Stormhammer

A Stormhammer Super-Heavy Assault Tank

The Stormhammer is a super-heavy tank of the Imperial Guard and is the rarest variant of the Baneblade super-heavy tank. The Stormhammer is one of the most powerful tanks ever deployed by the Imperium in terms of its pure firepower on the battlefield, and it is believed to be the most heavily armed tank currently used by the Imperium of Man's armed forces during the 41st Millennium. As a result, the Stormhammer is the rarest of the Baneblade tank variants in use by the Imperial Guard, or any other Imperial faction.

The ancient Stormhammer was the Mechanicum's first adaptation of the Baneblade chassis specifically designed to counter large mobs of infantry, especially the innumerable waves of Ork Boyz. The Stormhammer sports two large independent turrets, each equipped with twin-linked Battle Cannons. In addition, the Stormhammer possesses a secondary armament of between five and nine twin-linked Heavy Bolters. If the situation warrants it, some of the Heavy Bolters can be swapped out for Heavy Flamers or Lascannons to augment the Stormhammer's tactical flexibility.

History

Ancient pict-capture of a Solar Auxilia Stormhammer Super-Heavy Assault Tank in battle

The Stormhammer Super-Heavy Assault Tank was the super-heavy tank of choice for the elite Solar Auxilia of the Imperial Army, and most cohorts maintained at least a single example, while some fielded entire companies of these vehicles. The Stormhammer was armed with a massive array of turret and sponsoon-mounted weapons, that could be fired on multiple fire arcs. They were configured to serve at the vanguard of expeditions into areas considered hostile not just because of the presence of an enemy force, but due to perilous environmental factors. They could tread the surface of worlds with skies of searing acid, seas of boiling lava and winds laced with toxins that would scour flesh from bone in seconds, and could survive these hazards and give battle to the foe as well, thanks to extensive survival and exploration systems. In battle, the Stormhammer was, at times, likened to a destroyer of the Imperial armada, for it is capable of extended independent operation as well as holding a key part in a coordinated battle plan.

Role

On the battlefields of the 41st Millennium, the Stormhammer is a frontline super-heavy tank whose primary function is that of a line-breaker, obliterating enemy infantry at medium range. With its ability to turn up to twenty death-spewing muzzles upon its target, the Stormhammer will make short work of any infantry or light vehicle caught in its field of fire. When equipped with Heavy Flamers, it can also function as an assault tank, flushing out enemy infantry before gunning it down. The massive Stormhammer's presence is also a potent morale bolster for the Imperial Guardsmen serving on the frontline.

The Stormhammer does suffer from many drawbacks, however: like its parent the Baneblade, it is slow and ungainly, and even when equipped with Lascannons, it will perform poorly against enemy armour due to the short range of its weapons. Additionally, the twin-turret design is not as efficient as it could be, as neither turret has a 360° field of fire due to the presence of its twin. Lastly, the Stormhammer's main drawback lies in its very nature: the amount of retrofit work necessary to install a second turret on the Baneblade chassis is so colossal that the design was never favoured nor made a priority for Imperial production. In the late 41st Millennium, the production of the Stormhammer has almost been discontinued totally in favour of less efficient but much easier to produce patterns of super-heavy tank like the Stormlord. Those Stormhammers that remain in action are still revered and carefully maintained as relics by the Tech-priests and Enginseers of the Adeptus Mechanicus, but few, if any, new Stormhammers are now produced.

Armament

The Stormhammer's armament has been described several different ways in the existing Imperial records. Whether these descriptions actually concern the same vehicle with different weapons configurations or represent unknown variants of the Stormhammer itself remains unclear. The Stormhammer has always been described as having a turret-mounted twin-linked Battle Cannon as its main weapon, with four sponson-mounted twin-linked Heavy Bolters and on hull-mounted twin-linked Heavy Bolter as its secondary weapons. The tank has also been described as having an additional four top sponson-mounted Lascannons or twin-linked Heavy Bolters. The vehicle has been depicted as having either a hull-mounted twin-linked Demolisher Cannon, a hull-mounted twin-linked Battle Cannon, or a hull-mounted second turret mount with a set of twin-linked Battle Cannons. The tank can also have a pintle mounted weapon, and may be able to exchange some of its sponson Heavy Bolters with Heavy Flamers.

Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications

Stormhammer Super Heavy Tank

Vehicle Name:	Stormhammer	Main Armament:	1 turret-mounted twin-linked Battle Cannon and 1 secondary turret-mounted twin-linked Battle Cannon OR 1 hull-mounted twin-linked Battle Cannon OR 1 hull-mounted twin-linked Demolisher Cannon
Forge World of Origin:	Unknown	Secondary Armament:	4 sponson-mounted twin-linked Heavy Bolters, 4 top sponson-mounted Lascannons OR 4 top sponson-mounted twin-linked Heavy Bolters
Known Patterns:	Unknown	Traverse:	360 and 6 degrees
Crew:	Unknown	Elevation:	-2 to 28 degrees
Powerplant:	MR507 v18 Multi-Fuel	Main Ammunition:	Unknown
Weight:	320 Tonnes	Secondary Ammunition:	Unknown
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

See Also

• Imperial Vehicles
• Imperial Guard Vehicles

Sources

• Codex Titanicus (2nd Edition), pg. 55
• The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest, pg. 289
• Warhammer Epic 40,000: Final Liberation (PC Game)
• Forge World - Solar Auxilia Stormhammer

Gallery

A relic Stormhammer of the Imperial Fists Space Marine Chapter

An Imperial Guard Stormhammer

An Imperial Guard Stormhammer (Epic scale)

An Imperial Guard Stormhammer (Final Liberation)

An Imperial Guard Stormhammer (Epic scale)