General Discussion Secundus

[~Drakzilla~]

@bluntblade: When I have more time, I should be able to do lineart templates for various vehicles and automata. Should be similar to how I did the Tartaros template from scratch.

[Talonair]

Therefore I suggest Maahres, after a lion-headed war god

Maahres pattern it is!

[MikhalLeNoir]

Roarrr!!! Guess who is coming

[Talonair]

Hey Mikhal, would the Wardens of Light use the Maahres-pattern?

[MikhalLeNoir]

The abyssii stormbird pattern? I would say yes

[Talonair]

Awesome. I'll dig out the rest of the notes I had on them

[Kelborn]

Has everyone seen the 8th edition galaxy map?

 

Imperium divided by a gigantic warp storm, Necron empire in the east, Prospero & Planet of Sorcerers back in the mortal realm, several new warp storms across all Segmentums, lot of new worlds...

 

Though I haven't spotted the Necron realm until....

 

JESUS! That thing is incredibly huge!  O.O It stretches across the eastern borders of Segmentum Ultima. To whom does the Sautekh dynasty belong to?

It nearly encircles Ultramar. RG got a *cuss*ton of work there. Necrons all over the place and Tau in the back of Ultramar...

 

It's interesting.

[Raktra]

Imotehk leads that dynasty :)

[Kelborn]

Ah yeah, that guy.

 

Pretty successful.

At least someone is getting something done. :P

[Talonair]

Awesome. I'll dig out the rest of the notes I had on them

So, following up on this. The original rules I wrote up years ago for the Maarhes-pattern gave it deployment grapples. Essentially, each set of grapples (three normally, five total if upgraded to 100 capacity) allowed a unit inside to deploy essentially in the same way as Grav-Chute insertion. Only infantry, artillery and walkers can do this, however. Those armed with Jump and Jet packs, and Jetbikes, may do this regardless of the availability of grapples. Its standard armament is six Twin-linked Heavy Bolter turrets, one hull-mounted heavy conversion beamer, two Twin-linked Lascannon turrets, the undermounted Thunderhawk cannon turret and bomb pylons on the wings.

 

It had a fairly extensive list of options which will be cut down dramatically. Also I made a mistake in my original post. If maximised for transport it can carry 120. (Rhinos count as 25 models right? And walkers 10?). Keeping in mind that these are several years old ideas, what do people think?

[bluntblade]

Maahres pattern Stormbird

 

While the Abyssii Mechanicus always courted controversy, Maahres pattern Stormbird was unusually contentious owing to the acclaim of several Legions. Using the Apophis pattern as its template, Fabricator-(I forget the specific rank) Mortera and her acolytes drastically added to its armour offensive power, at commensurate cost to its troop-carrying capacity - seventy regular Astartes as opposd to the Apophis’ hundred and fifty.

 

Expensive to produce and consequently rare, the Maahres nonetheless found favour among the Halcyon Wardens, Berserkers of Uran and the Wardens of Light. Its durability, coupled with an armament that could devastate almost any terrestrial formation, saw it deployed at the fore of airborne spearheads to protect the weaker craft behind it. On rare occasions they would be used as the sole means of forcing an initial landing, bearing armour squadrons or heavy assault units to carve out dropsites. The V Legion Myrmidons made particularly spectacular use of it, backed by veteran squads and led by their Primarch.

 

Even when they were not needed for their destructive power they still had their uses; Alexandros wrote that “the psychological effects of a craft large enough to eclipse the sun at fifty metres up, vomiting fire from (how many?) cannons, should never be discounted.” The Strategos’ deadpan assessment would be borne out by several recorded instances of armies throwing down their guns to flee when these behemoths loomed above them. With the advent of the Insurrection, the demand for these craft would only increase.

Edited April 24, 2017 by bluntblade

[Talonair]

I love it. The rank would be Fabricator-General. Ever tech-priest that rules a forge world is a Fabricator-General by rank, and the Fabricator-General of Mars is the leader of the Mechanicum. Mounting standard armament, it would be... 18 barrels plus bombs

[Talonair]

I do have rules prepared for the Maahres, should I post them here?

[bluntblade]

Might as well, at least for theoretical fun

[Talonair]

Lord Of War

 

Maahres-pattern Stormbird

BSFrontSideRearHPCombat RolePursuitAgilityMaahres414131318Attack Flyer41

 

While the Abyssii Mechanicus always courted controversy, Maahres pattern Stormbird was unusually contentious owing to the acclaim of several Legions. Using the Apophis pattern as its template, Fabricator-General Mortera and her acolytes drastically added to its armour offensive power, at commensurate cost to its troop-carrying capacity - seventy regular Astartes as opposd to the Apophis’ hundred and fifty.

Expensive to produce and consequently rare, the Maahres nonetheless found favour among the Halcyon Wardens, Berserkers of Uran and the Wardens of Light. Its durability, coupled with an armament that could devastate almost any terrestrial formation, saw it deployed at the fore of airborne spearheads to protect the weaker craft behind it. On rare occasions they would be used as the sole means of forcing an initial landing, bearing armour squadrons or heavy assault units to carve out dropsites. The V Legion Myrmidons made particularly spectacular use of it, backed by veteran squads and led by their Primarch.

Even when they were not needed for their destructive power they still had their uses; Alexandros wrote that “the psychological effects of a craft large enough to eclipse the sun at fifty metres up, vomiting fire from eighteen cannons, should never be discounted.” The Strategos’ deadpan assessment would be borne out by several recorded instances of armies throwing down their guns to flee when these behemoths loomed above them. With the advent of the Insurrection, the demand for these craft would only increase.

 

Unit Composition:

• 1 Maahres-pattern Stormbird

Unit Type:

• Super-Heavy Flyer (Hover, Transport)

Wargear:

• Six turret-mounted Heavy Bolters
• Two turret-mounted Lascannons
• Hull-mounted Heavy Beamer
• Turret-mounted Thunderhawk Cannon
• Eight Bomb Pylons (up to four may be dropped per bombing run)
• Three Deployment Grapples
• Five Void Shields
• Armoured Ceramite

Special Rules:

• Assault Vehicle
• Shield Projection
• Reinforced Structure
• Power of the Machine Spirit
• Grapple Deployment
• Massive Bulk

Transport Capacity:

 

The Maahres has a transport capacity of 70 models, and may carry Dreadnoughts of any type (each counting as 10 models), battle-automata of any type (each counting as 8 models), jump and jet infantry, Rapier batteries, and bikes/jetbikes (bikes/jetbikes count as Extremely Bulky models).

 

The Maahres may also transport Rhinos, including squads within, each Rhino occupying 25 models of its transport capacity. Dreadnoughts, Battle-Automata and Rhinos may only deploy via the front or rear ramps.

 

Access Points:

 

An access hatch on either side, plus a front and rear assault ramp.

 

Options:

 

The Maahres may be upgraded with the ability to use Orbital Strikes: +250pts

 

The Bomb pylons may be replaced with Dreadstrike missiles for no additional cost

 

The Bombs the Maahres carries may be replaced with one of the following options. All Bombs carried are replaced, including those in the bomb hold if the Maahres is equipped with one:

• Heavy Bombs (reducing the number on the wing pylons to 6 and the number in the Bomb hold to 8): +40pts
• Phosphex Cluster Bombs (reducing the number on the wing pylons to 4 and the number in the Bomb hold to 6. Each cluster bomb counts as two dropped for determining how many can be dropped per bombing run): +80pts

The Thunderhawk Cannon may be replaced with one of the following:

• A Fellblade Accelerator Cannon: +30pts
• A Turbo-Laser Destroyer: +50pts
• An extended transport capacity (from 70 to 120 models) and two additional Deployment Grapples: Free

Alternatively, the Thunderhawk Cannon, one deployment grapple and the rear assault ramp may be removed, and the transport capacity reduced to 40 to instead mount a Bomb Hold, holding 12 Bombs and able to drop up to 8 bombs per bombing run. In each bombing run bombs may only be dropped from the bomb bay OR the wing pylons, the choice must be made at the start of the bombing run.

 

So long as the Maahres is in Hover mode and remains stationary this turn, its controlling player may declare that it is projecting its void shields at the start of their turn. This means that their area extends to cover all units within 12" of the Maahres' main hull and wings in their protection.

Special Rule - Shield Projection

 

The Maahres has an invulnerable save of 5+ against any attacks that have breached its void shields.

Special Rule - Reinforced Structure

 

If the Maahres has moved more than 6", passengers can still disembark, but they do so as follows:

 

Nominate any point over which the Maahres has moved that turn and deploy the squad as if it were Deep Striking onto that point. If the unit scatters, every disembarking model in that unit must immediately take a Dangerous Terrain test. If any of the models cannot be deployed, those models are destroyed. Models that disembark using the Grapple Deployment rule cannot charge on the turn they do so.

 

One unit may deploy in this fashion for every Deployment Grapple the Maahres is equipped with (i.e. three normally, or five if equipped with the larger transport capacity). Jump/Jet units and jetbikes may deploy in this fashion regardless of the availability of deployment grapples. Rhinos may not attempt to deploy in this fashion.

Special Rule - Grapple Deployment

 

Due to its sheer size, ranged weapons targeting a Zooming Maahres that lack the Skyfire special rule may fire at their full ballistic skill unless forced to Snap Fire by other means (i.e. Blind). This does not allow blast and template weapons to be fired at a Zooming Maahres. The Maahres may not Jink.

Special Rule - Massive Bulk

 

The bomb types used by the Maahres use the following profiles

 

Bomb Types

WeaponRangeStrengthAPTypeBombBomb64Apocalypse Barrage (3 per bomb)Heavy BombBomb73Apocalypse Barrage (3 per bomb)Phosphex Bomb ClusterBomb52Heavy (2 per Cluster), Poisoned (3+), Crawling Fire, Lingering Death

Wargear - Bombs

 

 

Orbital Strike

WeaponRangeStrengthAPTypeOrbital StrikeUnlimitedD2Primary Weapon 1, Massive Blast (7"), Barrage (Indirect Fire only)

Wargear - Orbital Strike

 

 

 

 

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

So, the rules for the Maahres. Points cost undecided, and I've opted to leave out a lot of the replacement options to avoid an options list that's about a million pages long

Edited April 25, 2017 by Talonair

[TheBlindPrimarch]

cool...now model it!

 

I'm joking of course, love the idea.

[Slips]

For how much bigger I envision this thing to being vs the Sokar (Which is already a HEUG model), I'd bump the rear armor to 13 and give it 3-5 more HPs as well as the Sokar's Orbital Strikes upgrade but at +200-300 points over the Sokars 150 due to how many more guns it has.

 

Also, Profile for the Heavy Beamer?

Another point of note is that, per the 40k FAQ, if a blast/template weapon has skyfire, they can actually be shot at flyers iirc.

Edited April 25, 2017 by Slipstreams

[bluntblade]

How big is the Sokhar in canon?

[Slips]

How big is the Sokhar in canon?

Roughly 75% larger than a Thunderhawk.

[RikuEru]

*Imagines a pair of bodybuilders carrying a huge overblown Maahres Stormbird into a local GW shop, a single Table only reserved for itself, as it dwarfs a Tau Manta with ease. A third bodybuilder follows, carrying the cases for the Army inside.

All local players stare in pure awe*

 

That's the easiest way ANY of the 18 BotL-Legions could win against ANY 30K/40K or even AoS/LotR Army in a single second.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Which shows the superority of the purged legions;)

[bluntblade]

It's the kind of vastness the board gsme will never really manage

[Talonair]

It's fun to have as a model in theory. Like how the Emperor-class titan used to have rules. I'll make the adjustments to the Maahres profile :P

[Talonair]

Also, Profile for the Heavy Beamer?

Another point of note is that, per the 40k FAQ, if a blast/template weapon has skyfire, they can actually be shot at flyers iirc.

The Heavy Beamer already has stats in the HH books, it's the one that can be mounted on Predators and iirc Contemptors

 

The FAQ states the exact opposite:

 

Q: Can a Swooping Flying Monstrous Creature or Zooming

Flyer be targeted by a Blast or Template weapon with the Skyfire

special rule?

A: No.

[Raktra]

It's Skies of Death that changed that to a yes.

 

Also, I don't mean to be a downer here, so apologies, but I feel kind of uncomfortable that the new Stormbird's design is "just normal one, but WE DID IT BETTER!!!". It feels like the very thing all fan-works fall into the trap of.