Knight Commander Pask
Knight Commander Pask is considered one of the Imperial Guard's most renowned tank aces (not to be confused with Tank Commander Pask, who is considered one of the Imperium's most renowned knight aces, perhaps there is a connection to the name Pask?). A hero of the Imperium of Man and a constant presence within the armoured regiments of the Cadian Shock Troops, Pask is one of the most skilled tank commanders ever to grace a Leman Russ Tank. He has commanded these behemoths through hundreds of campaigns, with his reputation continuing to grow with each victory. Over the decades Pask has commanded all variants of the Leman Russ and has mastered them all. He knows the capabilities and limits of each and every weapons system these mighty war machines can mount. Only a fool strays into his gun-sights, and that goes for Titans too, as Pask's got confirmed kills on at least four of them. Pask has also had his tank blown to bits out from under him dozens of times, but has somehow managed to survive each and every time to find a new Leman Russ and rechristen it the Hand of Steel, same as every previous tank he's commanded.
While he appears in Cadia Stands, this is non-canon and stupid, given he's driving a Shadowsword for some dumb reason. Canonically he wasn't on Cadia, he was deployed to the Damocles Gulf, thus he survived the planet's breaking and is filled with a cold fury against Abaddon. This is backed up by the 8th Edition codex.
On the tabletop[edit]
Rules wise Pask acts like any other knight commander in the IG codex (well, he's a few more points, but it's worth it for the sheer amount of destruction he can bring to the table). He counts as an HQ choice and thus can have a warlord trait (Pask automatically has Old Grudges, giving him and his squad preferred enemy against a codex of your choice, which is REALLY good due to reasons you will see below). Like other tank commanders, Pask CANNOT go on his own, meaning that he has to be in a squadron with at least one other Leman Russ. Although this isn't a wholly bad thing, the fact that Pask has a buddy means that with some clever positioning you can force your opponent to damage the tank commander before he even takes a wound, which is extremely helpful as keeping him alive is a priority due to how much he can bring to the table (Pask can also tell his buddy to GTFO if he becomes immobilized and fucks off to do whatever he damn pleases because he's motherfucking Pask).
In addition to being a HQ choice and having one of the better (if not the best) warlord trait in the IG codex, Pask also adds extra effects to the guns of whichever Leman Russ variant he is in (because he says so), the effects are as follows:
- Leman Russ battle tank: When piloting a Battle Tank Pask can re-roll to hit rolls, turning the sometimes unreliable and downright infuriating battle cannon into a more precise source of "Fuck you" for your opponent.
- Leman Russ Demolisher: Same as the Battle Tank but the shorter range on the demolisher cannon makes the re-roll to hit even more valuable due to the fact that Pask is more likely to be up close to the enemy and thus has a higher chance of hitting himself. The re-roll to hit negates this to a degree (Meaning more S10 destruction for your opponent and less Fail for you).
- Leman Russ Vanquisher: Once again same as the above, not much else to be said in all honesty.
- Leman Russ Eradicator: See above.
- Leman Russ Executioner: Due to some tech-fuckery Pask is able to alter the profile of the tank's main gun from it's normal one to the following: 36"range S7 AP2 Heavy 1, Large blast, Blind, Gets hot. This is done presumably to increase the pale-ness of any SM player when their wonderfully painted Terminator squad is targeted by this plasma covered hulk of "Fuck you".
- Leman Russ Exterminator: Pask gives the exterminator autocannon the rending special rule which means that on a 6 he ignores the armour saves of whatever he's shooting at, or against vehicles he can add an additional D3 to his armour penetration roll (allowing you to effectively pop some tanks with this weapon). While this is good and all the Exterminator's lack of Dakka means that the rending Pask gives it isn't used to it's full potential and thus there are better options. (Hint: It's the next tank)
- Leman Russ Punisher: Jesus Christ where do we even start with this thing? First of all the Punisher Gatling cannon is a 24" range cannon with S5 AP-, meaning that sure it has a lot of Dakka and can wound MEQ 's effectively but literally EVERYTHING gets an armour save against it (Yes even that shitty 6+ T-shirt saves Ork Boyz and Chaos cultists get). Also you're not going to be popping any vehicles with even half decent armour with this thing, so you would think it wouldn't be all to useful right? Nope. Pask, once again due to some Superb Tech-fuckery (Which is most definitely some form of Heresy ) he gives the Punisher Gatling cannon the rending special rule. This turns the Punisher from "Meh" to "FEAR ME FOR I AM destruction INCARNATE" in approximately 30 seconds. Just to put this in perspective Pask has a 4/6 chance is hitting when rolling a D6 so in 20 shots he hits approx. 13/14 normally. A few of those have to be 1's so we'll add about another 4 D6's in there, which results in about 3 more hits (rounded up). So a total of 17 hits generally. Now against MEQ's he needs a 3 to wound and a 6 to rend. SO out of his 17 approx. 11 Will wound and out of them on average 2-3 will rend. Once again he has preferred enemy ro re-roll those 1's (we'll say there's around 2) which results in generally one more wound which has a 1/6 chance of rending. Assuming it's a rend that leaves you with 12 wounds four of which are rending. Suffice to say any infantry that Pask decides he doesn't like the look of aren't going to last very long. But there's more! Pask and his destruction train for the emperor don't discriminate in what they want dead, oh no tanks get the full 20 shots of "Fuck you" too. Mathematically he can kill around a land raider a turn with his main gun alone (assuming the dice are kind). Strap a lascannon onto him and his buddy, sit back, and watch as your opponent does their best Khorne Berserker impression due to the sheer Rage inducing shame of having half your army Curbstomped by a single IG tank unit.
8th Edition[edit]
Gone are the different turret abilities. Pask now is just like a regular Tank Commander, albeit one that hits on a 2+ and can issue two orders instead of one. No longer had to be accompanied by a buddy tank, though he still should to take advantage of that extra order, and can now order issue orders to himself and other Tank Commanders. His natural Cadian doctrine lets him re-roll ones if he sits still in the movement phase giving him a 97% hit rate! His new fixed warlord trait (if he’s your warlord) lets you roll a dice each time he issues an order and, on a 4+ issue the same order to another Leman Russ within 6”. Pair with a Punisher to delete entire infantry squads, Vanquisher to vanquish tanks, or a battle cannon to take on anything.
TL:DR- Don't Fuck with Pask, he's almost as manly as Vance Motherfucking Stubbs and carries enough destruction to ruin your whole day and then some.
9th Edition[edit]
Despite being VERY MUCH ALIVE and having an entire page to himself in the lore section of the 9th edition Codex, Pask has inexplicably been removed from tabletop and is no longer playable, despite at the time of writing this, his model is still on the GW store. James Workshop strikes again.
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