A Tankers View of the Baneblade Tank | Warhammer 40k

There's a major factor that massively ups the Baneblade's viability in warfare: The tactical genius to hide it behind a lamp-post ahead of time. regrettably, the ability to deploy Titanic units (such as baneblades) in forward positions has been lost.

The concept of the Baneblade being a "Scout vehicle" is probably a reference to the Battletech/Mechwarrior Tabletop franchise. Specifically, the infamous Steiner Scout Lance; which consists of a four pack of the single heaviest battlemech in the conventional roster. The logic behind it is that while you are scouting ahead of the main force, you may as well just wipe out whatever you find while you're out there.

I should point out, the Imperium does have larger tanks than the Baneblade (and its stablemates like the Shadowsword and Stormhammer, etc): the Leviathan and the Capitol Imperialis, which are large enough they can carry multiple all-up Titan-grade void shields, and a starship-grade macrocannon as a main gun (the bore on the Leviathan's "Doomsday" macrocannon is big enough that you can park a Leman Russ in there, while the "Behemoth" macrocannon of the Capitol Imperialis is apparently big enough that you could shove 4 Leman Russ inside the muzzle). The downside? Both those vehicles have a top speed of maybe 'a brisk walk', so if the Baneblade is a 'light scout tank' for anyone, it's for these guys.

The thing with this generation of GW tanks, the Russ, the Baneblade and their variants, is that IIRC they were designed in part by Norman Swales, who really knew what he was doing with regards to armour. The later generation of vehicles like the new Marine ones and the Rogal Dorn are very much more of the 'pile guns onto a church' design philosophy.

I always assumed it was a line breaker. Even a well laid out bunker complex is nothing more than a speed bump to a Baneblade and its variants. “Awwww! Isn’t that adorable? They put up defensive fortifications. Bring up the Baneblades.”

When dark age of technology says "scout tank" they probably mean a tank they would send as the first thing to check a planets surface, so I guess first contact expeditionary kind of scout and not the light forward recon in a battle, and it probably wasn't armed and armored the same way as the emperor likely modified it in the same way the terminator power armor was mining armor but they obviously didn't have the option for a heavy bolter back then

I’m not even a Guard player but I still love the BB. In fact, every time I hear it, I think of that one Dawn of War II quote: “It is the Baneblade!”

Don't underestimate the Baneblade! It may be massive, but in conflicts like in 40k, massive is not just a viability. It's a necessity. When dealing with Ork Battle Fortresses or Tyranid Carnefexes, you'll want a Baneblade to literally crush anything that stands in its way. Don't underestimate its size. The bigger the tank, the bigger the guns can get, and the more armor and guns you can mount. Also that Scout Tank thing was just a myth. It's just a meme since the Baneblade has no auger systems to perform reconnaissance duties. Also, I love how you used GuP x 40k fanart for the thumbnail for this and the Leman Russ Tank videos. I'm glad I found this channel, I feel I'm going to find a home here.

I think the whole scout tank thing is meant to mean it was a 'light' tank. Or whatever equivalent that was in the dark age of technology. Because if I remember correctly the land raider was also a exploration vehicle, or something along those lines, in the dark age as well.

You know, the co-ax gun thing also comes up in this manga called Five Star Stories (which is kind of like 40k or Battletech if it were written by David Bowie) and there's an author's note that explicitly states they could use laser sights, but they don't because it wouldn't be ostentatious enough.

New sub and I definitely came here because of the Leman Russ vid. Great timing! EDIT: Regards to being a Scout tank... I was there in the early 2000s on the Warseer forums when this was going around, it was a meme back then that the Imperium was so advanced that the Leman Russ was a tractor and the Baneblade was a scout tank just to exaggerate how much more advanced the Dark Age of Technology humans were. There's no basis to it, but people ran with it. There were claims that it was in the Epic game but no one can name a source.

As a long time gamer in the 40k universe, and with no real world tank experience, I see the Baneblade as a mobile fortress. In some of the big games I have been involved in (15,000+ pts) I have seen the Baneblade break trenches and support waves of following infantry. I have seen it anchor and support regiments of mechanized guard on open plains and deserts, and most importantly I have seen vast tides of Tyrinads and Greenskins wash over baneblades, yet not break them.

I was 19kilo for 8 years. 2006-2014. I've read most of the armor books about the imperial guard. the GW authors do a pretty good job at conveying what it's like in a tank. I love me some baneblade bro.

The baneblade is that tank we all drew when we where 5 years old, it's big, it's got turrets on top of other turrets. Diomedes: AHHH! IT IS THE BANEBLADE!!!!!! See, even the guy that keeps getting pinned know it its true lol

This is exactly what I wanted, right after the last video.

For context, the French Char 2C weighed 76 tons and had a crew of 12. It was 9 ft and 8 inches wide, 33 feet long, and had a height of 13 feet.

To quote my favorite quote about WH 40k lore: "Lore is whatever I want it to be today, blame warp for lack of sense"

I wonder if he will do the chimera since it's design is somewhat more sane

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the Rogal Dorn heavy tank, added with the latest Astra Militarum codex it's supposed to cover the middle ground between a Leman Russ and a Baneblade.

It is my belief that the battle cannon is actually 152mm for the fact that there is the Ragnarok tank variant used by Krieg in warhammer which is essentially just a Russian Kv2 tank from ww2 and that was its armament in real life. The 120mm info comes from a 2004 file and is long out of date. The mega battle cannon is probably even larger than that in bore size though if you look at tabletop stats and such. I'd assume the mega battle cannon is probably more like 180mm or 200mm. Like you say though, inconsistent lore only allows for guesses.