Chimera hull based Artillery choices

[SgtBilko]

Hi,

I'm getting back into the game after quite a few years break. I've got 4 magnetized Russ tanks (3 Battletank design with one converted Exterminator turret and one Demolisher box) and I'm looking at the heavy support choices based on the Chimera hull, Hydra, Manticore, etc.

I already have 1 converted Griffon, but that is all and I'm wondering which way to go. I have magnetised 2 Chimeras with removable bits which I'm thinking of buying quad guns for but what else?

Which of the Chimera based Heavy Support choices is the way to go? I'm thinking Medusas as they don't have a minimum range (Which only counts for firing indirect right?) and seem very killy.

The manticore could be interesting, with D3 S10 large blasts.

Also are such vehicles best deployed alone, in 2s or in 3s? I don't want 3 of my vehicles wiped out by a single enemy large blast.
I'll probably be playing mainly under 2k pts.

Currently I'm planning to have 2 Hydras, 2 Griffons, 2 Manticores, but then I'm not really sure what I'm doing - I just like artillery.

So to sum up: Which artillery and how many?

Thanks

Edit: I've just read the Basilisk useless? thread and now am even more at a loss. Ah the agony of choice...

I also see that the Medusa in not Ordnance 1 like the others.

[Deathkorpsman]

Welcome back to the game!

I think 1 Manticore in your list is a very solid choice. More than one is a bit of overkill, but there isn't anything wrong with that. Too bad you can't take them in squadrons. For your choices, I'd go 1 Manticore, 2 Griffons, and 2 or 3 of whateve (in a squadron)r. Hydras are a good choice, with the new importance of flyers.

The Barrage rules have been changed so that you can fire inside your minimum range or outside of LoS, but it now counts as Indirect Fire if you do that. Kinda weird, but that's how it goes. So artillery in general seems like it is going to be pretty strong in this edition. Being able to hide your vehicles back where it is relatively safe while you pound someone to paste is going to be easier than ever. If you are going to take a heavy artillery list, you might want to skip the Medusa because that will be one of your only vehicles sitting out in the open.

[majorspeirs]

Basic summary of our Chimera-based artillery:

Griffon - Some say they are terrible, but they generally haven't used them. These are cheap, and can seriously hurt light vehicles and infantry due to their accuracy. They are AP4, but you will hit more often than not, so you will cause lots of armour saves.

Hydra - Nerfed compared to what it used to be, but now it is line with that it is supposed to be - death-incarnate to flyers and skimmers. Not great against anything else due to snapfiring.

Manticore - I've only just built one but never used it. People have been going on about how awesome they are for years - they are a very solid choice. They can only be taken singly though, no squadrons.

Basilisk - A wonderful artillery. With incredible range and a strength 9 template these excel at blowing up vehicles and killing infantry and monstrous creatures. I've used one as a glorified field gun (usually not worrying about indirect fire) for years to great effect.

Medusa - nasty as hell, but generally your opponents highest priority. Standard they fire demolisher shells 36 inches. Upgraded to bastion-breaching they are THE best anti-tank gun in the game, especially now that the whole template is strength 10. As they can't fire indirectly though, they are exposed and aren't likely to survive the game (I've just built a pair of these as well as a manticore)

Colossus - highly specialised at tackling MEQ infantry due to AP3 and no cover. Whilst this is great they gave generally been avoided due to their minimum range, lack of versitility and prevalence of mechanised lists in 5th edition. Under the new rules they can actually be used to tackle light vehicles more effectively, but more importantly they can fire within their minimum range, and mechanised marine players everywhere are throwing away their transports for foot based lists.

How many is a matter of personal preference and game size. The manticore can't be squadroned, so no choice there. Most tanks will work well on their own or paired (rule of thumb: only pair like with like, mixing usually reduced effectiveness). Squadrons of three start to become expensive, and normally can't achieve much more than squadrons of two can. The griffon and hydras are great in pairs because they are so cheap.

I am starting my second army myself at the moment and my 2000 point heavy support has 2x Medusa (standard), 2x Hydra and 1x Manticore. That said the hydras can be changed into griffons and the medusas into colossuses due to magnets. If you can make your models interchangable, I highly recommend it. It allows you to add some variety and flexibility to your games.

[SgtBilko]

Did you make your own Medusas and Colosseses or are they FW? If you made them I would like some tips.

[majorspeirs]

FW is the simplest (and probably most expensive) way to go about taking the artillery we don't have plastic kits for.

There are many other (cheaper) alternatives available. One of the most common is to simply put a different barrel on a plastic Basilisk (some of these conversions look better than others).

There are a number of other model companies that produce guns that are of an appropriate size/scale that can be slotted into a chimera chasis. My personal favourite is the Maxmini siege gun:
www.belloflostsouls.net/2011/01/model-review-maxmini-siege-gun-ig.html
I bought this just for the gun itself, but I thought the whole kit was very impressive.

The best advice I can give is to not be afraid of having a go at converting. When I started in the hobby I was too scared to do anything beside the official kits. I was inspired by seeing what other hobbiests on forums like this were doing, and once I started converting stuff I realised just how easy it was (if not a little time consuming). The models in my collection that are most important to me are the ones that I have spent the most time converting to be my own.

[hendrik]

I'm relatively new to imperial guard but during my last game I was quite impressed with my medusa an easy way to make one is to use the following bits:
basilisk gun (cut off the extended barrel)
valkyrie missile pod (this will form the medusas barrel)
greenstuff to sculpt the end of the barrel or make one in plasticard you can also try to get the end of the shadowsword barrel, but this seems hearder to get your hands on

[hendrik]

and here's a picture of the conversion