Sabre Tank Hunter

The rented version of the Cerberus. When you want to destroy a tank but don't want to waste on the points.

The Sabre Tank Hunter was a dedicated anti-tank hunter that was based on the Rhino chassis. It saw extensive use during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. Like almost every single thing in the 41st Millennium, those jackasses with the cyber dildos forgot how to make these things making the Sabre a rarity within the Imperium, although how exactly the AdMech forgot something as basic as cutting a hole infront of the hull and sticking a gun through it is a mystery, even more when you realize this is basically a Vindicator with the dozer blade and demolisher cannon swapped out. Made worse when you suddenly remember that not only would numerous worlds and forges suddenly have to forget it at the same time, but when the AdMech “forgets” something it magically becomes rare despite the fact that A) there should be a mega crapton of them already in the galaxy and B) the manufactoria producing them don’t need the schematics to just keep running.

Overview

It would seem that the Sabre would act as the middle child to the Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer, allowing to snipe enemy armored vehicles whilst using its smaller profile to hide within dense bushes or rocks. The Rhino itself was conceived to be easily modified to answer various specific needs like the Grimdark version of the Apple Iphone. Many Rhino variations have their origins during the end of the Great Crusade and the start of the Horus Heresy, when variations of existing vehicles to fulfill new roles became a necessity.

A Sabre with a Vanquisher Cannon.

The Sabre was one of these modifications, seeing its first use during the earliest days of the Heresy, its design spurred by the need for heavier firepower. The Sabre was one of the type of Rhinos modified during the Heresy wars to mount heavier weapons, this type becoming known as "Tank Hunters" for the role they played during the Heresy. Besides the Sabre, various types of Tank Hunter were developed, each mounting different heavy weapons, such as missile launchers or lascannon. However, the Sabre was the most common form of Tank Hunter due to the ease in which a Rhino can be built.

As with other Tank Hunters, the Sabre has particularly thick frontal shielding to protect it from enemy fire. Its main weapon is a fixed forward-firing Vanquisher Cannon mounted in its front hull. A bolter is mounted alongside the much larger vanquisher cannon. The Sabre has no capacity to transport troops due to the weapons taking up so much space. In addition, the Sabre can be trade its vanquisher cannon with a powerful Laser Destroyer that is mounted on the front hull and is off-set to the left side of the vehicle to provide increased stability and reduce the overall silhouette of the vehicle for enemy targetting sensors. The tank can also be equipped with a Siege Shield, much like the Vindicator, which gives it forwards protection from enemy attack. The Sabre can also be outfitted with a dozerblade if it lacks a Siege Shield, extra armour plating, a Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter, a Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher, improved communications equipment, a searchlight, and smoke launchers.

Sabre Strike Tank

The new and improved Sabre.

An updated version of the design (out of universe) has been released, titled the Sabre Strike Tank, offering a range of weapons from Volkites, Autocannon Batteries, and Neutron Lasers, along with sponson mounted missile launchers and the usual pintle mounted fun. Rather than a Rhino chassis, it seems to now be something between a Vindicator and a Sicaran, just on a much smaller one-man scale.

Overview

The biggest and most notable difference of this new Sabre is its size. This tank is tiny and quite smol. Whilst not a tankette like the Grot Tanks, it is vastly smaller than the Chimera or the Rhino, making the Sabre a light tank of sorts. As such, it is capable of being only operated by a single Space Marine; the Sabre therefore is a fast, rugged strike tank.

The speed of these vehicles allows them to evade any counter-attack and reform to strike at the vulnerable flanks of the enemy army, keeping the heavy armor suppressed. However, due to its small size, the Sabre could only mount its primary weapons on its front hull, greatly reducing its combat effectiveness. Nevertheless, it does come with a choice of top-mounted weapons – heavy bolter, multi-melta, volkite culverin or heavy flamer along with four optional sabre missiles.

The three primary weapons the Sabre is equipped with deals with three primary enemy types. For masses of light infantry, you could opt with the Volkite Saker which should do a fine enough job at dealing with these pesky MEQs and GEQs. For light to medium vehicles, the Anvilus Snub Autocannon should have the appropriate punch and fire rate to turn them inside out. Finally, for those big-ass tanks and monstrous creatures, you could use the Sabre Neutron Blaster to turn these units into molten Swiss cheese. Due to their relatively cheap price, you could theoretically have a squadron of three to deal with almost all units save for flyers.