Warhammer Black Templars’ Land Raider

The Land Raider Crusader was originally developed as a variant of the standard Land Raider main battle tank by the Black Templars Chapter, but was eventually approved as an authorised design for all Astartes Chapters by the Adeptus Mechanicus due in no small part to its usage by the Ultramarines Chapter.

The Land Raider Crusader is intended to be an assault-based variant of the Land Raider that is a linebreaker without peer. The Crusader can smash through enemy formations, shrugging off small arms fire in order to disgorge a squad of Space Marines into the heart of the foe.

“Death to the servants/slaves of the False Emperor. Hail to the Lord of the Night.”

A hull-mounted twin Assault Cannon adds to its formidable anti-infantry firepower, its Frag Assault Launchers suppressing the foe while the tank closes in. The Crusader also boasts an improved transport capacity by reclaiming the space normally given over to the Land Raider Phobos’ bulky las-power generators.

The final addition is a conversion of the standard turret ring Pintle-mount to allow a Multi-Melta to be fitted. The Multi-Melta was not included on the first Land Raider Crusaders, but hard-won experience taught the Black Templars that the Land Raider often needed heavy firepower to force open breaches in defences and to clear barricades or anti-tank obstacles as it broke into a position.

The primary role of this vehicle in combat is to serve as an armoured fast assault tank, capable of launching assaults into the heart of enemy formations where it can withstand a heavy amount of punishment and deal out more than its share of damage to both infantry and tanks.

Resources: Warhammer_40k_Wiki