Warhammer 40K Doctor: Fixing Leman Russ Battle Tanks

Let’s take a look at ways we can fix the classic Leman Russ battle tank.

The Leman Russ Battle Tank is one of the most iconic tanks in Warhammer 40K. It is an emblematic unit for the Imperial Guard. It is one of the oldest tanks in both the game and the lore. And right now it kind of sucks. The venerable Leman Russ has been in trouble for some time. GW even clearly admits it’s underperforming, with the recent Balance Dataslates providing some buffs to the Russ. More, however, needs to be done. Let’s look at some ideas.

Better Guns

When I look a ways to fix units I generally try to stay away from the fix being just “they do more damage”. Overall I find that boring. However in the case of the Russ its guns do need some updating. Most of its weapons are very clearly stuck in an early 8th Edition mindset, with overall low and very random damage. Overall its weapons need damage bumps and less randomness. The Battle Cannons should go to a flat D3, Demonisher to D3+3 and even Vanquisher Cannons up to say D6+6. These guns need to be scary, but inaccurate.

More Rugged

The Leman Russ is known as a tough rugged tank. It’s not as fast as some, nor as advanced as others. Its armor isn’t relic level. But they are hard to kill and can take a real beating. I think a cool way of replicating this would be to just give them a ton of wounds. Like a lot. 24 maybe. Drop them back down to a 3+ save. I think this would be a cool way to replicate their redundant survivability. Unlike other factions, they don’t have ways to mitigate damage. No invulnerable saves.  No FNP saves And certainly no -1 D (please no). They take every wound they are dealt. They just have a ton of wounds to spare. This would both make them more survivable, interesting, and distinct.

Lean Into Orders

To compensate for the increased power I think you could also have some fun making Russes a little more rigid. Maybe they have more things they need to be ordered to do. For instance instead of making using smoke a stratagem (something it shouldn’t have been) make it an order they can get. Maybe the same is true of advancing or firing into combat. I feel there are some cool ideas you play with here. Again, make the tanks work in ways unique to the army.

Combined Arms

I’m not 100% sure how you would do this, but I think some rules that benefited combined arms would be cool. In real-life battles it’s common to see tanks and infantry working together. The two types of troops complement and assist each other. In 40K this isn’t really true.  They normally tend to just exist in parallel, but not actively buff each other. I think it could be cool to see some rules benefiting using infantry and tanks together.

Maybe a rule granting Infantry Squads +1 LD if they are within 6″ of a Leman Russ. This would represent the Infantry being cheered by having tanks nearby. Maybe a rule letting Leman Russ tanks ignore cover when targeting units within 6″ of an infantry squad. This could represent infantry acting as spotters or flushing enemies out of cover for the tanks. This is another idea I think that could set the army apart.

Let us know how you would fix Leman Russes, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.