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So I just ordered my 3rd battery and I'm excited to use them...I know that D Cannons aren't the most economical or intelligent choice...but if you were running them...how would you do it?

I really only ask this because I see them with a farseer as a hard counter to grav centurions.

5+ save that needs to lose 5 wounds before losing a single gun and doubles out centurions and cancels their armor...not to mention ID-ing Tigger.

 ductvader wrote:

5+ save that needs to lose 5 wounds before losing a single gun and doubles out centurions and cancels their armor...not to mention ID-ing Tigger.

If it's lost 5 wounds without losing a gun, it's already lost 2 guns.

They don't shoot themselves.

I'd take an ADL with the Icarus, deploy it midfield and put them behind it, perhaps add a Warlock there to cast Conceal.

Then I'd actually add the Avatar of Khaine with Fast Shot on the Icarus, 20 Guardian blob with 2 BLs, add a Farseer on a jetbike into the blob.

The rest of the army should be long-range fire support to provide threats beyond the D-Cannons that need to be taken care of, plus you need mobility(or maneuverability) here, so Wave Serpents, Nightspinners, Shining Spears, Warp Spiders, War Walkers, Swooping Hawks, Crimson Hunters, Wraithknights, any of those will do. Add a squad or two of WRJ for fast objective grabbing and you've got yourself a pretty fearsome army.

 DarknessEternal wrote:

 ductvader wrote:

5+ save that needs to lose 5 wounds before losing a single gun and doubles out centurions and cancels their armor...not to mention ID-ing Tigger.

If it's lost 5 wounds without losing a gun, it's already lost 2 guns.

They don't shoot themselves.

3 wounds for the first 3 crew...then 2 wounds for the first gun.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Araenion wrote:
I'd take an ADL with the Icarus, deploy it midfield and put them behind it, perhaps add a Warlock there to cast Conceal.

How do you feel about Illic in the squad?

He gives the unit Splitfire and Shrouding automatically. And his rifle suits them....

I've never played him, but some people had good experiences with him, I hear.

If I was running Illic, I'd run Dark Reapers behind an ADL instead of an Avatar, with the Exarch manning the Icarus.

Definitely add a warlock. It adds possible shrouding or other perks as well as adding another wound that can fire a gun. You can out 4 guardians to die out front with little remorse.

It is less important with illic, as shrouding is guaranteed. However, there is a slim chance the warlock may be able to make the squad fearless or renew wounds back onto the guns.

I have used them in a forward type gunline before. I plopped an ADL down midfield and put 3 D Cannons behind it. I then attach a farseer. The farseer buffs the rest of my army with his prescience and guide. The guns tank the wounds for him and provide reasonable damage output within 24". The entire setup becomes exponentially more dangerous with a Tau buff commander attached for tank hunter, ignore cover, and reroll misses. I would avoid over investing in the unit as it lacks any mobility and has very limited range and cannot even target FMC or flyers. Pumping 500+ pts into such a unit is not a good investment. There could be something to be said if Illic is allowed to infiltrate the unit and you had a bunch of scorpions to go with it.

Being artillery they do make excellent bunkers to put a farseer in. They are also cheap for their firepower and so make a nice addition. They do however require a certain level of board prescience that CWE normally lack in their serpent spam type lists. They need more units that the enemy has to chew through to get to them or else any fast unit will just charge them in a turn or two. This means they are usually better in a list with a few wraithlords, wraithknights, or a footdar list. Spinners with their 48" range and barrage can afford to be alone unsupported. D cannons cannot with their short 24" range.