Chimera

The Chimera is a monster from Greco-Roman mythology, described as a tripartite fire-breathing beast with the forequarters and head of a lion, the hindquarters and head of a goat, and a serpentine or draconic tail with a dragon's head. Exactly how that works out depends on the artist; perhaps the most iconic of real-world art depicts it as having a lion's head on its neck, a goat's head growing out of its back, and the dragon's head replacing the tip of its tail, but the most common modern depiction has the three heads sharing the same neckstump. It ravaged the land with its fiery breath until Bellepheron killed it by using Pegasus to fly out of range of the fire whilst carrying a lance with a big block of lead on its tip; he threw this at its mouth and the flames melted the lead so it poured down Chimera's throat and killed it.

In Fantasy Gaming

Chimeras show up in a lot of fantasy games. Weirdly, they tend to have wings and be fliers (though admittedly they're usually very clumsy at it), despite the fact that the original Chimera was landlocked and this played a huge role in its defeat.

They are particularly prominent in Dungeons & Dragons (and thusly Pathfinder), where they are capable of speech, but usually not very bright. All the ego of a Red Dragon and none of the brains, essentially.

Chimeras also appear in Warhammer Fantasy, where they are creatures of Chaos and so usually show up as mounts for the Chaos Lords.

In Warhammer 40000

Maybe you were looking for METHUL BAWKSES?

The Chimera Armored Transport is the Imperial Guard's main troop carrier, capable of transporting troops on the battlefield and giving them fire support.

Unlike the Rhino Transport of the Space Marines, the Chimera is an Infantry Fighting Vehicle, an infantry transport designed to transport men to where they need to be, then provide support fire and cover behind its armor. Remarkably survivable from the front and equippable with a wide array of weaponry, it has at least as much Infantry-killing firepower as 2 guard heavy weapon teams, as well as the ability to act as a mobile firepoint for guardsmen with Special Weapons that can shoot out from the vehicle. Adding both survivability and flexibility to an army that otherwise tends to be sluggish, the Chimera is a ubiquitous presence that finds a home in many Imperial Guard Army Lists.

Overview

The Chimera is one of the most important vehicles in the Imperial Guard's arsenal: it is a fast moving, amphibious vehicle capable of traversing terrain that even a Leman Russ would find impossible to cross (swamps, marshes and even the occasional river). When the enemy neglects to defend these positions because of their perceived obstructiveness, they can expect a squadron or two of Chimeras in their flanks or rear.

The Chimera has several uses: it can be an armored taxi of sorts where it rushes in between the front lines to insert and/or pick up units, and it can go to the rear to pick up new units and deliver them to the heart of the battle. If needed they can serve as moving barriers, providing troops cover while they engage the enemy. A third use is that they rush towards the enemy, shrugging off small arms fire as they deliver their payload into the most defended positions. The Steel Legions of Armageddon, one of the chief manufacturing planets for the Chimera, are fully mechanized and can move across the ash planes of their home world at frightening speeds.

The Chimera can mount a variety of weapons to support the squads they carry. The most common weapon associated with the Chimera is the Multilaser, a larger, rapid-fire version of the Lasgun, used to suppress enemy movement. This turret weapon can be replaced with a Heavy Bolter or a Heavy Flamer, and can field either of those two in its hull. Forge World gives the Chimera even more blasty power with the ability to replace the main gun with an Autocannon, turning it into a different breed of threat altogether. Each side of the tank features a row of three Lasgun turrets that embarked passengers may fire at enemy squads. For added punch against vehicles, it can also mount a Hunter-Killer Missile.

However, probably due to the current Imperial Guard Codex, not so many Guard players use them, preferring the SIGAOD (Shooty Imperial Guard Army Of Doom), which is better supported by the Imperial Guard's other transport, the Taurox or Valkyrie. Mech Guard love the fucking things though, since for the points-cost they're one of the best investments a squad can make. 220 points will buy four squads a dedicated transport option that essentially removes the need to carry either Heavy Bolters or Autocannons.

The other major use the Chimera finds is as a command vehicle; officers embarked inside can still issue orders, measuring their order radius from the tank's hull; this serves the dual purpose of increasing your order distance (since the Chimera is obviously larger than the man shouting orders from the hatch) and also keeping your HQ alive, since Guard HQ's are notoriously squishy.

One common trick with Chimeras is to, after unloading their passengers, form them into hunting packs (Soviet Bronegruppa IN SPACE) and have them roam around the battlefield pissing off targets of opportunity. with two long-ranged, rapid-fire weapons and surprising durability, they absolutely excel at punishing relatively anti-tank-light forces like the Orks and Tyranids.

One other tactic is to set a long line of chimeras across the board, screened by hellhounds and screening heavy support. This provides a multi-tiered AV12 line charging straight at the enemy. Combine this with Vendettas to destroy enemy Armour or Valkyries to flank. Alternatively, focus all of your chimeras into a wedge, driving them straight into the middle/weakest part of the enemy line. This will, provided the enemy hasn't gone all out in anti-vehicle, tank shock your opponent off the board, separating their army in two and allowing your Chimeras and heavy support to surround and mop up the rest of their army. Schwerpunkt their HQ to dust.

Genestealer Cults

With the latest release of the new revamped Genestealer Cult, it seems that certain generations of Genestealers was able to successfully infiltrate even the commanding office of the Imperial Guard (How the upper Imperial authorities and local Imperial paranoia failed to locate THAT kind of Heresy is unknown), and are thus, able to steal some Chimeras and hoard it in the gigantic sewers of an Imperial underhive. A Genestealer Chimera functions the same as a regular Chimera only with Genestealer insignia and the possibility in opening up a horde of troops that can eviscerate a Terminator like a present on Christmas.

Rules of Note

There are actually written rules that say this particular Metal Box is also a boat. Its Amphibious rule allows it to move across water terrain. This would mean that it could ram an Ork Submersible, or tank shock a Saharduin squad. Sadly, since nobody uses water terrain, plays apocalypse, or has more than one Saharduin model, Amphibious is a totally useless rule.

Another rule of note is the one that lets you use orders whilst riding in a chimera. This one's actually pretty useful.