Eighth Pardus Armoured
The Eighth Pardus Armoured was an Armoured Regiment of the Astra Militarum that fought during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.[1a] At the time of the Crusade, they were regarded as one of the finest Armoured Regiments in the entire Segmentum Pacificus.[1b]
Notable Actions
Hagia
The Eighth Pardus Armoured supported the Tanith First and Only and Brevian Centennials in the retaking of Hagia's capital city from Pater Sin and his Infardi.[1a][1b]
Later, a detachment of the Pardus Eighth, headed by Major Kleopas, was tasked by Lord General Lugo to accompany the Tanith First to the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat, to retrieve The Saint's remains before the evacuation of the planet.[1c] Along the way to the Shrinehold, the Tanith and Pardus fought against and defeated a significant enemy force protecting the town of Bhavnager.[1f]
After the Ayatani priests refused to let the Saint's remains be moved, the Pardus, like the Ghosts, agreed to stand and defend the Shrine from an oncoming Chaos force. Their combined forces only just managed to keep the enemy at bay, with the Pardus Eighth losing much of its command echelon and many venerable machines in the process.[1x]
Enothis
Another detachment of the Pardus Eighth, headed by Captain LeGuin, was in full retreat after a failed assault on the enemy's southern hives on Enothis, and was being harried by the enemy's land and air reinforcements, when the Phantine Air Corps arrived to provide air support and challenge the archenemy's air superiority.[2b]
Appearance & Uniform
The Pardus Eighth wore tan fatigues[1a] with silver cap badges[1h], while their tanks were painted in camo patterns according to the operation's theatre. On Hagia they were painted mottled green and blue[1c], while on Enothis they were painted dust red.[2a]
Assets
By the time of the actions on Hagia, the unit's core was mainly comprised of Leman Russ Battle Tanks, in particular 50 Conquerors.[1b] These were supplemented with 38 Thunderer Siege Tanks[1b], ten Stygies-pattern Vanquishers[1b], at least one Executioner[1f] and two Destroyer Tank Hunters.[1f]
In terms of lighter vehicles, the Eighth Pardus Armoured contains a number of Salamander Light Tanks (both the scout and command variants). For transportation purposes, the regiment makes use of munitions Chimeras (at least 15).[1c] In addition, the regiment possesses at least 4 Hydra batteries for air defence and anti-infantry[1f] and armoured tractors (including 2 Trojans[1c]) for towing purposes.[1a][1b]
Known Vehicles
Command Tanks
- Castigatus — Shadowsword. Flag-armour of Colonel Furst.[1b]
Leman Russ Conquerors
- Beat the Retreat[1f]
- Drum Roll — Commanded by Captain Hancot.[1f]
- Fancy Klara — Commanded by Lieutenant LeTaw.[1f]
- Heart of Destruction — Commanded by Major Kleopas.[1d] Destroyed by Infardi armour while defending the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat on Hagia.[1l]
- Lion of Pardua — Destroyed on Hagia.[1e][1j][Conflicting sources]
- Lucky Bastard[1f]
- Man of Steel — Commanded by Captain Ridas. Destroyed by an N20 Halftrack, Battle of Bhavnager.[1f]
- Mighty Smiter — Destroyed, Battle of Bhavnager.[1f]
- Old Strontium — Commanded by Captain Woll.[1f]
- P48J — Commanded by Captain Marchese.[1i] Destroyed by Infardi armour while defending the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat on Hagia.[1l]
- Pride of Memfis — Destroyed by an AT70 Reaver, Battle of Bhavnager.[1f]
- Say Your Prayers — Destroyed by Infardi armour while defending the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat on Hagia.[1j]
- Steel Storm — Commanded by Lieutenant Hellier. Destroyed by a landmine, Battle of Bhavnager.[1f]
- Tread Softly — Destroyed by an enemy Baneblade, Battle of Bhavnager.[1f]
- Wrath of Pardua — Commanded by Captain Sirus.[1e] Destroyed by an enemy Baneblade, Battle of Bhavnager.[1f]
- Xenophobe[1f]
- Fury of Pardua — Lieutenant Klodas (Fury abandoned in the desert on Enothis)[2a]
- The Stuff of Legend[2c]
Leman Russ Executioners
- Strife — Commanded by Lieutenant Pauk.[1f] Destroyed by Infardi armour while defending the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat on Hagia.[1l]
Leman Russ Exterminators
Destroyer Tank Hunters
- Death Jester[1f]
- Grey Venger — Commanded by Captain LeGuin.[1e] Destroyed by Infardi armour while defending the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat on Hagia.[1l]
Known Personnel
- Furst — Colonel.[1b]
- Kleopas — Major.[1b] Killed in action at the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat on Hagia.[1l]
- Farant — Captain. Killed in action at Bhavnager on Hagia.[1e][Note 1]
- Hancot — Captain.[1f]
- Herodas — Captain.[1b] Died of his wounds on Hagia.[1d]
- LeGuin — Captain.[1e]
- Marchese — Captain.[1i] Killed in action at the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat on Hagia.[1l]
- Ridas — Captain. Killed in action at Bhavnager on Hagia.[1f]
- Sirus — Captain and multi-ace.[1e][1f] Killed in action at Bhavnager on Hagia.[1f]
- Woll — Captain and multi-ace.[1f]
- Hellier — Lieutenant.[1f]
- LeTaw — Lieutenant. Killed in action at Bhavnager on Hagia.[1f]
- Pauk — Lieutenant.[1f] Killed in action at the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat on Hagia.[1l]
- Greer — Sergeant, Mobile Flak Company.[1a] Killed by Captain Ban Daur of the Tanith First following a mental breakdown.[1k]
- Horkan — Sergeant.[1g]
- Lezink — Trooper. Killed in action on Hagia.[1d]
Trivia
The name Pardus may refer to Panthera pardus, the binomial name of the common leopard, and by this to both the modern Leopard 2 (or Leopard 1) and the historic Panther tank.
Conflicting sources
In Chapter Nine of Honour Guard, the armoured element of the Recon Spear that scouts ahead of the titular honour guard is specified to consist of two Conquerors, which are identified as the sister tanks Wrath of Pardua and Lion of Pardua. At the end of the Chapter, the second of the two Conquerors was totally destroyed by the Infardi protecting Bhavnager.[1e] Despite this, when the Imperials launch a proper attack on the town in the next chapter, the Lion is operating alongside its sister tank again as part of a flanking manoeuvre with no mention given to any damage[1f] and it is mentioned again in a later chapter.[1h] It is then explicitly destroyed while defending the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat.[1j]
Notes
- Note 1: Although the character's name is given as Farant by Sergeant Mkoll of the Tanith First, Mkoll notes that he didn't quite catch the name and that it could have been Faranter instead.[1e]
See also
Sources