Vindicator

A Chaos Vindicator, when daemonically possessed, also known as rape.

The Vindicator is a Siege Tank, and widely considered one of about two good ideas that Roboute Guilliman has ever had. Functionally a massively bulked-up Rhino Transport whose transport capacity has been omitted for ammunition storage, extra armor, and a formidable main weapon - a Demolisher Cannon - the Vindicator is a close-range powerhouse. When it comes to breaking through the reinforced walls of a citadel, destroying squads with a single devastating explosion, or blasting foes out of cover, the Vindicator is brutally uncomprimising. Just about every Space Marines army (Loyalist and Otherwise) can find a use for the damned thing, and any sane player fears this thing's ability to devastate anything from a tank to a line of infantry in a single high-explosive-packed shell.

Overview

The Vindicator is one of those vehicles that doesn't seem terribly good until you actually see it in action. To many newer players, the Vindicator is extremely deceptive; its short range (24" - same range as a Bolter or Lasgun) means it fires infrequently compared to more conventional tanks, its armor on everything except its front is meager, and its "A Rhino With a Gun" appearance tends to draw people into a sense of security. In truth, however, it's potentially the most threatening vehicle on the battlefield if used correctly; one single shell from it can completely change the outcome of a given mission by turning a high-value target or squad into a crater. In general, the Demolisher Cannon the Vindicator fires - a Strength 10, AP2 Ordnance Blast weapon - will come remarkably close to earning the Vindicator's points cost back with one shot. If it can survive to fire off multiple shells, the amount of punishment it can crank out far exceeds many other vehicles of its points-cost.

Inexpensive, powerful, and incredibly dangerous to ignore, its main drawback is that it's a colossal fire-magnet and that enemies experienced with them will devote enormous amounts of firepower to the Vindicator's removal, or spend the entire game doing their damnedest to get the fuck away from the things. Its fragile side and back armor means that it usually is fairly easily disabled and/or destroyed if outflanked, though the Repair rule can somewhat mitigate cases of the latter.

Variants

Vindicators are used by both the Loyalist and Traitor Marines, seeing more use with the latter due to the Chaos Marines' version being a hell of a lot better for the faction fielding it. In addition to obvious upgrades, like Extra Armor, the Chaos Vindicator can pack a Combi-Weapon (Bolter, plus a one-shot secondary weapon, useful for that initial rush into combat), can mount a Dirge Caster (-1 Ld to enemies during Tank Shocks), and most notably, a Havoc Launcher, which lets the Vindicator fire off a long-range weapon for when it can't move into close-combat. The king of upgrades for it, by and large, however, is Daemonic Possession, which elimitates Crew Stunned and Crew Shaken results entirely, but reduces the Vindicator's BS to 3. Any Vindicator with this upgrade is virtually guaranteed to last long enough to get a shot off, and will be a daunting foe whilst it lasts.