(Tank commander by StuartHughe on deviantART).
*****
THE CREW OF Serial 5385-34 had gotten their venerable Valdor Tank Hunter into a superb position overlooking the most likely avenue of assault through this part of the line and had bellied their tank down so only the barrel and top slopes of their armour were visible. Unfortunately there was nothing they could do about the massive heat transfer which their weapon system caused, this would show up as a bright white light on any scanning devices the enemy were using at the time, more importantly it would throw up masses of heat haze for the naked eye to see.
The one downside of their massive powerful weapon system.
That wasn't a worry here though, as a horde of berserk cultists had forced a breach in the Imperial line and forced the infantry to buckle under the pressure of the assault.
They listened tensely to the panicked vox traffic as orders were relayed to squads which were promptly ignored as men's fear overcame them and to their shame, they ran.
The crew of Serial 5385-34 blanched as they heard the screams of mercy, soldiers begging for the Emperor's protection or pleading for their mother as they were cut down by the frothing horde. Axes, swords, cleavers, sharpened tools all rising and falling in their murderous work.
"We should man the stubbers and help them!" Corporal Seocan cried and moved to climb the ladder to the top hatch.
Sergeant Asgall was on him in a flash, bodily hauling the young Corporal off the ladder.
"You do that lad and you kill us all, that's the Russ crews job, we have our job to do so get yourself together man" he said matter of factly and turned to Lieutenant Morgan who was unbuttoning his jacket, "Orders sar!".
"Thank you Sergeant, we'll remain in place and powered up, there are reports of enemy superheavies in the area so those are priority targets, let the rest of the Armour and the other regiments worry about this rabble", these last words were said with a pointed look towards Seocan.
"Very good sar!" Sergeant Asgall turned and barked orders at the crew, all were sweating with the heat inside the tank. Asgall was the only crew member still buttoned up in full uniform and his orders took the crews mind off of the worry about their own supporting units retreating.
Ahead of them the cultists shrieked and reeled as one, explosive rounds were landing within their phalanx and sending bodies flying through the air.
Supporting Leman Russ tanks had arrived and began to stem the tide of fleeing guardsmen as they rallied witnessing the power of the Guard's armour. Heavy Bolters chattered and Battlecannon's roared, sending explosive death into the enemy with each shot.
It was not to last as with a concussive roar, the second wave of professional forces of the enemy stormed the reforming Imperial line, heralded by a demoralising amount of firepower. The first Kytan Daemon-Engine came striding forwards with the traitor guard, Gatling cannon firing non-stop as it did so. A second, then a third loomed from the gloom supporting the push.
Sergeant Asgall watched through the Oculous scope as it strode up to a Leman Russ squadron and began hacking away at the tanks with a cleaver which was nearly the size of their track units, he looked away and sadly shook his head.
Tensely, Lieutenant Morgan gave firing solutions and the crew struggled to get the cannon on target, inching the drive units left and right to get the shot in line.
"Sar, enemy infantry is forcing our supporting units away, Sar" Asgall reported.
"Thank you Sergeant" the Lieutenant replied.
"Enemy infantry inbound Sar, crew prepare to repel enemies" Srgeant Asgall bellowed, the four available crew moved to various hatches and prepared to fight dearly against the enemy, Lieutenant Morgan and his driver stayed at their positions readying to fire the great weapon.
An explosion engulfed their tank as another Leman Russ was demolished under the assault, as the smoke cleared heretics in dark tan uniforms and blacked iron helmets stormed towards their position.
The snap-crack of furious lasfire reached a crescendo as the supporting infantry tried to hold the enemy storming force off, slowly changing the the screams and meaty thumps of melee combat all around the tank.
In moments the enemy were also clambering on the tank, hammering at hatches and ventilation grills trying to get in, baying oaths to the Blood God which made the Guardsmen reel as the language hurt their heads.
Lieutenant Morgan was busy ignoring all this keeping his eye firmly on the targeter, even as blood trickled out of his ear from the blasphemous language echoing around.
He trusted Sergeant Asgall to take over giving orders to the crew for their defence. The defensive sponson Stubber spat rounds to their right clearing some of the enemy. Their own lasrifles cracked from firing ports to defend the left flank, cutting down a crew trying to bring a missile launcher to bear.
Heat rose again as he depressed the firing stud and the massive release of energy was like a miniature sun being unveiled in the landscape. Tearing a furrow in the ground with the forces released, the spear of energy spat towards the hulking Daemon-Engine and blossomed into a bright white Corona of light.
One of the crewmen screamed as a blade was forced through his firing port as he reloaded and stabbed him in the shoulder. As he reeled away, an order was barked to close the port but it was too late, a Krak grenade having been forced through in the confusion and had gone unnoticed in the chaos, until it came to rest against Sergeant Asgall's boot, causing him to look down.
The explosion within would have been devastating, had it not been coupled with the huge energy generators of the Neutron Laser within the hull.
Serial 5385-34 exploded from within and a crater over forty feet wide was blown in the dirt and wreckage and heretic bodies were sent spiraling away. The force was enough to damage the retreating convoy of medical vehicles over half a mile away from the explosion.
Lieutenant Morgan's last moments were of elation as he saw his laser slam into the Daemon-Engine, before he could discover if he'd slain the beast however his still grinning skull was blown into the troposphere of the planet.
*****
Well, this isn't something which I was planning on painting, but when I was asked to try to salvage this Valdor Tank Hunter for Duncan I figured I'd give it a go.
He'd already painted it using Contrast Black Templar and wasn't happy, and also he wasn't confident painting markings like I had done before on a Hellhound, Leman Russ and a Valkyrie for him.
I started by spraying the necessary areas with grey primer and working the marking up using Ulthuan Grey to start and Khorne Red for the stripes.
Then to cover the Contrast paint, I used a couple of layers* of thinned Abaddon Black.
From there it was just adding chipping using Leadbelcher off of a sponge and then drybrushing with vertical strokes, downwards only, using Stormvermin Fur and then Baneblade Brown, followed by a small amount of Bleached Bone.
And finally with the first finished Leman Russ to compare the paint job against:
I've mentioned elsewhere that the summer has not been kind with regards to mojo and motivation
There are still the top hatches to paint and add, but I don't know what he is doing about a crew figure for this tank yet. I'm going to start on one of my minor Projects from my To-Do list next in order to summon some enthusiasm with a finished project.
Until next time, have nice day...
