I'm totally fine with learning melee btw, would just like to posit the concept, see if it might work if not now maybe in the future. But nows as good a time as any to honour our dear brother and also make something unique for TalOS
Concept for the: "King Russ / Königswolf" tank
Starting off with the Chasis (weapon to come in another post)
So I attribute each of the 40k stats to an in game hard/soft factor
M" = Engine and Transmission
WS = Crew Skill in running over/ramming
BS = Crew skill and aim equipment
S = Quality of treads
T = Hull Durability
W = Hull Integrity
A = Lethality of the Treads
Ld = Crew Bravery
Sv = Armor Quality
Starting off with W (Wounds), which appear to correlate mostly with size. The base Russ chassis isn't bad per say, 12 wounds, but there are other alternative options that provide better profiles. The Malcador actually is better, at 18, and theoretically if TalOS mind could do it the very best would be something akin to the Mecharius with 22. Honorable mention should go to the Sicarian which has 14 wounds, which I attribute to just being built better as an astartes vehicle
T (toughness) and Sv (armor), attributed to armor quality (i.e. riveting vs cast metal). The Russ actually does have armor quality as high as just about any other Imperial Tank, with T8 and Sv 2+ (you want to roll higher than this). So we can thank Russ for having delivered us an STC with much better armor quality than the current Malcador that only has a Sv 3+
M (engine) at 10" of movement it's pretty standard to most imperial tanks, about the same as a Malcador we have. We would probably be better off ripping the engine off the predator, and later on the very best engines seem to come from the Sicarian. If we could just take the engine of a Sicarian (or two), we'd have the best speed.
https://youtu.be/estWwaUi-1oLeadership, WS, BS, all of these I attribute (mostly) to the crew. As we can see Space Marine vehicles and Techpriest vehicles have the best Ballistics Skill, Weapon Skill and Leadership so obviously they should ideally be crewed by Marines/Priests. (Although, props to the Mecharius, it seems to be manned by mortals but its no surprise such a heavy tank inspires bravery in a crew). Interestingly the Carnodon also have good weapon skill at 5+, but maybe with their tank being kinda crap the crews have learned to rely on ramming shit more
So, depending on which Chasis QM allows TalOS to invent or use, the ultimate Tank Profile would be
>M" 10 or 12 or 14" = Russ Engine or Predator/Sicarian>WS 3+ = Techpriest Crew>BS 3+ = Techpriest/Astartes Crew>S 7 = Russ is good (but Macharius also has Adamantine Tracks which are a better melee profile than the Russ)>T 8 = Russ again provides us with the armor quality we need>W 12 or 14 or 18 or 22 (12 if Russ, 14 if Sicarian, 18 if Malcador, or 22 if Macharius)>A = 3 or 6 (3 if base Russ, 6 if using Macharius)>Ld = 8 Astartes or Techpriest crew>Sv 2+ = Leman Russ Armor 