loyalists.
During the Krieg Civil War on the Hive World of Krieg in 433.M40, the Loyalists unleashed a massive atomic bombardment of the planet to cleanse it of the Heretics who had sought to secede from the Imperium. The environmental damage caused by this strike transformed Krieg into a Death World.
During the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, the fallen hive city of Ferrozoica annihilated its neighbouring Vannick Hive with the use of a nuclear device.
In the Diamor Campaign of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, the forces of the Chaos Space Marines unleashed nuclear weapons against the southern hemisphere of the Industrial World of Ioline, reducing it to an irradiated wasteland.
The Blood Angels' Chapter fleet launched a massive nuclear bombardment against the Tyranid forces of Hive Fleet Leviathan assaulting Baal during the Devastation of Baal in the Era Indomitus.
Notable Nuclear Weapon Deployment Platforms[]
- Deathstrike Missile Launcher - The Deathstrike Missile Launcher deployed by the Astra Militarum is capable of mounting tactical nuclear warheads on its intercontinental ballistic Deathstrike Missiles.
- Harbinger - The Harbinger super-heavy bomber deployed by the forces of Chaos possesses the capability to unleash atomic weapon payloads.
- Navis Imperialis and Adeptus Astartes warships - The warships of the Navis Imperialis and the Adeptus Astartes are outfitted with atomic weapons that can be deployed as part of an Exterminatus action or other orbital bombardment. They can also be deployed as the explosive ordnance used by Macrocannon batteries and torpedoes during ship-to-ship void combat.
- Chaos Warfleets - The warships of the Heretic Astartes and the forces of Chaos are outfitted with atomic weapons that can be deployed as part of an orbital bombardment or as the explosive ordnance used by Macrocannon batteries and torpedoes during ship-to-ship void combat.
See Also[]
Sources[]
- A Thousand Sons (Novel) by Graham McNeill, Ch. 22
- Black Crusade: Traitor's Hate (7th Edition), Ch. 2
- Codex: Imperial Guard (5th Edition), pg. 55
- Codex: Tyranids (8th Edition), "The Battle of Baal"
- Dark Imperium: Godblight (Novel) by Guy Haley, Ch. 33
- Descent of Angels (Novel) by Mitchel Scanlon, Ch. 20
- Fulgrim (Novel) by Graham McNeill, Chs. 21, 25
- Imperial Armour Volume Five - The Siege of Vraks - Part One, pp. 86-88
- Index Astartes, "Blood Angels"
- Mechanicum (Novel) by Graham McNeill, Ch. 3.01
- Rogue Trader: Into the Storm (RPG), pg. 163
- Tactica Aeronautica, pg. 21
- The Founding (Omnibus Novel) by Dan Abnett, Necropolis (Novel), Ch. 4
- The Horus Heresy Book Three - Extermination (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 133
- The Horus Heresy Book Two - Massacre (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 88–91