Basilisk

The Basilisk mounts a powerful long-range gun on a mobile tracked hull, allowing it to deliver punishing indirect fire and then reposition before counter-battery fire can find it. It is the quintessential expression of the Astra Militarum's love of artillery, softening enemy formations, shattering fortifications, and laying down the creeping barrages behind which Imperial infantry advance.

Ranged deep beyond the horizon, the Basilisk's crews rely on forward observers and coordination with the wider war effort to bring their fire to bear with precision. A battery of these guns can render an entire sector untenable, saturating it with high-explosive fury until nothing living remains. The psychological effect is as potent as the physical, for the distant thunder of the earthshaker heralds destruction that cannot be answered.

The Basilisk is a mainstay of Imperial artillery regiments and a fixture of nearly every major campaign. Its relatively thin armour makes it vulnerable in close combat, and so it is kept to the rear, screened by infantry and armour, where it can rain ruin upon the foe in comparative safety.