Helsword

''"Burn away the unclean, set alight the foul, and illuminate this darkest of nights!" -'' Unknown

The Helsword is a super-heavy main battle tank and variant of the Shadowsword tank-hunter and Titan-killer tank used by the Obsidian Guard Legion. It began as a field modification of the Stormlord but after widespread initial success purpose built Helswords were constructed by the Tech Priests of the Tuisto Forge Moons.

Origins
What separates it from the far more common Stormlord is the replacement of the typical Vulcan Mega-Bolter by an Inferno Cannon, a flamer weapon of massive size and lethality. A humorous twist of fate is that the Helsword was never meant to be a mass-produced frontline war machine but rather something handed to rear echelon units during the Ullanor Crusade to purge conquered planets of Ork spores to prevent the greenskins from plaguing Imperial settlements.

During the Five Ruins when the Traitors began employing their Daemonic Allies the Helswords demonstrated exceptional effectiveness against the denizens of the Warp. This fact did not escape the notice of Lukas Keath, Primarch of the Obsidian Guard, who requisitioned as many of the vehicles for his legion's use as possible. As had always been held by the Tenth fire is a remarkable weapon against soft targets, which the Daemons could safely be described as. Hordes of filthy warp creatures met their end beneath the searing wrath of the first generation of Helswords. Immediately Lukas dispatched one of them to his allies on Tuisto and bid they begin large scale production of the vehicle for the Obsidian Guard. At the Sacking of Terra squadrons of Tuisto-built Helswords valiantly charged and laid waste to the servants of the Ruinous Powers. Countless thousands of daemons were burnt to a crisp or crushed beneath the rolling fortresses before their promethium reserves ran dry and they wheeled back. Many of the brave crews did not return from these sallies but the time they won for other Imperial forces was invaluable.

Main Armament
Inferno Cannon

Secondary Armament
Hull Mounted Twin Linked Heavy Bolter

2 Top Sponson Mounted Lascannons

2 Sponson Mounted Twin Linked Heavy Bolters or Heavy Flamers

Tertiary Armament
Pintle-Mounted Heavy Bolter, Heavy Flamer, or Multi-Melta

Crew
Commander

Driver

Primary Gunner

Secondary Gunner

Passenger Capacity
20 Astartes in Power Armor or 10 Astartes in Terminator Armor

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