Go Big or Go Home
I was watching a video of a necron versus tyranid game, and saw that the necron player was fielding two monoliths. I remembered an article I came across that said the monoliths rarely lasted very long, due to their 3+ save and lack of quantum shielding. I thought how could this necron player not realize this weakness? The game began, and lo and behold, the monoliths dominated the game. And I thought to myself, was the article writer an idiot? Those things rocked! Or was this just a bad match-up? Do I use those big heavy wound units? Do I go big or go home?
Most factions have those monster units that have 20+ wounds and cost us above 350 points for a single model. They are those Titanic things that make the ground rumble as they move, dwarfing lesser units. Are they worth it? There’s something special fielding a massive monstrosity that throws fear into the hearts of lesser men. And with the current rules, fewer units mean I have a greater likelihood of having the first turn.
First, most of these units have a standard “can fall back and still shoot or charge”. Most can shoot heavy weapons while moving without penalty. And pretty much all of them only get cover if at least half the model is obscured from the firer. Ok, that’s out of the way, let’s get into it.
We’ll break down the common large units of the factions. In order to make the list, you have to be something that Games Workshop sells directly on their webstore. There’re too many Forgeworld models to cover and would make this list quite sizable. We’ll go in the order of the Index 1, 2, etc. Or pretty much whatever suits my fancy, but I’ll try and keep it short still.
The Baneblade, the “Hammer of the Emperor”. If the Emperor were a child playing Bob the Builder with a plastic hammer. The worst of all of the super-heavies. The Baneblade comes in at almost 500 points before you upgrade its sponsons, and has the dread of being the only super heavy on this list that takes a penalty for moving and shooting. How did the super heavy that is based on the leman russ, who can fire it’s primary gun while moving, take such a downgrade that it can’t effectively fire anything while moving? This is already the second worst Ballistic Skill on this list at 4+, but if it moves, it ties with the orks at 5+. It can fire its sponsons while engaged in melee as if they were pistols, so it has that. Assuming you paid for the additional points for them. Its guns are the most powerful on this list, but the baneblade lacks balance and mobility, so is little more than a massive fortification (and in fact, some of the variants can even house troops just like a bunker can). Maybe that’s what they were going for in this edition, making a mobile fortification. Comparing this to the others on this list, it has no invulnerable save, no self-repair ability, can’t move and shoot, same toughness, and only a couple wounds to help make up for it. Verdict: Go Home!
The Imperial Knight, majestic mini-titan. The Imperial Knight has 24 wounds backed by a 3+ (5++ against shooting) save. Like most super heavies, it can fall back and still shoot or charge, but it also ignores infantry models when it falls back, so long as it is still more than 1” away at the end of the fall back move. At an average of about 450 with primary loadout, these are respectable units. They are poor in terms of shooting damage output compared to other super heavies, but are better in melee, so are a much more balanced unit than others. Titanic feet give you 12 attacks at strength 8, but if you are going
against vehicles, use the sword or gauntlet for those crushing blows. You want to play a quick game, 4 knights will make your turns fly by, but each wound hurts your soul just a little bit. So few units makes each one hurt that much more, so I suggest having 3 with a Mechanicus ally to repair them. This one is closer, and while none of the super-heavies are really super competitive… Verdict: Go Big!
Next we come to the Aeldari Wraithknight. The cheapest you can make this giant wraith construct is 487 points, with most builds coming in above 500. In the current meta, the best build is likely the Suncannon with Scattershield. There’s always varying opinion, but the 5+ invulnerable save is needed with how many things can hit you with significant AP still. Losing the heavy melee weapons isn’t a huge loss, because most of the time you’ll use the Titanic Feet for the x3 attacks. Always equip the shoulder cannons in this edition, as you are woefully short on guns otherwise. And even then, it’s a lot of points for the equivalent of an Imperial Knight. Verdict: Go Home!
The Necron Monolith. While not technically a super-heavy like the rest, it does come in at 20 wounds and possess the Titanic keyword. And in many ways, it has the same rules as most of those on this list. It can fire heavy weapons without penalty (I’m GLARING at you Baneblade). It can fall back and still shoot (thanks to the Fly keyword). The Monolith comes with no options, it is 381 points. For that, you get a regenerating vehicle that, while slow, can drop anywhere more than 12” from an enemy. At that point, it gets some unique rules. It has an Eternity Gate, so can be a source of infantry as if it were a transport (make sure it isn’t your only “eternity gate” model if you do this). It has the Portal of Exile, which can scare off potential chargers with the threat of mortal wounds. Then it still gets those 18 AP -2 shots from its weapons, although it needs to get up close and personal with that 24” range. Good thing you can usually drop in close. This one was close, closer than any other. But in the end… Verdict: Go Big!
The Greater Good demands that we must speak of the KV128 Stormsurge. I hate the Tau. Shooty little blue skins that manage to out-armor my armored tank brigades of the Astra Militarum. I swore off of playing them years ago when I first got in the hobby because of random chance. Evil little tau, doing things better than my guard… Anyway! The Stormsurge is an impressive beast. Coming in at only 20 wounds, it is on the weak side for durability compared to the majority of Titanic units that have 24 wounds, and it doesn’t have a way to regenerate them like the Monolith, this is the most fragile of the big guns. But for that fragility, you gain an impressive first strike weapon. On the first turn, deploy your anchors to give you a 3+, then let all your guns fly. And it is an impressive armament. Cluster Rockets (48” 4d6), Destroyer Missiles (60” 4x one use), Smart Missile Systems (30” 8 shots), main gun option (either 72” D3/D6 or 30” D6), and short range sub weapon (2 8” flamers, or 2 16” assault guns). This is the weapons platform of the Titanic units. And add in the markerlights, this is a dangerous model. The variant I like would cost 491 points, so a reasonable cost compared to the others, especially when you consider that for that cost, you gain a 4+ Invulnerable save (thanks to the Shield Generator), ignoring wounds on a 6, and adding 1 to the AP of all weapons. Make sure you have a couple units able to generate some markerlights, or else those Smart Missiles only hit the target on a die roll of 6. Verdict: Go Big!
Chaos is crazy. Seriously. A giant tank man-thing? The Khorne Lord of Skulls models looks like a rejected boss from an 80’s Nintendo game. I just don’t want to fight against it. I’m fine over here. Like all of the daemon engines, this has the daemonic 5+ save. Additionally, it regenerates 1 wound every turn like the monolith. And this thing is a beast at 28 wounds. This is one of the few that doesn’t degrade key stats when it gets wounded. Well, it does lose its strength, which hurts, but it actually gains attacks, which helps. And even at its lowest degradation, it goes to strength 5, and still has the cleaver, which combined with its increased attacks, dishes out 8 strength 10 hits. 12 strength 10 hits, to 18 strength 8 hits, to 8 strength 10 hits. Yeah, I can totally see how weak this thing is in melee. All the while hitting on 3+. Embrace the pain and get in close, as you only get two ranged weapons. Go with the 18” range auto-hitting cannons and maybe the skullhurlder Gatling cannon, because otherwise this thing is expensive. You don’t need the extra 100 points for the Hades Gatling cannon when you should be destroying a unit every turn in melee. I suggest the Gorestorm cannon and Skullhurler to keep it at 537 points and enjoy melee (seriously, enjoy melee, because you can’t fall back and shoot like most of the others on this list). Verdict: Go Big!
As always, everything on this list is dependent on you; how you play and how you have built your army. Do you need more shooting in your Chaos forces? Then the Khorne Lord of Skulls isn’t for you as much, but if you need some anti-tank melee, there’s not many better. And above all, enjoy what you play. This is a game, after all.