Changes: Valdor Tank Hunter

Revision as of 17:27, 10 June 2017

"There is no military dilemma that cannot be solved by the application of extreme firepower."

— Colonel Sidnus Graene, 128th Sarenian Heavy Tank Company

Valdor4 — A Valdor Tank Hunter of the Vraksian Traitor Militia

The Valdor Tank Hunter is an ancient heavy main battle tank of the Imperial Guard that was first developed during the Horus Heresy as a weapon to help counter the Land Raider tanks of the Traitor Legions. The Valdor is based on the Malcador heavy tank chassis, and is named after Captain-General Constantin Valdor of the Legio Custodes, a great hero of the Imperium during the Horus Heresy. The Valdor Tank Hunter is equipped with an ancient and powerful weapon known as a Neutron Laser Projector that is powerful enough to destroy its targets on the molecular level.

History

The Valdor Tank Hunter is a heavy tank destroyer, named for the legendary Emperor's Legio Custodes commander, Constantin Valdor, which was only just entering service with the Excertus Imperialis in limited numbers and on a trial basis when the Horus Heresy began. Initial production runs were chanelled to the elite Solar Auxilia, in particular those cohorts operating against foes equipped with heavy tanks or in the case of the myriad xenos enemies still infesting the stars, tank analogues. While utilising a familiar chassis on which several other armoured vehicles in the arsenal of the Solar Auxilia were based, the Valdor mounted a devastating Neutron Laser, each a meticulously wrought iteration of a then-recently recovered relic of the Dark Age of Technology. While not yet in common use (at that time), Imperial logisticians had projected that its services were likely to be required in ever greater numbers, especially where Loyalist Solar Auxilia were called upon to fight the Traitor Legiones Astartes and the heavy armoured vehicles they had ready access to. Ancient records found at the Scholastica Bellicose on the planet Mordia show that the Valdor Tank Hunter was most widely used during the Great Scouring after the Heresy, when the Imperium led the great counter-attack against the Traitor Legions, driving them all the way to the Eye of Terror.

Valdor3 — Two Valdor Tank Hunters of the Vraksian Traitor Militia

The Valdor Tank Hunter is considered an ancient relic in the 41^st Millennium, with the number of Forge Worlds able to maintain, let alone construct the Valdor dwindling to just a handful. As a result, they are rarely deployed amongst the Imperial Guard's armoured regiments. The 1^st Cadian Armoured Regiment, which helped to defend the Imperial Fortress World of Cadia in the Cadian Gate, possesses a total of only 5 Valdor tanks. During the Siege of Vraks the 88^th Siege Army's intelligence officers believed that there was no more than 30 Valdor tanks stored inside of Vraks Prime's vast Departmento Munitorum storehouses, and these tanks were not utilised by the Vraksian Traitor Militia until much later in that terrible, grinding conflict. It is believed that a Dark Magos of the Dark Mechanicus arrived on the planet with the Steel Brethren Chaos Space Marines and helped the Renegades to activate and deploy the Valdor tanks in the Vraksian storehouses. The payment to the Dark Mechanicus for this aid was the provision of a complement of several fully-functional Valdor tanks and what is believed to be a data-core detailing how to construct the Valdor. This means that there is a dreadful possibility that the Valdor Tank Hunter may start appearing in the armies of the Forces of Chaos in the near-future.

Regiments Known To Field The Valdor Tank Hunter

1^st Cadian Armoured Regiment - 5 Valdor Tank Hunter were stationed on Cadia to aid in its defence against the Forces of Chaos attacking the Cadian Gate.
Death Korps of Krieg - The 17^th and 60^th Line Korps of the Death Korps of Krieg fielded several Valdor Tank Hunter in the gruesome war known as the Orphean War, which was fought against the Necrons of the Maynarkh Dynasty. It is unknown if these Tank Hunters were already part of the Death Korps' line of battle, or were requisitioned from Amarah's reserves and pressed into service.
Vraksian Traitor Militia - The Valdor Tank Hunter was deployed during the Siege of Vraks by the Traitor forces that sided with the Apostate Cardinal-Astra Xaphan.
Imperial Guard - The Imperial Guard fielded a large number of Valdor Heavy Tanks during the Great Scouring of the 31^st Millennium, and the Guard still fields a small number of Valdors during the 41^st Millennium.

Armament

The Valdor is armed with an ancient weapon known as a Neutron Laser Projector, which was developed during the Dark Age of Technology and thus very few Forge Worlds are still able to produce or maintain them. The weapon takes up most of the room inside of the tank, and the shielding for its required power generator is not very thick, so any major damage caused by an enemy attack could have disastrous consequences for the crew. If the weapon fails to transfer all of its energy into its target while firing, it could lead to a powerful feedback reaction that can damage the weapon. The Valdor is also equipped with a single sponson-mounted Heavy Flamer, but it can be replaced with a Heavy Stubber, Heavy Bolter, Autocannon, or a Lascannon. The tank can also be equipped with a Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher, a Pintle-mounted Heavy Stubber or Storm Bolter, Extra Armour Plating, a [[Searchlight], a Dozer Blade, or Smoke Launchers.

Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications

**Mars Pattern Valdor Tank Hunter**
Vehicle Name:	Valdor	Main Armament:	Neutron Laser Projector
Forge World of Origin:	Mars, Cyraxus II, Lathe-het	Secondary Armament:	Heavy Flamer
Known Patterns:	I - II	Traverse:	0 degrees
Crew:	1 Commander, 1 Driver, 2 Gunners, 1 Engineer	Elevation:	0 to 22 degrees
Powerplant:	HL330 v12 Multi-Fuel	Main Ammunition:	Unlimited; power drawn from generator
Weight:	96 Tonnes	Secondary Ammunition:	8 Shots
Length:	11.5 metres	Armour:
Width:	4.95 metres	Armour:
Height:	3.7 metres	Superstructure:	180 millimetres
Ground Clearance:	0.65 metres	Hull:	160 millimetres
Max Speed On-Road:	25 kilometres per hour	Gun Mantlet:	N/A
Max Speed Off-Road:	18 kilometres per hour	Vehicle Designation:	8600-032-8656-ML038
Transport Capacity:	N/A	Firing Ports:	N/A
Access Points:	N/A	Turret:	N/A

Sources

Imperial Armour: Apocalypse II, pg. 9
Imperial Armour: Apocalypse (2013), pg. 40
Imperial Armour Volume Seven - The Siege of Vraks - Part Three, pp. 119-121
Imperial Armour Volume One - Imperial Guard (Second Edition), pp. 148-151, 267
Imperial Armour Volume Twelve - The Fall of Orpheus, pp. 65, 81
The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest by Alan Bligh, pg. 282
Forge World - Valdor Tank Hunter

Gallery

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 ==Armament==
-The Valdor is armed with an ancient weapon known as a [[Neutron Laser Projector]], which was developed during the [[Dark Age of Technology]] and thus very few [[Forge Worlds]] are still able to produce or maintain them. The weapon takes up most of the room inside of the tank, and the shielding for its required power generator is not very thick, so any major damage caused by an enemy attack could have disastrous consequences for the crew. If the weapon fails to transfer all of its energy into its target while firing, it could lead to a powerful feedback reaction that can damage the weapon. The Valdor is also equipped with a single sponson-mounted [[Heavy Flamer]], but it can be replaced with a [[Heavy Stubber]], [[Heavy Bolter]], [[Autocannon]], or a [[Lascannon]]. The tank can also be equipped with a [[Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher]], a [[Pintle Mount|Pintle-mounted]] [[Heavy Stubber]] or [[Storm Bolter]], extra armour plating, a searchlight, a dozer blade, or smoke launchers.
+The Valdor is armed with an ancient weapon known as a [[Neutron Laser Projector]], which was developed during the [[Dark Age of Technology]] and thus very few [[Forge Worlds]] are still able to produce or maintain them. The weapon takes up most of the room inside of the tank, and the shielding for its required power generator is not very thick, so any major damage caused by an enemy attack could have disastrous consequences for the crew. If the weapon fails to transfer all of its energy into its target while firing, it could lead to a powerful feedback reaction that can damage the weapon. The Valdor is also equipped with a single sponson-mounted [[Heavy Flamer]], but it can be replaced with a [[Heavy Stubber]], [[Heavy Bolter]], [[Autocannon]], or a [[Lascannon]]. The tank can also be equipped with a [[Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher]], a [[Pintle Mount|Pintle-mounted]] [[Heavy Stubber]] or [[Storm Bolter]], [[Extra Armour Plating]], a [[Searchlight], a [[Dozer Blade]], or [[Smoke Launcher]]s.
 ==Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications==