Scattershield or Second Wraith Cannon?

[Clymer]

What are folks thinking about whether to go with a scattershield or second heavy wraith cannon on their Wraith Kinghts?

 

With the updates from today (I’m in favor, things were a bit too OOP) I’m feeling less inclined to go all in on offense, and now the knight is a bigger investment and feels like it might need some more insurance.

 

It will be a few weeks before I can get some games in and in the meantime, hearing your thoughts will keep me from agonizing over this decision (yep, will magnetize of course)

[Karhedron]

It is a good question. My hunch is that Fate Dice allows us to skimp on the Shield and go all out on offense. After all, if the WK takes a hit from a big anti-tank weapon, we can use a Fate Dice to give us a magic 6 to save provided it is not Ap-5. Against regular anti-tank like Lascannons, the Scatter shield only moves the required save from a 5+ to a 4+. I am a firm believer that sometimes the best defence is a good offence.

 

I do like the option of going with Heavy Wraithcannon and Suncannon though. It gives a good balance of anti-tank and anti-infantry, Even at the new price point, it compares quite well against the Imperial Knight Crusader. While it lacks the Crusader's inbuilt 5++, it does get the -1 Damage rule which is a pretty decent ability. If you really need to kill a tank, you can prioritise the UNPARALLELED FORESIGHT on the HWC.

[Clymer]

Thanks for the thoughts!

[Kallas]

I agree with Karhedron's offence>defence analysis, but I would suggest the Titanic Ghostglaive instead. It's more flexible than either the Wraithcannon or Suncannon, especially now after the Fate Dice nerf. Before, you could do a lot more with your shooting because you could use multiple FD to secure a result you wanted (be in Devastating Wounds or not), but now you can only use one per phase which is severely limiting.

 

The Ghostglaive offers several advantages:

1. It's used in a separate phase, so can use another FD if you want it to
2. It's used in a separate phase, so you benefit from Battle Host a second time that turn (and possibly in the enemy's turn too)
3. The Strike profile is more reliable anti-tank than the WC (low volume of shots with limited FD means it's unlikely to one-shot a vehicle/monster) or SC (low S and variable volume makes it weak AT)
4. The Sweep profile is very solid vs the MEQ profile (8/-2/2 is wounding on 2s, and only a 5+ save) and 15 attacks is loads, which makes it just generally useful vs most infantry
5. Not a direct benefit, but the Ghostglaive requires charging (which is obviously more difficult than just shooting) which in turn means it is in your opponent's face - this puts pressure on them to deal with it, and if not dealt with it can either remain in combat to shoot with Big Guns Never Tire while chopping away; or Feigned Retreat for 1CP lets it Fall Back, Shoot and Charge again
6. The Wraithknight is already a good target for Fortune and Guide, so it's not really an advantage of the Ghostglaive per se, but having Guide active on more attacks is nice; and Fortune buffing its defence is melee is also good, especially for making it a distraction Carnifex piece

So anyway, yeah. I think the Titanic Ghostglaive has some real value. The main drawback is that it's now costing an extra 100 odd points because GW doesn't know how to balance things.

[Karhedron]

If you took the Glaive, would you go Shield or HWC on the other arm?

[Kallas]

22 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

If you took the Glaive, would you go Shield or HWC on the other arm?

Personally I'd go HWC. Suncannon is cool, but it's like the Starcannon: it's good, but overshadowed by the stronger option, since the HWC has Blast and Devastating Wounds (even with the FD nerf), it's just better as an overall weapon. Maybe vs Terminators the Suncannon comes out on top, but the higher ceiling plus Battle Host rerolls gives the HWC stronger reliability, and the Strength 8 on the Suncannon really hurts it as an option vs vehicles (even though AP-3 and Damage 3 is very nice in general).