2 steam tanks, blitzkrieg or bog down?

[mike20]

I am curious as top what your thoughts are on fielding 2 steam tanks in a 3k pt army. Is it overkill, or is seeing two tank gonna scare the opponents into devoting a whack of resources to bringing them down?

My 3k list is something like this

AL- war altar
lvl 4 wizard

captain -bsb
captain
WP
M.E.
W.hunter

50 halbers
50 spears
5 inner circle

30 greatswords
3 demigryphs
2x cannon

luminark
huricanum
volley gun
steam tank

I have a second steam tank, and could have it replace the 2 cannons and move the luminark to the wizard but is there even a point to 2 tanks? or is one sufficient for anything you come across?

What are your thoughts?

[Malorian]

I think they would do well.

Use one to lock down each side of the board, allowing one main unit to come at you in the center and then focus on it. Once it's broken you move on to the units tied up by the stanks.

That lvl 4 better have lore of life though...

[aldo_milo]

this might just be the 40k IG in me coming out, but you can never have to many tanks. (steam powered or otherwise :P)

[mike20]

i was thinking that if the opponent can deal with one then they can likely deal with two, but if they struggle with one then the second one isnt really needed....does that kinda make sense?

[The Low King]

But if they can just about deal with one then there is no way they can deal with two

[GodlessM]

i was thinking that if the opponent can deal with one then they can likely deal with two, but if they struggle with one then the second one isnt really needed....does that kinda make sense?

Think abouts points denial and board control though. If he can't deal with one, then two means that's 500pts he won't get and two sections of the board he cannot use.

[Urgat]

Am I the only one bothered by only three blocks of troops at 3000pts?

[Lord Inquisitor]

The way I see it, the best use for a Steam Tank is in flank protection. They aren't fast or reliable in movement, so I don't like the idea of using them in a blitzkrieg fashion with heavy knights, but with 360-degree charge arc and a decent cannon they can happily sit on the flanks of an infantry line or gunline and discourage flankers, scouters and the like. Obviously in this role two seems the optimum number (although at 3K you could have three, right?).

That said, with the move back to T6, I think most if not all armies have some heavy hitters that can really do the tank some damage, so its days of being an unsolvable problem to some armies are over. Still seriously tough, but killable. By my reading Grind damage doesn't count for combat res unless your charging, so unless you get the charge off you're relying on steam gun damage to win combat at all. It's moved into more of a support role than the terrifying indestructible-except-to-magic hammer it was before.

[Jind_Singh]

Yeah - While I like the Steam Tank in it's new setting (edit: Love it!) it's more of a support unit than before - the random movement nerfs terror as the unit doesn't make a terror test when hit by a Steam Tank, toughness 6 is pretty easy to overcome as a lot of armies have access to strength six - which leaves the tank with 4+ save...

Random movement is great but by the same token it's random so you can't count on it.

The cannon can only be fired straight ahead making it harder to aim sometimes.

They do soak up a LOT of punishment though - and even wounded a canny engineer can still operate the tank in a workable fashion by judicious use of steam points - which I personally love.

If anything having two tanks is better as I'd rather - as your opposing player - deal with that than one tank plus extra cannons!

[mike20]

good to know...now comes the issue of MAGIC....with two stank I could imagine the lore of life as the best lore. Would it be best to have a lvl 2 wizard and a lvl 4 wizard to ensure I have ALL the life spells?...and this brings another thing into consideration, with the second steam tank the luminark must be a chariot for the wizard, which forces hi to take light! whats to be done?

[Sexiest_hero]

No I'd be happy to see 3 blocks at 3k. Chaff the tanks, and eat the gooey insides. It'll work against somebody who can't handle steamtanks at 3k, And if you can't at that points lvl.......

[Dreadlordpaul]

I can deal with 2 stanks easily they are really not that hard

[mike20]

thats great, but would you rather fight 1 stank and 2 cannons or 2 stanks?

[Jind_Singh]

2 stanks anytime of the day over 2 cannons! ANYTIME!

[mike20]

to use or to fight?

[mike20]

carrying on....would a lvl4 light + lvl 2 life be more or less useful in the proposed army list than a lvl 3 light + lvl 3 life???

i need to take a light to have a luminark, but I would like a life for the wound recovery. do I weaken one to strenghten another or hope for the dice gods to come through and give me regrowth with a lvl 2?

[LaughinGremlin]

Admit that your odds are horrible with a level two Jade Mage getting the spells you desire. You can't have a list with ALL that you want in this case. Take two Stanks and a level 4 Jade mage. The Luminark can be in a separate list if you REALLY want Jade magic.

OR

take two or three Jade Mage HEROES so that you are guaranteed to have regen spell once; however, it will only have +2 to be cast instead of +4 to cast as a Lord could do. Decisions, decisions...

[GodlessM]

carrying on....would a lvl4 light + lvl 2 life be more or less useful in the proposed army list than a lvl 3 light + lvl 3 life???

i need to take a light to have a luminark, but I would like a life for the wound recovery. do I weaken one to strenghten another or hope for the dice gods to come through and give me regrowth with a lvl 2?

This immediately sets alarm bells ringing; why would you put a Level 3 or Level 4 mage on a platform where he nothing but a huge target with no protection. If you must take a Luminark then ditch the double Stank idea, though double Stank is better.

[Glen_Savet]

@Jind, why would the random movement nerf terror? Does having random movement mean no terror checks? I do not think it does.

EDIT: My basis for this belief is the HPA and Doomwheel.

[Lord Inquisitor]

Well, it nerfs the "take a terror check or flee" rule, because you cannot flee from a Random Movement unit. It will still cause Fear in close combat (even in models that cause Fear).