AoS: Thunder and Flame – Best War Machines From Every Grand Alliance
We’re here for round eight of the Grand Alliance Throwdown! Today’s battle: four deadly machines that prove that sometimes oil is better than blood.
Welcome in, Generals of the Realms! We’re back again with another Grand Alliance battle royale. Canny generals know that as mighty as swordsmen, chariots, and knights can be, there’s precious little that compares to a cannon. War machines can turn the tide of battle with a few well-placed pieces of ammunition, and in the Realms, sometimes the ammunition has teeth. Whether you’re firing explosive shells or the skulls of your enemies, you can amp your army from good to great with just a little oil and wood.
Order: Arkanaut Ironclad
When it comes to big guns, they don’t come much bigger than the Ironclads of the Kharadron Overlords. There’s an argument to be made for the Steam Tank here, but I don’t think it can match up to the sheer destructive force of the Duardin skyship. Whether as the personal chariot of your favorite admiral, the delivery truck of a unit of Endrinriggers, or just as a gunship, the Ironclad can devastate the enemy line, weather the return fire, and keep coming back for more.
One of the best things about the Ironclad is its versatility. It can bring a metric ton of angry sky dwarves to the battlefield, but its power comes from its primary gun. Whether you choose the heavy Sky Cannon, the monster-killing Skyhook, or the rapid-fire Volley Cannon, you’ll be all set. There’s no wrong option, and regardless of what you pick, you ALSO get a rack of torpedos and a line of powerful Carbines. As if that wasn’t enough, you can add a Great Endrinwork to increase the troops it can take to battle, make it faster, or turn it into an anti-spell battery.
Chaos: Ratling Warpblaster
When it comes to crazy, over-the-top war machines, you can’t do better than the mad science cooked up by the Skaven. These villainous ratmen are masters of blending science and magic into barely functional but still brutally effective war machines. While I could easily populate this list with the Doomwheel, Warp Lightning Cannon, or the dreaded Doomwheel, I think this list wouldn’t be complete without the newest addition to the Skaven arsenal: the Ratling Warpblaster.
Combining the power of a full-sized cannon with the fire rate of a gatling gun, the Warpblaster is a death sentence for anything it’s pointed at. It can dish out up to 21 attacks that auto-wound on critical hits, and it gets better the more targets it has. For the truly crazed (or desperate) Clawlord, a Skryre hero nearby can increase the attacks up to a potential of 39! However, if any attacks made while so charged roll a 1, the attack backlashes on the machine itself, potentially blowing it sky-high. But then, that’s just how the Skaven fight; life is cheap, so go hard.
Death: Mortek Crawler
I know we’ve had a lot of Ossiarchs on this list, but they just keep having the coolest stuff. Death doesn’t really have much in the way of warmachines, preferring to overwhelm their opponents with infantry. However, the Ossiarchs are closer to a standard army, and that includes a nasty trebuchet that throws the screaming heads of slain enemies. If you want to demoralize your enemies, throwing their allies back at them is a good way to start.
The Mortek Crawler is an interesting machine. It’s technically an unloving creature, and walks to battle under the control of a Mortisan priest. The catapult attack is crazy, dealing up to 5 damage PER HIT, getting double hits on crits, and easily tearing apart infantry. Best of all, the horrifying screams from the haunted ammunition of this machine can inflict Strike-Last on whatever it shoots at. In an army that needs to be offensive, this is an incredible effect.
Destruction: Doom Diver Catapult
Unlike Death, Destruction has plenty of deadly war machines to bring to bear. From the Ironblaster cannons of the Ogor Mawtribes to the Killabow of the Kruleboyz, there are plenty of deadly (if a little shoddy) weapons in Gorkamorka’s arsenal. However, sitting at the top of the charts is a weapon that may not be the best, but it’s the most hilarious. I’m speaking, of course, about the Doom Diver Catapult from the Gloomspite Gitz.
The Doom Diver disappeared for a while, but thanks to the latest book, it’s back with a vengeance and a brand new model. This giant slingshot shoots brave “volunteers” at the enemy, which then fall with limited adjustment like an angry green meteor. While you might not shoot as much or do as much damage as other machines, you’ll definitely have more fun doing it.
Did your favorite war machine make the cut?
