Manticore Launcher Tank
The Guard has a Manticore. Your numerical superiority is irrelevant.
The Manticore is one of the least most subtle options the Imperial Guard has, second only to the compatible Deathstrike Missile Launcher. Imagine a Basilisk that whilst numbering only one unit, fires roughly as much firepower off as an entire artillery battery, and you get why this vehicle is dangerous. It has advantages in that one Manticore can deal about as much damage as an entire battery of Basilisks with a few lucky rolls, but disadvantages in that it both costs more, has less ammo, and is just one model, rendering it much more vulnerable. Woe betide the unlucky sap who has to face an entire battery of just three of these with his blob army. For they will surely erase his army off the face of the galaxy.
Overview
The Manticore is an MLRS of sorts; it has a battery of large missiles, which, when launched, scatter into a series of submunitions, raining down a clusterfuck-grade salvo of cluster (ahem) munitions over a huge radius. Whilst it suffers from limited ammo (a mere 4 shots and it flings one per turn) and the usual problems that come with artillery vehicles (weak armor from the sides/back, large minimum range, only other weapon a Heavy Bolter), there is not a single vehicle in the Imperial Guard that is more feared or loathed. Whilst many vehicles of this category struggle to earn their points back, the Manticore will routinely do so on the opening salvo.
Each Storm Eagle rocket from the Manticore is a barrage weapon that drops 1-3 (it uses a d3) S10, AP4 Large Ordnance Blast templates with the range of a Basilisk. Because each rocket will threaten virtually every basic infantry with instant death and has reasonably good AP, the Manticore is filthy rape to whatever has the misfortune of being on the receiving end - especially Dark Eldar, Eldar, Orks, Tyranids, SPESS MEHREEN Scouts, Tau, and Imperial Guard troops; even Necron Warriors aren't safe any more! Basically, if it's wearing less than powered armor, it's a good bet it just got raped when this thing hits.
Like all artillery, the Manticore is kind of inaccurate, and its randomized number of warheads means it tends to be a bit chunky in regards to whether or not it decides to cooperate. On the other hand, a lucky dice roll or two causing pair of these destroying the overpowering bulk of an enemy's force group first or second turn is not unheard of. If you use one of these, rest assured: the enemy will focus damned-near-everything on its destruction - often to the exclusion of all else.
Just try not to awesomeface when you wipe out 400+ points worth of Orks in a single barrage, or blow up the entire Tyranid army. In Apocalypse matches, seeing a fuckton of like thirty of these of these aren't that rare, and in one turn, this battery will turn the entire map into a fucking moonscape. When 120 Storm Eagle rockets start raining down upon you, you will know the meaning of pain... and let me point out that Iosif Stalin (who was quite bright on occasion, and always brutal) specifically forbade to use his ancient BM-8s and BM-13s in quantities of less a battery (and thousands upon thousands of rockets), instead outlining the sudden usage of said "fuckton" on a concentration of enemies, killing many and demoralizing and survivors, immediately before sending wave upon wave of men and tanks to grab what's left of the target area, so this "rape" tactic is older than you think. And, according to Soviet reports, it initially scared the shit out of their own troops.
CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!
A player in a major tournament in New York managed to pull off several bits of undiluted win when using Creed to Scout Manticores against Ork players, enabling them to perfectly get line-of-sight with the enemy army and fire off a barrage. This is widely considered cheese, but remains absolutely hilarious and is something that needs to be witnessed, if only once.
The Rebellion Begins
Due to this being an insanely overpriced model - even by the staggering standards of Games Workshop's notorious tendency to charge an arm, leg, and testicle for its miniatures - players have resorted to increasingly-clever methods for representing Manticores on the tabletop, the most common way being to either mod a Chimera APC, which costs about half as much, or to go the full Monty and using decidedly not-Games-Workshop miniatures in order to represent them on the tabletop. Considerable amusement and much rage from certain Neckbeards have ensued.
Some of the more infamous ones are shown below.
Gallery
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One of many mods of a Chimera. This one weds a rocket pod from a toy MRLS to a Chimera chassis. It works.
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A fairly clever Manticore made from a Chimera and a Whirlwind.
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