Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

The FW Horus Heresy books mention that in the Heresy era some of the legions used fleets of Malcadors, with their temperamental drives then making them fast than comparable tanks. They go on to say the technology to maintain those drivers has been lost and now the tanks are old and slow as well as temperemental, but is there anything that would prevent a perhaps newly-founded Space Marine chapter low on vehicles and other supplies from commandeering a bunch of Malcador-chassis vehicles if they found them in storage somewhere? Clearly the tanks are spacious enough to be commanded by marines and naturally it would have to be a more static chapter but I could see them in use of a chapter perhaps specialising in siege or armoured assaults? Is there anything in the fluff that would explicitly prevent this?

I could see it happening.

The warp suddenly poops out a giant warp turd that contained a bunch of pre heresy equipment including a lot of malcadors. then a relatively small unknown founded space marine chapter finds it and hoards them for them selves.

The problem being battlefield damage. If the secrets to these tanks is lost technology, they could not be repaired... also there's probably not a production facility for their parts, as it predates even the Russ.

In theory they could. repairing them isn't the problem. Its repairing them properly, i.e repairing them to original specs is nigh impossible. At this point Malcadors are "maintained" almost by jury rigging and duct tape.

Remember, Duct Tape is the most sacred of all of the Omnissiah's bindings. It can heal the wounds of any machine spirit, even if the repairs only merely temporary.

If you were using Malcadors, they would have to be the far inferior Imperial Armour stats for them rather than the Horus Heresy ones.

The Malcador is still in use in the 41st millennium, albeit it's rare. From what I've read it's mostly used as a "second-line" tank or stored en masse in warehouses. I see no problem with a new Chapter short on equipment taking possession of a couple of Malcadors. Use the most recent IA rules, but with BS4 and you're good to go.

They could, but why would they want to? The fluff for the Malcador is that it's pretty much just an inferior version of a Leman Russ that has been replaced by the LRBT everywhere outside of emergency war stockpiles and low-quality conscript units that can't get LRBTs. A marine chapter could probably use them as an act of desperation, but I can't see them settling for such a low-quality unit unless they're completely cut off from resupply with better tanks. It makes about as much sense as marines with lasguns and flak armor.

I have to agree that the only way to work this in would be a small campaign game where attrition has battered down the armory of the Chapter and they were forced to use Malcadors.

I'm not top notch on my SM deep fluff, are the vehicle drivers still the size of Marines or closer to Human dimensions? Because if they are larger than typical humans, Heresy-era or not, the Marines would have a lot of trouble using them.

SM tank-drivers are still Space Marines.

If there was a "Legion Malcador" during the HH era, then certainly they are suitable for SM crew.

I thought the Legions consisted of human warriors as well as Marines back in the Heresy era?

 Farseer Faenyin wrote:
I thought the Legions consisted of human warriors as well as Marines back in the Heresy era?

In the HH Book 1, the Legion Malcador Assault Tank starts with BS3, but a 15 pts. worth upgrade called "Space Marine Legion Crew" increases the BS to 4. Which means that they indeed can be manned by Spess Mehreens.

You'd have to be smoking some interesting substances to think paying £80 and 235 or more points for a marginally better Leman Russ is a good idea even in a fluffy list.