Leman Russ Battle Tank

The biggest pain in the ass, for points, a player will encounter when fighting the Imperial Guard, the Leman Russ Battle Tank is so reliable and hard-hitting that it is named for the rapetastic Space Wolf Primarch, Leman Russ. The Leman Russ is widely considered one of the most religiously useful vehicles the Imperial Guard have on the tabletop, boasting both heavy firepower and good utility; it is easily one of the best tanks for cost in Warhammer 40K tabletop, and its ability to rape Necron and SPESS MEHREEN players through judicious use of ordnance and weapons fire make this thing a complete pain in the ass to deal with. Heavy-as-hell front armor (Superior to all Space Marine tanks barring the Land Raider) and reasonable side armor make these a tough nut to crack (just don't let them get shot from behind), and the ability to fire their main gun (even if that main gun is an ordnance weapon) if they move slowly makes them capable of delivering serious punishment - and that's before their ability to pack on Heavy Bolters, Plasma Cannons, and Multi-Meltas is factored in.

At 500 Points, Fucking Cheese

A lot of players used to field nothing but low-level infantry squads and a Leman Russ, due to its low points cost, in 500-point games. This practice continues today (though it's more commonly seen with the Imperial Guard Manticore Rocket Launcher nowadays), and has been known to induce ragequits.

Shit got worse, boys. If the Imperial Guard was not balls-to-the-wall enough now, Leman Russes can be SQUADRONED in three's. Three Leman Russes per Heavy Support slot. NINE TOTAL.

Flavor of the Week

There are a dizzying number of Leman Russes with tons of different payloads. The most common variations seen in the tabletop game are as follows:

Leman Russ Battle Tank

The original boasts a hull-mounted Heavy Bolter and a Battle Cannon by default, the latter of which is widely regarded for its ability to fuck up squads of Space Marines and Necrons. It can swap the Heavy Bolter for a Lascannon and add a Pair of Heavy Bolters, Plasma Cannons, or Heavy Flamers in a set of sponsons, making it good for blasting the fuck out of just about anything that pisses it off.

Leman Russ Vanquisher

The Leman Russ Vanquisher trades out the Battle Cannon for a heavy-duty anti-tank gun that will usually let it one-shot enemy vehicles at long range. If a Lascannon or Battlecannon just isn't doing it for your tankhunting purposes, and you don't really feel like grabbing a Melta, this weapon will more than adequately fill the need. The downside is that it doesn't have any blast effects from its main gun (so consider the Plasma Cannon options for this thing).

Leman Russ Exterminator

This tank is so awesome that it was once part of the Space Wolves army list. If you aren't quite sold on the Hydra Flak Tank's ability to rape infantry and light vehicles, there's always the Exterminator, which uses a twin-linked Autocannon with a doubled fire rate as its main gun. One of several vehicles capable of driving Ork players into a frothing, white-hot RAGE when used with Heavy Bolter Sponson, the Exterminator's main drawback is that it relies on its sponson/hull weapons to deal with enemy heavy armor (unless you're using Pask, in which case the Autocannons will often suffice).

Leman Russ Eradicator

Fuck your cover saves. The Eradicator has a shorter-range gun that ignores cover saves. It's a little weaker than the Battle Cannon in every stat (lower strength, shorter range, worse AP), but is still a respectable tank, especially against Eldar or any unit that is trying to take advantage of the Small Targets or Stealth rule. It's otherwise basically the same as the regular version, range and power aside.

Leman Russ Demolisher

The first of the "Reinforced" Leman Russ models (they have additional rear armor), the Leman Russ Demolisher packs a short range gun that is much stronger than the normal battle cannon and virtually guaranteed to threaten entire formations with the instant death rule should it shoot. It kind of sucks at anything but line-breaking, but there's little question that it does it better than the SPESS MEHREEN Vindicator, which is pretty hilarious when one thinks about it.

Leman Russ Punisher

About as close to "enuff Dakka," as the Imperial Guard can get, the Punisher boasts an S5 AP- main gun that has a fire rate of Heavy 20. The range is poor for a vehicle weapon, but the fact that one of these things can crank out more firepower than an entire squad of guardsmen under a Rank Fire order is absolutely hilarious; normally only Orks with Shootas get to roll this many dice. When backed up with other weapons, the Punisher can basically destroy huge numbers of troops at once, though it lacks AP.

Leman Russ Executioner

Jokingly called the "Leman Russ Trollface" or "Leman Russ Blast Template Dropper" by some players, the Executioner is the bane of Smurfs everywhere, for it packs a Plasma Cannon that fires in 3-round bursts. For maximum hilarity, pair with Plasma Cannon sponsons (ergo allowing 5 Plasma Cannon shots a turn from one vehicle) and try not to laugh when killing about double the tank's point cost in heavy infantry every turn. For maximum hilarity, employ against Grey Knights and vaporise the majority of a Terminator squad in a round before asking: "Problem, SPESS MEHREENS?"

And Commanders Too

Knight Commander Pask

Not really a Leman Russ but an upgrade therefore, Knight Commander Pask raises the BS of any Russ he's placed in to 4, ergo making the tank more accurate. Widely considered conditionally broken against some factions when paired with a Punisher, Executioner, or Exterminator. Pask is known for killing Titans with a Leman Russ and refusing to drive a Baneblade in favor of one. His balls of steel rating is thusly considered somewhere between Vance Motherfucking Stubbs and Colonel "I tore a Landshark's throat out with my teeth" Straken.

FORGE WORLD LOVE

GW's specialist subsidiary Forge World made a couple of their own Leman Russes While they pimped out the appearances of several types.

Leman Russ Conqueror

A Forge World creation, made during the days when a Leman Russ had to stay still to fire its fucktastic Battle Cannon. With the Lumbering Behemoth special rule for all Russes, there's not much point to a Conqueror except to look different. All it does is fire a standard Battlecannon pieplate to a shortened range of 48 inches, with the profile of Heavy 1. In standard games on a 4x6 foot table the shorter range doesn't matter. One thing worth noting about the Conqueror is that it does the same thing as a standard Russ for 20 points cheaper. Forge World still supports this tank in their FAQ's.

Leman Russ Annihilator

Specialized anti-armor Leman Russ based on the Space Marine Predator Annihilator. It trades off a template for precision Twin-Linked Lascannons. This version rolled out with the Death Korps of Krieg army, and was very popular before 5th edition changed the way a Leman Russ works. Since moving and shooting is no longer a problem, the Annihilator is pretty much pointless, but still effective. Forge World still supports this tank in their Apocalypse books.

Wargear/Configuration Breakdown

In general, you shouldn't put Multi-Melta sponsons on a Leman Fucking Russ. Despite the superiority of Melta-type weapons in the new edition, it's extremely points-hungry and the only Russes that can really make use of it are the Punisher and Demolisher, in which case the former shouldn't be gunning at vehicles in the first place and the latter has a better weapon for serving that exact same fucking purpose. It's genuinely not worth it and is a much bigger waste of points than simply inefficient choices (such as Ogryns). A few players swear by them, but in general the Multi-Meltas are a waste of points that could have gone towards vastly better equipment for your tanks.

The Hull Heavy Flamer and sponson Heavy Flamer should also be avoided. There are dozens of better ways to get cover hate on the battlefield (Chimeras and Hellhounds coming readily to mind), and it removes your Heavy Bolter, so don't go with it. The Hull Heavy Bolter is always a good thing, however, and the Hull Lascannon is virtually always a good option for extra punch (generally shouldn't be used on a Vanquisher though). Again, if you really hate fucking cover, you have the Leman Russ Eradicator; I mean, it's why the fucking thing exists.

Sponson Bolters are generally a take 'em or not, nobody gives a shit, because it's 10 fucking points for a pair of 'em and worst case scenario they add to the hull Heavy Bolter in slinging fucking shots downrange anyway, which can help a lot when fucking up Tyranids and is especially nice to have with Pask in play. It's as much as 6 extra shots, so it's not bad. They're less useful on the Punisher (which already is spraying out 23 shots by default) and Demolisher (which really doesn't need much to help the fucking Demolisher Cannon), and many players scream with irritation if they're used on them, but they remain effective and they're not a huge investment, so use them if you fucking feel like it. It's not like the Dozer Blade is any better. The points difference isn't fucking anyone.

The Plasma Cannon Sponsons, however, are a different fucking story. These need to be on the right fucking tank or they're a waste of points. They generally do better on the likes of the Exterminator and Vanquisher, giving blast effects to tanks that otherwise wouldn't have it. It's especially good on the Executioner, however, adding 2 more Plasma Cannons to the existing 3-round burst of the main gun and adding yet more raep to the firestorm. There is possibly no tank better at gangraping Tyranids and Necrons than this configuration - and god help anything in its way if it has Pask as well. In other words, whatever you put them on, make them fucking count. They aren't very good on the standard Leman Russ (because its ordnance 3 basically eclipses anything a Plasma Cannon can do). The Eradicator can make some decent use of it, mostly because its Nova Cannon doesn't pack the AP of the Battle Cannon and ergo makes a nice support weapon for dropping into a crowd that would otherwise be able to deal with the Nova Cannon. Games Workshop has a notoriously raging hard-on for equipping them on Demolishers and Punishers, but this is actually a fairly bad idea; these two tanks are almost invariably better off charging headlong into the enemy's face, where they won't be firing the Plasma Cannons anyway (at least the Heavy Bolter sponsons can work with the hull Heavy Bolter and pick off stragglers after the initial insert-gun-into-face manuver). So put these on Executioners, Exterminators, and Vanquishers only for best results - these tanks are the ones that make the best use of them.

For wargear, it's generally a good idea to avoid the pintle mounts. The former simply aren't of use on a vehicle that is bristling with fucking weapons in the first place, and it's extremely hard to envision an environment wherein a player screams "Man, a Storm Bolter on my Leman Russ would have been the absolute BOMB right now!" The Stubber can be somewhat useful if only due to its range, but generally isn't simply because - again - every reason you'd use the damned thing already is covered by its fucking baseline weaponry.

The Hunter-Killer Missile is.... Questionable. Its unlimited range can seriously fuck with players not expecting it and makes a good option for accosting artillery (this is actually a halfway decent choice with Pask by the way), but Chimeras and Sentinels are widely (and rightly) considered the best platform for this secondary weapon, whereas the Leman Russ is often rightly considered somewhat wasteful if potentially useful platform for the weapon. Pask abuse aside, the Hunter-Killer missile generally isn't useful for Leman Russes simply because you don't need a Krak missile when any of these tanks can pack antivehicle punch in the form of its turret weapon or Lascannon (the latter of which any Russ can get).

Whilst he's pricey, Pask himself deserves special note - he is a great upgrade, since he makes a Russ BS4, and lets it get extra armor penetration with every weapon - including Hunter Killer Missiles and sponson weapons. This makes the Exterminator and Executioner usable for tankbusting, and pretty much guarantees first-round kill potential for the Vanquisher. He also turns the Punisher into a rape machine. He is an expensive upgrade for a tank, so again, make sure that whatever you put him in, it gets used.

Tactics

First and foremost, note the tank's armor ratings. It's dirt cheap, its BS is average, but it's armor value on the front is 14 and its side armor is reasonable (13). Its rear armor, however, sucks and can be damaged by many regular infantry weapons. Keep them facing the enemy at tall times, and do your best to keep their backs covered - you can't afford to let some dick jump infantry get behind one and play catch-the-fucking-meltabomb. Treat them well and they'll treat you well.

Second, three of the Leman Russes - the Demolisher, Punisher, and Executioner - have additional rear armor. This is not enough to make them less vulnerable but what it does mean is that it's no longer threatened simply by being completely surrounded by regular infantry (Hormagaunts for example). This is important for the Punisher and Demolisher, which have to get close, but the Executioner is just more survivable since it generally shoots from afar. AV 11 still isn't very good, so 'bear in mind the first example on this list and keep them facing the fucking enemy.

Gallery

The Leman Russ Punisher. DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA for Guard.
The Leman Russ Executioner, known for making marines break out in hives.
FUCK YOUR COVER SAVES DAWG I HAS AN ERADICATOR
Even the basic Leman Russ is better than your army's tanks.

Even the basic Leman Russ is better than your army's tanks.
If the Leman Russ Demolisher hasn't absorbed at least 6 attempts to destroy it by turn 2, you're doing it wrong.
When you need to fuck up a Land Raider, accept no substitutes.
The Exterminator likes to party. At 500 shots per minute.
Knight Commander Pask is in dire need of some juvenat drugs. Jesus.