Land Train
Land Trains are war machines composed of an engine and several weapons-mounted cars. They were maintained and crewed by the Squat's Engineers Guild, a group which provided the best weapons used in the Squat armies[1a].
Contents
History
These massive war engines are rare artefacts dating back to the Dark Age of Technology and the foundation of the Squat Homeworlds. They were used to tow powered track-cars of ore, food and other supplies across the harsh, rocky, inhospitable terrain separating new settlements; the trains were heavily armoured to endure the earthquakes, meteor showers and violent storms wracking their planets[1b].
After the Strongholds had been established, the trains were still used to carry loads between them, through vast interconnected tunnel networks[1b].
Lovingly maintained by the Engineers, the Land Trains survived the Age of Isolation and Age of Trade almost forgotten, until an Ork Waaagh! assaulted the Stronghold of Imbach. As the Orks had breached the outer defenses and penetrated the fortress, the Guild quickly converted the Land Trains in their care into armoured fighting vehicles, and unleashed them in the Greenskin-infested tunnels, hurling them back for a while. After the fall of Imbach, many Squat Warlords ordered their own Land Trains refitted for war[1b].
Overview
A Land Train comprises a huge Engine annd a number of smaller tracked carriages called Battlecars[1b].
Both engine and cars are immensely armored all-around. The locomotive is also fitted with a pair of Void Shields forming a bubble around the entire train, with the generators in each car providing enough power to raise another one. Every battlecar is an independent vehicle with its own computer brain, able to move freely, albeit at a slower pace, without the assistance of the engine. Once linked together they're controlled from the locomotive. The engine is armed with a gigantic Doomsday Cannon and two heavy Battlecannons, all front facing, as well as numerous bolt weapons for self-defense. The Land Train is big and powerful enough to simply crush or push away any enemy under its threads, short of a Titan or Super-Heavy Tank[1b]
The Land Trains colours reflect both the Stronghold's particular traditional scheme and the colours of the Engineer lodge of the Stronghold. Stylised ancestor masks are used as a common form of decoration, as are Squat runes and complex intertwining motifs. Much like Imperial Titans, the engines fly their own giant banners, and each battlecar a smaller, personalized pennant[1a].
Battlecars
- Berzerker battlecars are equipped with an autocannon turret and crenelated battlements and firing slits. They transport five squads of Squat Berzerkers tasked with defending the Train and clearing out impassable terrain[1b]
- Bomb battlecars carry a gigantic Rad Bomb, a cruise missile that can by guided with pinpoint accuracy from the Engine targeting systems, or less accurately at enemies out of view using its own guidance system, and kills even the most entrenched troops via rad pulse, without damaging installations[1]
- Dragon battlecars use a massive firethrower, particularly useful for tunnel-fighting or build-up areas.
- Fire Shield battlecars are equipped with an mere autocannon turret. They are however filled with three additional Void shields generators and repair facilities[1b]
- Iron Eagle battlecars carry an Iron Eagle Gyrocopter fitted with a data-link, that acts as an artillery observer[2]
- Mortar battlecars consist in a heavy Siege Mortar similar to the Colossus', benefiting from the stable platform that is the armored train[1b]
- Skyhammer battlecars are dedicated to flyer defense. They carry advanced Ack-Ack Missiles, an advanced system able to lock onto fast moving targets and see through even advanced countermeasures like that of the Eldar Nightwing[2]
Every battlecar possesses numerous bolt weapons used for self-defense[1][2].
Civilian Use
To this day, Land Trains are still used for more peaceful activities. Their vast tracks enable them to reach and supply mines beyond the daunting continental shelves and the seas of dust, the quasi-liquid pulverised rock that makes the soil of most of the Homeworlds[3].
Accidents are common, and Land Trains can sink without a trace if they venture into the ebb and flow of deep dust[3].
The dust itself oven contains a significant amount of ore, ranging from iron to chromium compounds, silica or tiny mineral crystals, and is mined by factory Land Trains whose engines are equipped with massive scoops and whose track-cars are filled with ore. One of such areas, the Iron Sea of Grindel, is the greatest source of ferrous ore in all of the Homeworlds[3].
Known Patterns
- Mammoth-class Land Train - Known to be manufactured in Hive Trazior on Necromunda by Lord Spinoza.[5]
Known & Notable Land Trains
Each train is named individually after past exploits of the Stronghold it originates from[1a]
- Hammer of Bruggen[1a]
- Gotrek's Anvil[1a]
- Grunhag's Bane[1b]
- Lord Kettri's Revenge[1a]
- Lord Uri's Honour[1b]
- Pride of Imbach[1a],[1b]
Three of the original Land Trains of Imbach, Pride of Imbach, Lord Uri's Honour and Grunhag's Bane are still celebrated in Squat sagas.[1b]
Sources
- 1: Ork and Squat Warlords [Needs Citation]
- 2: The Citadel Journal 14, pg. 27
- 3: Codex Imperialis (Background Book), pg. 72
- 4: Codex Titanicus (2nd Edition), pg. 60
- 5: Space Marine (Novel), Chapter One