Summary
A Mechanicum subterranean transport that bores beneath the battlefield with melta-cutters and a heavy drill to disgorge troops behind enemy lines.
Lore
The Terrax-Pattern Termite Assault Drill — known among line troops as a tunneller or miner — is an Imperial subterranean vehicle of Mechanicum manufacture, designed to deliver an assault force through the ground itself rather than across it. Originally pressed into service during the Great Crusade against burrowing xenos, the Termite was rapidly adopted by Legiones Astartes commanders and Mechanicum Magi alike for breaching fortress foundations and emerging within trench lines and bastions. The drill remains in use into M41 and M42 alongside Mars — Forge Primus and the wider Adeptus Mechanicus, and corrupted variants serve the Dark Mechanicum and Traitor Legions.
Drive and Cutting Array
The Termite combines three sacred technologies: a heavy-bore Termite Drill at the prow, banks of melta-cutters that vaporise rock and reinforced rockcrete ahead of the spiral, and phase-shield generators that stabilise the bore against cave-in and counter-tunnelling fire. A squadron of Termites typically shares a single primary tunnel, branching to the surface only at the moment of breach.
Armament
Hull weapons may be patterned to mission: twin-linked combi-bolters, heavy flamers, or twin volkite chargers of the Volkite Weapons family. The frontal Terrax melta-cutter array is itself a weapon of war (Melta 2 in 10th-edition profile), and the Termite Drill strikes as an anti-armour melee weapon at Strength 14.
Capacity and Role
The 10th-edition Adeptus Mechanicus profile lists transport capacity of 12 Adeptus Mechanicus Infantry, with Jump Pack and Kataphron models excluded by bulk. Movement 8”, Toughness 10, Save 3+, 14 Wounds. It carries the Deep Strike and Termite Assault abilities, allowing it to arrive from reserves in turns 1–3, and a Deadly Demise (D3) on destruction. Heresy-era profiles likewise grant Deep Strike, Transport (2), twin-linked bolters and a +1 close-assault factor representing the front-mounted melta-cutters.