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Simple question, really: if you had to choose between these two tanks and could only take one in your army, which would you rather take?

The Deathstrike, previously pretty useless, now got quite a bit of a buff in the current AM codex and so it is (pretty) reliable, given the odds. Expensive for a one-trick pony, and you still have to deal with scatter, but when it hits oh boy does it hit. S10 AP1 ignores cover apocalyptic blast sends shivers down the spine of any opponent thinking about "castling" his army in one secure corner. Psychological warfare forcing your opponent to deploy differently might just mean your Deathstrike makes its points back, if it helps the rest of your army attain their kills better?


The Manticore lost quite some of its appeal in its anti-vehicle role because AP4 now means it cannot one-hit kill any non-open topped tank anymore (even if the chances for it doing so were pretty low in 6th edition). However, D3 S10 pie plates per shot are still quite appealing, especially when you dont need any LoS to fire it. What sucks though is that it cant fire directly anymore. Only 4 missiles shouldnt be a problem because if your Manticore is still alive by turn 5, chances are your opponent isnt doing things right and you're winning the game anyway.

Also, arent 4x D3 (average: 8) pie plates more killy than a single Ap1 ignores cover apocalyptic blast?

Honestly, it all depends on the game. If you are playing anything (baring the usage of a colossal table) other than Apocalypse then the Deathstrike is almost worthless, unless you enjoy trolling other GW and FLGS across the world (that thing has unlimited range - you can technically bombard another store on the other side of the world). Its not the effect - the effect is amazing and incredibly killy. The problem is the time it takes to fire the blasted thing. In your average game these days you have stupidly fast units screaming across the board giving you, at best, the first two turns to fire. After that the enemy is usually too close to be fired at. Hell, with the current stuff available it can be even faster than that.
Now, in Apocalypse the board is usually big enough, or there are enough enemy, or someone has dug in and formed a gunline, etc, to allow you the luxury of firing that missile at your leisure. Whats more the effect is especially deadly, and can be put too good use as there are lots and lots of infantry blobs and vehicles that really dont want to be hit by a S10 AP1 blast of godlike proportions.
Sadly the Deathstrike did not get the SD upgrade that it deserved. Then again neither did GW's favourite buttmonkeys ( Space Marines) so we can but hope.

The Manticore on the other hand allows you to unleash 4*D3 S10 AP4 pie plates of doom across the board. And they can be fired from turn one. The biggest advantage here (aside from the 1st turn launch abilities) is the tactical significance. In your average 40K game there are rarely any targets that are really worth hitting with a Deathstrike. However there are usually multiple smaller targets that each need a little loving from a missile. Now the Deathstrike specialises in wiping out a solitary blob of infantry/big nasty that is a major key piece to the enemies assault, something that you only usually see in Apoc games. However in smaller games this massive destruction capacity actually makes the Deathstrike unwieldy, as it struggles with the close, delicate, fire support needed.
The Manticore on the other hand is designed to suit the needs of a long range artillery piece and a close range fire support weapon. It can hit the enemy hard and it can hit multiple targets at once. Oh yes, and it can fire more than one per game, making it far more useful in a standard game and allowing it to have a place in apoc games. Of course it struggles against 3+ meq units, but then again what doesnt?