Urdeshi AT83 Brigand

Having backed the Rampart terrain Kickstarter, I found myself sitting on two tanks. I did not like the design, and considered just selling them, but decided in the end to paint them up. And I am really glad I did. With some small modifications and a grungy paint job, they turned out very well, fitting into my PDF / renegade force with the non-standard, but still 40k look and feel. I magnetized the markings and commanders to allow the tanks to easily swap sides.

I also had some 3rd party inferno cannon things from an abandoned space marine army, which fit perfectly, giving me an alternative use of the chassis. Coming up with alternative variants of a base chassis is something I have found a lot of joy in, being somewhat of a thread head 🙂

The Urdeshi manufactured AT83 Brigand (Assault tank 83 tonnes) is the main battle tank in use by the Khai-Zhan planetary defence force, and as such, it was the most used tank in the early stages of the rebellion, before imperial guard armoured regiments arrived on the planet.

The Brigand is almost on par with a Leman Russ with a similar horse power ratio and protective profile. Offensively, it boasts a long-barreled 135mm cannon with auspex aided targeting systems and stabilizer, allowing it to engage targets effectively on the move. AP and HE shells allow the tank to engage both armoured and soft targets. It is however a less universal weapon system than the Leman Russ, and does not have the capacity to mount sponson weapons or a hull lascannon.

Variants

Where the Leman Russ is a very versatile vehicle, the Brigand has less known variants, pointing to an inferior design. On Vogen, at least one of the variants based on the AT83 chassis was in use, the XFT83, an experimental flame tank.

With a twin inferno cannon mounted in the place of the turret, the XFT was of great use in the brutal cityfights. While the tank has less promethium reserves than a standard hellhound, giving it a shorter useful combat presence before it must refuel, it has much better protection than a hellhound. The top mounted weapon allows it to engage targets from a hull down position. A hit to the promethium tanks also does not spell certain doom for the crew, as they are external.

Renegade use

As the rebellion gained traction, and PDF forces switched sides, a lot of Brigands ended up in the hands of the rebels, allowing them to launch big armoured offensives in the badlands and plains. In the later stages, with Imperial air power dominating, the stock of Brigands started to run low for the rebels, but they were still in use inside Vogen city, the ruined streets and confused frontlines allowing the rebels to minimize Imperial air power.