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A few of us at my local store had this question about the Basilisk in 4th edition and was hoping GW would be more clear about it in 5th, but they weren't.

So my question goes to you guys, with the Basilisk or any of the main weapons on the Artillery Ordnance Vehicles; does the main weapon rotate at all? or must you always rotate the vehicle to face what its shooting at?

The rule book says that hull mounted weapons have a 45 degree arc, in the 4th edition codex the basilisk mentioned that the it had a hull mounted heavy bolter and a Earthshaker . In the new 5th edition codex it doesn't label the heavy bolter as hull mounted but i assume it still is for the purposes of having 45 degree arc. But what is the Earthshaker considered?

This question becomes very important, when a Basilisk becomes immobilized and is no longer able to rotate to line up it's shots.

I think in the rule book it says turning tank to fire doesnt count as movement

So it can still fire as normal

Technically any SPG has to rotate to aim.

But: there is nothing about hull - or anywhere else mounted mentioned in the IG codex.


If immobilized, hull mounted weapons are restricted to their fixed position and get only the 45° arc.

You have to decide yourself, because no given "mount" in the IG codex.

LunaHound wrote:I think in the rule book it says turning tank to fire doesnt count as movement

So it can still fire as normal

In the rulebook damage result table under immobilised it clearly states "An immobilised vehicle may not turn in place"

The basilisk should only fire straight ahead I think since it isn't one of the pre-defined types of mounting, and if there is a way to assemble it unglued (I have never seen one half built) it would surely only move up and down.

Well, it is not Turret mounted (as it cannot rotate) and it is clearly not a sponson weapon (... No, just no) so I would assume it is a Hull Mounted Weapon, so gets the 45 degree arc of fire.

Sadly, the weapon mounting rules are one of my pet hates about GW. They go to all the trouble defining them and then do not bother to tell us the default locations for them. So if someone converts a Basilisk to have a rotating turret, it is now turret mounted and can fire 365 degrees even if immobilised.

It seems my original question is getting slightly lost or maybe I misunderstood, but my question is basicly:

Is the Basilisk's Earth Shaker considered 'Hull Mounted' meaning according to the BRB 59, that it has an arc of fire of 45 degrees?

or...

Is the Earth Shaker weapon itself incapable of any movement, thus requiring it to always pivot to line it up? Since I have haven't in any edition ever seen label as such 'Hull mounted'

Gwar! wrote:Well, it is not Turret mounted (as it cannot rotate) and it is clearly not a sponson weapon (... No, just no) so I would assume it is a Hull Mounted Weapon, so gets the 45 degree arc of fire.

Sadly, the weapon mounting rules are one of my pet hates about GW. They go to all the trouble defining them and then do not bother to tell us the default locations for them. So if someone converts a Basilisk to have a rotating turret, it is now turret mounted and can fire 365 degrees even if immobilised.

Thanks Gwar, I think you posted your comment seconds before I posted mine.

orangeknight78 wrote:Thanks Gwar, I think you posted your comment seconds before I posted mine.

170 of them to be precise.