Editing Leman Russ Battle Tank (section)

==={{anchor|Vanquisher}}Leman Russ Vanquisher===
[[File:Leman_Russ_Vanquisher.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Leman Russ Vanquisher.]]

The Leman Russ Vanquisher has a variant of the Battle Cannon that ''usually'' one-shots enemy vehicles at long range (overconfidence killed the Guardsmen). If a Lascannon or Battle Cannon just isn't doing it for tank-hunting, and you don't really feel like grabbing a Melta, this weapon can fill the need. Unfortunately, the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] only made the [[Vanquisher Battle Cannon]] on one [[Forge World]], which got taken over by [[Ork]]s, so the only way to make new Vanquishers nowadays is to take the guns off of ruined Vanquishers and fit them on new Leman Russ chassis -- which happens a lot, because enemies who make use of tanks have learned to make Vanquishers a priority target. Because this is so onerous to do, especially for long campaigns, only the very best tank crews get to use Vanquishers, and they only deploy to zones where there are lots of tanks to be killed. The Mechanicus is trying to alleviate the shortage by <s>getting Mars to release its intellectual property</s> commissioning other Forge Worlds to reproduce the old cannons (see [[#Forge World Patterns|Forge World Patterns]] below), but progress is very slow.

The Vanquisher is so specialized as an anti-tank weapon that it can be argued that it's more a Tank Destroyer. A tank is a multi-purpose weapon, and the Leman Russ is a general-purpose tank, equally adept at blowing tanks or infantry apart. The Vanquisher, though, utterly [[RAPE|RAPES]] tanks. Normal Leman Russes are like Shermans, this is a Firefly. The downside of this tank, from a tabletop perspective, is that it doesn't have any blast effects from its main gun, so consider the Plasma Cannon options for this thing to make it a beast at killing Space Marines. However, when adding Pask, this tank can cause some definite rage (though you're better off putting Pask in a Punisher, give a Vanquisher the standard Tank Commander).

If you are having problems with those pesky Tyranid MCs, consider going for the double cheese and cheddar routine on Vanquishers; Forge World now allows Command Vanquishers to take beast hunter shells: specialized Vanquisher shells with the solid penetrating core replaced with a canister of weapons-grade toxic acids. In gameplay, it's a small blast that has the instant death special rule. Booo, you wanted even more Leman Russes? Take said Vanquisher as HQ tank in allied armoured battlegroup. With a squadron of Leman Russes as allied Troops detachment. Yes, you read that right. 13 Leman Russes in one battle.

Due to only having a single shot, the Vanquisher is actually mediocre at tank killing on the tabletop, and has remained this way for a long time. Sure it will deal a hefty blow if it hits, but chances are you're going to need to fire both the Lascannon and the Vanquisher Cannon to gimp a vehicle. Even this double-down is likely to leave most ''actual tanks'' in the game alive if injured; not ideal for what you're paying. You can alleviate the accuracy through a number of means but nothing save driving into Multi-Melta range will augment the killing power (why Russ tanks can't fit sponson Lascannons is a mystery for the ages) and getting that close has its own issues, like being in [[rape|Wraith Cannon range]]. An interesting note is old Forgeworld rules allowed this tank to fire a Vanquisher shell or a standard battle cannon shell identical to one fired from a Standard Leman Russ.

The fluff is inconsistent on this tank. Some mentions in canon claim it was solely produced on the Forgeworld Tigrus, which was lost to the Orks and all remaining Vanquishers are rare examples that are now Irreplaceable. Forgeworld's Imperial Armour Volume 1 mentioned this, however stated two rival Forge Worlds started production shortly after to fill the shortfall: Stygies VIII, and Gryphonne IV (the same Gryphonne IV that was later written as destroyed by the Tyranids in the 4th edition codex for laughs by the Game Workshop writers). Then Forgeworld (the company) produced the Mars pattern Vanquisher, along with the Macharius Vanquisher, Implying new Vanquisher cannons are in production. Wait, if there are more variants of the Vanquisher than there are of the Leman Russ and each Forge World has its own variant... [[Derp|doesn't this mean there are more Vanquishers than standard Russes?]] Although, All Forge Worlds give all knowledge to the Temple of All Knowledge on Mars (guess what it contains, yeah). So, Mars is capable of producing anything and simply chooses either not to due to space and resource limits and/or doesn't share the data with other Forge Worlds. Because cyborg politics are more important than ''not'' letting knowledge be lost or taken by hereteks forever. Morons. And hereteks. Since protecting knowledge and using it for humanity are part of their religion. And leaving knowledge to be solely possessed by hereteks or destroyed is extreme heresy. So, the Mechanicus is, by its own laws, practicing the worst heresies at all levels. Ooooh Inquisitor! I’ve got some blackmail for yoooou! It's also entirely possible Mars just made the stock Russ' cannon longer and rigged up an AP shell, as the various types of Vanquisher cannon all look different with the current pattern appearing the most primitive.

The inspiration for this variant of the Leman Russ was the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Firefly Sherman Firefly], who also had a long, tank-deleting, cannon that had performance problems against infantry.