=][= Unit(s) of the week: Basilisks =][=

[duz_]

It has come to the Commissariat's attention that some of you have not being keeping up with your regular training requirements. As such we intend to rectify this immediately by commencing an intensive re-education of the command corps. Failure will not be tolerated!

 

This will be a weekly series of threads aimed at discussing the units available to the Astra Miliatrum in 8th edition. This can become a resource for those finding their feet in 8th and our brothers in arms who have joined the fight in the glorious Imperial Guard.

 

The tireless advance of the Imperial Guard is made all the more possible by the unstoppable might of its artillery. 
In the up coming sessions we will be focusing on mobile artillery in all its forms, next up Basilisks!

 

In 7th edition these babies usually collect dust on shevles for their cheaper more effective smaller brothers the Wyvrens. I tried multiple times to get these units to work, however with their inaccurate large blast and minimum 36" indirect fire range they had limited targets and were often easy for enemy deep strikers to remove. 

In this edition though I believe they have returned to their former glory! No dealing D6 hits (rolling two dice and picking the highest), S9, AP-2 and D:D3 the Earthshaker cannon is great at taking out MEQ / TEQ and high T and W models. I try and include one in my list each game a play guard, I plan on buying a second at some point, but these days they are rarely available to order!

Their point cost is also quite reasonable, you could throw a heavy flamer on the hull for some assault defence. Personally I like to keep them cheap with the heavy bolter, which in this edition is also great at taking out troops like it should be!

I will admit that like others have said, the Basilisk can be really hit or miss in some games. It doesn't bother me too much though, as I love the model and heavy artillery is such a critical theme to guard I take it regardless. 

Highlight of 8th so far with this is it dealing more damage to my friends Land Raider than Pask in a Vanquisher and Scion Melta gunners! :D

 

Who else has dusted off their Basilisks for 8th, or do you still prefer the artillery carriages? Anyone been able to order through the web store lately?

[Guardsman Bob]

It's definitely an old work horse of the Guard. Part of me still sees the Wyveren as that new kid and Manticore as a Forge World kit. When first seeing the roll two dice bit it felt reminiscent of the original double-tap rules.

 

Mine were mothballed (along with my entire army) when 6th made deviation into a really bad joke.

 

While the Manticore is flat out better by virtue of not having any ready to use my three Basilisks have made as you mentioned a triumphant return. It feels good.

[Tirak]

Well since you asked at the end, I started using Basilisks, then i stopped in favor of Earthshaker Batteries. A combination of the Immobile rule and being 28 points cheaper than the full on Basilisk, the Earthshaker Battery is better in every way. Yes its save is a bit worse and yes it has fewer wounds, but the fact that it ignores being assaulted means that dropping an assaulting flyer onto it to lock it down just isn't a concern.

 

The cannon is aces though, it's reliable damage. There is no hiding from the Earthshaker, and in numbers, they can put a colossal amount of hurt down on your enemies. While it is true it's not the best for anti tank work, being only d3, the S9 AP-2 makes up for it, giving the gun flexibility, allowing it to compliment a wide array of Guard styles.

[HenricusTyranicus]

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The cannon is aces though, it's reliable damage. There is no hiding from the Earthshaker, and in numbers, they can put a colossal amount of hurt down on your enemies. While it is true it's not the best for anti tank work, being only d3, the S9 AP-2 makes up for it, giving the gun flexibility, allowing it to compliment a wide array of Guard styles.

This interests me. I haven't gotten to use an earthshaker myself, but most of the reports I've been hearing have been leading me to believe that it is at its strongest pulling anti tank duty, and not very good anti infantry. Do you find otherwise, and could you elaborate on that?

[Halfpint100]

Because they have such a huge range and do not need LOS. I wait till the end of my shooting to shoot both my basilisk and my manticore. Sure the manticore does more damage, but the basilisk fires every round and is a tad cheaper. It also usually gets ignored as people go for the manticore instead. It is the old workhorse and I am glad I can take them again!

[CoffeeGrunt]

I personally would go for Earthshaker Platforms as well, purely because the Basilisk is essentially immobile anyway, otherwise it hits terribly if it tries to move. As I'm a heretic, I'd also make up a battery of three at once armed with these beauties. 

[duz_]

This interests me. I haven't gotten to use an earthshaker myself, but most of the reports I've been hearing have been leading me to believe that it is at its strongest pulling anti tank duty, and not very good anti infantry. Do you find otherwise, and could you elaborate on that?

Although the earthshaker can definitely delete infantry models the low hit count, high strength, AP and damage output means its better tougher targets.

High volume firepower is better for light infantry like the Punisher and Taroux gatling cannons.

[Henimann]

I always envisioned the Bassie as more of a Assault Gun than a true artillery piece - meant to knock out emplacements and high-toughness targets - I like how the rules now reflect that.  

 

Don't have access to the Index from FW yet - can anyone tell us if there's a difference between the standard Bassie and the FW one, rules-wise? 

[Halfpint100]

There are 3 earthshaker armed units in the fw index:

 

Earthshaker battery: T7 W7 4+ save, Immobile -> cannot fight in CC, is autohit, but can fire if in CC at any unit and friendly units can shoot opponents units that are in combat with the battery. 80 points (28 point discount, but no heavy bolter, +1T, -4W, -1 save). NO degrading profile however! it always hits on 4s

 

Armageddon pattern basilisk. T7, W12, otherwise identical for 123 point with a heavy bolter (15 points more than basic for +1T and W)

 

Earthershaker Carriage battery: same profile as the battery. but comes with 4 guardsmen who must be alive to fire it and can only be targeted if they are the closest unit (fun fact, you can assault the crew, kill them and the guns are removed). 75 for the gun and 16 for the crew (91 total) Again NO degrading profile. 

[CoffeeGrunt]

What's the model difference between the Battery and Carriage?

[duz_]

Size I believe

[CoffeeGrunt]

FW sadly don't sell the Battery for me to refer to. :|

[Tyr13]

The battery is immobile, basically an earthshaker on a cross-shaped base. The carriage has wheels and is the model thats currently available on FW.

[Tirak]

 

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The cannon is aces though, it's reliable damage. There is no hiding from the Earthshaker, and in numbers, they can put a colossal amount of hurt down on your enemies. While it is true it's not the best for anti tank work, being only d3, the S9 AP-2 makes up for it, giving the gun flexibility, allowing it to compliment a wide array of Guard styles.

This interests me. I haven't gotten to use an earthshaker myself, but most of the reports I've been hearing have been leading me to believe that it is at its strongest pulling anti tank duty, and not very good anti infantry. Do you find otherwise, and could you elaborate on that?

 

D3 damage makes it inefficient at killing fodder infantry like Conscripts and cultists and also not so great as an anti tank platform as you're damage per shot is too low to reliably wipe out units with 12+ wounds, however where they really shine is targeting tough elite infantry. Terminators, Obliterators, Hive Guard ect, where the S9 makes wounding reliable and the AP allows it to bust open units with a 2+ save.

[CoffeeGrunt]

The battery is immobile, basically an earthshaker on a cross-shaped base. The carriage has wheels and is the model thats currently available on FW.

 

Ah right. That makes it fairly easy to kitbash then...

[Chaplain Gunzhard]

That Armageddon Pattern Basilisk does look incredible though.

[Halfpint100]

 

The battery is immobile, basically an earthshaker on a cross-shaped base. The carriage has wheels and is the model thats currently available on FW.

 

Ah right. That makes it fairly easy to kitbash then...

 

 

 

The battery is the earthshaker on a platform; Think Flakk 88 from WW2. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kX3htCfXgVU/SiYFX1yA_tI/AAAAAAAAB-k/hxFUgHPWc3Q/s400/earthshaker2.jpg

 

The carriage is on a wheeled platform and can also be moved, but only by using a Centaur Light Carrier to drag it. 

Edited September 20, 2017 by Halfpint100

[CoffeeGrunt]

Damn that battery looks cool. Will have to find suitable bases for them.

[Halfpint100]

Damn that battery looks cool. Will have to find suitable bases for them.

 

I am tempted to try and make 3 as well. Let us know if you find any good bases!

[Vel'Cona]

Did I miss a mention of the Master of Ordnance here?  Not sure if anyone has tested this guy out yet but he seems like a reasonable force multiplier for bombarding camping opponents.  :)

[duz_]

Given the low number of shots a MoO or Yarrick / Straken would probably benefit some what.

[CoffeeGrunt]

I dunno, the MoO is too easy to come within range and beat, if you get what I mean. Very few of my opponents camp personally, and even those that do still place mostly within 36" of my line on most deployments, otherwise they'd be out of range.

[Halfpint100]

Harker is so much better than MoO. Due to that 36" minimum range benefit. Not worth it IMO. 

[PliskinAJ]

I have been running the earthshaker platform instead of the basilisk, like its been said there is a siziable point drop but you loose some mobility. Something that doesn't matter for the earthshaker anyway. Due to the platform being so cheap you can essentially get 3 earthsaker guns in your army for the cost of 2 basilisks. The trade off is you don't get the heavy bolters but its more points efficient to get a HB heavy weapons team if you want the bolters. 

 

I have all 3 versions of the earthsaker; they basilisk, carrage and platform. If you can make your own platforms its where it is at now. I used to take the carrage because in the first edition of the DKoK codex you could get a trojan for free. So for the cost of a stubber I had a poor man's chimera. 

 

There are a few other key points between the 3:

 

- Basilisk is the lowest toughness of 6 all the others are 7. 

- The earthshaker platform is not a vehicle it just artillery. 

- The earthshaker carriage is both infantry (crew) and a vehicle. In my mind allowing you to use several ways to stack accuracy and re-rolls using units that effect either infantry or vehicles. You can make the carriage very deadly but you also sink a lot of points into it.

 

They do ok with groups of infantry, since you get to roll 2 dice and pick the highest between the three I commonly have ~10 shots not enough for hordes but it will make the standard 10 man group worry. 

 

As the rules are written the MoO only works with basilisks, wyverns, manticores or deathstrikes. 

[Tirak]

I don't see the point of the Carriage. Why would I spend 11 more points to make my earthshaker more vulnerable. Maybe its because I play in a club with a lot of assaulting flyers, but the vulnerability of the crew means you've got to kill 3 T3 models to remove 91 points. Heck, the Officer of the Fleet can potentially wipe out a Carriage by targeting the crew with his Air Raid ability, since they are not characters, and Air Raid Requested is not a shooting attack.