Lego Build 80 — Huitzilopochtli Tank

In my Blake’s War AU, the Clan (Nova Cat) faction found itself with a serious problem — the Blakists tended to use massed formations of light vehicles and ‘Mechs, as well as infantry, to overwhelm opposing forces. Given the Clanner usual low unit count when in campaign, this became quite the problem. A solution was needed to deal with these formations and it was found in an ancient vehicle that had been in service for many decades at this point.

The Huitzilopochtli tank was developed during the early years of Clanner history as a way to bring the destructive Arrow IV missile artillery system to the battlefield. However, the rapid development of what would be Clanner combat doctrine also meant that the tank would have to be able to fend for itself, even though it sported a relatively thin armor. The resulting machine was a slow, lumbering beast that sometimes had be hot-dropped in the battlefield for it to achieve anything.

Nonetheless, the artillery system was undeniably effective, especially at dealing with concentrations of enemy units. Such capacity would be useful time and again when dealing with Dark Caste warriors or Deep Periphery bandits. The tanks also had a secundary anti-aircraft role, with paired lasers and advanced tracking systems being mounted in a small turrent — these sensors were also part of the missile’s aiming system. Thus, many units of this tank would remain in the toumans of many clans up to and beyond the Invasion.

In the opening salvos of the Blakist Jihad in the Irece sector, the Nova Cats found themselves constantly overwhelmed by human wave attacks. Their Mechwarriors killed many enemies, but the survivors were occasionally enough to bring down even ‘Mechs and breach defense lines. Fortunately for them, the solution was already present — the Huitzilopochtli.

These tanks would find themselves in some of the most important engagements of the conflict, even among Ghost Bear units once the latter joined the fray. The downside of this was that after a few years of constant combat their numbers dwindled to the point of the type essentially vanishing from history. In the second stage of the war, the Huitzilopochtli would be replaced by other units, although no one would underestimate their importance during the early engagements.

This build is a massive one, being made of 91 parts. It is an assault tank, so it makes sense it has as many parts as an assault ‘Mech. It comes in Ghost Bear colors for this post and it shouldn’t be hard to put together, all things considered.

Hope you enjoyed the model and the write-up. See you in the next post!