This time round we have the Leman Russ Battle Tank and all its variants. In the past we had two versions with multiple weapon options, now however, we have multiple versions with just one main gun option. This mean that we can field an incredible number of Russ variants in a game, 24 when including commanders! Not that you’ll have enough points for 24 tanks! A couple of notes on the Russ, all the profiles are the same, there is no difference between the short ranged and long ranged hulls and secondly all of them will be equipped with hunter-killer missiles and sponsons, as they are both baked in to the price. The type of sponson will change depending upon the main armament.
First up the standard Leman Russ Battle Tank. The basic tank, which is out classed by a lot of other versions. The Armoured Spearhead ability is a good ability, enabling you to re-roll hits but overall doesn’t make up for a slightly lack lustre gun. You’ll see them on the tanks top due to their iconic nature but they are far from the go to version.
The Leman Russ Demolisher on the other hand is one of the go to versions. It has long been one of the best versions of the tank and continues to be so. While it only has a short 24 inch range, it packs one hell of a punch. The same number of shots as the battle cannon but stronger, with better AP and more damage potential. The Line-Breaker ability also makes this unit even more potent, as it doesn’t matter if it gets in engagement ranger or not, you’re still getting splatted. Paired with flamers for defensive fire or multi-meltas for extra punch, this is the go to Russ.
The Leman Russ Eradicator has always been an odd tank. Back in the day it had some use, but now it struggles to find a role. It has a similar rule to the demolisher, letting it shoot at units in engagement but you’re going to take an actual demolisher over this pretty much all the time. It’s nice to have ignores cover on the main gun, but its low strength and AP mean that it’s not going to be very useful at taking out targets most of the time. This has never been a popular unit for the table top and I don’t see that changing when it just doesn’t have the punch to stand out from the rest.
The Leman Russ Executioner could have been so much more than it is. It is great as an anti-elite infantry killer, especially when paired with the plasma cannon side sponsons but its plasma profile is nothing special. Being able to add 1 to the hit rolls thanks to Gung-ho is good but most of the time you’ll not be wanting to waste shots on half strength units. I would have liked to have seen less shots on a stronger profile. I think that you’ll see more of these around than the Punishers while filling a similar role, as although they don’t kick out as many shots, they can take on a much wider range of targets. You’ll see a few of these around in the anti-infantry role.
The Leman Russ Exterminator has always been an odd ball in the Russ line up. It has never really had a place or a use, not good at anti-horde due to low shots, not good as an elite kill due to low AP, not good at vehicles or monsters due to low strength and the trend continues. While the Withering hail ability is useful by increasing the AP of subsequent attacks by other units, it really doesn’t make the Exterminator viable. You wont have seen these on the table top and your not likely to any time soon.
The Leman Russ Punisher is a great anti-horde vehicle, especially with its devastating wound special ability (against non vehicle or monster units). Tooled up with bolsters and a stubber, this thing can put out a substantial number of shots. It will however struggle against any sort of heavy infantry, monsters or vehicles, as it always has done. If you know that you facing a horde list, then one or two of these is a must but they are a niche vehicle that wont work a lot of the time. If you see a Russ heavy list, id expect one of these in there to deal with the infantry but otherwise i doubt you’ll see many.
The Leman Russ Vanquisher is your dedicated tank and monster killer, putting out a substantial amount of damage that few units will be able to ignore. Unfortunately it’s not enough to kill most things and no longer ignores invulnerable saves, meaning it can be stopped. It also suffered from being just a one shot weapon, meaning it’s just as likely to hit as it is to miss, not something you want when targeting a priority unit. The tank killer ability to re-roll wounds is useful, as even at S18 you’re still wounding lots of things on 3’s. Paired with a hunter killer missile and lascannon you have a good chance of doing damage but overall it’s still not quite the one shot weapon it should be. You’ll probably not see many of these around.
It seems that in this edition as with a lot of previous editions, the Leman Russ Demolisher is still the king of the Battle tanks and will be a familiar sight across table tops for many years to come. Some of the others have uses but none are as good as the demolisher for outright fire power.
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