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I was trying to think up an idea for the vehicles of a defensive army that relies upon medium infantry mostly for fighting but I still needed to figure out a few ideas for the vehicles and this is my first one so far. Comments and criticisms are both appreciated.

Argus Main Battle Tank - 100 points

The Argus Main Battle Tank is a very different weapon from what it used to be a few decades ago. Once the premier armored fighting vehicle of the Argit Nation, it was able to outpace any competitor while still being better armored and having one of the most powerful tank guns ever mounted on an Argit vehicle. Now, after a minor Imperial Crusade, a major incursion by the Tau, and an ongoing war with the Ruinous Powers, it has changed into an almost unrecognizable weapon. It has failed to outpace or outmaneuver any Tau vehicles and it even lags behind the slow but reliable and numerous tanks of the Imperial Guard, and its armor, even with the best upgrades and the most unreasonable thicknesses, is still unable to match any of the invaders. Its main gun has been found to be often ineffective against even the most lightly armored of vehicles, with its only saving grace being the excellent targeting system that directs it. Any Argus MBT that is now found on the battlefield has dozens of extra plates of armor welded along its hull and turret in order to give it some meager protection against the terrifyingly powerful weapons of the invaders. The Argus now lags behind the IFVs and APCs that it used to hugely outpace, and yet it still remains the only Argit vehicle with a reasonable chance of surviving a major battle as the small engines in other Argit vehicles are simply unable to tolerate additional armor and still remain reliable. The Argus remains in service many years after it should have been retired, and its ramshackle hull covered in irregularly shaped, improvised armor is one of the important symbols of Argit strength, and even then, it pales in comparison to the power of the invader's equivalents.

Excerpt from the biography of Leon Sturn, "Tanks to the Front!", "I have always wondered why the scientists at home were unable to put together something that was half as tough to damage as the Leman Russ or half as hard to hit as the Hammerhead Gunship, and after my service at the front was over and I came home, I got to see the scientists at the tank factory in Vurmst. There I saw walking skeletons standing in place of what were supposed to be the brightest minds in the nation, with circles around their eyes and the effects of overworking well evident upon them. I saw the dozen prototypes they had, each one smaller and less advanced than the last, and I asked why this was so. One of the scientists told me that every time their prototype was evaluated, it was always rejected as not cost effective. In reality, it had been decided that they would still put the effort into making new weapons, but almost none of them would actually be fielded. So long as they always had a new prototype to show, the media would be happy, and that was all that mattered to them. If the scientists actually succeeded in making a weapon that satisfied the military's strict resource limits before dying to exhaustion, I'll never know. All I know is that we never saw a new tank by time the crusade ended."

BS-3(4) Front Armor-12 Side Armor-12 Rear Armor-11

Vehicle Type: Tank

Special Rules: Improvised Superheavy Tank, Targeting Assist

Improvised Superheavy Tank: The armor of the Argus was found quite lacking in the first battles with the Imperium and the Tau, and while it still is to this day the situation was far worse in the beginning. The Argus was unable to outmaneuver its opponents, and the vulnerable sides and back of the tank were the places that kill shots were placed more often than not. As the Argus was unable to outmaneuver most any opponent, front line soldiers and factory workers alike started to massively increase the armor of the sides and back of the tank as a way to counter this weakness. What resulted was a 70 ton tank overburdened to nearly 120 tons and still quite lacking in armor, but still sufficiently tough to be useful. Whenever this tank is declared to move at cruising speed, it instead moves 6 inches + D6 inches instead of 12 inches to represent the toll this massive up armoring takes on the tank's speed.

Targeting Assist: The Targeting Assist is the system that was originally designed to incorporate the finest in computer operated holographic optics, the best rangefinders available, and the live firing data of the actual gun mounted on the tank to produce the best firing patterns available. Although the system's accuracy suffered when firing on the move, the fact that the Argus is now usually found keeping pace with the troops instead of trying to move at speeds that any decent tank should move at, the system has produced amazing results in combat. The Ballistic Skill of the Argus is increased from 3 to 4.

Weapons: Heavy Smoothbore, Commander's Cupola Laser

Heavy Smoothbore: The Heavy Smoothbore is the latest and most powerful tank gun that is fielded by the Argit Nation, and it has proven that while it lacks in power its nature as a smoothbore electronically loaded high caliber gun gives it the flexibility necessary to make it effective in sufficient numbers or with proper tactics. The weapon is able to fired both shaped charge rounds and devastating canister rounds that cause outstanding amounts of damage if fired at the proper angles, and the Flechette Storm Round, as it is affectionately referred to by the Argit tank crews, is used up close to cause extreme damage to infantry both in cover and outside of it.

Shaped Charge Round Profile

Range S Ap Type
36 8 4 Heavy 1

Canister Round Profile

Range S Ap Type
24 4 5 Heavy 1, Blast

Flechette Storm Round Profile

Range S Ap Type
Template 4 3 Heavy 1

Note that the Flechette Storm Round ignores cover like flamers due to the ability of the rocket-assisted flechettes it fires to punch straight through most any barriers with little deviation in course.

Commander's Cupola Laser: Any decent tank has at least a moderately effective anti-infantry weapon, and the Argus is no exception. The commander of an Argus is often found shooting his laser while directing his gunner and driver and many times engaging in "pest control", as they put it, when other tanks start to get charged by swarms of Space Marines or Tau trying to attach melta or EMP grenades to the hulls of the tanks. Each model that attempts to assault Argus takes a Strength 4 Ap - hit before any rolls to hit are made. Note that this is an optional action, and if it is done then a +1 is added to the vehicle damage table for any successful penetrating or glancing hits generated by the squad that was shot at for the assault as the survivors try to attach their grenades to the lightly armored cupola. Note that this ability can be used during each player's assault phase and also may be used against all models that are attacking the vehicle, not just the ones belonging to a single unit.

Commander's Cupola Laser Profile

Range S Ap Type
24 4 - Assault 3

Any suggestions for upgrades are also appreciated. Any requests for more fluff details will be answered. If any would like, I could direct them to the other units I have so far for the army.

Hmm, it's a really good idea, although I would up the strength of the Charge Round, as it's a simple Autocannon shot.

Instead of the profile for the Cupola Laser, change it to:
"Any enemy model assaulting the vehicle suffers a S4 Ap- hit before any attacks are made"

I would also give the Canister Round an Ap value, as there would still be bits of shrapnel flying everywhere. I suggest you give it either Ap5 or Rending.

Hope this helps,

Valk

Regarding the grapeshot, I'm sure it's just an oversight but "Template" is not a Range value :p . Also the name suggests a "Shotgun" style weapon but the profile seems more like a Bouncing Betty, I was wondering which you were trying to go for? Why not do both and add another ammo type?

The Canister Round does seem underpowered given the fluff, but I'm getting the impression that this was a 'militeristic society' that has just joined up with the Imperium and is finding out the hard way how ineffective their weapons are? Solid writing by the way, I like the weapons documentary spin you put on it as opposed to the "my weaopinz iz da coolzist, here is why, this is what they did, this is how they did it...".

I don't know if this kind of thing interests you but if you're looking for more stuff to base your weapon fluff off of maybe read up on these:

- Shaped Charge = H.E.A.T. Round
- Canister Round = Thermobaric\Fuel Air Bomb
- Grapeshot Round = Bouncing Betty (As Said Above)

For the Grapeshot Round, I am thinking of changing the name to Flechette Storm because that would more accurately represent what it it. Its supposed to be a shotgun like shell that functions like a beehive round except with much larger, and rocket assisted, flechettes that punch through cover. I put template down because most flamer an flamer equivalent weapons say template under range, so I was under the impression that was the correct thing to put down. Overall, I read up a while ago on the weapon types you mentioned along with many others, and I simply put their alternate names as they seemed to fit more with the setting instead of using the modern military acronyms and naming. The Canister shot is supposed to be a timed munition that breaks apart mid flight and dispenses a shotgun like burst at most any range, making it different from the short ranged Flechette Storm round. I think that Ap 5 wound be a good idea for it, but maybe I should also buff the Flechette Storm Round? Any ideas on this are welcome.

As the Flechette Storm Round is meant to be able to punch through cover, why not make it punch through armour too?

How about making it Ap3, or if that's OP, make it Ap3 if the target isn't in cover?

S_P

I really like, good balance between the types of round, and a clear purpose to each type. I really like the idea of what is basically a sub-par tank, outmoded by other heavier and deadlier designs, but the reality is that sub-par tanks are really common on the battlefield, not everyone could wrangle up a couple of Tiger to support their offense.

I really like the rule for the commander firing some rounds off into the enemy as they charge, but perhaps this should be presented as a choice? If you don't fire then nothing changes but if you do fire the tank counts as open topped for the purposes of that assault.

The overall price is probably a bit much, though. You get a much better gun and AV14 for not that many more points with a Leman Russ, and its more or less on even points right now with a lascannon armed Predator, and it's got less armour and a poorer AT weapon. I'd look at maybe putting it at about 100 points and playtesting from there.

Are there any more suggestions on the price? I appreciate your comments, sebster, but I was thinking that more input on the price could be useful on determining what exactly it should be.

I would suggest you reduce the point cost to about 100pts, as some people may just take a Leman Russ for +10 points extra. Also, I see no reason why it shouldn't have a hull-mounted weapon, such as a Heavy Stubber.

Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions. I hope to playtest this once I fill out more of the army slots. I hope you all will check out the rest of the army here, at http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/296743.page so that I could get some idea of directions to take the rest of the army. Thank you all once again.