Astraeus

By the time that I've sat down and had chance to write this, the Astraeus super-heavy primaris tank will be old news to many in the blogosphere. Regardless, I had a few thoughts from the video and writing that was released via the Warhammer community page that I wanted to jot down here.

Firstly, the link -- check out the Astraeus for yourself if you've not already done so!

Described by the Warhammer team themselves as a cross between a Sicaran, a Repulsor, and a Fellblade, its not hard to see why this tank blends these elements together in to a single vehicle. The macro cannons on the top of the tank are a force to be reckoned with due to the stats alone, and their presence on the top of the tank is highly reminiscent of the Sicaran itself. The use of the gravitation platform to keep the vehicle floating seems to be a recurring theme that is developing with both the (re)introduction of the Custodes and now with the Primaris marines. 

Although there are obviously other weapons on board this device of destruction such as the las-rippers on the sponsons, the main stand out is the defensive capabilities. This super-heavy is boasting some serious armour and defensive capabilities in terms of hosting void shields inside it. Indeed, it seems to have the defensive capabilities of a war hound titan from first glance. 

All together, this tank is a new evolution. Yet, in doing so, it seems to be breaking one of the fundamental constants that has been with Warhammer 40,000 for so long: the fact that no new technology gets designed and built since the grim dark of the far future is in a state of technological stagnation. Of course, this statement applies to other items such as the Primaris marines themselves and the other weaponry that have come along with them. I get the Guilliman has been preparing for this in secret, but I do wonder how the existent Forge Worlds might feel about all this new technology coming along. At least in terms of the grim dark dystopian narrative that has been with us for so long.

In terms of the model itself, I'm actually a bit of a fan of it. When the Primaris marines and their new transports came along I was a little bit sceptical. Yet for this tank, I really do like it. Somehow, despite the obvious things like the grab-technology all over and the over the top weaponry, it somehow just all works as a singular entity. The modellers have done really well to blend all of the aspects of the tank together in to a cohesive whole. Whist I will not be purchasing this particular model myself in the near future, I'm sure many people will be. I think it will perform very well indeed on many battlefields and will look glorious whilst doing so. Bring me my titan...