Welcome back to another thrilling installment of our multi-part series diving into the intricate universe of Warhammer 40,000! Today we’re focusing on the king of the battlefield, the Baneblade Tank. This is no ordinary tank; it is a fortress on tracks, designed to instill fear in the hearts of its enemies and bring destruction to the battlefield.
Consider a scene set in a mountainous or forested terrain. Here, the Baneblade Tank, with its imposing stature, supports infantry from concealed positions acting as a mobile well-armored mortar position. The Demolisher Cannon, its primary weapon, is a game-changer when dealing with enemy infantry entrenched in buildings or fortified in long-term fire points.
With the ability to detonate shells remotely and an excellent guidance system, the effectiveness of the munitions is significantly increased. The high explosive anti-tank munitions with increased accuracy are capable of hitting moving targets, making the Demolisher Cannon a formidable force on the battlefield.
The variety of shells for the Demolisher Cannon is simply astonishing. However, access to these special munitions is a privilege only a rare tank regiment enjoys. The rest must make do with standard shells filled with ordinary explosives. Despite the limited ammunition load of 18 shells, the weapon’s horizontal traverse angle of 6° makes it a deadly adversary.
But the Baneblade doesn’t stop there. The lascannons located on the sponson are its third most powerful and significant weapon. They have an impressive range of 48, allowing the tank to confidently engage lightly armored and medium armored enemy vehicles, including the likes of Leman Rust Tank, Eldari Tank, and TAA Tank. With a good rate of fire and an almost unlimited ammo supply, the Baneblade remains a significant threat even if the main gun’s ammunition is expended.
Adding more firepower, the Baneblade is equipped with twinlink heavy bolters. Mounted two to each sponson, these weapons can tear through infantry, even those in power armor, and confidently engage light vehicles. The standard ammunition load is 4,000 rounds, with a horizontal traverse angle of 90°.
Finally, paired with the tank’s main armament is the autocannon. With a decent range of 48, it’s a notable asset, despite carrying a total ammunition load of only 300 rounds. In combat, this gun is often used just for range finding.
Now, let’s talk armor. The Baneblade leads among the tracked vehicles of the Imperium in terms of protection level. The armor thickness of a Martian Baneblade is as follows: turret – 220 mm, frontal armor – 200 mm, side armor – 180 mm, and the gun mask also 180 mm.
However, the Baneblade is not without its disadvantages. The most significant one being its sluggishness. Yes, with an improved engine and an experienced mechanic driver, you could squeeze another five to ten km/hour out of the machine, but we’re talking about the basic version of the tank. At first glance, 25 km/hour seems slow for a tank on the road. But consider this, Imperial Guard’s Leman Rust Tank is rather slow too, 35 km/hour on the road and no more than 20 to 22 km/hour off-road, which is not much faster than the Baneblade.
Despite these disadvantages, the Baneblade remains a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Whether it’s the power of its engine or the mass of its hull, obstacles about a meter to a meter and a half high are easily overcome. Stay tuned for our next post where we’ll continue to explore the intricate weaponry and vehicles of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
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