Tunneller

'The Governor stood deep within his command post. Without warning, the ground began to shake. Looking out across the main hangar he saw the floor began to break up. Through the broken shards of plascrete, massive screws appeared followed by the bodies of various sized digging machines pushed forward on massive thrusters. With a venting of gas, locking bolts fired clear of the vehicles to allow their contents of assault troops to disgorge directly into the heart of the fortress.'

There are times when the best way to deploy troops is from underground. When this is the desired course of action, specialist tunnelling vehicles are deployed. The most common are the Mole and the Termite. While these vehicles are maintained by the Imperial Guard they are used to deploy both Imperial Guard and Space Marines.

• Termites, Moles and Hellbores [Units with the Tunneller ability] operate exactly the same as Drop Pods; the only difference is that the Termite, Mole or Hellbore [Tunneller unit] that replaces the Drop Pod counter remains on the tabletop and may continue to act as a normal detachment or war engine. Before deploying Tunnellers make sure that you have clearly indicated which units are occupying which vehicles.
• Like Drop Pods, Tunneller detachments always count as Reserves.
• Termites, Moles and Hellbores [Tunneller units] do not count as Drop Pods in Planetary Assault scenarios, but may be deployed with their free transport vehicle.