Forge World Preview: Sicaran Arcus Strike Tank
Check out the Sicaran Arcus Strike Tank, bristling with powerful weaponry and more missiles than you can shake a stick at.
And I don’t know about you, but I can shake a stick at a lot of missiles. Not like, close up or anything, but I have access to google maps and know roughly where missile silos are located. More importantly, I know where to find a stick. The point is, the Arcus Strike Tank has a lot of missiles. More than you might think is necessary–at least until yours hits the table, then you’ll realize that you need four or five of these.
via Warhammer Community
The Arcus Strike Tank is one of the more unusual tanks available to the Space Marine Legions. Similar to the malevolent Dreadclaw Drop Pod and the sinister Knight-Atrapos, the Arcus Strike Tank has a shadowed past, viewed by the Mechanicum for reasons unknown as a slight against the Omnissiah. As a result, the adepts of the Machine God refuse to produce or repair these vehicles – without their ministrations, these advanced support platforms have degenerated, and their advanced armaments have been replaced with more common rotary launchers. This has done little to blunt the offensive capabilities of the Strike Tank, which is still able to race forward and unleash hails of area-saturation incendiary missiles.
The Arcus Strike Tank looks similar to the other Sicaran-class vehicles, distinguished by its large twin rotary launcher. This weapon shares design traits with other missile launchers in the Space Marine Legions, from the man-portable versions found on Heavy Support Squads to the notorious scorpius missile launcher found on the Whirlwind Scorpius. The mouth of each launcher contains a bundle of missiles and has two huge ammo drums.
Clearly these tanks pack a punch–but the most compelling aspect of them is whatever they’ve done to slight the Omnissiah. I love the fact that they’re looked down on by the Mechanicum, who outright refuse to repair any of these (leaving them outfitted with just tons of rotary missile launchers). This means they probably have some personality to them. Especially if the establishment is trying to keep them down–they’re like some kind of heavily armed Herbie the Love Bug.
There’s your paint scheme, friends. If every last one of these Arcus Strike Tanks doesn’t come away with a 53 and a stripe of the ol’ Red White and Blue, you’re missing out on the opportunity of the century.
Here’s to the inevitable Black Library novel where a down-on-their-luck band of misfit guardsmen enter a race against the hoity-toity types of the Mechanicum and win against all odds with their lovable Arcus Strike Tank.
