Horus Heresy Review: Legion Typhon Heavy Siege Tank

As one of the cheapest Lords of War entries in Heresy Era gaming (only the Malcador is cheaper), one has to question from the outset why it is so. A cursory inspection of the stat line reveals part of the reason: only 2 structure points (compared to 4 on the Fellblade!). The other aspect is a general lack of secondary weapons. Hence this is one investment that the controlling player will want to take a care of.

In brief, its best to think of the Typhon as a kind of expensive Land Raider -- this is reinforced by its physical appearance and chassis, which it shares with the Spartan. But: with only the Dreadhammer cannon, it is perhaps more akin to a super-vindicator in some ways.  As the only standard (and the primary) weapon on the tank, the dread hammer cannon is powerful, but severely low range if the tank moved. And rest assured: we would want to be moving the tank.

Why do we want to move the tank? Well, it crushes everything in its path. Its a juggernaut! It laughs at difficult terrain, and eats dangerous terrain for breakfast. They just don't affect it. Moreover, anything it rams gets a full S10 AP2 hit on it at all times. Even if it moved the length of a grot's forearm. It is this aspect that really appeals to me and to a wicked sense of play style I've developed!

Here are a few builds to think about.

Legion Typhon Heavy Siege Tank.
Naked. That's right: no upgrades. Go for it, since you always wanted to field a Lord of War, right?! But bear in mind the above caveats: it is still one of the weaker Lords of War.

Legion Typhon Heavy Siege Tank, heavy bolter sponsons, pintle-mounted heavy bolter, armoured ceramite (405 points)
This is a kind of "dakka" set up to ensure that the tank has a good complement of secondary weapons to bring to bear on the enemy.

Legion Typhon Heavy Siege Tank, lascannon sponsons, armoured ceramite, pintle-mounted multi-melta (430 points)
This set-up is an anti-tank one. If you're not killing things with weaponry, you're steam rolling them to death with your ramming. Take a hunter-killer missile to taste, or even replace the multi-melta with a havoc launcher for longer range pressure (particularly if everything else has havoc launchers -- they're beastly in great numbers!).