Horus Heresy: The Care and Feeding of Your Typhon Heavy Siege Tank
Games Workshop has released the plastic Typhon Heavy Siege Tank. But how exactly should you use yours?
HERE COMES THE BOOM. For Horus Heresy enthusiasts the time has come to open those wallets and procure that much beloved rolling brick with the biggest of guns. Coming to an FLGS near you, the Typhon Heavy Siege Tank, will be rumbling to battlefields this week. Much like the Sky Hunter Squadrons I’d be first in line if you’re interested in acquiring this behemoth. Word on the street is that these will likely be allocated with low numbers to most stores as GW is still struggling with supply chain issues. The upside is that because of an issue in manufacturing and a delay on this model its entirely possible that more units were produced to meet demand. We’ll know on release day by the sound of Loyalist/Traitors everywhere rejoicing or kicking rocks.
Loadouts
Not much explanation is needed here, you’re taking this thing because you want a Str 12, AP3, Rending (4+), Sunder, Brutal (4) template weapon sitting in your back line dropping absurdly large shells on whatever you want. The sponsons are somewhat of an afterthought. Though if you’re already in for a penny you might as well be in for a pound. I personally like the Typhon with Lascannons and a Melta pintle weapon. If you’re going to be hunting infantry you might also consider Vulkite sponsons. The downside is that the main gun has a max range of 24″ inches so you’ll want to choose weapon options that will fall within that range. You’re going to want to pray for night fighting not only because it adds a layer of durability but also because the main weapon on this things is perfect for the 24 inch restriction.
Overall the Typhon is built to kill massed power armor and vehicles. I think it falls short when it comes to impacting dreads and will struggle a bit with Elite infantry as it doesn’t have a natural AP 1 or 2 that would make this amazing against things like Terminators. That being said Rending allows you to compete as well as the fact that any hit will force your opponent to roll 4 dice for saves, thanks Brutal (4). In most cases a failed save will result in a dead model due to the absurd weapon str. Keep in mind the Brutal (4) will force any model taking saves to roll the save 4 times. So even when rolling saves on a terminator it feels like gambling. As a weapons platform beyond the absurd Dread Hammer Siege cannon options like the Las sponsons and melta pintle will give you plenty of ways in which direct your malice. Initially I thought this might be a solution to the problem of massed Custodes infantry but with nearly all of their units having Skirmish their coherency is 3″. This means that a meticulous Custodes player will be spacing out infantry as much as possible which may only allow you to get targets on 1 or 2 models unless you catch the golden boys flat footed.
Finally, the Typhon is still a vehicle. Lord of War or not its going to have issues with dedicated tank killers. With a range of roughly 24″ you’ll be putting it right in the path of things like Melta, Lascannons, Arachnus Blaze Cannons, and anything else that smiles when it hits a high cost tank. You’re also going to struggle mightily with contemptors due to their 2+5++ saves. Multiple Contemptors that can close the distance are going to be problematic. The Dread Hammer Siege Cannon is going to put in work but you’ll need to bubblewrap your tank and protect it. Like all Spartan variants, this thundergun comes stock with CD Player, AM/FM radio, RoadRunner style spoiler, a footprint gaspedal and of course a flare shield and smoke launcher. That flare shield is going to come in handy, thankfully it comes standard.
Death Guard
You’re loath to find a better legion to equip with a Typhon than the Deathguard. If rolling around the battlefield at a steady clip and firing all your guns is your idea of fun you’ll want to invest in some cream and olive drab paint for your spicy new rolling warcrime. Lets take a look at what makes the grimiest of legions an ideal home for your Typhon.
Legion Trait: Remorseless – Arguably one of the best options for a vehicle heavy list, this Legion Trait makes your Typhon mobile and grants it the ability to fire all weapons even while getting maximum movement. Most other legions have to settle for keeping a vehicle stationary to fire all of the weapons or moving it half its movement characteristic to fire a single weapon. I think for a tank that really wants to be in the 24″ range this is an ideal legion for the Typhon, you get mobility and firepower thanks to Remorseless. The icing on the cake is that you ignore the effects of crew shaken which is amazing.
Its not hard to imagine a vehicle heavy list with the Typhon as a center piece surrounded by the soon to arrive to be released Vindicator decked out with demolisher cannons. Its fluffy, its effective, its Death Guard.
Iron Hands
Tanks that don’t die. That’s the goal. The ever resilient iron hands have some fun options that make your vehicles especially hard to kill:
Legiong Trait – Medusa’s Scales – This trait is amazing for dreadnoughts and pretty good for vehicles. While the -1 str for incoming weapon shots does not apply to vehicles you do get a 6+ It will not die on your vehicles.
Blessed Auto-Simulacra – Lets go ahead and put this on our Typhon, suddenly we get +1 to our It will not die.
The Iron Father – Lets go ahead and take an iron father, who is not only exceedingly tough, but has a 3+ Battlesmith and park him near our tanks. He can now repair a lost hullpoint, wound, weapon destroyed or immobilized result. He will get you tank back in the fight quickly.
Ferrus Manus – It can’t be understated how much of a force multiplier Ferrus is for the Iron Hands. Not only does he give all infantry a 6+ FNP, but for vehicles he confers a 5+ It Will Not Die, and hes a 2+ Battlesmith, so he can repair things efficiently. On top of it all hes an absolute melee monster with a Str 12, AP 1, Brutal (3) weapon and a 2+3++ save profile. Hes both tough and has huge damage especially against other primarchs. If you’re concerned about someone touching your tank, Ferrus will apply the wax to buff out the scratches and slap around whoever left the finger prints.
The Iron Hands have more repair ability than the Maytag man and their innate durability makes them very hard to overcome. Many times if a vehicle is not outright destroyed in a single turn it has the potential regain a few hull points. As an opponent its morale depleting to keep having to dump shots into a tank that is pounding your infantry turn after turn while Iron Hands units advance all over the board sweeping you off objectives. I think the Typhon benefits from a mixed list in a Iron Hands army. Its definitely hard not to include their iconic dreadnaughts as they benefit from the -1 to Str against range attacks and will force your opponent to commit to the threats in their face rather than those droping templates 2 feet away. However they want to handle it, it presents a choice that they have to deal with; be killed from afar or be killed up close.
Final Thoughts
The Typhon is an excellent centerpiece to add to any army as a delete button for most hard to kill units. While I think that some legions have significant advantages in running them over others, they offer a high strength, relatively low AP big blast that can quickly make trouble for basic infantry squads, jetbikes and heavy weapons teams that get caught in its crosshairs. Any unit with a 3+ save is going to feel pain with these on the board. Even better they can be taken in squadrons of 2. The Brutal and Rending effect on the Dread Hammer weapon are the cherry on top especially when it comes to deleting hard to kill terminator squads and the Armourbane makes it a nightmare for vehicles. At the very least they are a tough distraction carnifex that your opponent has to address or hes going to quickly find himself without an army.
So what’s next? Well, on the horizon, we’re back to Tanks with the Cerberus, Vindicator and Sicarian Venetor. This week we’ve also seen the release of the Demons of the Ruinstorm rules which I for one thought was going to be rolled into the first black book. With Adepticon right around the corner, the next week is going to be packed full of sneak speaks at all of the upcoming releases. Besides Warhammer Fest, Adepticon annually has the second largest preview of upcoming releases from GW. This year is especially interesting as its the first new year since the AoD box release and we’ll likely be seeing the first black books and models to go with them. If I’m swinging for the fences as far as bold predictions are concerned I want to believe we’ll start seeing some upcoming artwork and maybe sculpts of the unreleased sisters units, the first blackbook, maybe an empowered Lorgar or Khan on Bike, a Fellblade, Falchion or Glaive in plastic and I would absolutely love to see an official Hectaeron Guard (doubtful). My other wish is for a Mechanicum box set with plastic Thallax, Castellax and maybe a transport (in my dreams).
Looks like GW is putting in the work and delivering Lords of War to the Horus Heresy Universe, what big ugly are you most looking for ward to?
