Warhammer Empire Steam Tank

[Flaviana Bresee]

ASteam Tank is a monstrous, smoke-belching, steam-driven Imperial war machine that rumbles towards the enemy like a mobile fortress and fires deadly cannonballs from its steam-powered cannons to crush all those that stand against the Empire.[1a]

Steam Tanks were first designed by the famed Tilean inventor Leonardo da Miragliano, who adapted the use of Dwarf steam technology to power the pistons and gears that drive the wheels of the steam tank forward.[1a][20]

The Steam Tank is powered by a pressurised boiler that siphons steam through a complicated network of pipes and pistons. All of the existing tanks in the service of the Empire were designed by the famed genius Tilean inventor Leonardo da Miragliano in the early 21st century IC.[1a] The Steam Tanks are the most confounding puzzle known to the Imperial Engineers School, for after the inventor's death, the secrets of their construction were lost with him and the Empire's engineers have so far been unable to successfully construct any new steam tanks.[1a][9a] Only eight steam tanks remain in the early 26th century IC, all the others having been destroyed during testing or in battle. The war engines are somewhat unreliable, and only rarely can all eight be persuaded to run for a single battle.[1a]

Tilean engineers have also produced a prototype for a new Steam Tank based on the work of the eccentric Imperial genius Aleksander von Helsing, named the Ricardo Barolo after the Prince of Miragliano Ricardo Barolo who funded its creation. It was built in Miragliano and used to defeat the rival city-state of Trantio, proving to be an unstoppable weapon. Unfortunately, it was damaged by its own experimental propellant, which proved to be an imprisoned Beastmen Bray-Shaman who summoned a horde of Khornate Daemons during the siege of Trantio in his thirst for vengeance.[16a]

Currently, the College of Engineering of Nuln is developing a new steam tank, after the recent collapse of the college's original building destroyed some highly unstable prototypes. The new prototypes aim to require less fuel to operate, allowing them to be more useful for protracted conflicts on the battlefield.[12a][13a] However these efforts were thwarted in 2499 IC, when the school and their Steam Tank prototype were razed to the ground under suspicious circumstances. Nonetheless, the engineers of Nuln are working on a new version known as Old Red, which has yet to be field-tested.[14a]

As the Steam Tank is brought to bear, the advance of these ironclad behemoths is terrifying to behold, as arrows ricochet from the armoured hull and enemy warriors are crushed beneath its immense bulk. During battle, the tank is commanded and driven by a senior engineer who manages and directs the steam from the boiler to the tank's mechanisms. Should too much pressure be allowed to build in the boiler, it may rupture with catastrophic effects.[1a]

The most common steam tank variant is armed with a steam-powered cannon in its hull and a steam gun mounted in its turret. Though the steam cannon is smaller than the Great Cannons used by the Imperial armies' artillery batteries, the manoeuvrability and protection of the Steam Tank more than compensate for the main cannon's comparatively shorter range and diminished firepower.[1a]

During his lifetime, Leonardo da Miragliano constructed only twelve Steam Tanks.[19a] Four of these are lost or irreparably wrecked, and all attempts by Imperial engineers to replicate Leonardo's genius have met with failure.[14a]

Tracing the 500-year histories of the remaining eight Steam Tanks is no easy prospect. Each has been repaired, refitted, and rebuilt so many times they scarcely resemble Leonardo's originals, and many have been renamed to commemorate battlefield victories or improvements made by gifted engineers. The record below is the Imperial Engineers School's best recollection of these mechanical marvels remaining under their stewardship.[14a]

In a Designer Round Table for the specialist wargame Warhammer: The Old World published on the Warhammer Community website, the possibility was discussed that there were more than the original twelve Steam Tanks constructed by Leonardo da Miragliano that are now lost, and that the number twelve had just been a legend.[18] In the finished product, however, the lore that only twelve Steam Tanks were ever built by the great inventor remains unchanged.[19a]

Steam Tanks are monstrous, smoke-belching creations that rumble towards the enemy, firing deadly cannonballs from their steam-powered guns. A thick, armoured skin protects the whole Steam Tank and the advance of these iron behemoths is terrifying to behold; arrows and sword strokes rebound harmlessly from hulls and enemy warriors are crushed beneath their immense bulk. Steam Tanks are armed with a steam-powered cannon that can fire a spinning ball of iron whirling into the foe's ranks. A turret-mounted steam gun is also standard, which can engulf nearby enemies in great gouts of scalding steam.

A steam tank is a unique piece of equipment that can leave many players confused as to its optimal use, combining a cannon with a slow moving, unbreakable chariot. Being a single entity model, steam tanks do not have the same long-range firepower of a great cannons battalion, but can still provide decent chip damage when firing at elite enemy infantry such as black orcs. Unlike other artillery, steam tanks are designed to be part of the frontline and perform best when embedded with infantry for protection, in much the same way as is typically done with monstrous infantry. They can help hold the line with basic infantry troops while adding fear and terror to the enemy, which can often lead to brief respite for your frontline and allow ranged units to get more shots in as an enemy unit routs.

The steam tank also has a smaller mounted steam gun which appears to have unlimited ammunition, and fires at a much closer range in a 360 degree arc. This allows firing on enemies whilst moving away from them. In addition, steam tanks are capable of ramming enemy infantry when they get into melee. With exceptionally high armour and terror routing capability, steam tanks excel at damaging and breaking masses of low-leadership infantry like often encountered when fighting orks and Beastmen. They are also very useful, like most single-entity units, for sending alone into enemy infantry, causing them to "blob" up for easy targeting with vortex spells and other AOE damage abilities. This should eviscerate the infantry whilst leaving the steam tank relatively unscathed.

The biggest threat to the steam tank comes from armour piercing damage, and particularly hostile single entity units. Steam tanks do not last long against a Dragon Ogre Shaggoth or giant wailing away on it. Powerful heroes with armour piercing damage (like Grimgor or Archaon) can make extra short of work of it, although in reality most heroes can be a significant threat. It is relatively small and low to the ground compared to other single entity units, so it has a degree of protection against armour piercing arrows due to their parabolic arc, and enemy artillery can usually be dodged thanks to its speed. The same cannot be said of enemy gunpowder troops, so deal with these as a priority.

Ultimately, despite its lack of buffs, the steam tank is best used to support the main army, assisting in multiple areas, being a jack of all trades, master of none. Like most Empire troops, the steam tank shines when used in combined-arms forces, so will not perform spectacularly on its own, a fact that sees it often overlooked. Whilst it will not have the same knockout blow potential as something like a Mammoth would, it can aid your army at every stage of a fight and arguably prove more impactful over the course of an entire battle.

Completed the Reikland Gambit scheme as the Changeling using the Ravaging Host building on Altdorf in Immortal Empires. The scheme completed successfully and gave progress to the grand scheme but when I tried to recruit the Steam Tank ROR it didn't appear in the ROR recruitment panel. Notably it wasn't a greyed out option in the panel like the Feral Carnosaur or Cold-Voider was, it just wasn't there at all. I tried again on Immortal Empires using both the Ravaging Host and sacking Altdorf directly with the same results; scheme completed, no Steam Tank. For completeness sake I tried it on the Realms of Chaos campaign as well using the Ravaging Host (that's the screenshots below). No luck there either.

To reproduce the issue I'd imagine you'd just have to start a Changeling campaign and try to sack Altdorf using either method described in the Reikland Gambit. If it matters I'm playing on Steam and don't own TW Warhammer 1 and thus don't have access to the complete Empire faction.

So, an update. I've realized the source of the issue and how to, well, not fix it but at least get rid of it on my end. I couldn't find anyone else who had this, frankly, pretty noticeable issue except one guy on the steam forums from October, and they mentioned they also didn't have any of the empire factions. Putting two and two together I purchased The Grave & The Grim giving me access to an empire faction. I loaded up a Changeling Immortal Empires save I had that was one turn out from completing the Ravaging Host in Altdorf, and on the next turn the scheme completed and this time it gave me the Steam Tank ROR.

I would like to point out though that I don't own any Norsca or Lizardmen factions but I can recruit the Cold-Voider and Feral Carnosaur (on IE at least) so I'm assuming this is still a reportable bug as it would kind of suck to have a feature of a DLC locked behind the paywall of a different game.

After the failure of his steam-powered Anchor of Solidity and his near drowning, Leonardo transfered his ambitions to to land based machines. He would vanish with his work unfinished, his sketches and designs lost with him although various versions of these have been found over the year - they are usually fakes. [5a]

3a8082e126