Deathstrike Missile Launcher - Deathstrike Missile Launcher: The Deathstrike Missile Launcher is a mobile ballistic missile launcher of the Astra Militarum that is capable of firing the intercontinental ballistic Deathstrike Missile which is often equipped with a warhead that is classified as a weapon of mass destruction. The Deathstrike Launcher is built atop a modified Chimera chassis to which a complex launching system has been added that is capable of firing a single Deathstrike Missile.The Deathstrike Launcher is becoming a rare sight on the battlefield due to Imperial commanders' concerns about its vulnerabilities, the danger it presents to friendly forces, and their preference for other, more mobile and flexible artillery vehicles such as the Basilisk. Deathstrike Launchers are only found on the most apocalyptic battlefields and are only ever used when the total annihilation of a key target is absolutely necessary, and only after the unit using it has been authorised to do so by Segmentum Command.The vehicle launches a single, intercontinental, solid-fuel ballistic missile, with an operational range of several thousand kilometres. When the missile detonates everything caught within the blast radius is instantly consumed by an immense thermonuclear fireball that can vaporise almost anything, including armoured units and buildings.A single well-placed shot from a Deathstrike Missile Launcher is more than capable of destroying whole armies, due to the immense destructive capacity of the Deathstrike tactical nuclear warhead and the fact that it may need to be used whilst allies are still caught in the weapon's blast radius. Once a Deathstrike Launcher has been authorised for use, Imperial Guard regiments employing a Deathstrike Launcher usually assign highly loyal commissars to Deathstrike Launcher batteries to ensure the weapon is fired, no matter the target or the consequences that will result for Imperial forces.Until recently, the Deathstrike was a weapon in decline. The deployment of a single Deathstrike Missile Launcher requires a huge investment of resources. The acquisition of these weapons is a process littered with religious and administrative complexities, and can take solar months.Even the construction of a Deathstrike Missile is a procedure whose worth in the Imperium's wars must be carefully weighed before commencement. Each component must be duly sanctified and blessed with hallowed oils, then arrayed as the catechisms of manufacture are intoned in full. A cortège of Tech-priests then sets about the process of wiring guidance skulls to each of the warhead's actuators. Finally, the mounting ceremony in which the missile is racked on its firing platform is accompanied by its own solemn rites. As Deathstrikes are only requested to fulfil the direst of contingencies, the battles for which they are requested are often long over by the time they arrive at the front.This is not to say that Deathstrike Missile Launchers have not seen use, for their formidable value and situational versatility are legendary. Over the past ten standard millennia they have been used against nearly every enemy of the Imperium. The warhead can be armed with a variety of horrifying payloads, each Deathstrike Missile tailored to wreak maximum destruction on its intended target. With a single successful launch, a Deathstrike armed with a Godspear warhead can bring down an enemy Titan, punching the towering war engine from its feet amid the false sun of a reactor meltdown.One well-placed missile can deliver virulent pathogens to the core of an army, wipe out the entire command structure of the foe in a holocaust of billowing plasma, or crush the morale of a wavering enemy with its sudden, god-like wrath.Most terrifying of all are the venerated Vortex Missiles. These warheads are able to sunder reality itself in a roiling wave of Warp energy that guarantees the annihilation of anything caught in their blast. Vortex Warheads are so rare that the improper launch of one atop a Deathstrike Missile is punishable by immediate summary execution.