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So, I'm kind of sad that there are no Basilisks or other mobile artillery in the FW DKoK army list.

Is this just because of a list/balance decision because they already get the static artillery or has it been stated in canon that the Death Korps does not employ mobile artillery?

I myself have never read about Krieg leaning one way or the other (never read about DK using Basilisks, but also not explicitly about DK not using them), though the only krieg stories I have read are the Vraks books, Dead Men Walking and whatever is on lexicanum.

I think they might very well use them. They do have Thunderer Siege Tanks in their army lists, so they clearly do not shun vehicle mounted heavy weapons altogether.
Basilisks and their ilk might well be used in support of these, for those circumstances that ask for something faster than grinding attrition warfare, but with more oomph than just a tank or infantry assault.

Thoughts?

DKoK are meant to be a steampunk WWI-style army, and all artillery in WWI was towed. It's mainly because of the feel FW was trying to create I imagine.

It's because the Krieg list is the Siege Army list.

You don't really need mobile artillery during a siege on a static target which can't counter-battery fire.

The pieces get towed onto the field, emplaced, and then fed a steady stream of shells while they pound the target into submission.

There is always the Minotaur Artillery Tank. It is not -specifically- DKoK but it suits their imagery in my opinion - shares much of the shape of the Malcador tank which in turn borrows quite a bit from the aesthetical appearances of WW1 tanks.



Most of the time, however, it pretty much goes as Kanluwen says. Towed up, dug in, bang, bang, bang.

Harriticus wrote:DKoK are meant to be a steampunk WWI-style army, and all artillery in WWI was towed. It's mainly because of the feel FW was trying to create I imagine.

You can use Basilisks and other mobile artillery in the IA7 Krieg Armoured Battlegroup list.

IIRC the DKoK use mobile artillery extensively in Dead men walking. More or less every chapter in the book mention both earthshakers, medusas and basilisks. Seems odd that it wouldnt be included in the army list.

Earthshakers are the cannons which Basilisks use.

The cannons are commonly mounted on platforms to be used as batteries of static artillery.

The force which was described in Dead Men Walking was what one could deem a "generic" Krieg force. They had static artillery emplacements and mobile artillery pieces as well--because they can use them as needed.

First of all, thanks everybody.

From what I remember in Dead Men Walking they just used Earthshakers and Medusas (the gun platform variant) which they moved up a few hundred feet every time the next zone was bombed flat.

Harriticus wrote:DKoK are meant to be a steampunk WWI-style army, and all artillery in WWI was towed. It's mainly because of the feel FW was trying to create I imagine.

it is First worldwar style army but not Steampunk. it's rather dieselpunk

the official codex (as of 5th edition) doesn't design for Siege regiment. every artillery pieces in the dex are all self propelled. since I don't have any IA books. i can only say that the DKoK can have basilisks. just give them a regimental number that's not coincide with ones found in IA books.

Kanluwen wrote:It's because the Krieg list is the Siege Army list.

You don't really need mobile artillery during a siege on a static target which can't counter-battery fire.

The pieces get towed onto the field, emplaced, and then fed a steady stream of shells while they pound the target into submission.

In case of Vraks campaign. renegades do have long range howitzers that has the same range as Imperial earthshakers i believe.

Lone Cat wrote:the official codex (as of 5th edition) doesn't design for Siege regiment. every artillery pieces in the dex are all self propelled. since I don't have any IA books. i can only say that the DKoK can have basilisks. just give them a regimental number that's not coincide with ones found in IA books.

But then I can't use Quartermasters, Hades Drills and all the other sweet stuff the Krieg use .

I know I maybe sound a bit spoiled when I say I want the Krieg stuff but Basilisks as well, but I don't really have a problem with static artillery and I would love to use them. Just not at £67,- + crew for a 75 pts cannon. (of which I would then need 6 or so, because of the low cost and fragility)

Why not buy Basilisks and scratchbuild the platforms, then use the hulls for something else (Trojan tow vehicles maybe?) I know they might not be exactly like the official FW ones, but I reckon they could look great with a bit of work!

Lone Cat wrote:

Harriticus wrote:DKoK are meant to be a steampunk WWI-style army, and all artillery in WWI was towed. It's mainly because of the feel FW was trying to create I imagine.

it is First worldwar style army but not Steampunk. it's rather dieselpunk

Well the general consensus amongst Steampunks I know, including myself, tends to be Steampunk up to 1918 and then it goes Dieselpunk as thats when things really began to change world wide politically and culturally. So in effect the DKoK could be described as being Steampunk or Dieselpunk or both - it's a grey area and nobody is right or wrong. With the stylisation of DKoK armoured vehicles I'd personally lean more towards a Steampunk interpretation - hulking monsters moving ponderously across the warzone, compared with the faster & more advanced AFVs of the late 20s/30s - although the Centaur certainly bears more resemblence to the Carden-Lloyd MG carrier & the later BREN/Universal carriers.

Lone Cat wrote:In case of Vraks campaign. renegades do have long range howitzers that has the same range as Imperial earthshakers i believe.

At the start of the campaign, yes.

But there's a tactic used for silencing enemy guns called "counter-battery fire". This is basically what the Krieg forces would be doing--and with the amount of Earthshaker and Medusa cannons they could field, counter-battery fire becomes obscenely useful.

I think when you start to include Basilisks into Krieg lists, it tends to mess up the feel of the army. Slow, attrition-based warfare is what defines the Krieg forces. Pound the opponent with their excellent towed artillery, while you hold a line against insurmountable odds, knowing that it doesn't matter at all if you take Troop losses.

I mean, why take the towed artillery if you can just field Basilisks?

^ yep... field a full battery of Basilisks (9) make a good definition.

even self propelled howitzers requires setup time before it can fire. so the difference is so lil.

DKOK have acess to Bombards which are potent mobile Artillery.



Huge 7" blast template at G36"-240" range Str 8 AP 3, can field a trojan ammo carrier with it for free and are also 5pts cheaper then a leman russ



Only problem is they have a slow rate of fire, cant shoot while moving and can only move up to 6" per turn

Problem with the Minotaur is that its not very cheap (You could almost field two Bombards for the same price)

It has the same size blast template as the Bombard but with a better Strength of 9 and is twinlinked, dosent suffer moving distance but cannot shoot direct fire like a basilisk.

Still a good artillery piece

So its up to you really on what you prefer.

Tibbsy wrote:Why not buy Basilisks and scratchbuild the platforms, then use the hulls for something else (Trojan tow vehicles maybe?) I know they might not be exactly like the official FW ones, but I reckon they could look great with a bit of work!

This has been considered, but dismissed.
Doing that would give me something like this:
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Imperial_Guard/Imperial_Guard_Emplacements/EARTHSHAKER-CANNON-PLATFORM-COMPLETE-KIT.html
which I think would be ugly. If I wanted to build the towable Krieg artillery I would have to scratch-build basically everything but the barrel and part of the breech. + I have no use for chimera-chassis vehicles in my army. (it takes a turn to hitch heavy artillery, a turn to move, and then a turn to unhitch. So unworkable in standard games.)

MrHyena wrote:I think when you start to include Basilisks into Krieg lists, it tends to mess up the feel of the army.

The Siege and Infantry regiments are just the most well known of the Krieg forces. They employ all types of regiments except for drop troops.

And don't worry, a barrage of 9 mobile artillery pieces + a master of ordnance, followed by a mass infantry charge will still keep the Krieg feel intact .

MrHyena wrote:I mean, why take the towed artillery if you can just field Basilisks?

Because you can field 5 Earthshakers for the price of 3 Basilisks.