Editing Hammerhead Gunship (section)

==Comparison to the Leman Russ==
[[Image:Tau_Firepower_Demotivator.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Sniping tanks for the Greater Good.]]
'''"Shas'ui, I have spotted the Gue'la tanks sitting on the horizon line, six kilometers downrange! Engaging now!"'''
:Three seconds later* '''CLANG, KA-BOOM!''' ''The Leman Russ spontaneously explodes''. Followed by return fire from either Vanquishers, Heavy Vanquisher cannons, or Earthshaker artillery.

Design-wise, it's interesting to note that while the Russ looks like (as the [[Leman Russ Battle Tank|Russ's 1d4chan article]] says) "A drunken three-way between an old [[Wikipedia:Mark V tank|British Mark-V]], a [[Wikipedia:M3 Lee|M3 Lee]], and a [[Wikipedia:T-34|T-34]]", the Hammerhead looks more like the love child conceived after a night of red wine between an [[M1 Abrams]] and the [[Wikipedia:Railgun#U.S._Navy_tests|U.S. Navy rail gun program]]. And then the child was spoiled rotten by Grandma [[AH-64_Apache_Attack_Helicopter|Attack Helicopter]].

Much like a cold war tank, the Hammerhead is low to the ground with good (if the model is any indication) gun depression (said to be from -10° to +28°), with a main gun that can be either anti-tank or anti-infantry depending on its firing mode, while the vehicle itself is respectably fast. To make a real life comparison, its role is more akin to a NATO tank than a Soviet one, as Western tanks from the 80's onward were built to take on superior numbers of Soviet tanks at extreme range. Unsurprisingly, Hammerheads are almost always drastically outnumbered by Leman Russes. (Who are the communists supposed to be here, again?)

Tactically the Hammerhead fills the same niche as a modern tank, an element supporting mechanized infantry advancing very, very quickly, and taking out armor while using its secondary weapons on infantry. The Ion cannon, when equipped, fills a role similar to a Bradley's chain gun by taking out light vehicles and armored infantry. While they do have pretty good armor, Hammerheads rely more on evasive maneuvers, disruption pods and straight up outranging their opponents to survive. By using technological tricks, tactics, mobility, and distance, a Hammerhead can survive two to three times more anti-tank fire than most Imperial tanks. The Leman Russ, on the other hand, functions much more like a World War II heavy tank and it shows; it's much slower and has a much broader silhouette, but it's bristling with guns and heavily clad in thick armor, while often (but not always) lacking more sophisticated defense systems.