Musketeer Assault Tank

The Musketeer is an Imperial tank design that was created relatively early in the Compliance and is primarily used as the backbone of the cohorts of the Coruscoan Equites. It is very easily distinguished from the myriad of Rhino or Chimera-based Imperial armored vehicles by its characteristic appearance, relying on repulsor technology rather than massive treads, and by its missile-based armament. Carrying a balanced mix of mobility and protection backed by an highly versatile weapon platform, the Musketeer is a fine addition to any Imperial detachment, though the fact that it can only be properly maintained by the Tech-Adepts of Novae IV makes it a rare sight outside of the Corusco Sector's formations.

## History

The conception of the Musketeer design was a relatively straightforward affair despite the solid quality of the end product of its development cycle. After the Compliance Campaign of the worlds of the Corusco Cluster, countless worlds had joined the Imperium, yet lacked in any true standardized military, let alone logistics, and the Manufactorum could not easily be converted to producing Martian STC designs without extensive retooling. In order to increase the reliability and productivity of the Corusco Cluster, it was decided to design a new vehicle that would serve as the main workhorse tank of all armored formations recruited within the Cluster, taking advantage of the resources and expertise that was available locally.

As such, the design is largely a mix of technologies from the primary worlds of Corusco Parva and Novae IV, combining the talents of both to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Additional input and battle data and experience with and against various extant was provided from the Obsidian Wyrms Legion's own battle records, further helping refine the Musketeer into a well-polished design despite its relatively short development cycle. The benchmark goals for the design of the Musketeer was the vision of a medium tank with a good mix of mobility and survivability that could fill many battlefield roles competently using relatively quickly and easily produced weapon systems. At first, the idea was to focus on a base chassis upon which multiple variants could be developed and to take advantage of modular design to allow for rapid reconfigurations of the weapon systems used, but this was dropped in favor of simply designing a missile-based platform which could simply and quickly be loaded with a variety of mission-appropriate seekers.

Upon completion and successful field-testing, Musketeers quickly began to be produced in large numbers, rapidly replacing the haphazard mix of vehicles and tanks that were being used on the many worlds of the Corusco Clusters and equipping the first officially formed cohorts of the Coruscoan Equites, then all subsequent ones. Battlefield experience proved that the Musketeer was a very potent skirmisher with mobility far in excess of other Imperial tanks of its similar weight class, but it also proved to have an Achille's Heel. The Hailstorm battery that constitutes its main - and only - weapon was prone to catastrophic explosions when destroyed that took with it the entire tank in an alarmingly high number of cases. Its lack of secondary weapons also prevented it from defending itself from boarders at knife range.

Despite these vulnerabilities, the Musketeer remained a dependable tank in most situations and battlefields and was not replaced as the mainstay of Coruscoan armored formations. Other Imperial Army forces also fielded numbers of Musketeers across the galaxy, but the fact that only Novaean Tech-Adepts could properly maintain and repair the tank - as Novae IV refused to charge the design specifications with Mars - has prevented its widespread adoption as a lighter but agile counterpart to the Leman Russ heavy tank that would appear around roughly the same time. In addition, the Musketeer is also occasionally fielded by the Legiones Astartes who can make good use of it to support their own highly mobile style of warfare.

## Design

The overall chassis of the Musketeer is made of resilient but relatively lightweight materials, allowing it to advance at a more than reasonable speed upon a robust and reliable gravitic drive, which allows it to maintain its speed no matter the terrain. In order to avoid slowing down the vehicle, only a small amount of armor weight could be afforded, but a compromise was reached by using advanced Coruscoan metallurgy techniques to bolster the Musketeer's frame with small but durable armor plates made in a similar fashion to the armored behemoths known as Immortals, or more commonly used in the making of the Coruscoan Velites' Shimmerscale Armor.

The contribution of the Novean Forge World to the Musketeer's design is less apparent, but no less important, as it is Novean electronics and systems that turn the metal husks produced on Corusco Parva into true war machines. Novean Cogitators allow Musketeer crews to simultaneously navigate the battlefield at good speed and rain down fire upon their foes without so much as slowing down. Advanced tracking and targeting systems combined with warhead seekers and maneuvering thrusters allow Musketeers to rain down fire upon mankind's foes with unparalleled precision and reliability, even while maneuvering, and fully automated autoloading tubes allow for different types of warheads to be cycled rapidly and efficiently.

## Wargear

The Musketeer's armament consists of a trio of missile launchers in a triangular configuration upon an unmanned turret with autoloading apparatus collectively referred to as an Hailstorm Missile Battery. It is capable of firing several types of missiles, but only one type per volley and its ammunition bins are grouped in packs of three to further assist in loading efficiency. Though the weapon platform can traverse 360°, it does not have the elevation or tracking software for anti-air engagements, limiting exclusively to anti-infantry or anti-tank roles. For these purpose, a typical Hailstorm Missile Battery will be supplied with large numbers of Frag and Krak missiles that can be readily supplied from anywhere in the Imperium, though at times more advanced Estoc and Meteor missiles can be used when facing particularly powerful foes.

* **Estoc Missile** - Estoc missiles are in essence miniaturized versions of medium-range anti-ship missiles employed on Novaean Voidships in massed broadsides which collectively equate macro-batteries in power. Each Estoc's payload is a small plasma charge kept in simplistic containment, but it is its Ultradense, diamond-coated penetrator tip and intelligent delayed fused that make it truly lethal by allowing the missile to dig deep into armor before releasing its plasma charge. The penetrator tips however are somewhat brittle and can break on impact against the toughest of targets relatively frequently, but through sheer weight of numbers, Estoc volleys will pierce even the thickest of hulls sooner than later.
* **Meteor Missile** - Meteors are essentially downscaled versions of the missiles employed by Novaean Voidships in massed batteries of hundreds of launchers for planetary bombardments. They combine a high-yield explosive payload with heavy shrapnel made from Ultradense compressed metal, producing deadly fragments which are fewer, but are capable of penetrating considerable amounts of personal armor at short range, up to and including ceramite used in power armor manufacture. These already lethal warheads are fitted with intelligent seekers that detonate in mid-air close to their target, often by-passing cover and taking foes by surprise.

## Rules

 Searchlight

 - Any Musketeer may take any of the following:
  ¤ Auxiliary drive for 10p
 - One Musketeer may be upgraded to a Command Tank for 25p

 Volatile Arsenal

***Novaen Tracking Array***

A Musketeer’s Hailstorm Missile Battery counts as benefitting from Twin-Linked and Missile Lock and fires using their full Ballistic Skill even after moving at Cruising Speed as if on a vehicle with the Fast type

***Volatile Arsenal***

If a Musketeer ever suffers a Weapon Destroyed result to its Hailstorm Missile Battery, immediately roll a D6. On a 4+, nothing happens, but on a 3 or less, consider the hit as having rolled an Explodes! result instead.