Skull Cannon
Skull Cannons are Daemon Engines of Khorne forged in the monstrous soul-forges of the Skull Lands, the Blood God's domain in the Realm of Chaos. These horrifying war engines mount cannons that fire flaming skulls - ones often taken from the enemies the cannon itself has killed.[1a]
Contents
Bound Daemon
Each cannon, forged from infernal metals carved with dark runes of power, has a daemon bound within it as punishment; they are told that they will be freed if they cause enough slaughter, but no one knows of a daemon who has succeeded in accomplishing this. This means the cannons are sentient, capable of acting on their own if necessary, and desire nothing more than to feel the crunch of flesh and bone underneath their spiked wheels and tear apart their victims with their fanged maw.[1a][2a]
Daemonic Artillery
When an enemy is killed by the Skull Cannon or its charioteers, all but their skulls are messily devoured by the daemon engine. The skulls are kept intact to be fed into the infernal cannon on its back. Within the cannon, the skulls are coated in pitch made from boiling blood and ignited with a fragment of Khorne's white-hot rage before being fired toward the enemy. The roar of the cannon, the cackling of the flaming skulls, and the brutal violence of the machine itself gathering its ammunition has broken the will of many foes.[1a]
Cannoneers
While the cannon is fully capable of moving and attacking on its own, it is normally ridden by a pair of Bloodletters - the very ones who oversaw its creation beneath the Brass Citadel. These cannoneers are charged with directing the machine as best they can, as well as loading and aiming the cannon; the daemon engine itself greatly prefers to charge into the enemy ranks and rip them apart with fangs and wheels.[1a]
Gorethunder Cohorts
When the Blood Legions need massed firepower, they create Gorethunder Cohorts consisting of multiple Skull Cannons led by a Rendmaster riding a Blood Throne, who directs the cannons' fire to great effect. Gorethunder Cohorts have brought down many fortress walls and put many enemy armies to flight with their cannonades. Unlike most mortal artillery, a Gorethunder Cohort is as dangerous in close quarters as it is at range due to the Hellblades of the cannoneers and the snapping maws of the cannons themselves.[1a][1b]
Miniatures
A Skull Cannon.
Sources
- 1: Battletome: Blades of Khorne (2019)
- 2: Soulbound: Steam and Steel
- 2a: Blood Throne, pg. 119
