The Hellhammer is a super-heavy tank of the Astra Militarum, built on the same hull as the Baneblade but pointed at a different job: grinding through fortifications and street fighting at close range. If a Baneblade is a battle tank the size of a building, the Hellhammer is the version you send into a city.
What it’s for
The Hellhammer exists to give Guard commanders short-ranged fire support in awkward terrain, especially dense urban fighting. Its main gun, the Hellhammer cannon, is a siege weapon: it flattens defenders behind cover or inside buildings, though the blast is fairly tight rather than sprawling.
That narrow, brutal punch is the whole point. It’s not a line-breaker you point at open ground, it’s the thing you roll down a street when you need a strongpoint gone.
Armament and hull
It shares the Baneblade chassis, so it’s already carrying a lot of guns before you get to the main weapon. Co-axial autocannons sit alongside the Hellhammer cannon, and there’s a hull-mounted Demolisher cannon as well.
Sponsons add twin-linked heavy bolters and lascannons, plus twin-linked heavy flamers for close work. Some crews swap the sponsons out for extra armour, or bolt on two more sponson mounts instead.
- Main gun: Hellhammer cannon (short-ranged siege fire)
- Hull: Demolisher cannon, co-axial autocannons
- Sponsons: twin-linked heavy bolters, lascannons, twin-linked heavy flamers
- Options: hunter-killer missile, pintle heavy stubber or storm bolter, smoke launchers, searchlight
Powerplant and variants
The Hellhammer runs on a Phaeton pattern 110 square kilo-cubits Adaptable Thermic Combuster, backed up by a Gravis pattern Thaumic Resonance Crystal Generation Unit. In plain terms: it’s a big, temperamental reactor setup that keeps a super-heavy moving.
Because it’s a Baneblade variant, the chassis gets reused constantly across the Guard’s super-heavy family. The Hellhammer is just the siege-focused branch of that tree.
Notable Hellhammers and other users
A few named machines show up in the lore. Jungle Reaper served with the Catachan XXXV Super-Heavy Armoured Regiment, Ostrakhan’s Rebirth was the command tank of the Seventh Paragonian Super-Heavy Tank Company, and Traitor’s Bane was recovered as a wreck on Pythos and put back into service by Catachan forces there.
Chaos forces have been seen fielding captured Hellhammers. Orks do what Orks do with any Baneblade they get their hands on, looting it into a Looted Wagon or Battlefortress.
Key facts
- Super-heavy tank of the Astra Militarum, built on the Baneblade chassis
- Designed for short-ranged fire support in cities and difficult terrain
- Main weapon is the Hellhammer cannon, backed by a Demolisher cannon and autocannons
- Sponsons carry twin-linked heavy bolters, lascannons and heavy flamers
- Named examples include Jungle Reaper, Ostrakhan’s Rebirth and Traitor’s Bane
- Chaos and Ork forces have both been known to field captured or looted versions
FAQ
Is the Hellhammer a Baneblade variant?
Yes. It’s built on the Baneblade chassis and shares the same super-heavy hull, but trades the Baneblade’s main gun for the short-ranged Hellhammer cannon.
What’s the Hellhammer cannon good at?
Close-range siege work. It’s designed to kill defenders in cover or inside buildings, with a concentrated blast rather than a wide one.
Can other factions use the Hellhammer?
Chaos forces have been observed fielding captured ones, and Orks loot Baneblade variants into Looted Wagons or Battlefortresses.