An Eldar Dark Reaper Missile Launcher (Reaper Launcher)
A Reaper Launcher is a unique heavy weapon utilised exclusively by the Eldar Dark Reapers Aspect Warriors. With this deadly weapon the Dark Reapers are the undisputed masters of delivering death from afar. This long-barrelled Missile Launcher can create a blistering firestorm with a single salvo. The armour-piercing missiles it fires are powerful enough to take down all but the most heavily protected foe. Like most Eldar technology, the weapon is psychically activated, and its resonant Wraithbone construction is sensitive to the Eldar's innately psychic mind. A Dark Reaper's launcher is linked to its targeter via the handle. This creates a mind-link with the Dark Reaper's weapon, allowing the warrior to "see" out of the muzzle of the launcher. The resulting increase in their already deadly accuracy means it is almost impossible for a Dark Reaper to miss his target. Their superb aim enables them to dominate the battlefield, pinning down enemy forces and destroying their chosen targets at will. The Reaper Launcher's pan-spectral targeter operates independently of the user, finding and tracking multiple targets and feeding target information directly to the helmet display. It is likely that it can also differentiate between enemy and ally. Other functions are unknown. A Reaper launcher has less recoil and higher rate of fire compared to an Imperial Missile Launcher, and they enable small squads of Dark Reapers to command the battlefield with potent long-ranged firepower.
Notable Reaper Launcher Variants
- Tempest Launcher - A Tempest Launcher is an ancient form of Reaper Launcher utilised exclusively by Dark Reaper Exarchs. These launchers fire clusters of small Reaper Missiles in an arc. Whilst individually, they are weaker than standard Reaper Missiles, they have a significant area of effect to compensate for this.
A Torrent Reaper Launcher
- Torrent Reaper Launcher - The Torrent Dark Reaper Launcher makes use of a cylindrical drum for magazine-style loading of rapid-fire mini missiles. Increasing the ammo capacity of the standard reaper launcher significantly, but the added ammunition increases the weight of the weapon as well, despite the addition of anti-grav devices.
Sources
- Codex: Eldar (2nd Edition), pg. 10
- Codex: Eldar (3rd Edition), pg. 16
- Codex: Eldar (4th Edition), pp. 34, 66
- Codex: Eldar (6th Edition), pp. 36, 63
- Warhammer 40,000: Battle Manual (2nd Edition), pg. 71
- White Dwarf 172 (US), "The Eldar: The Path of the Warrior - Dark Reapers", pp. 5-16
- White Dwarf 138 (US), "Alaitoc Craftworld Eldar Army - Dark Reaper Exarch", pp. 20-29
- White Dwarf 127 (US), "Eldar" by Rick Priestley, Jes Goodwin, William King & Lindsey D. Le Doux Paton, pp. 13-52
- Warhammer 40,000 Eternal Crusade - Rogue Trader Store: Torrent Reaper Launcher