Ragnarok Heavy Tank

Astra Militarum Portal

This article is about the Tank; for the Space Wolves Battleship, see Ragnarok (Space Wolves).

Ragnarok^[2]

The Ragnarok was a heavy tank first developed on Krieg during its civil war to meet the specific challenges of the time.^[1]

With both sides caught in a stalemate, it became increasingly clear that the war was turning into a battle of attrition and that the winner would be the side with the most troops and guns. As the Leman Russ Battle Tank became increasingly rare and ill-suited to the sulphurous battlefield which was no-man's land, the Ragnarok was conceived to take its place: a tank that didn't need to be fast, as long as it could traverse treacherous terrain, nor one with long range, as visibility beneath the pollution-clouded skies of Krieg was short, but most importantly as simple to construct as possible.^[1]

After its development in the New Wulfram ordnance plant,^[4b] Colonel Jurten was able to conduct the first field test in 442-444.M40.^[4c] The resulting vehicle was a slab-slided monster, armed with a Ragnarok Battle Cannon, a hull mounted Lascannon^[3] and two Heavy Stubbers which can be switched with two Heavy Bolters^[3], but performed exactly as required. Since the civil war the Ragnarok has been recommissioned by other units, most notably the Baran Siegemasters, who refer to the machine affectionately as the 'Mk 1 Mobile Bunker'.^[1]

The Krieg 43rd Siege Regiment used this vehicle during the Octarius War. Despite not mentioning its name, Inquisitor Ven Bruin looked at a vehicle he described as an unwieldy, ancient-looking monster, barely more than a cannon jammed atop a pair of tracks. He remembered Krieg had been forced to improvise during its civil war.^[4a]

Images

• 

  Ragnarok Heavy Tanks and Siegfried tanks of the Death Korps of Krieg attacking a Gargantuan Squiggoth (Epic scale)

Trivia

The following information is not to be regarded as officially sanctioned and/ or is not written from an in-universe point of view. A detailed explanation of the term "Trivia" as used in the Lexicanum can be found here.

• This pattern of vehicle is named for Ragnarok, the "twilight of the gods" from Norse mythology.
• The vehicles appearance is mostly likely based off of the Kliment Voroshilov Model 2 tank.

Sources

• 1: Epic Swordwind, pg. 32
• 2: Citadel Catalogue - Specialist Games 2009, pg. 21
• 3: The Fall of Medusa V: An In-Depth Look at Dave Taylor's Vostroyan Army (archived page, last accessed via Wayback Machine 5th June 2022)
• 4: Krieg (Novel)
  • 4a: pgs. 26-27
  • 4b: pg. 256
  • 4c: pg. 262