R&D: Chimerro, Chimerax and the Chimedon Imperial Vehicles
Hiya!
So I picked up a copy of the Citadel Miniatures 1995/1996 Annual; these books being a terrific source of largely to-scale photos of old miniatures; with the intend of finding some long-dead vehicle and lovingly bringing it back to service in glorious 40k scale to fight the enemies of the Emperor once more (or fight the Emperor's armies, whatever). There's plenty of stuff in this book that make perfect candidates for some miniature necromancy. I especially love old Epic-only Imperial vehicle conversions, since that gives me an excuse to sculpt and 3D print some components, or raid a WWII tank kit, ready it up and then repeatedly beg my opponent to let me field it with my Astra Millitarum/Blood Angels until they get uncomfortable and walk away.
Page 128 of the annual gives a spread displaying the following miniatures for Space Marine 2nd Edition: The "Chimerro", "Chimerax" and "Chimedon", all titled Imperial Tanks. These all use the exact same "Chimera Chassis" piece with alternative turrets.
What in the name of Chaos is a Chimerro, Chimerax and Chimedon? Time to start digging!
UPDATE: You can see the results of my digging in the Lexicanum pages I've made for these three vehicles:
[URL="http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Chimerro"]http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Chimerro[/URL]
[URL="http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Chimerax"]http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Chimerax[/URL]
[URL="http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Chimedon"]http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Chimedon[/URL]
To see the R&D process because you're a geek like me, read on. Also, if I missed any sources or information, please let me know.
Here's some pictures of the offending vehicles from the Annual:
https://i.imgur.com/Cvc2jAH.png
Tbe Chimerro
https://i.imgur.com/STK7RFJ.png
The Chimerax
https://i.imgur.com/eHhtIfQ.png
The Chimedon
So, here's all my research; please help fill in the pieces:
The Chimerax
The Chimerax is the vehicle I found the most info for: I have a vague mention from this [URL="http://www.40konline.com/index.php?topic=144469.0"]forum post[/URL] that in Codex: Imperial Guard, 3rd Edition (the first 3rd Edition Codex, as there were two), there's a vehicle very much resembling it on page 47. Here's a picture:
https://i.imgur.com/4Z4FiPd.png
The vehicle pictured above is described in it's caption:
Quote:
"This Chimera variant by Fred Reed is based on a Chimera kit and heavily converted to be a Command tank..."
.
Maybe it was based on the Chimerax? Unless Fred Reed is still around, I'll never know (great model BTW Fred). It is worth noting that on Fred's model, the guns on the turret point directly forward, whereas the Chimerax's point upwards for an AA role.
A user on the linked forum, without any source alas, describes it from memory as a command tank with a smaller transport bay, and another user describes that it had a full transport bay but was packing an anti-aircraft gun similar to that of the Hydra. It was also stated to be Skitarii and not Imperial Guard. This is all, however, lacking a source. I did enjoy how the first reply on this forum was pretty much "these vehicles don't exist" without checking out anything, so this might not be the most reliable source of anything, but it's pretty much all I had.
The German Lexicanum actually has a page for this vehicle [URL="http://wh40k-de.lexicanum.com/wiki/Chimerax"]here[/URL]. The page details a smaller transport capacity and the anti-aircraft gun, and gives as a source the Australian White Dwarf #185. The
According to White Dwarf #185 (UK), the Chimerax, on the contrary, has the full transport capacity of the Chimera and serves as an Imperial Guard and Skitarii vehicle; but does indeed mount autocannons for an AA role, It doesn't specifically serve as a command vehicle, but I don't see any reason why a Chimerax couldn't be attached to a Command Squad instead of a Chimera.
The Chimerro
Info for the Chimerro comes only from the same [URL="http://www.40konline.com/index.php?topic=144469.0"]forum post[/URL]. It's detailed as a normal Chimera but mounting a hunter-killer missile that can fire unlimited times. And again, it's stated that the Chimerro was tech-guard rather than Imperial Guard.
Again according to White Dwarf #185,.the Chimerro does mount a normal hunter-killer missile (called a hunter missile back then), but features an "autoloader", so can indeed fire unlimited times. Contrarily however, it can serve as an Imperial Guard or Skitarii vehicle.
The Chimedon
Again, info for the Chimedon comes from the same [URL="http://www.40konline.com/index.php?topic=144469.0"]forum post[/URL]. I also found a very, very vague mention of the Chimedon (and the Chimerax) [URL="http://www.wargamerau.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=160574"]here[/URL] being in a Citadel Journal. I can't confirm this as I only have a couple of them alas, and looking through Journal contents in Lexicanum reveals neither vehicle, but of course the records aren't complete.
From the descriptions in the forum post, the Chimedon is described as mounting a short battle cannon (!!). There was some supposition that the Chimedon, if resurrected, would probably have the lighter Conqueror cannon. I mention this because the cannon mounted on the Chimedon looks very, very much like the cannon of the Leman Russ Conqueror and nothing like the standard battle cannon; of course the Conqueror didn't exist in 1995, but maybe the Chimedon was an inspiration for Forge World's Conqueror in the same way the Vanquisher inspired the Leman Russ Vanquisher. It is worth noting that the cannon is pointing upwards on this tank rather like a Leman Russ Demolisher; on the forum they state the Demolisher didn't exist in 1995 either, except it is in the 2nd Edition Codex: Imperial Guard (1995). Again, it's stated that the Chimerro was tech-guard rather than Imperial Guard.
Well, according to White Dwarf '185 (UK), it does indeed mount a battle cannon, detailed as being similar to the Stormhammer's cannons. I did shoot an email off to Forge World asking if the inspiration for the Conqueror came from the Chimedon, and I did get a reply stating that my question would be forwarded to the Conqueror's designer (cool!), but that I might not get a response. So far, I haven't, but if I ever do rest assured I'll update. I can confirm from the magazine that the Chimedon, again, can serve as an Imperial Guard or Skitarrii vehicle.
More Research
[URL="http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Chimera"]The 40k Wiki[/URL] talks about all three Chimera variants, also giving Fred's conversion above as a picture of the Chimerax. None of the sources listed at the bottom of the wiki seem likely to contain any actual info on these vehicles however, so I don't know where any of this information actually came from.
[URL="https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/480844.page?userfilterid=7222"]DakkaDakka[/URL] gives these pretty cool conversions built in 1997, but reveals no actual sources for the vehicles themselves. What's noteworthy is that these were built for an article in 1997, which ties in to the mention above in the Wargammer AU link that these vehicles did appear in a Games Workshop publication in the late 90's, making it probably the latest mention of these. They also appear to be Imperial Guard.
