An Ultramarines Repulsor in combat
The Repulsor is an Imperial anti-gravitic main battle tank intended to provide armoured support for the Primaris Space Marines of many different Chapters.
The Repulsor, though clearly derived from the same Standard Template Construct patterns as other vehicles of the Adeptus Astartes, is the first heavily-armoured vehicle deployed by the Imperium of Man to make use of anti-gravitic technology since the days of the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium.
The Repulsor is manufactured by the forges of Mars under the command of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl, like most of the new wargear produced for the Primaris Space Marines. It is unknown whether Cawl incorporated recently recovered ancient technology to produce the design, or whether it emerged from his own mind as part of his radical turn towards the former heresy known as "innovation."
The Repulsor armoured transport is a deadly combination of manoeuvrability and raw brute force. Due to the turbine array at its rear, it has tremendous motive power, and it is held aloft by powerful anti-gravitic generators.
The Repulsor is so heavily armed and armoured that it does not skim over the landscape in the manner of a Space Marine reconnaissance craft like the Land Speeder, but instead crushes the ground below it. The tank grinds forward with a deep bass thrum, reducing rock to gravel and fallen bodies to smears of gore and powdered bone.
Repulsors are exceptionally tough. Boasting layered armour of ceramite and adamantium compounds, these vehicles shrug off the enemy's heaviest fire as they cut a relentless path into the middle of their battle lines. Then their hatches cycle open, allowing their towering posthuman passengers to storm out with guns blazing.
But the Repulsor is far more than a simple armoured transport, for it mounts a staggering variety of weapons. The Las-talon or Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon in the tank's turret blasts apart enemy vehicles that could conceivably pose a threat, whilst the extensive suite of bolter weaponry, Auto Launchers and Grenade Launchers lay down a storm of horde-killing firepower. The Repulsor can transport 10 Primaris Astartes in Mark X Tacticus Power Armour, or 5 Primaris Marines in the bulkier Mark X Gravis battle-plate.
History
A Repulsor grav-tank used by the Primaris Space Marine forces of the Ultramarines Chapter
For millennia Mankind had lost the secrets to constructing anti-gravity devices, which only a few relics from the Dark Age of Technology remaining. It was the discovery of an ancient STC by the famed Arkhan Land that led to a breakthrough in rediscovering and restoring this potent technology to the Imperium during the Great Crusade.
The ancient Mechanicum and its Adeptus Mechanicus successor was able to once more produce anti-gravitic generators and impeller units that -- while nowhere near as elegant or refined as those heretical technologies used by certain xenos species like the Aeldari -- were robust, reliable and could be adapted for use on a variety of hulls, from light reconnaissance craft like the Land Speeder right up to the Astraeus super-heavy grav tank.
After the opening of the Great Rift, with the direct sanction of both Roboute Guilliman as lord commander of the Imperium and the Fabricator-General of Mars, a select handful of chosen Tech-priests like Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl continued research and development into new anti-gravitic battle tanks with which to bolster the battle lines of the Adeptus Astartes.
Role
A Repulsor of the Dark Angels Chapter
The Repulsor is one of a number of new and more advanced patterns of military vehicles to have been created for deployment with the Chapters of Primaris Space Marines raised by Belisarius Cawl in preparation for the Indomitus Crusade begun by Lord Commander of the Imperium and Imperial Regent Roboute Guilliman after the birth of the Great Rift. The anti-gravitic ventral plates of the Repulsor came about through Archmagos Dominus Cawl's desire to create a transport worthy of his Primaris Marines -- a vehicle that could strike suddenly and repeatedly at the enemy until the day was won.
The tank he designed is indeed capable of traversing almost any terrain, even lava streams or lakes of boiling acid should the need arise. However, it moves little faster than the armoured behemoth of the Land Raider, for its power is directed more into the manipulation of clashing gravitic energies than forward motion.
Those that attempt to close with a Repulsor find themselves fighting against an invisible bow wave of energy that staggers and batters those nearby; due to the ventral plates being powered separately, this can even be directed by the craft's pilot to better effect.
Foes attempting to close with the Repulsor as a result find themselves leaning into a hammering downdraught of invisible force. Some are driven from their feet, pinned in place and unable to escape as the tank draws inevitably closer. By comparison, those Space Marines embarking or disembarking from the Repulsor are unhindered by the tank's gravitic energies, which are directed away from them with deft tweaks of the crew controls.
Multiple layers of ceramite and adamantium overlap to make the Repulsor's hull all but impervious to normal weaponry; even a direct hit from a missile will likely leave little more than a scorch mark on the heraldic colours of the tank's parent Chapter. So it bears the Primaris Space Marines inside to the front line in full strength, its side portals slamming open to allow a deadly assault of its own.
Developed as a heavy combat transport for the Primaris Space Marines, the Repulsor is unique amongst Adeptus Astartes battle tanks in that it is held aloft upon a thrumming cushion of grav-waves. Ventral plates upon the tank's underside project and direct these waves of gravitic force and, while they do not permit the Repulsor to soar into the skies in the manner of the lighter Land Speeder, they do afford it exceptional manoeuvrability for an Imperial tank. The Repulsor can traverse not only solid ground but also such extreme terrain as lava flows, acid lakes and frozen oceans with ease. Rubble and barricades are similarly no obstacle to this relentless vehicle, which simply hovers over the obstructions and keeps going.
With typical Imperial belligerence, the Repulsor crushes everything it passes over. Its gravity waves pound the ground beneath it to rubble, flattening enemy defence lines and collapsing trenches on top of screaming warriors. Those foes too slow to leap aside will be pulped beneath the tank’s mass, and even enemies attempting to charge in and attack the Repulsor at close quarters must force passage through a buffeting storm of gravity waves that is akin to launching an attack through an avalanche of furiously swung sledgehammers.
In terms of firepower, the Repulsor carries a veritable arsenal. Its turret mounts either a Las-talon, which can blast enemy tanks and war engines to ruin, or a Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon, whose ferocious hail of shots reduces swarming foes to gory paste in solar seconds. A menacing array of secondary weapon systems including stubbers, bolt weapons, grenade launchers and auto-launchers makes short work of any foe that approaches too close, and can swiftly eliminate threats from the ground and air alike as the tank advances.
Each Repulsor is capable of transporting 10 Primaris Marines within its armoured hull.
Deathwatch Service
A Repulsor of the Deathwatch Chapter in combat.
The Deathwatch Chapter received a substantial allocation of Repulsor tanks as part of the Ultimaris Decree in the Era Indomitus, and wasted no time in putting them to good use. In the first instance, these vehicles are deployed to increase the mobility and durability of Primaris Marine Fortis Kill-teams. They allow the Primaris battle-brothers to strike from unexpected quarters, bypassing enemy defence lines by hovering over seemingly impassable hazards to attack the foe's unprepared rear lines. So durable are Repulsor tanks that they can easily shrug off whatever weapons the foe levels at them, before laying down a squadron's worth of return fire in support of their disembarked passengers.
The watch master of Fort Obsidus, Astoren Korr, has proven especially adept in the deployment of these potent battle tanks. Faced with the hurtling Kults of Speed of WAAAGH! Wazdakka, knowing that his forces cannot hope to keep pace with the deranged Ork Mekaniaks and their high-speed war engines, Korr instead took to deploying spearheads of Repulsors in the onrushing enemy's path. With their spectacular firepower, these mobile roadblocks tear through the light Ork vehicles, while their grav-waves send those that get too close skidding and flipping into fiery ruin. In this way the Deathwatch have blunted several recent Ork assaults.
Armament
The Repulsor's turret-mounted Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon, pintle-mounted Ironhail Heavy Stubber and hull-mounted twin-linked Heavy Bolters
A Repulsor grav-tank is equipped with a Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon, a Twin Heavy Bolter, an Ironhail Heavy Stubber, an Icarus Ironhail Heavy Stubber, 2 Krakstorm Grenade Launchers, 2 Storm Bolters and Auto Launchers.
The Twin Heavy Bolter can be replaced with a Twin Lascannon, the Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon with a Las-talon, the Ironhail Heavy Stubber with an Onslaught Gatling Cannon, and the 2 Storm Bolters with 2 Fragstorm Grenade Launchers.
The Icarus Ironhail Heavy Stubber can be swapped out for an Icarus Rocket Pod, Storm Bolter or Fragstorm Grenade Launcher. The Auto Launchers can be replaced with 2 Fragstorm Grenade Launchers. The Repulsor's standard armament load-out can also be supplemented with an additional Ironhail Heavy Stubber.
Unit Composition
- 1 Primaris Repulsor
Wargear
A standard Repulsor tank is armed and equipped with:
- Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon (Turret-mounted)
- Twin-linked Heavy Bolters (Front Hull-mounted)
- Icarus Ironhail Heavy Stubber (Rear Hull-mounted)
- 2 Krakstorm Grenade Launchers (Mounted on the front of the turret)
- 2 Storm Bolters (Mounted on the sides of the hull, above the side doors)
- 2 Auto Launchers (Mounted on the sides of the turret)
Any Repulsor may replace its turret-mounted Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon with:
- Las-talon (Turret-mounted)
A Repulsor tank may replace its set of hull-mounted twin-linked Heavy Bolters with:
- Twin-linked Lascannons (Front Hull-mounted)
A Repulsor Tank can replace its pintle-mounted Ironhail Heavy Stubber with:
A Repulsor Tank can replace its rear hull-mounted Icarus Ironhail Heavy Stubber with any of the following options:
- Icarus Rocket Pod (Rear Hull-mounted)
- Storm Bolter (Rear Hull-mounted)
- Fragstorm Grenade Launcher (Rear Hull-mounted)
A Repulsor Tank can replace its 2 hull-mounted Storm Bolters with:
- Fragstorm Grenade Launchers (Mounted upon the sides of the hull, above the side doors)
A Repulsor Tank can replace its 2 Auto Launchers with:
- 2 Fragstorm Grenade Launchers (Mounted upon the sides of the turret)
A Repulsor Tank can also take the following additional weapon:
- Ironhail Heavy Stubber (Mounted Co-axial on turret)
Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications
The technical specifications of the Repulsor main battle tank have not yet been made available by the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Sources
- Codex: Space Marines (8th Edition) (Revised Codex), pp. 86, 161
- Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (8th Edition), pp. 87, 182
- Codex Adeptus Astartes - Dark Angels (8th Edition), pp. 57, 123
- Codex Adeptus Astartes - Deathwatch (8th Edition), pg. 49
- Gamesworkshop Webstore - Repulsor
Gallery
