Hello again, I’ve been getting some games in with a few lists mainly using the Storm Division theme but not enough for me to give a competent analysis on. So we’ll have to talk about something else again, something big. Today I want to talk about Stormwall.
It was pointed out to me by someone that a good number of my lists use the Stormwall and he was wondering why I use him so often. Well I am hoping to be able to answer that question while giving new players an idea if picking up Stormwall worth it for them. I will breakdown what Stormwall can offer into 3, defense, offense and lastly miscellaneous.
Looking at Stromwall’s defensive stats he has a DEF 10, ARM 19 and 56 Boxes or life. The DEF 10 isn’t spectacular and is somewhat expected since he is a colossal, his ARM at first glance may also seem a bit on the lower side but this is because of what some call Cygnar’s “Arcane Shield” tax. Basically it’s the idea that Cygnar has enough sources of “Arcane Shield” that you would expect Stormwall to have that +3 ARM always. While I don’t fully agree with this since you may have other targets for Arcane Shield it is not entirely incorrect. You will more often than not if you see something that can give Stormwall “Arcane Shield” or some other form of ARM buff. This puts him up to par with the ARM rating of other colossals. Combined with his decent HP and you have a unit that will require your opponent to dedicate resources to take Stormwall out in a single turn. Based on my experience without a buff Stormwall can be taken out by around 1 to 2 heavies in melee, with an ARM buff and this goes up to around 2 to 3 heavies. What does this mean in a game? This means that you can have Stormwall toe a zone to contest and the enemy will have to send in heavy hitter to dislodge him, remember that colossals cannot be moved unless they are moving themselves. A zone that is contested be a Stormwall can only be reclaimed by killing the Stormwall. This ties in very well to the next part of my discussion, offensive capabilities.
Stormwall has 4 main weapons that are worth noting in terms of offense, his 2 fists and his 2 main guns. Looking at his MAT and RAT they both sit at an average 6, do note that he can still aim bumping his RAT to 8. The range of his main gun allows him the opportunity to aim a lot, being able to shoot 14” with a POW 15 gun with focus for boosting is credible threat. You may not be able to kill a heavy in a turn but solos and lights can easily be killed if not heavily damaged with both shots directed at them. When it comes to melee Stormwall can deliver enough damage to break a heavy in a single turn with his POW 20 fists. I know that by now you’re wondering how this ties in to what Stromwall offers in terms of defense, well listen up.
We’ve established that most of the time you opponent will attempt to break Stormwall in melee and that if its ARM is buffed he/she would need to send 2 to 3 to ensure he breaks in a single turn. While these heavies are moving in to try and break Stormwall they will be taking damage from the big guns. Placing a tarpit unit infront of Stormwall to delay the advance of these heavies would almost always be able to break at least 1 jack before they get into melee with Stormwall. You may noticed that I keep referencing breaking Stormwall in a single turn, the reason for that is that if your opponent can not afford to sends the jack piece meal. Each jack that goes in to damage Stormwall and fail to kill it will most likely get demolished by Stromwall’s POW 20 fists.
Last this I will be discussing would be the other things Stormwall can bring to the table. We’ll start with his chain guns, these have a short RNG of 10 and a low POW of 10. They can fire d3 shots each, these can be used to clear out low ARM infantry when the needs arises. These chain guns however have something of greater use, “Sustained Fire”. “Sustained Fire” is an ability that allows you to place a wall template for each gun, any models that enters template or ends it activation on the template will take a damage of 2d6 + POW 10. This can be a very effective zone control against most infantry, unit that rely on “Shield Wall” and “Wall of Steel” do not get their ARM buff since they have to enter template one at a time. Last item I will discuss is the Lightning Pod. Basically each turn, at any time after Stormwall’s movement phase he can place a pod completely within 10” of Stormwall. Any model that is intersected by a line from the center of Stormwall to the center of the pod takes a 2d6 + POW 10 electrical damage roll, warjacks that get damaged by this get disrupted. This is good for occasionally dealing with stealth as well as high DEF low ARM solos and even single wound grunts. There is a cool interaction with the pod and Stormsmith Stormcallers to keep in mind if you ever bring both in a list but for me the most useful quirk of the pod is that it’s counted as a friendly faction solo. Need to contest that zone/flag 10” away? Drop a pod. Need to score on a flag 10” away? Drop a pod. I’ve won games via objective because a pod contested a zone, I’ve also won a game because a pod scored on a flag.
That would be it for today, if you guys have questions or comments just post them down below. I’ll try to get more games in so we can go back to talking about lists instead of individual models/units. Thanks for reading.
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