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A (not so) Humble Review of the Taurox Prime

Master Antaeus

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Master Antaeus

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The new Astra Militarum transport has been out a while, and while I have seen several reviews of the overall book for militarum tempestus, I have not yet seen an in-depth review of the Taurox Prime.

 

First, let's get this out of the way, the regular Taurox is okay for its points.  It's not fast, which is a major liability for an 11/10/10 transport.  If you already have chimeras from previous editions, don't upgrade unless you're running Militarum Tempestus specifically.

 

For that matter, this review assumes you are using the Taurox Prime from Militarum Tempests as that is my only experience with it.

 

Pros:

-Shoots well above its weight.  At BS 4 and with several very effective weapon loadouts, it can easily hit harder than a chimera, Devilfish or Raider.

-Small.  This might not sound like a big deal, but have you ever tried to get cover for your baneblade?  Yeah, the front profile of the Taurox Prime is excellent for getting that 25% coverage, plus you can fit a whole bunch in your army bag.

-All of the guns can be modeled on the turret.  Again, this doesn't sound like a big deal, but think about it; you get 360 degree traverse for all of your guns.  If anyone accuses you of modeling for advantage, I would direct them to any picture of a modern tank and ask where they see all of the guns.  If they do anything other than nod, you may punch them in the neck.  This privilege is one of the lesser known of fielding a Taurox Prime.

-Can carry a shocking amount of troops for their size.  Like the old Ork Trukk model size-to-capacity ratio.  They can also carry allied space marines and Skitarii really quickly to where you need them.

 

Cons:

-Shoots well above its weight.  I know, this was a pro, right?  Well, actually it's kinda bad.  The kind of firepower a Taurox produces can actuall attract the wrong kind of attention as your opponent suddenly swivels his biggest guns to shoot it.  This is such a problem, in fact, that if your Taurox is more than 90 points, I would take the troops out (unless they're terminators or something.  Yeah, you can do that.) and deep strike them.

-Fragile.  Seriously.  The same hull points as a chimera, but side armor is worse than a Rhino.  Keep this baby in cover.

-Expensive.  Priced competitively (if any GW price can be called competitive) with the Raider in dollars, the Taurox is expensive as hell in points, costing 15 points more than a chimera.  This makes you seriously consider what can and cannot see your little trucks when you move them.

 

Loadouts

 

Standard Configuration: Taurox Battle Cannon and TL Hotshot Volleygun

Thoughts: Lacks focus and unity.  The cheapest solution is to upgrade the TL Volleygun to a TL autocannon for free, which turns the Taurox Prime into a light vehicle hunter (I would not expect to tag large number of infantry with the TBC).  It hunts vehicles admirably, but hull points means you typically need to expose more than one Taurox to a single target, a weakness that can be exploited by a canny opponent.

 

Anti-Infantry Configuration: TL Taurox Gatling Gun and TL Volleygun

Thoughts: An unholy number of shots if you add a storm bolter, and you can even model them all on the same turret for 360 degree mayhem.  This configuration can pump out a blistering 16 shots per turn after moving 12" through cover with impunity.  It costs a little extra, but this is certainly the most satisfying configuration.  I would recommend upgrading the TL Volleygun to a TL Autocannon.  You lose 2 shots, but you gain the ability to hunt vehicles and menace flyers.  Cons: will cost you a few points.

 

Tank Hunter Configuration: Missile Launcher and TL Autocannon

Thoughts: A legitimate tank hunter and, with its speed, perfectly able to get side shots on vehicles with fragile sides.  I would caution that this configuration punches in the range of most armies' tanks and as such, it will draw the same level of attention as a predator or a Hammerhead.  Because of this, if you take this Taurox Prime as a dedicated transport, I would recommend deploying it empty and deep striking the occupants.  I would not take the Volleygun on this one.  Yes, you get two more shots and the missile launcher can put out two respectable templates but you will lose as you can use an autocannon to hunt infantry; you cannot use a volleygun to hunt tanks.  Also makes your Taurox prime cost as much as a stock Dreadnought.  Buyer beware.

 

Upgrades for the Taurox:

Searchlight: draws attention to your Taurox when you should be taking advantage of your cover save.  If you have 3 points left over, take relic plating.

 

Relic Plating: I'd throw this on a Taurox if I had 3 or 6 points left over.  Might never come up, but it might win you a game.

 

Dozer Blade: It already re-rolls difficult terrain.  Pass.

 

Storm Bolter:  For the cost of meltabombs, lets you plink off a couple more shots.  Decent on the anti-infantry variant above, but I wouldn't build with this in mind.

 

Recovery Gear: An immobile Taurox is a dead Taurox.  That said, you probably cannot afford how long it will take to repair (definitely not on my dice rolls)  some people swear by this; I would take a storm bolter first as I can always get use out of that.

 

Smoke Launchers: Smoke launchers are great, but not for the cost of a meltagun. 

 

Extra Armor: No longer necessary on any vehicle ever.

 

Fire Barrels: Fun and extremely gratifying as your opponent slogs through your fields of fire and finally gets to assault your pig-truck only to take even more wounds doing so.  Whether it's worth the points of a sternguard combi-weapon, I must say I don't agree.

 

Hunter Killer Missile: Hmm... Okay, so a force of 3 missile primes with hunter-killers can realistically menace an Imperial Knight or a Wraithknight on turn 1 from 48 inches away after moving 12 inches through terrain.  The kind of weapon a big risk-taker would use and I should stress that the rest of Militarum Tempestus does not lend itself to being conservative.  I wouldn't take it unless I knew I would need it, or wanted to do some kind of alpha strike army.

 

Augur Array: While this device is pretty cool, you are pushing the cost of your Taurox into dreadnought territory.  An Augur array is the cost of a power fist.  For that much, you could ally in a henchmen squad (because you already brought an Inquisitor) consisting of a mystic, a psyker (for a cheap +1 during psychic phase) and an acolyte with bolter for the same cost.  Now you have a rolling Augur array you can use to bring the Taurox' original occupants right where you need them when they deep strike.

 

Camo Netting: This one is tough.  On one hand, it makes your fragile vehicle hard to kill, on the other, it makes it even more expensive.  Not an auto-include, but certainly one you should consider.

hendrik Venerable Brother

hendrik

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The new Astra Militarum transport has been out a while, and while I have seen several reviews of the overall book for militarum tempestus, I have not yet seen an in-depth review of the Taurox Prime.

 

-All of the guns can be modeled on the turret.  Again, this doesn't sound like a big deal, but think about it; you get 360 degree traverse for all of your guns.  If anyone accuses you of modeling for advantage, I would direct them to any picture of a modern tank and ask where they see all of the guns.  If they do anything other than nod, you may punch them in the neck.  This privilege is one of the lesser known of fielding a Taurox Prime.

I'm pretty sure this can be classified as modeling to advantage, as i believe the side guns to only have a 45 degrees firing arc... else you might as well put your hull mounted lascannon on your leman russ turret, just like the sponsons... in fact, almost all imperial vehicles are known to be of flawed design, with guns mounted to the sides being a major 40 thingy...

 

personally i feel like the taurox prime becomes too expensive for what it actually brings, especially once you start upgrading them. in a militarum tempestus army, how well does it compete with the valkyrie as prefered vehicle?

Ulrik_Ironfist Venerable Brother

Ulrik_Ironfist

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In terms of being a transport, the Taurox has the advantage of starting on table. I always take Camo netting on mine, to boost that cover save. get it in 4 up cover, and you're rolling 3 up saves, and you always get a cover save, so darn good to have. The little truck is expensive, and I haven't had much luck with it (bad tactics on my part, because I listened to a halfwit that didn't know what I was facing) so far. However, it's what I have, and hopefully, this time, i have enough cover on the board to make use of its small profile. I'm fielding it with the gatling cannon, TL autocannon, and Stormbolter, to really pump out the volume and give me a little help against light vehicles. 

Vel'Cona Venerable Brother

Vel'Cona

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Honestly, the biggest con IMO is that you can only take Taurox Primes for Tempestus Scion units in the base IG codex. This means you have a bit of a "unit tax" to take them. If you could use them as a transport for Infantry Squads or Veterans (oh, to dream!) then they'd definitely be more popular. I know this would probably be background-defying (since Taurox Primes are meant to be Scion-exclusive), but it would make them much more useful.

As far as modeling the turret to advantage, honestly I think this is a small quibble. You're not changing the base size, the stat profile, or indeed anything else about this vehicle. Given that the missile launcher is already stuck to the roof, I don't see why it's a big deal to put all of the weapons there. Additionally, GW shows a standard Taurox in the IG codex with its Autocannons on both the sides AND turret; it's not much of a stretch to extrapolate that you could stick the other guns there, too. But that's up to tourney organizers, I guess. msn-wink.gif

Nicodemus Doloroso Venerable Brother

Nicodemus Doloroso

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As far as modeling the turret to advantage, honestly I think this is a small quibble. You're not changing the base size, the stat profile, or indeed anything else about this vehicle. Given that the missile launcher is already stuck to the roof, I don't see why it's a big deal to put all of the weapons there. Additionally, GW shows a standard Taurox in the IG codex with its Autocannons on both the sides AND turret; it's not much of a stretch to extrapolate that you could stick the other guns there, too. But that's up to tourney organizers, I guess. msn-wink.gif

The instruction manual instructs you to put the autocannons on the turret if you are building a Taurox (not a prime). It is definitely legit with the missile launcher on the back IMO.

That turret is getting pretty crowded if you put the autocannon/volleguns up there with a battle cannon or gatling cannon, however, I don't see how it's modelling to advantage if putting those guns on the turret is fair game for a base Taurox.

Ulrik_Ironfist Venerable Brother

Ulrik_Ironfist

Posted
Posted

 

That turret is getting pretty crowded if you put the autocannon/volleguns up there with a battle cannon or gatling cannon, however, I don't see how it's modelling to advantage if putting those guns on the turret is fair game for a base Taurox.

 

 

That's what I was thinking.

march10k Venerable Brother

march10k

Posted
Posted

 

The new Astra Militarum transport has been out a while, and while I have seen several reviews of the overall book for militarum tempestus, I have not yet seen an in-depth review of the Taurox Prime.

 

-All of the guns can be modeled on the turret.  Again, this doesn't sound like a big deal, but think about it; you get 360 degree traverse for all of your guns.  If anyone accuses you of modeling for advantage, I would direct them to any picture of a modern tank and ask where they see all of the guns.  If they do anything other than nod, you may punch them in the neck.  This privilege is one of the lesser known of fielding a Taurox Prime.

I'm pretty sure this can be classified as modeling to advantage, as i believe the side guns to only have a 45 degrees firing arc... else you might as well put your hull mounted lascannon on your leman russ turret, just like the sponsons... in fact, almost all imperial vehicles are known to be of flawed design, with guns mounted to the sides being a major 40 thingy...

 

personally i feel like the taurox prime becomes too expensive for what it actually brings, especially once you start upgrading them. in a militarum tempestus army, how well does it compete with the valkyrie as prefered vehicle?

 

 

Agreed...this is as shady as mounting a land raider's lascannon sponsons on the roof then parking it behind a suitable piece of terrain to shoot without hazarding return fire.  Totally out of bounds.  Besides, the line of argument that would have us compare sci-fi tanks that look straight out of WWI with their hull and sponson mounted guns to 21st century tanks is baseless to begin with.  

Master Antaeus Veteran

Master Antaeus

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I probably wouldn't put them on the roof, but I would put both flamestorm cannons on the same side so if one was in range, the other would be as well.

 

As for the Taurox Prime's turret, I cut the autocannons down and have them poking out of the slot that the storm bolter normally goes in and then have the gatling gun on the side.  It's only a little bigger than having the storm bolter next to the gatling guns.

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