The Kratos, known officially as the Kratos Heavy Assault Tank, was a main battle tank used by the Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. It is rarely seen in the 41st Millennium, save as a relic vehicle.
History
The Kratos Heavy Assault Tank is based on an ancient Terran pattern fielded during the Unification of Old Earth, redesigned after the Emperor signed the Treaty of Mars with the Tech-priests of the ancient Mechanicum to serve as the spearhead of the Great Crusade. It was intended to be a line-breaker and foe hammer extraordinaire. This grinding main battle tank is all but impervious to enemy fire, and its steady, inexorable advance provided an indomitable core to any assault by the Legiones Astartes, enforced by a barrage of overwhelming firepower.
The Kratos originally served as a dedicated infantry support tank and the powerful shells of its heavy Kratos Battlecannon could quickly open a path through massed enemies for any Astartes or mortal support infantry that followed in its wake. However, the Kratos was determined to be obsolete in the final years of the Great Crusade and was later retired from active service when the Legiones Astartes began to favour faster, more multi-purpose armoured vehicles such as the ubiquitous Predator tank. Yet some Kratos remained in the reserve armouries of the Legions even after their replacement. During the Signus Campaign early in the Horus Heresy, the Blood Angels Legion made heavy use of the Kratos at the Battle of Signus Prime.
Armament
The Kratos Heavy Assault Tank is a nigh-impenetrable war machine bristling with heavy armaments. In terms of sheer power, the Kratos was intended to sit between the Sicaran Battle Tank and the Fellblade in the arsenal of the Space Marine Legions. This impressive vehicle can be built with one of three powerful turret weapons -- the versatile Kratos Battlecannon, tank-busting Melta Blast-gun, or the searing thermal rays produced by the Volkite Cardanelle. If armed with the Kratos Battlecannon, it can be loaded with high-explosive shells intended to kill large numbers of enemy infantry, armour-piercing shells to eliminate enemy armour or transports and assault well-defended fortifications or flashburn shells that are most effective when used against super-heavy enemy tanks.
The Kratos also sports a co-axial Autocannon, a pair of hull-mounted anti-infantry weapons with a choice of 2 Autocannons, Heavy Bolters, Lascannons, or Volkite Calivers -- and a separate pair of sponson weapons -- 2 Heavy Bolters, Heavy Flamers, Lascannons, or Volkite Culverins.
The Kratos Heavy Assault Tank can be upgraded to carry a pintle-mounted weapon -- a Havoc Missile Launcher, Heavy Bolter, Heavy Flamer, Multi-melta, or a Combi-weapon with five configurations (Combi-bolter, Combi-flamer, Combi-melta, Combi-plasma, or Combi-volkite) -- as well as a searchlight, a Dozer Blade, and a Hunter-Killer Missile.
Wargear
- Kratos Battlecannon
- Autocannon
- 4 Heavy Bolters
- 1 Combi-flamer or 1 Combi-melta or 1 Combi-plasma or 1 Combi-volkite or 1 Havoc Missile Launcher or 1 Heavy Bolter or 1 Heavy Flamer or 1 Multi-melta or 1 twin-linked Boltgun
- 1 Hunter-Killer Missile
- Melta Blast-gun (Optional replacement for Kratos Battlecannon)
- Volkite Cardanelle (Optional replacement for Kratos Battlecannon)
- 2 Autocannons or 2 Lascannons or 2 Volkite Calivers (Optional replacements for 2 Heavy Bolters)
- 2 Heavy Flamers or 2 Lascannons or 2 Volkite Culverins (Optional replacements for 2 Heavy Bolters)
Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications
The Adeptus Mechanicus has not released the technical speficifications of the Kratos Heavy Assault Tank publicly.
Sources
- Games Workshop Website - Kratos Heavy Assault Tank
- Games Workshop Website - Kratos Horus Heresy Rules
- Warhammer Twitch Webpage: Warhammer Fest 2022 Online: Day 4 - Warhammer The Horus Heresy (Posted on 07/05/22)
- The Horus Heresy Book Eight - Malevolence (Forge World Series), pg. 58
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