A Sicaran Battle Tank of the Iron Warriors Legion.
The Sicaran Battle Tank was an Imperial main battle tank and one of the most advanced armoured vehicles used by the Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy in the late 30th and early 31st Millennia.
These powerful vehicles were exclusive to the armouries of the Legiones Astartes and were just in the process of being introduced as a standard vehicle of the Legions when the Horus Heresy broke out. This allowed the Warmaster Horus to ensure that many examples of the new tank found their way only into the armouries of those Space Marine Legions that would side with him before the outbreak of his rebellion against the Emperor of Mankind.
In the 41st Millennium, many Adepts of the Machine God deny that the Sicaran is anything but a myth, an imagined or at best half-remembered phantom of an age long ago shrouded in blood and shadow. Others, especially more senior Techmarines, know that the Sicaran is real and once served the Legiones Astartes as they prosecuted the wars of the Great Crusade.
History[]
An ancient pict-capture of a wrecked Sicaran Battle Tank during the Horus Heresy.
The Sicaran Battle Tank was the exclusive province of the Space Marine Legions and was considered one of the most advanced armoured units in the arsenal of the Great Crusade. Its introduction was on-going at the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, and the Warmaster Horus ensured that many examples of this new vehicle found their way into the armouries of those Legions that would side with him before the outbreak of the interstellar civil war.
Designed in concert between the Primarchs Ferrus Manus and Roboute Guilliman of the Iron Hands and Ultramarines Legions, respectively, alongside the Magi of the Mechanicum's Tempestora Sect, the Sicaran utilises component technologies from various STC patterns such as the Rhino, Land Raider and Hephaestus to create a high-speed "destroyer" tank that can complement the more commonplace Predator and Land Raider designs.
The primary armament of the main Sicaran variant was the sophisticated Herakles pattern Accelerator Autocannon. Technologically akin to the heavier calibre ordnance mounted on the Fellblade super-heavy tank, it was a superior rapid-firing and highly accurate weapon. It fired shells at far higher velocities than a standard Autocannon, enabling it to successfully track and engage swift-moving targets and pinpoint vulnerabilities in enemy armour with lethal precision.
The Sicaran Battle Tank is one of the rarest of sights on the blood-soaked battle grounds of the late 41st Millennium, for precious few examples of this highly-advanced, and ill-understood, engine of war survived the Horus Heresy. Some tech-savants hold that the Sicaran was the most common of a family of armoured vehicles that entered service at the end of the Great Crusade, and that it was commissioned by the genius of no less a being than one of the Emperor's Primarchs.
If this is true, it reveals a dark heritage indeed, for it appears that those Legions that remained true to the Emperor received scant quantities of the Sicaran, while those who stood by the Warmaster received the vehicle in greater numbers. So rare is the Sicaran, in fact, that numerous Tech-priests and even Techmarines hold that it is nothing but a myth. Others link it to the enduring legacy of Arkhan Land, identifying the Sicaran as the nigh mythical missing link between the Predator and the Land Raider.
A Sicaran Battle Tank of the Iron Warriors Legion.
Those few Adeptus Astartes Chapters in possession of the Sicaran know that its Machine Spirit slumbers fitfully in their relic chambers and when awoken appears haunted by the dire events of the Horus Heresy. The Sicaran is possessed of the most advanced and therefore ill-understood machine systems, and it is the subject of deep-rooted awe and superstition, even amongst the most venerable Masters of the Forge.
Even when held in stasis, the Sicaran must be ministered to constantly by its overseers, never less than a score of servo-lectors combining their efforts to ensure the machine's continued rest, as should the Sicaran awake before being called, its Machine Spirit is prone to behave in an unpredictable manner.
Some witnesses of such a premature awakening have reported a baleful, all-too aware glow emanating from the vehicle's cyclopic primary Auspex block. Others have heard garbled battle-cant from an age long passed sputtering from its Vox systems, clipped orders and vengeful oaths flying back and forth across a non-existent Vox net using terms unknown to the warriors of the 41st Millennium.
Stasis chambers housing slumbering Sicaran battle tanks are therefore commonly sealed with the most potent of wards, their blast doors smothered in blessed wax and fluttering Purity Seals, and the air all about is heavy with the most sacred of incense and continuous chants of the servo-lectors echo down passageways where few dare to tread without the express leave of the Master of the Forge.
Restlessness and baleful Machine Spirits must be equally true of those Sicaran Battle Tanks in the possession of the Chaos Space Marines, yet the effect must be magnified by the fact that many reside within the Eye of Terror and other Warp-touched realms, or upon the surfaces of Daemon Worlds. Where the Techmarines of the Adeptus Astartes go to great lengths to ward their fellow Sicaran Battle Tanks from baleful influence, the Warpsmiths of the Chaos Space Marines are unlikely to feel constrained by such concerns and they may even expose their charges to the unadulterated taint of the Ruinous Powers with deliberate intent.
The Machine Spirits inhabiting Chaos Sicaran Battle Tanks must be hateful things indeed, possessed of a darkly self-aware anima forged in the crucible of the Ruinous Powers. Some hold that such spirits require constant supplication and appeasement, lest they turn upon their crew or their allies, and certainly the archives of the Inquisition include accounts and pict-captures of Sicaran Battle Tanks whose flanks gleam with dark arterial blood applied in ritual patterns that strike terror into the hearts of all who lay their eyes upon them.
Armament[]
A Sicaran Battle Tank of the Salamanders Legion; its turret-mounted Accelerator Autocannons are visible.
The primary armament of the Sicaran Battle Tank is a twin-linked set of the highly sophisticated Herakles Pattern Accelerator Autocannon. These weapons are akin to the much heavier calibre Accelerator Cannon mounted upon the super-heavy Fellblade tank. While the Accelerator Autocannons used by the Sicaran are smaller, they are superior in terms of firing speed and accuracy, and are capable of firing shells at far higher velocities than a standard Autocannon.
This allows the Sicaran to engage swiftly moving enemy vehicles and pinpoint vulnerabilities in their armour with lethal precision. The Sicaran is also armed with a hull-mounted Heavy Bolter and two sponson-mounted weapons, which can be either Heavy Bolters or Lascannons. The vehicle can also be outfitted with a Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher, Extra Armour Plating, a Dozer Blade, an Auxiliary Drive System, armoured ceramite plating, a Searchlight, or Smoke Launchers.
Unit Composition[]
- 1 Relic Sicaran Battle Tank (41st Millennium Only)
- 1 Legion Sicaran Battle Tank (31st Millennium Only)
Wargear[]
A Relic Sicaran Battle Tank is armed and equipped with the following:
A Relic Sicaran Battle Tank may take one of the following pintle-mounted weapons:
A Relic Sicaran Battle Tank may also be armed with the following sponson weapons:
Relic Sicaran Battle Tanks may also have vehicle equipment such as:
Horus Heresy Wargear[]
During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy the Sicaran Battle Tanks of the Legiones Astartes featured different weapon loadout options than those still found during the 41st Millennium.
A standard Legion Sicaran Battle Tank is armed and equipped with:
- Twin-linked Herakles Pattern Accelerator Autocannons
- Heavy Bolter
- Searchlight
- Smoke Launchers
- Extra Armour Plating
A Legion Sicaran Battle Tank may take one of the following pintle-mounted weapons:
A Legion Sicaran Battle Tank may also be armed with the following sets of sponson weapons, two weapons per set:
Legion Sicaran Battle Tanks may also have a variety of vehicle equipment such as:
- Dozer Blade
- Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher
- Armoured Ceramite Plating
- Auxiliary Drive System
Variants[]
The Sicaran Battle Tank, like many other Imperial vehicles, possessed many different variants. These include:
- Sicaran Venator - The Sicaran Venator is a heavy tank destroyer variant of the standard Sicaran Battle Tank. The Sicaran Venator removes the standard Sicaran's turret and hull-mounted Heavy Bolter and replaces it with a hull-mounted Neutron Laser Cannon.
- Sicaran Arcus Strike Tank - The Sicaran Arcus Strike Tank is a ranged support variant of the standard Sicaran Battle Tank. The Sicaran Arcus removes the standard Sicaran's turret-mounted weapons and replaces it with an Arcus Launcher, a type of Rotary Missile Launcher, similar to that of the Deimos Whirlwind Scorpius.
- Sicaran Punisher Assault Tank - The Sicaran Punisher Assault Tank is an anti-infantry variant of the standard Sicaran Battle Tank. The Sicaran Punisher removes the standard Sicaran's turret-mounted weapons and replaces them with a Punisher Rotary Cannon.
- Sicaran Omega Tank Destroyer - The Sicaran Omega Tank Destroyer is a tank destroyer variant of the standard Sicaran Battle Tank. The Sicaran Omega removes the standard Sicaran's turret-mounted weapons and replaces them with a twin-linked set of Omega Plasma Cannons. These weapons are easier to produce and maintain than the Neutron Laser Cannon found on the Sicaran Venator.
- Chaos Relic Sicaran Battle Tank - The Chaos Relic Sicaran Battle Tank represents those few examples of this bygone relic war engine still maintained by the Chaos Space Marines of the ancient Traitor Legions since the time of the Horus Heresy. Possessed of a darkly self-aware anima, the Chaos Sicaran is armed with the same weapons as those in the service of the Imperium, and while it is likely that alternative configurations once existed, all confirmed examples have been equipped with the fearsome Herakles Pattern Accelerator Autocannon. This weapon is kin to the large calibre ordnance carried on the equally rare Fellblade super-heavy tank, married to a high capacity, auto-loading ammunition feed and a tracking device capable of acquiring and locking onto even the fastest moving targets with fiendish accuracy. The tank's baleful Machine Spirit appears to relish hunting such targets as a predator stalks a terrified prey creature, and some have reported the Chaos Sicaran toying with its foe with obvious malice, employing the preternatural accuracy of its main weapon to selectively inflict cruel and debilitating wounds before eventually delivering the killing blow.
Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications[]
| Vehicle Name: | Sicaran Battle Tank | Main Armament: | Turrent-mounted Twin Accelerator Autocannons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forge World of Origin: | Unknown | Secondary Armament: | Hull-mounted Heavy Bolter, Sponson-mounted Lascannons |
| Known Patterns: | Unknown | Traverse: | 360 degrees |
| Crew: | 1 Driver, 1 Gunner | Elevation: | -8 to 8 degrees |
| Powerplant: | Uncodified Open Core Plasma Ioniser | Main Ammunition: | 140 Rounds |
| Weight: | 65 Tonnes | Secondary Ammunition: | 1400 rounds (Heavy Bolter), Unlimited cell (Lascannon) |
| Length: | 8.2 metres | Armour: | |
| Width: | 7 metres | ||
| Height: | 4.85 metres | Superstructure: | 80 millimetres |
| Ground Clearance: | 0.32 metres | Hull: | 70 millimetres |
| Max Speed On-Road: | 74 kilometres per hour | Gun Mantlet: | 80mm |
| Max Speed Off-Road: | 58 kilometres per hour | Vehicle Designation: | Unknown |
| Transport Capacity: | None | Firing Ports: | None |
| Access Points: | N/A | Turret: | 80 millimetres |
See Also[]
Sources[]
- Imperial Armour Index: Forces of the Adeptus Astartes (8th Edition), pg. 13
- Imperial Armour Volume Two (Second Edition) - War Machines of the Adeptus Astartes, pp. 24, 78-81
- Imperial Armour Volume Thirteen - War Machines of the Lost and the Damned by Andy Hoare with additional material by Alan Bligh & Neil Wylie, pp. 19, 37-39
- The Horus Heresy - Book Two: Massacre by Alan Bligh, pg. 203
- The Horus Heresy - Book Three: Extermination (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 8, 24, 114, 116-117, 124-125, 168
- The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 151
- The Horus Heresy - Book Five: Tempest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 72, 103, 105, 115, 153-154
- The Horus Heresy - Book Six: Retribution (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 237
- The Horus Heresy - Legiones Astartes: Age of Darkness Army List by Alan Bligh, pg. 73
- Forge World Webstore - Legion Sicaran Battle Tank
- Forge World Webstor - Legion Sicaran Venator
Gallery[]
