Thinking of buying a Baneblade? Wondering which variant to buy? This guide is designed to show the strengths and flaws of each Imperial vehicle which can be built using the Baneblade chassis.

There are two Super-Heavy kits available, both of which are £60. One gives you a Baneblade or Hellhammer, and the other gives you either a Stormlord, Shadowsword, Banehammer, Doomhammer, Stormsword or Banesword. With some modelling skill, each kit can be converted to be interchangeable between the variants. Personally, I use a Shadowsword with the cannon components unglued, so I can switch between a Shadowsword, Banehammer or Stormsword. Doing this means you have an incredible amount of flexibility when choosing your Super Heavy.

Note: All Super Heavies can take 2 extra sponsons, each with a Lascannon and TL Heavy Bolter for an extra 100 Points. However, it may instead replace it's basic sponsons with armour plates for free, which boosts it's side armour value up to 14.

Baneblade

The jack-of-all-trades of the Imperial Super Heavies. Armed with a Baneblade Cannon and Demolisher Cannon, it can pummel a huge area with a 10" S9 blast at 72" range, following it up with a S10 5" blast for point-blank defense. Also armed with 3 TL Heavy Bolters and 2 Lascannons, it is suitable for against a wide variety of targets. Giving it extra sponsons increases it's firepower, and mounting them rear-facing helps with the rear arc blind-spot that plagues all the Super Heavies in this list.

Hellhammer

A variant of the Baneblade, suited for urban or close quarter combat. The Hellhammer is identical to the Baneblade, except that it replaces the Baneblade Cannon with a Hellhammer Cannon, and all TL Heavy Bolters are replaced with TL Heavy Flamers. The Hellhammer Cannon is half the range of a Baneblade, and only a 7" marker, but it is S10, Ap1 and more importantly, it ignores cover, which is a massive bonus in 5th Edition, where cover saves are abundant.

All of the following Super-Heavies lose their Demolisher Cannon and one TL Heavy Bolter. Their main weapon is Hull Mounted, compared to the Turret Mounted weapons of the Baneblade and Hellhammer

Shadowsword

One of the best super heavies in this category. Packing a Volcano Cannon and the ability to take Targeters, this is a dedicated tank-hunter. The Volcano Cannon is a Destroyer, Ap2 weapon with a 5" Blast and 120" range. The extreme range allows it to "snipe" enemy armour from across the board. I don't recommend the Targeters. Losing two Lascannons for +1BS doesn't seem worth it, as the 5" Blast almost always covers the target anyway, so taking an extra 1" off scatter rolls while losing two extra chances to destroy enemy armour seems pointless. Avoid the Targeters, but do take the extra pair of sponsons.

Stormblade

It can be very effective due to it's multiple firing modes. Both modes are Ap2, and you have a choice between 1 S10 7" Blast or 2 S8 10" Blasts. Use the different modes depending on your target: S10 for armour, S8 for hordes due to it's larger surface area. This is a resin kit and it is £95

Stormsword

This is one of the best models in the Shadowsword kit. It is armed with an upgraded Hellhammer Cannon, and sponson Heavy Bolters instead of Heavy Flamers. The upgraded Hellhammer Cannon is a 10" Blast which packs S10 Ap1, ignoring cover. This weapon is brilliant at flushing out enemies which have dug into heavy cover, although a relatively short range of 36" means putting yourself in the danger zone for many AT weapons if you want to get in range for this weapon. Consider taking the extra pair of sponsons to protect against any large threats getting too close for comfort.

Stormlord

This is one of the more popular options, mainly due to it's Vulcan Mega Bolter and hefty transport capacity of 40. However, it really isn't as good as it seems. The VMB attracts a lot of attention due to the fact that it may be fired twice if the Stormlord doesn't move. Granted that while this is 30 shots, at BS3 that's only 15 shots that will hit on average, and while you're firing twice, you're not moving, which is the exact opposite of what a transport is supposed to do. Also, it can only move 6" per turn so it is just as fast as anything which isn't Slow and Purposeful. However, it does provide a solid firebase for your infantry, as half the embarked troops can fire as from an open-topped vehicle. In short, I consider it a bad choice, but if you want a very solid transport, give it a try.

Banehammer

While considered a rarer variant of the Stormlord, the Banehammer packs heavy firepower and a modest transport cap, and is able to slow your opponent down due to the Earthshock effect of the Tremor Cannon. It can hold 25 troops, 10 of which can fire from the top platform. The Tremor Cannon is a Battle Cannon with 12" less range and a 7" Blast. Any unit hit by the blast must move as in difficult terrain next turn, removing one dice from their total. This effect even affects skimmers and jetbikes, so it is particularly use against skimmer heavy armies, such as Eldar mech.

Other Super Heavies will be added soon

Doomhammer

Banesword