Minervan Tank Legions
Minervan Tank Legions are Imperial Guard Regiments from Minerva. They specialise in armoured vehicles, and are in fact regarded as a model for other Imperial Guard Armoured Regiments to follow.[1]
Contents
Recruitment & Training
Minervan Tank Legions are mixed regiments, including men and women in roughly equal numbers. They also include a higher than average number of officers, with most of the Legion's armoured vehicles being commanded by a Lieutenant.[1]
Minerva has the industrial capacity to raise an entire Tank Legion every four years.[1]
Organisation
Imperial scholars believe that the Armageddon 1st Steel Legion was granted Minerva by Right of Conquest in M37, so it is little surprise that the Minervan Tank Legions are very similar to the Armageddon Steel Legion, the only differences being cosmetic details of uniform and vehicle patterns.[1][2]
The organisation of a Tank Legion is mostly the same as an Imperial Guard Infantry Regiment, with a single tank counting as equivalent to a squad of Guardsmen. Up to five tanks make a squadron and up to five squadrons make a company. These are supplemented by armoured infantry, mine-sweepers, artillery, and other support vehicles.[1][2]
Battle Style
Tank Legions officers have a firm grasp of tactics, and are noted for their victories over superior numbers. One-third of the Legions are fully amphibious, adding further tactical options.[1]
Weapons & Equipment
The tanks of the Minervan are of very high quality. They also include several innovative applications of existing designs, which increases the type of combat they can be involved in. These types of combat include night fighting, desert warfare and amphibious assaults.[1]
Notable Regiments
- The 1st Minervan Tank Legion were the first regiment founded on the planet. Imperial scholars debate how much it was based on the 1st Steel Legion.[1]
- The 10th Minervan Tank Legion were one of three regiments sent to defend Armageddon from Orks during the Third Armageddon War.[2] The 10th held part of the flank of the Imperial defences surrounding the Hive City of Death Mire. Taken by surprise and surrounded by Orks, General Belov ordered a break-out to rejoin other Imperial forces defending Death Mire. After five days of fighting the 10th finally broke out, but at a cost of over half their men and over three-quarters of their Leman Russ Battle Tanks.[2]
- The 217th Minervan Tank Legion was an amphibious legion, which was also dispatched to protect Armageddon. They fought with other Legions and Ocanon Phalanx Troops on the Plains of Anthrand. They won several victories against the Orks of Gazgrim, the Great Despot of Dregruk, before being reassigned to the coast of the Tempest Ocean to stop the Orks landing a beachhead there. The 217th partially submerged its tanks to form a cordon of mobile pill boxes to drive off the Ork assault.[1]
See also
Sources
- 1: Games Workshop - Force Dispositions of the Third Armageddon War - Minervan Tank Legions (archived from the original 12 December 2000, last accessed 15 April 2026)
- 2: Epic Armageddon, pg. 143
