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I am building an IG army, my list originally called for 3 Medusa Siege Cannons w/ enclosed crew, but i am now having my doubts due to finally fully reading and understanding the Manitcore. I am having a hard time deciding if i should go with 3 Manticores or keep 2 Medusa's and 1 Manticore. Any suggestions?

Well, a manticore is a great unit to take. It allows for long range problem solving of hordes and vehicles.

You can also take the Medusas in squadrons, so technically, you could take a manticore and up to 6 medusas.

Yes, the Imp Guard squadron rules will allow you to group three Medusa and still take a Manticore, leaving one heavy slot for you to pimp out with Leman Russ'

As mentioned, why limit yourself?
1 Maticore
2 Medusa
2 Demolishers (for example)
would give you 5 -7 possible Str 10 pie plates a turn. and they range from ap 2 to ap 4.

I would love to take more Medusa's but most of my points are tied up in the 3 30 man power blobs I have.

Does the Manticore give anything better then the Medusa? I know with the Medusa I will get 5 str10 ap2 blasts if it survives 5 rounds of combat. With the Manticore I could possible have 12 str10 ap4 blasts. I believe if I take 3 Manticores I could get upwards to 16 - 30 large blasts in the first 4 turns.

Does the Manticore give anything better then the Medusa?

120 range > 36 range
d3 s10 plates >1 s10 plate

They're both really good, and they are suited to different targets so it's hard to pick one over the other. I usually run 2 manticores and 1 or 2 medusa's a points allow.

Both the Medusa and Manticore are AV12 on the front. I'd rather run an Exterminator.

AV14 >> AV12

BloodThirSTAR wrote:Both the Medusa and Manticore are AV12 on the front. I'd rather run an Exterminator.

AV14 >> AV12

To me the Medusa/Manticore & Exterminator roles are completely different. The Demolisher would be the Av 14 counterpart to the Medusa/Manticore role.
and not to start an agruement, but i'd run a pair of Hydras before the Exterminator.
Just my opinion.

alarmingrick wrote:

To me the Medusa/Manticore & Exterminator roles are completely different. The Demolisher would be the Av 14 counterpart to the Medusa/Manticore role.
and not to start an agruement, but i'd run a pair of Hydras before the Exterminator.
Just my opinion.

Agree

I'd say 1 Manticore then Medusas or Hydras depends on what you need most.

If one would chose one over the other,I'd say manticore. The vehicle can go to cover and still rain str10 death unlike the medusa where you need to face your opponent headon and it's quite near to just about most of your opponents AT weapons and medusa could only fire directly LOS.
Medusa has it's uses too though, with it's ap2 and ap1 shells you could eliminate most bothersome saves and tough tanks.

Kubik wrote:

Does the Manticore give anything better then the Medusa?

120 range > 36 range
d3 s10 plates >1 s10 plate

AP2>>>>>>>AP4.

I'd still swap one Medusa for a Manticore though, the Manticore will turn hordes and vehicles to dust, and if you're facing MEQs you can always point the Manticore at the vehicles while the Medusae eat the stuff that comes falling out of the broken vehicles.

I'm not convinced by the Medusa. It only has direct fire, which means it will be in the open. It has more range than the demolisher, but will fold at the first sight of a dakkadread or AC/Las pred. The AP 2 is a convincing argument, but I'd take a demolisher any day for S10 AP2 pie plates. If you're looking for S10 pie plates in general, the Manticore is the way to go. AP 4 kinda meh, but normally you're just going for sheer amount of wounds and the manticore can at least hide.

However, it's worth remembering that the Manticore has a limit to the amount of times it can fire, if I recall correctly, whereas the Medusa does not.

Also, the Medusa gets Bastion Breacher Shells for 5 points, increasing range by 12" and reducing AP to 1.

and by making it's large blast template ... into a small one

jdjamesdean@mail.com wrote:and by making it's large blast template ... into a small one

That's beautiful against Land Raider's though. Hard to miss when the tanks is 5 inches wide.

Stormrider wrote:

jdjamesdean@mail.com wrote:and by making it's large blast template ... into a small one

That's beautiful against Land Raider's though. Hard to miss when the tanks is 5 inches wide.

You know, I never thought of that. Good call there.

kinda although it's BS3 I'll take the manticore over the medusa any day of the week. I prefer the barrage and being able to hide aspects of it

PS it's just as easy to hit with the large template as the small template ... only the hole in the center matters and IIRC they're the same size ...

jdjamesdean@mail.com wrote:kinda although it's BS3 I'll take the manticore over the medusa any day of the week. I prefer the barrage and being able to hide aspects of it

So the most the template can scatter is 3", pretty much a non-issue.

Stormrider wrote:

jdjamesdean@mail.com wrote:kinda although it's BS3 I'll take the manticore over the medusa any day of the week. I prefer the barrage and being able to hide aspects of it

So the most the template can scatter is 3", pretty much a non-issue.

12"-3"=9"?

AlmightyWalrus wrote:

Stormrider wrote:

jdjamesdean@mail.com wrote:kinda although it's BS3 I'll take the manticore over the medusa any day of the week. I prefer the barrage and being able to hide aspects of it

So the most the template can scatter is 3", pretty much a non-issue.

12"-3"=9"?

My apologies, for some reason my brain thought it's only D6 for scatter.

BloodThirSTAR wrote:Both the Medusa and Manticore are AV12 on the front. I'd rather run an Exterminator.

AV14 >> AV12

Im sure you mean executioner.

I use the Manticor. actualy I use two of them and Holy crud.In my last match with eight shot total I landed in 20 pie plates and left little in the way of scattering off.

IMO the manticore is more survivable and better than the medusa, also note if you upgrade to bastion breacher shells you cant choose to use the lesser.

As for the arguement executioner vs manticore, they perform completely diferent roles ... not really a place for arguement there

mindfield wrote:If one would chose one over the other,I'd say manticore. The vehicle can go to cover and still rain str10 death unlike the medusa where you need to face your opponent headon and it's quite near to just about most of your opponents AT weapons and medusa could only fire directly LOS.
Medusa has it's uses too though, with it's ap2 and ap1 shells you could eliminate most bothersome saves and tough tanks.

It's a shame you don't have the option of firing either/or. I'd be super in love with the Medusa if breacher shells were an alternate shot.

By the same token, I wish Basilisks had the Apocalypse special munitions.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Gorskar.da.Lost wrote:However, it's worth remembering that the Manticore has a limit to the amount of times it can fire, if I recall correctly, whereas the Medusa does not.

This is a non-issue. If your artillery has survived for 5 turns of uninterrupted fire, you have your opponent in a complete rout anyway.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

jdjamesdean@mail.com wrote:PS it's just as easy to hit with the large template as the small template ... only the hole in the center matters and IIRC they're the same size ...

Well, the breacher shells can crack a Land Raider even on an indirect hit.

@Terminus: How much percentage of the small blast template had to be on top of the LR to be considered a hit?

Any fraction of it Mindfield. Any little fraction of it.