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Why did the Guard see fit to name a tank after a Primarch who went missing before they even existed?

Why do we name warships after Presidents who weren't particularly popular?

It's an honorific... and, by all accounts, the Wolves are some pretty gregarious sorts of guys.

I understood that Leman Russ himself designed the tank. could be wrong, and I don't remember where i read that...

It's certainly been stated that it was named in his honour, though I don't recall any specific reasons being given. A plausible (though unsupported) explanation would be that Russ and the Space Wolves were responsible for recovering the STC.

Behind the scenes, both have been so named since the early days of Rogue Trader; the gulf in the background between the Marines and Guard was less extreme then than now, so it may have made more sense at the time. Note that Forge World have done their best to normalise this lacuna by using the names of other Heresy-era heroes for the tank designs they have created, e.g Valdor Tank Destroyer, Malcador Tank, etc.

Hopefully we may someday learn more about the legendary GENERAL BORGEN CRASSUS.

Space Wolves are one of the few marine chapters that are actually looked upon as heroes by the general populace of the Imperium.

Just be thankful it's not the Rowboat Girlyman.

Lemun Russ either designed the tank or discovered the STC. the tank had many features in common with Lemun Russ and so was named after him.

in their previous codex, Space Wolves could actually take Lemun Russ tanks as HS choices.

Heh. I still have one that I use as a dakka pred occasionally.

This is something that's been on my mind for a while now. I was just about to put the topic up as a new thread and then I saw this by chance (my mouse went nuts D: ).

I'd like to think that the Wolves found the STC and had it named after the Wolfman. But some solid evidence would be fabulous.

Not that long ago, editionwise, SW could use the Leman Russ as opposed to the Pred.

IIRC the Russ came into service during the Great Crusade, with the (originally) most common variants being the plain MBT and Executioner. However, with the loss of knowledge of Plasma weapons (and, depending on edition, autocannons, AP rounds, rifling, flame throwers, or gatling guns) the standard LR became the most common tank in the Universe.

IIRC, the Lemun Russ was used alongside the older Malcador heavy tank in similer numbers during the Crusade. the Lemun Russ was relativly new and wasn't fully used accross the board just yet.

Does anyone know why they stopped using them?

Because GW removed the option?

Grey Templar wrote:Because GW removed the option?

Yeah, no explanation was ever made, and the new fluff does not actually contradict the old fluff, but the LR was removed as an army list option anyway. I suspect that GW wanted to sell more preds is all it boiled down to.

What's funny is things like declarations that 'once other patterns existed but are now lost' followed by the next edition where they are not re-found, they were never lost at all. Don't you love retcons that don't even try?

Yea i've never heard an explanation why. O well.

ZacktheChaosChild wrote:Why did the Guard see fit to name a tank after a Primarch who went missing before they even existed?

Because he was such a bad-ass that he take a punch from Emperor's powerfist and survive... Same as Leman Russ tank - he can take a punch from Hammerhead and survive...

I've always found it strange that the only Primarch who got a widely used IG weapon named after him was Russ. I mean, Sanginius is basically revered as the Christ-like martyr of the Imperial Cult yet got nothing.

While Sanguinious was revered by the people of the Imperium, Russ was adored.

the Space Wolves, and the Salamanders, were the only Space Marines to actually empathise with the common folk of the Imperium. with Sanguinious it was more of a oooh and ahhh from a distance. Russ was a guy who would go around, give everyone high fives, and buy them beer.

Grey Templar wrote:While Sanguinious was revered by the people of the Imperium, Russ was adored.

the Space Wolves, and the Salamanders, were the only Space Marines to actually empathise with the common folk of the Imperium. with Sanguinious it was more of a oooh and ahhh from a distance. Russ was a guy who would go around, give everyone high fives, and buy them beer.

And as all know, the fastest way to a guardsman's heart is through his ale ration.

Leman Russ is certainly a people person, hell he went to the Eye of Terror to find a cure for the Emperor!

Botten3 wrote:Leman Russ is certainly a people person

Funny, he comes off more like an unstable and unapproachable savage whom you wouldn't want to be anywhere near.

Is Leman Russ being a "people person" for lack of better term something shown in any fluff or BL material, or just an assumption based on the actions of his chapter?

Void__Dragon wrote:

Botten3 wrote:Leman Russ is certainly a people person

Funny, he comes off more like an unstable and unapproachable savage whom you wouldn't want to be anywhere near.

Is Leman Russ being a "people person" for lack of better term something shown in any fluff or BL material, or just an assumption based on the actions of his chapter?

Yeah he still has the isolated better than you attitude of most astartes.

Void__Dragon wrote:

Botten3 wrote:Leman Russ is certainly a people person

Funny, he comes off more like an unstable and unapproachable savage whom you wouldn't want to be anywhere near.

Is Leman Russ being a "people person" for lack of better term something shown in any fluff or BL material, or just an assumption based on the actions of his chapter?

Varies by author. Like any BL material.

As for the Leman Russ tank, in Battle of the Fang they make reference to the Space Wolves making extensive use of the Executioner pattern Russ.

Come to think of it, I think it would be cool to run a wolves list with Leman Russes replacing the Predators (but, I suppose, using the predator stat line).