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Chimera

From Warhammer 40k

The Chimera is the standard armored personnel carrier of the Imperial Guard.

It can carry a variety of heavy weapons in its gun turret, such as heavy bolters, Autocannon and Heavy Flamers, although the Multi-Laser is the most common weapon. It also mounts a hull-mounted Heavy Bolter or Heavy Flamer, and 6 hull-mounted Lasguns on the sides which can be fired from the passenger compartment, making it akin to a modern infantry fighting vehicle. It can carry up to 12 men. The Chimera has amphibious capabilities, allowing it to take part in naval assaults.

[edit] Derivatives

The Chimera chassis is the basis for many other Imperial vehicles.

[edit] Variants

There are three specific close variants of the Chimera:

  • The Chimedon replaces the gun turret weapon with a Battle Cannon.
  • The Chimerax has four linked Autocannons in the turret.
  • The Chimerro is the standard pattern Chimera with a 'Hunter-Killer' missile mounted on the turret in addition to the Multi-Laser.

They saw official release in Citadel Journal Issue 11 (1995). That was in the middle of 2nd Edition, where players were denied the chance of scratch-building their wehicles (you had it in the first edition). These versions were never intended to be sold as a kit, rather they gave a detailed how-to guide for building them, as well as points costs and statlines. All versions retained the Amphibious capabilities of the Chimera.

  • The Chimerax was by far the most widespread version. It was a stopgap measure intended to be used as an AA-Tank, that could carry a squad of guardsmen for close support. While the Quad-Linked Autocannons were an epic faliure against aircraft they proved more than capable of supporting the ferried troops. In gaming terms it was armed with 2 twin linked autocannons that counted as a single weapon, so they had to fire on the same target. This was the prelude to the Hydra. The only (and real) difference between the Hydra and the Chimerax was the fact, that the Hydra actually HAD a chance of hitting a skimmer, while the Chimerax never had this chance. I also remember it was quite effective against light infantry. The conversion was based on the SM Dreadnought Twin Autocannon arms, and the turret was rebuilt using plasticard.
  • The Chimedon was a stop-gap measure for a light tank, that is not the Hellhound. Back at that time IG players had 3 tanks at their disposal: The Hellhound was a dedicated Anti-fodder tank, the Leman Russ MBT, and the Leman Russ Demolisher for close range support. The Chimedon was an APC that could mount a Conqueror cannon in it's turret for added firepower. A Chimedon could further upgrade it's Conqueror Cannon to a Battle Cannon, but the stronger recoil had the chance to seriously damage the vehicle itself upon firing the gun.
  • The Chimerro was described as one of the two following versions: it either has a single 'Hunter-Killer' launcher tube attached to the turret and an automated reloading system (which makes it _VERY_ difficult to manufacture, so it is rarely used) or a rack of 8 (2*4) old style cubic box launchers on the top of the rear hatch.

While the first version still retained the top hatch, it was a nightmare to keep it in proper working order, so it was rarely used. The second version was more common. In gaming terms it had the ability to fire one 'Hunter-Killer' missile in each turn.

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