Baneblade

by Guy Haley

Book in the Imperial Guard series, published 2013
Publisher: Black Library

By the blessing of the Omnissiah was the Mars Triumphant born – from the forges of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the mighty Baneblade super-heavy battle tank comes to bring death and destruction to the foes of the Imperium. As part of the Paragonian 7th Company, Honoured Lieutenant Marken Cortein Lo Bannick commands the venerable war machine in a bitter war against the orks in the Kalidar system.

As the campaign grinds on it begins to take its toll upon his crew, and old clan prejudices from the regiment’s home world arise once more. In a war which cannot be won by force of arms alone, such division may prove to be their undoing.

We meet a young Paragonian Lieutenant Lo Bannick, a disgraced aristocrat, who decides to enlist for a muster call, so he avoids the authorities. The regiment raising is urgently needed to fight off an Ork horde which has besieged Kalidar IV, a planet in the middle of nowhere. The planets mantle is rich with rare mineral deposits of lorelei crystals, which are used to make psychic weapons, such as those used by the Grey Knights. Racked with sandstorms that can strip the skin off in you seconds, it’s not a pleasant place to holiday for the Guard. Visibility is near zero, vox is unreliable.