Ok so I don't remember Land Raiders being in the original game at all - they appear to have been added in a later patch and are in the Gog version.

They were always one of the most interesting vehicles back when I played 40k - but in this game... they are absolutely rubbish. Front armour of 70? Basically almost everything kills them with no trouble - what a disappointment. Costing 420 they're the most expensive conventional tank too.

But just to add - loving playing it again - had downloaded it before but the sound didn't work (I owned the original cd years ago but dunno where it is now) - so thanks Gog

I agree, they are rather naff. I can upgrade there armor very easily, in fact i have already. Was trying to make them like the super heavy's just weaker than a Baneblade etc

Probably something i will release soon.

I'm guessing that them being added in a later patch didn't help with balance issues as not as much playtesting time would be spent on them beyond someone thinking it'd be cool to add them in. Wouldn't be good to take the shine off the real set piece monsters of war in this by making Land Raiders too good anyway. ;)

I remember me upping the Space Marines armour back in the day so they had a good chance of surviving a lasgun hit and gave them a heavy weapon too. Made them a bit overpowered though. :)

It's not about "balance". How would they? It's not like they have multiple hit points or shields.

Think the armour just needs to be upped a bit. I suppose the cost in part reflects troop carrying capabilities but who carries troops in vehicles much? They're too vulnerable really. As said they do pack a punch but in single player the orcs tend to concentrate fire on them meaning they tend to get brewed up in short order without getting many shots off.

Ironically like tabletop issues. Those big set pieces to tend to be magnets for fire. This can be a positive if you know how to game it.

On a slightly different note my Baneblade just lost a close quarters combat with two Nobz Warbikes. I realise the stats allow this to happen - but it's a bit galling!

Can they be used in the campaign?

Yes you can get in campaign, they're a space marine unit.

I found out why actually. In their UNIT.DAT/UNIT.TXT entry, it shows that they have 33% chance of being hit in the tracks, which have a very low armor (40 or so).
It means that even regular bolters have a 33% chance of detroying a Land Raider. The armor displayed in the unit screen is of no interest, because it's just an average:
but if the Land Raider has 66% chance of having 85 armor and 33% of having 40; it's very different from having 70 armor every time:
a vehicle with 70 armor would be impervious to small arm fire and heavy bolters entirely, but not one with 85 (66%) and 40 (33%).
All vehicles suffer from this to some extent, but the Land Raider case is a bit extreme, with a much higher chance for a track hit, and a much higher armor difference between tracks and regular armor.