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can the imperium still make these?

I think they can.

Probably limited to like 10 per annum though. Seriously, those things are more rare than Space Marines.

Yes they can. Mars is the main maunfacturer as they are the only forgeworld known to have (pretty much) complete STC of the vehicle. Other forgeworlds produce them to a lesser extent due to lack of materials and incomplete STCs, nor do they mark each one with a unique serial number like the Martians do. They probably only produce a few at a time as its an ardous process full of ritual. As a result of the lack of Baneblades in this current time (there used to be full tank companies of them at one point though) a few second generation Baneblades have been put into production liike the Macharius, which lack of firepower compared to the Baneblade is made up for in ease of production.

IG can take them, but, IIRC, SM can't

This still confuses me in the fluff, and I've read all of it really, I still think its a bit lame that they can only make a few Baneblades a year when one factory in our time can churn out thousands!

But yeah, STC, yadda, yadda, yadda!

FourCartridge wrote:Probably limited to like 10 per annum though. Seriously, those things are more rare than Space Marines.

I find that doubtful. The total number of Space Marines is limited to one thousand chapters of one thousand each, right? Doesn't Mars alone have more Titans stationed on it than that? The Imperial Guard numbers in the trillions, surely there's more than one baneblade to every several million guardsmen?

In the fluff it mentions that a regiment is lucky if it has even one Baneblade. The tech used to construct it is mostly lost.

Most sizes for a regiment I've seen have been in the range of 1000-3000 soldiers. Surely there's more than one baneblade for every ~500 regiments?

GW struggles with numbers, especially when it comes to a supposedly galactic empire. Realistically, there would be millions of baneblades, even if they weren't very common. And many would probably be cobbled together designs from off-Mars facilities. Maintenance and upkeep would be far bigger obstacles than production due to lack of suitable maintenance facilities.

I never understood why the emperor didn't say, "ok you there mars, everyone else is getting the baneblade STC so we can churn out millions of them, the same goes for plasma weapons, i want every marines with one from now on and it better not overheat. "

STC is an actual device.

As far as I know, you cannot replicate them with 'current' technology.

It's basically a factory computer in a box. The imperium doesn't even have a whole one right now.

Half a dozen writers will give you at least a dozen different, mutually exclusive interpretations of what an STC actually is, each one weirder than the last, from Abnett's factory churning out Iron Men to the sentient silver thing in Dark Adeptus (that Alaric defeated by convincing it to pretend it was a daemon so his weapons could hurt it ). The more believable, and apparently official description is basically a database full of blueprints and assembly instructions, presumably with a printer attached so it could provide printouts of those instructions, not any sort of factory, nor a database devoted to one particular thing. What the modern Imperium has are printouts/copies of printouts, or heavily damaged parts of the STC databases.

Amusingly enough, I believe Abnett's was a Standard Template Constructor and not a Standard Template Construct. Haven't read Dark Adeptus, but sounds like he ran into something a bit different.

Construct is the Blueprint database. Originally told as 'the sum of all human knowledge from before the Age of Strife'.

I've always assumed an STC was an autofac or a program for running one.

Presumably, autofacs would come with a variety of built in programs depending on type and size. The ultimate autofac -- a cornucopia -- would be capable of replicating itself.

Smaller or less capable units would have more limited production capability, and their programs might get corrupted over time, leading to the IoM searching for replacement templates.

Going off lexicanum, it sounds more like a database of Ikea instructions with a printer plugged into it.

For example, the user simply asked how to build a house or a tractor and the computer supplied all the necessary plans.

pretre wrote:Amusingly enough, I believe Abnett's was a Standard Template Constructor and not a Standard Template Construct. Haven't read Dark Adeptus, but sounds like he ran into something a bit different.

Construct is the Blueprint database. Originally told as 'the sum of all human knowledge from before the Age of Strife'.

I wondered about this myself

Scorpionov wrote:can the imperium still make these?

Stubss is building them in great number according to DoW Soulstorm background. If he can, than every forge world in IoM can - depending on design.

Yes they can still make them. They're not that rare actually.

Old fluff was that some of the vehicles were lost technology etc but this obviously comes unravelled when you consider the numbers that get lost in battle - there is only war. thus the fluff was retconned and now many things are still being built, including Baneblades.

Baneblades are actually quite common.


Tank companies usually have 3, more if lucky. Infantry companies will have fewer.

the basic design for the Chassies is fairly easy to make. Forge Worlds without a complete diagram will use different weapon systems they have avaliable.


naturally, a Mars made Baneblade is better, but any Forge World worth it's salt will be able to make some.


compare Baneblades to Tiger tanks in WW2. the bulk of Germany's armored forces were made up of Panzer, Panther, and Stug tanks. Tigers were always an elite force. there were Tiger companies, but there were so few actual machines they were often split apart to work with other forces so the Tigers could be used to greatest effect.

Todays Abrahms aren't in production, they referbish and recycle old ones and send them beck into the field. They probably do the same thing with baneblades.

Like someone said, they are quite common. During the siege of Vraks there were many super heavy companies, including Baneblades, Stormblades, Shadowswords, etc. These were all under control of the Krieg regiments, and were produced at Lucius Forgeworld.

Grey Templar wrote:
Tank companies usually have 3, more if lucky. Infantry companies will have fewer.

A tank company is made up of 10 armoured vehicles. No tank company in the IoM can field 3 baneblades and 7 LRBT... Otherwise, the entire Eye of Terror would have been entirely purged ages ago...

Maybe you meant an armoured regiment (10 companies of armoured vehicles, one of which probably being a super-heavy company)?

But I agree with you when you say baneblades are not that rare. Shadowswords, on the other hand...

Mr Nobody wrote:Todays Abrahms aren't in production, they referbish and recycle old ones and send them beck into the field. They probably do the same thing with baneblades.

Alot of Baneblade variants are made this way, much to the chagrin of the company tech priests. And regardless of what an STC really is, Adeptus Mechanicus is largely an independant faction from the IoM and wont give a gak about what the High Lords of Terra wants (Except the Fabricator General, for obvious reasons). If they wanna hoard their technology in one particular place to avoid it falling into the wrong hands, so be it. The guards will just have to pick up the slack.

Laodamia wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:
Tank companies usually have 3, more if lucky. Infantry companies will have fewer.

A tank company is made up of 10 armoured vehicles. No tank company in the IoM can field 3 baneblades and 7 LRBT... Otherwise, the entire Eye of Terror would have been entirely purged ages ago...

Maybe you meant an armoured regiment (10 companies of armoured vehicles, one of which probably being a super-heavy company)?

But I agree with you when you say baneblades are not that rare. Shadowswords, on the other hand...

yeah, i meant regiment.

an Armored Regiment will useually have 9 LRBT companies and 1 Super Heavy company(usually 3 baneblade varients. more if lucky)