The Spartan Assault Tank is the big daddy to the current Astartes Land Raider, but where did it come from? Get all the details in today’s lore post!
Via our friends at Lexicanum
The Spartan Assault Tank was a large heavy tank designed during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy to carry a full squad of Terminator-armored Marines. Originally designed to get through the ‘Ring of Death’ surrounding the city of Aries Primus on Mars, the standard Land Raider at the time could not transport Terminators. The design is based off the famous Land Raider.
The original Spartan had the standard Land Raider armament of the day, two twin-linked lascannons (heavy bolters were not standard then) but also mounted either a heavy bolter or heavy flamer on a turret on top. It was widely spread after the Heresy, but disappeared when the standard Land Raider was re-designed to carry Terminators. The Spartan design used today features the twin hull-mounted heavy bolters seen on contemporary Land Raider designs, as well as a pair of sponsons fitted with a quad-lascannon battery each. It is able to transport 25 Space Marines in power armour and has the largest transport capacity of any dedicated transport vehicle used in the Imperium save the Gorgon. Additionally, it is considerably faster than other Land Raider variants despite its increased size, due to its reactor-driven motive drive systems.
Many Space Marine Chapters still maintain these huge war machines as part of their arsenals and deploy them into warzones where even the mighty Land Raider would be torn asunder. Chaos Space Marine warbands still operate Spartans that date back to the Great Crusade, with most belonging to the original Traitor Legions.
Technical Information
| Vehicle Name: | Spartan Assault Tank | Main Armament: | 2x Sponson-mounted quad Lascannons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forge World of Origin: | Anvilus Nine | Secondary Armament: | Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter |
| Known Patterns: | I-VI | Traverse: | 180° |
| Crew: | Driver, Gunner | Elevation: | From -32° to +55° |
| Powerplant: | Atomantic core with auxiliary reactor | Main Ammunition: | Unlimited cell power feed |
| Weight: | 71 tonnes | Secondary Ammunition: | 800 rounds |
| Length: | 10m | Armour | |
| Width: | 6.1m | ||
| Height: | 5m | Superstructure: | 95mm |
| Ground Clearance: | 0.5m | Hull: | 95mm |
| Max Speed – on road | 45kph | Gun Mantlet | N/A |
| Max Speed – off road: | 38kph | Vehicle Designation: | N/A |
| Transport Capacity: | 25 | Firing Ports: | N/A |
| Access Points: | N/A | Turret: | N/A |
Would you like a BIGGER Tank? Checkout the Mastodon!
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits In 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
Bio: Virginia restless, miniature painter & cat dad. He blames LEGOs for all this, as there was something about those little-colored blocks that started it all. Spikey Bits started with Rob trying to stay motivated to hobby on his backlog of projects and share his knowledge with others during the early blogging era.
Scale model hobbyist in the 80s, miniature wargamer, and trading card player ever since. He’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy since 5th Edition, but Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and minatures made of both pewter and resin.
