An Octavian cresting a rubble pile.
The Octavian heavy grav tank is named after the historical Roman Emperor and statesman Octavianus (who bore the surname Augustus, "the Exalted"). His reign, the pax Augusta, is remembered as an era of peace and stability. Under the pretext of reforms to the Republic, though, he erased the last remnants of Rome's democratic system and established the rule of the Caesars. The image of the benevolent, competent dictator struggling against the petty obstructions of squabbling selfish Republicans, for obvious reasons, appealed to the TOG leadership.
Design Philosophy and Tactical Role[]
The Octavian pushes the "heavy" end of heavy tanks. Slow, ponderous and less than agile, it sports the thickest armour and highest shield flicker rate of any TOG vehicle to date, making it a virtually impregnable fortress. Its fire signature is monstrously powerful - the designers put the longest-ranged, hardest-hitting weapons systems they could find on the tank and gave them a 360° field of fire. The drawback is that most of the weapons are easily deflected by shields, with only the Gauss cannon able to hit an unpainted target.
Both its lack of thrust and its painting-dependent weapons loadout mean that the Octavian is likely to be much less effective on its own without supporting units (preferrably with marker-equipped infantry complements) to provide it with targets and prevent it being outmanoeuvered by enemy tanks. If it can sit back and fire at painted targets, its massive firepower can virtually pulverise a light or medium tank each round.
A new design, this heavy grav tank is currently being tested by selected Praetorian Legions, including the infamous 13379th Strike Legion, the Harbingers of Death. Its namesake Roman Emperor was a strong-willed man who forged his own path to power without relying on allies; if the TOG designers had this in mind, the Octavian's apparent dependence on a host of flanking and spotting units does not bode well for their original vision.
Current State of Field Testing[]
The Octavian grav AFV is the largest and heaviest vehicle ever tested by the Harbingers. Only the Heavy Armoured Platoons of the Legion's First Cohort are assigned Octavians, and their evaluation reports over the past year show mixed results. This is not due so much to problems with the tank's ability, but mainly to bias against its strange appearance. With its massive rounded dome turret sitting squarely in the middle of the blocky hull and the pop-up blister mounts on the fore and aft hull hardpoints, many Legionnaires say it looks and feels more like a floating pillbox than a grav tank. The sluggish acceleration and lack of agility do nothing to dispel that image.
The blister mounts, on the other hand, are what allows the Octavian to continue a combat engagement effectively even if its turret malfunctions or is disabled. Nevertheless, many veterans overemphasize the minor problems and glitches typical of any prototype simply because they cannot get used to the Octavian's strange appearance. The wildly opposing viewpoints on the Octavian's effectiveness mean that any final decision concerning its use lies at least two years away.