Land Speeder

From Warhammer 40k

The Space Marine Land Speeder is a light, flying vehicle used by the Space Marines for the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures game.

Land Speeders were introduced along with the other first edition Warhammer 40,000 vehicles, the Rhino and the Land Raider. The first Land Speeder model was made entirely of metal. It looked more-or-less like two flying seats in front of two large turbines. The Space Marine crew were entirely exposed. This early version of the Land Speeder was armed with a meltagun and a turret-mounted multi-melta. During this edition of the game, Land Speeders were not entirely limited to the Space Marines; The Imperial Guard had their own Land Speeders. The Imperial Guard Land Speeder model was almost-identical to the Space Marine version, except for weaponry. The Imperial Guard Land Speeder was armed with a hull-mounted heavy bolter and a turret-mounted plasma cannon, then-called a "heavy plasma gun".^[1][2]

When the 2nd edition of Warhammer 40,000 was released, Land Speeders were taken out of the Imperial Guard army list. From this point on, they were entirely Space Marine vehicles. The Land Speeder's second incarnation was released in 1993. This all-metal version added more bulk and armor to the vehicle, with pilots being less exposed in the front though not the sides. The meltagun and plasma cannon were replaced by an under-slung multi-melta and a heavy flamer fired by the marine riding in the gunner's seat. In 1997, another Land Speeder model was released for the Ravenwing company of the Dark Angels Space Marine chapter. This version replaced the standard Land Speeder's multi-melta with an assault cannon and the gunner's heavy flamer with a heavy bolter.^[3]

The current design of the Land Speeder was introduced in 1998 for the 3rd edition of the Warhammer 40,000 game. Unlike the previous models, this release was a completely plastic kit. The redesign of the Land Speeder made it appear sleeker, appearing less like two flying chairs with guns and more like a high-heeled shoe with wings... and guns. The pilots are almost entirely enclosed. Stabilizers and a spoiler were also added to make the vehicle look more aerodynamic. In line with the changes to the Land Speeder's profile in the Codex: Space Marines source book, the weapons that were included in the kit were changed once more. The boxed set contained a multi-melta and a heavy bolter, only one of which could be mounted onto the speeder. Several variants were also released, using the same plastic model but including additional metal weaponry. The third edition of the game was the first time that Land Speeders could be fielded as squadrons of up to three, although the Tornado and Typhoon variants could only be fielded as individual vehicles.^[4] With the release of the fourth edition Space Marine codex, players were allowed to field different Land Speeder variants in the same squadron.^[5]

According to the game's background, the Land Speeder gets its name from Arkhan Land, the techpriest who rediscovered the STC template containing its designs. As the Land Speeder's STC was discovered after the events of the Horus Heresy, the Land Speeder is not available to the forces of the Chaos Space Marines. Land Speeders are often used as fast-response units, quickly dropping down from orbiting transports to add their firepower to the Space Marine forces on the ground. In fact, this is seen in action in the introduction movie of the Dark Crusade expansion for the Dawn of War computer game.^[6]

The Land Speeder appears in several other games outside of Warhammer 40,000. Land speeders are available as fieldable units for the Epic large-scale battle tabletop game for both the third and fourth editions, similar in design to the corresponding Warhammer 40,000 version.^[7]

Land Speeders have also been featured in Chaos Gate and Dawn of War, computer games based on the Warhammer 40,000 franchise. The Land Speeders in Dawn of War are Land Speeder Tornadoes that are slightly different from the ones in Warhammer 40,000. They are armed with twin-linked assault cannons under-slung and twin-linked heavy bolters that are fired by the gunner.^[8]

[edit] Variants

Over the years, numerous Land Speeder versions have been released with a wide array of weapon combinations. To accommodate these various incarnations, the Land Speeder entry in the Space Marines' army list allows several upgrades to the common single-weapon-armed Land Speeder. In addition, there are a few Land Speeder variants that have gained rules of their own.

• The Land Speeder Tornado is a much more heavily-armed Land Speeder. The designation was originally created to accommodate the metal Land Speeder models released for the 2nd edition of Warhammer 40,000 in 3rd edition Space Marine armies. Tornadoes are essentially Land Speeders with a second weapon underneath, corresponding to the speeder's main weapon. Land Speeder Tornadoes armed with a heavy bolter have an under-slung assault cannon while multi-melta-armed speeders are armed with an additional heavy flamer. These two incarnations corresponded to the Dark Angels' Ravenwing Land Speeder^[3] and the standard second edition Land Speeder.
• The Land Speeder Typhoon was first released in 1999 as a plastic and metal kit based on the standard Space Marine Land Speeder. The rules for the Typhoon were actually released a year before in the 3rd edition of the Codex: Space Marines source book. The Typhoon sports two metal missile racks mounted on both sides of the plastic speeder model. In-game, they fire as a Typhoon missile launcher, an anti-personnel missile launcher that is best used against lightly-armored enemy infantry.^[9]
• The Land Speeder Tempest is a heavy-armoured variant of the standard Land Speeder released by Forge World as a resin-kit for Warhammer 40,000. The model itself incorporates many changes to the standard speeder's design. The Tempest's single-pilot cockpit is entirely enclosed and instead of small stabilizers, full wings extend from the sides of the speeder. It is armed with a nose-mounted assault cannon and twin missile racks along its sides. The rules for the Land Speeder Tempest were first published in Forge World's Warhammer 40,000 source book, Imperial Armour Update: New Vehicles for Warhammer 40,000. In the game's background, the Tempest was originally developed for use by the White Scars Space Marines, a chapter known for their use of lightning-fast raiding tactics. The Tempest is perfect for supporting such raids with its anti-tank missiles and its infantry-shredding assault cannon.^[10] It is featured in the Dawn of War expansion Soulstorm as the Space Marines flying unit.
• The Ravenwing Master-Crafted Land Speeder is a unique variant of the Land Speeder ridden only by the master of the Dark Angels chapter's 2nd company, known as the Ravenwing. The Master of the Ravenwing's speeder is heavily armed with twin-heavy bolters and twin-linked assault cannons, similar to the Dawn of War version above. In addition, the specialized speeder is equipped with superior targeting equipment and a protective shield generator. The Master of the Ravenwing model kit was released in 1999 by Games Workshop to coincide with the release of the Dark Angels codex.^[11]

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