Ngurumo Nyekundu

True to their nature the XVIth Legion's ambush tactics were refined over the many years of the Great Crusade. the Ngurumo Nyekundu or 'Red Thunder' in Low Gothic, was a point of pride for the Legion, boasting some of the highest tank-on-tank kill rates of any other. Through a mixture of high-ground sniping positions, and well camouflaged ambush positions they can tear entire squadrons to pieces before the smoke from the first shot has settled. As a variant of the tried and tested predator tank it is an Armistos-Conul's dream thanks to it's shared design and simplicity, leading to their proliferate use. Though capable of limited close-range artillery support thanks to it's high elevation angle, it's reputation as a tank hunter is legendary. Often marked with dozens of stripes, each representing a vehicle-kill, crews keep tally of all who have fallen to their cannons.

Design
Created around the ever-popular Predator platform, the Ngurumo Nyenkundu adds it's name to the venerated list of variants created over the millennia. Not changed so drastically as to barely resemble it's progenitor, the Red Thunder appears thinner at first glance. Majorly due to the removal of the sponson weapons on each side, a keen eye will notice that the side armour is

thinner, giving a sleeker view as it consists of a single sheet of armour with little metalwork. Though the extra armour plating may entice other Legion commanders, it is mostly unused within the Stalking Leopards, as it would slow down the vehicle by a noticeable margin.

Armament
Limiting itself to it's main cannon and a storm bolter, the Machwro Pattern Cannon is the powerhouse that allows the Red Thunder to earn it's name. A product of the forge world of Machwro Yanaisha, this cannon was developed from the vanquisher cannon used by the Imperial Army. The singular, oversized barrel is akin to weaponry normally found on a small Knight-titan, but has been fashioned into the main armament for the Ngurumo. Taking up almost the entirety of the turret itself with it's loading mechanisms and support machinery, it can accurately and rapidly fire off a salvo of rounds thanks to it's five pre-loaded, rotary chambers. In fact it is normal practice for Leopards Tank Commanders to fire off all the weapon's rounds before immediately moving and retargeting an enemy. Using the natural pause to reload. This way they can reposition to avoid return fire while keeping the enemy wondering where they're being shot from.

As an advantage, all the normal space normally given over to the sponsons and their ammunition is instead utilised to house more of the large gun's rounds as well as several sighting and targeting systems. Extra internal ammunition storage has also been added, kept in several blowout racks due to their size and volatility. The unused space, now houses a much stronger turret, with actuators and hydro-pumps able to allow the gunner to make the minute changes needed when targeting at extreme ranges.

Ammunition for the Machwro may been seen as limited by others as the rifling limits what can and can't be loaded but this is seen as a perfectly reasonable trade off in the face of the extra accuracy and velocity gained from the hydro-chromatic inner coating. Mainly using a type of anti-tank around and a high explosive round, much like it's progenitor design in the Vanquisher.

Where it differs however is that each anti-tank round is a large, near- solid armour piercing shot, capped with several layers of armour-piercing plating and a singular small generator implanted within the base of the round. This generator is activated when the round has travelled a set distance after being fired, vibrating the armour-piercing metal layers in such a way that when they come into contact and pass through any dense material. The micro-shockwaves disrupt the atoms of the material, loosening them to allow it to pass through far easier, sending ripples through the metal that can tear gouges into armour plating.

It was noted that as the rounds struck enemy engines they would sometimes manage to resonate with the inherent frequency of the armour, resulting in an intense screech. This soon evolved into a joke amongst the Leopards tank crews, claiming that the enemy vehicles were 'singing to their death' often leading to gambling amongst rival crews to see who could make an enemy sing first, or sing the loudest.

Initially using the traditional Vanquisher style dart-rounds the Stalking Leopards would learn from the harsh campaign against the Megarachnids of 140-20 that there were many ways to pierce armour. Indeed they wouldn't just learn, but directly take from the aliens. As it turned out the armoured hides and scything blades of the voracious xenos contained a number of exotic materials that would be used to coat the head of the new anti-tank rounds in layers of armour.

Thanks to this new evolution in materials and armour-penetration, the Machwro and it's anti-tank rounds have even been known to damage the monolithic forms of xenos titans, blowing out chunks of armour and controls. Though it is oft-boasted amongst the Legion's tank-crews that they have scored a hit on a titan, there have only ever been a handful of confirmed cases of this and even fewer with the golden claw symbol of a titan-kill painted on their hulls.

Second to the anti-tank rounds, and carried in much smaller numbers are the high-explosive rounds. Kept relatively simple in nature they are large blocks of explosive charge made to take out lightly armoured infantry and exposed defensive positions with relative ease. These however are saved for the Ngurumo Nyekundu's secondary mission role as a light artillery piece. Able to raise the main gun thanks to the numerous supports and hydraulics in the turret, the cannon can lob shells to even further distances than it's normal anti-tank counterparts.

A significant issue in the vehicle's ability arises however, in the form of targeting. While the targeting systems for direct line-of-sight are substantial, the ability to calculate and accurately fire indirectly are sorely lacking. Without help from localised infantry with a target designator and uplink to the tank, it is seen as a waste of ammunition to even attempt fire missions. Even when a crew does have access to a marine feeding them targeting information, it limited in it's ability, but not misused.

Not large enough to cause the damage necessary to dislodge fortified bunkers like heavier artillery pieces, the Red Thunder is used to provide pinpoint accurate fire instead. Able to distract an enemy frontline by destroying communications lines or take out one small part of their frontline, they can distract an enemy long enough to allow Stalking Leopard infiltrators to exploit the diverted attention and gaps to carry out flanking manoeuvres or further ambushes. While not recommended for extensive use as an artillery piece, the extra strategic scope given to the vehicle is a threat that should never be take lightly.

Defences
Thanks to the overwhelming focus on both firepower and manoeuvrability the consequent downside was an extreme reduction in the standard armour afforded to standard predator tanks. The sides and rear of the vehicle have had the thickness of their metals reduced to just half of what it was before. Normally this would be unacceptable as one of the major elements of Astartes equipment is it's durability, but this weakness has been remedied in a number of ways.

What protection is offered on the sides and rear is optimised by the use of a single solid plate with no connective joints or imperfections to act as weak spots for enemies to exploit. As with most Imperial and Legiones Astartes vehicles the option of adding additional armour plating is available, usually layering it on top as spaced armour. Even this is seen as unfavourable by XVIth Legion commanders however, as the lost speed could mean the difference between life and death.

A more conventional method of increasing survivability has been to change the frontal armour plates of the tank itself. Retaining the original armour thickness on the front of the predator, this is the side most often seen by enemies when they recover from the initial salvo of rounds lancing into their formations.

While the armour itself is strong, it was changed so that the angle of the upper and lower glacis plates were far shallower, improving the likelihood that any hit against their surfaces would ricochet instead of penetrating. Indeed this would be proven true as the number of stories of Ngurumo Nyenkundu crews managing to avoid disaster as an enemy shot ricocheted grew with the the ongoing crusade. It must be noted that while this particular method did nothing to fend off energy-based anti-tank weapons, it was deemed effective enough to be adopted regardless.

The final defensive measure, as with many Stalking Leopard units, lies in obfuscation. The use of smoke launchers on vehicles is by no means new and it's defensive capabilities were not overlooked in this case. Carrying not just one, but two sets of smoke launchers, each set is capable of covering the front and sides with a thick, but quickly-dispersing cloud of smoke. This lack of permanence is in part to allow the gunner of the tank the ability to very quickly re-engage with an enemy as the tank lines up another shot.

To be able to use this several times is particularly handy in conjunction with the Stalking Leopards strategic tendencies, with some crews going as far as to modify their smoke systems to only let off a short burst to conserve them during protracted engagements.

Miscellaneous
Compared to the might of the Machwro Cannon and it's ammunition, the targeting system may seem simple but is no less a vital part to allow the tank to perform as one of the Astartes best tank hunting vehicles.

Directly mounted onto the side of the turret itself a range of visual feeds are captured and fed to the crew within. Split between the gunner and the commander, the feed can switch through night vision, prey-sense, range-finding and magnetic detection systems to hunt down any hint of the enemy passively.

To help in the long-ranged sniping done the gunner also has access to a specialised pinpoint auspex that can be activated from his console. Specifically tailored for long-range combat the auspex fires a narrow beam wherever the gun is pointed, from here small movements, electromagnetic energy signatures, heat and exhaust identifying cogitations help locate any enemy that may be attempting to hide within the nearby area. Though this does provide an advantage, even able to detect the specific armour density and weak spots on another tank, the auspex is very obvious when being used. While not visually noticeable, the beam of electromagnetic energy it pulses out can very easily be spotted by augurs and auto-senses of any kind, drawing a line straight to the tank itself. For this reason it is used sparingly or when concealment has been abandoned all together.

Having already mentioned the robust system of supports and hydraulics used to help keep the Machwro Cannon stable, the auto-stabilisation system is a formidable thing to work reliably under such stress. Though it may be capable of keeping the cannon roughly on target even during it's five-round bursts, this system has specifically been designed to support the gun, rather than the vehicle.

Able to handle the immense recoil of the cannon firing, the tank suspension itself is nowhere near strong enough to allow the weapon to fire on the move. Perhaps with a target at closer ranges a gunner may have an increased chance of hitting while moving, they might have a chance but the tank as a whole has been built to 'move, stop, shoot' in that order. While this is a noticeable disadvantage it does take into account the extreme ranges or ambush tactics normally used that allow a Red Thunder tank destroyers to complete it's work according to Legionary tactics.

Starting as a trick used by tank commanders, the final element to be noted is a small, secondary plasma generator housed inside the tank's rear. Originally implemented by a tank commander linking his and his crew's power packs up to the tank's electrical systems, this generator supplements the regular engine while engaging in ambush tactics. Used as a stealth tactics, the tank to moves into position, shutting down it's combustion engines. From here it powers the remaining electrical systems from the small plasma generator. Using such a smaller power ource lets the tank avoid detection either by exhaust smoke or heat signature as it is housed within it's own metal casing.. This tactic does unfortunately mean that should the vehicle need to move the main engine must be started up, leaving the vehicle vulnerable for slightly longer than it would otherwise be. When used in conjunction with the Legion's ambush tactics however, it proves a easy decision to make to tear an unsuspecting enemy to shreds.

Notable Ngurumo Nyekundu Tank Destroyers
Kuumwa Na Afya – Of the Rakka Dagro Tribe

All Seeing Eye – Of the Orbikos Tribe

Helical Fang – Of the Wafal'Jitu Tribe

Wawindaji Wa Moto – Of the Orbikos Tribe

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