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Whirlwind ScorPWNius


Moonstalker

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I would like to convince you that the WW Scorpius is the best artillery piece for a legion.  It has done a great job by itself of convincing me, and I would like to share that gospel with you.

 

+Aside from the base WW, it is the cheapest artillery piece we can take, 25 less than a Basilisk and 40 less than a Medusa.

+It is the best armored artillery piece we can take, almost on-par with the Sicaran with its armor layout.

+Unlike the Basilisk/Medusa/WW, it fires multiple shots, and so can strip multiple hull points from vehicles or wounds from Monstrous Creatures.

+Being barrage, it will always hit side armor, so it's like having a missile squad set up in a flanking position on whatever vehicle you're shooting at

+Strong enough to cause ID to marines, good enough AP for dealing with power armor

=Random number of shots.

-Without AP2 or Ordnance, it will struggle to hurt AV14 like a Medusa can - but with the nerfed damage table, a single S10 AP2 hit really doesn't cut it anymore.  You'll probably still need 4 turns to kill a Land Raider like that.  Likewise, it won't do much against terminators.

-Only heavy 1 when moving.

 

I've ended up with one through chance circumstance, and replaced one of the three Predators in my list with it - and it consistently kills more than its fair share.  Last game?  I killed a Knight Errant, which subsequently blew up and nearly killed my opponent's Land Raider with a direct Destroyer hit.  Most games, it shreds anything I point it at that isn't a terminator or side armor 14.  Marines in the open?  Betcha I'll kill at least 8 in a turn.  Chimera chassis?  66% of the time I've got 3 or 4 shots, and they're all going right into that juicy side armor 10.  Predator?  Same deal, and hitting side 11 with s8 is like hitting the front 13 with s10.  Did I mention it's tough to get cover saves from it?  Because it is.  You're not even safe in your own deployment zone, because with 48 inch range it'll hit most of a 6x4 table.

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Do you tend to hit more than 2 Infantry models with each Blast though?

 

I think it's reasonable to hope for 2 hits on one blast - it really depends on how uptight your opponent is being with their spacing.  But for a small blast, 2 is reasonable.  You'll be stuck with just 1 a lot of the time if your opponent is going through the trouble of keeping everything exactly 2 inches apart.  When you get a direct hit you get to place the blast where you want, and I find I can often get 3-4 that way, but you'll also end up with times when the arrow points off into nowhere and you hit nothing.  Averaged out, I feel like 2 per small blast is reasonable, and 4-5 is reasonable for a large blast.

it beautiful to behold its effect on multiple Tyranid monstrous creatures tightly cobbled together around a venomthrope for a cover save they never got...

 

the FW model arguably does not look very good, though. But that doesn't matter, because most marine players have at least one whirlwind from the days of yonder dusting on their shelves since time immemorial anyway. finally, their time has come...

The only problem I have with them is that wih only 3 Heavy Support choices, you can only take one per slot. And thought it's almost twice the price, I like my Sicaran Venator for Vehicle Penetration

Completely agree. I really don't understand why FW made the Scorpius and the Vindicator into 'one per slot' Heavy Support Choices.

I'd much prefer to use the Heavy Support slot to take a Squadron of 3 x Predators, or a 3 x Basilisk/Medusa Battery.

If I was going to use a Heavy Support slot to take a single vehicle, it would have to be insanely tough. Like Achilles Alpha Landraider tough. cool.png

it beautiful to behold its effect on multiple Tyranid monstrous creatures tightly cobbled together around a venomthrope for a cover save they never got...

 

Aye but I think 3 Executioner predators will do more damage... after all 9 3" blasts at S7 AP2 hurts more than only 3 blasts at S8 AP3... plus there's (as pointed out by others) the all important need for the HS slot to be used for more than one model unless that model will perform exceptionally (I'd say vs Tau, Eldar, IG or Orks a WW Scorpius would come into it's own).

Eh a lot of the big gribblies are T5 or higher so no instakill at S8 anyway, curious as to how they get a 2+ cover save as I'm pretty sure shrouded doesn't give an immediate 2+ but a simple +2 to the save they may already have (that said I am not upto date with nids and this isn't the place to discuss them) - it may be the best part of triple the points but they have far more useage against hordes (lots of blast kill more men) and if your opponent isn't that particular foe then multiple AP2 will ruin most PA armies.

with the venomthrope it's 2+ as long as they are behind some ruins or fortifications - but if the barrage hits the venomthrope, cover is measured from the impact and they get only basic shrouded (5+) and S8 AP3 kills the thrope and any warriors outright.

 

btw my version:

 

http://i.imgur.com/UOUDSX0l.jpg

The real winner for the Scorpius is that its a cheap points wise marine beater. I own 2 of those bad boys and they ALWAYS ill make their points back if not more. When barrage still had pinning it was even better. In 7th their total tally is over 50 marines to date. Average of 2 10 man marine squads a game per Scorpius in normal 40k. My opponents will almost always target them first (which I strongly suggest you do as well if facing one or two). 

 

As for the models? Absolutely a dream to build and the missile launchers look beautiful. In normal 40k you can use them as a Hunter or Normal WW as well. 

I almost feel they deserve a points increase due to their efficiency. 

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