QUESTIONS:
I assume canister is available too? (EG. stuff the barrel full of metal marbles propelled by an explosive charge and have fun with a 105mm shotgun)
How does outfitting our tanks affect performance? For example does not taking sponsons have benefits? I presume the tank is faster because it is not carrying around two extra heavy bolters plus ammo, crew etc. and slightly better protected due to not having a structural weakness in the form of a sponson shaped hole in the side armour. Given that my primary interest is in scouting I would happily trade in two weapons for the extra speed and protection.
Are we allowed to choose upgrades for our tanks? If so, what upgrades are allowed, what is their effect and how do we get to choose them? Improved comms sound very nice for example but if it means I got to literally lose an arm and a leg for it I think I'll pass.

PRELIMINARY CS:

TANK:
Tank Name: Caerbannog
Tank Number: 7
Tank type: Conqueror - hull mounted heavy bolter and no sponsons

CREW:
Commander - Sergeant Jacques 'Mad Jack' De Vries
Driver - Corporal Frits 'Blitz' Feenstra
Gunner - Guardsman Frank Goossens
Loader - Guardsman Jonas 'Hunk MacSlabmuscle' Lubbers
Radio operator/hull gunner - Guardsman Willem Maas

Commander Personality: Right at home on the battlefield he is a cheerful adrenalin junkie that loves tight scraps. Occasionally sings or makes boasts over the open vox channel to taunt his enemies into making a mistake. Off duty a fairly laid back and easily bored officer who enjoys gardening.

Commander Bio: As implied by his nickname, Jack is considered to be a bit messed up in the head due to always volunteering for scout duty. Cheerful and a great singer his tank is always in the front, leading the charge by zooming through the enemy lines to eliminate support vehicles and highlighting priority targets for heavier vehicles to eliminate.

Initially recruited from the agriworld Nendardel, his experience with racing on tractors (based off the Leman Russ chassis) made him a great tank driver right off the bat. He truly rose to fame during a short but intense conflict with a group of Chaos raiders on the agriworld of Chion VII. During a battle for one of the provincial capitals his Russ had the turret blown off killing both the commander and the gunner and leaving Jack in charge of the tank. Rather than retreat from the unseen tank destroyer or panic he slammed down on the throttle forward and used a dip in the terrain to hide his now much smaller tank. From there, coordinating carefully with the remains of his unit, he managed to sneak into the enemy back lines where, armed solely with a hull mounted lascannon and sponsoon bolters he proceeded to sow utter chaos among the lines of the heretics, annoying targets enough so that they would expose vulnerable rear turret armour to other imperial tanks and blasting tracks off tanks with the hull mounted bolter. When asked to comment on his reckless if highly successful run, he reportedly shrugged and replied with 'it was great fun and I'd love to do it again?'.

Soon after, he was promoted to commander of the Leman Russ Conqueror the Cearbannog, where he has served ever since together with the surviving comrades from Nendardel. The crew as a whole are best known for two things. The first is their relaxed easy going attitude off duty, being tolerant of quirks of people from other worlds rather than annoyed. Secondly the crew share a small portable garden of plants from their homeworld which can be smoked as a replacement for normal Lho sticks. For obvious reasons this makes them quite popular to be around during extended campaigns.