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I saw the data sheet for the stompa hunters that apparently claims the imperial titans are stretched so thin they have to relegate sentinels to hunting down the rampaging ork stompa mobs in the ash wastes.

My first question is how big is the ork concentration on armageddon for there to be "thousands" of stompas as the lexicanum put it.

My second question is from a military and lore stand point can a few armored sentinels even threaten a stompa or any small class of titan and is it really a good tactic using them to ingage such heavily armed targets when storm troopers or a marauder or even a few devil dogs might do the job better ? Or is there some special reason sentinels are preferred ?

What are your thoughts ?

The Imperial Answer wrote:
and is it really a good tactic using them to ingage such heavily armed targets when storm troopers or a marauder or even a few devil dogs might do the job better ? Or is there some special reason sentinels are preferred ?

Two potential reasons:

1) You have lots of expendable Sentinels, but you don't have all those other options available.

2) You're dealing with rough terrain where tanks are limited but Sentinels can go wherever they want.

Sentinels are highly rugged, all-terrain vehicles that represent a minimum of lost resources when they're destroyed.

You can also fit a lot more sentinels into ten square metres than you can Devil Dogs.

Sentinels can also operate independently of the Imperial Navy, unlike stormtroopers and Marauders.

The Ork concentration on Armageddon was insanely massive. You're looking at a couple of billion orks, all on the same planet. The numbers were actually released at the time;

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Armageddon_Ork_Forces

The Imperial Answer wrote:

My second question is from a military and lore stand point can a few armored sentinels even threaten a stompa or any small class of titan and is it really a good tactic using them to ingage such heavily armed targets when storm troopers or a marauder or even a few devil dogs might do the job better ? Or is there some special reason sentinels are preferred ?

When theres a few dozen of them, and theyre packing some of the best anti-tank weapons the IoM has, it helps. Then, when you consider they can be replaced overnight and also that theyre able to flank behind the stompa, it makes them an even more viable choice. Try hiding a warhound class titan or outflanking one-CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEED-behind a stompa and an entire ork warband.

The Imperial Answer wrote:

My second question is from a military and lore stand point can a few armored sentinels even threaten a stompa or any small class of titan and is it really a good tactic using them to ingage such heavily armed targets when storm troopers or a marauder or even a few devil dogs might do the job better ? Or is there some special reason sentinels are preferred ?

Gargants are ramshackle wannabe Titans. Stompas are ramshackle wannabe Gargants, they are far from impervious from standard weaponry. In 'reality' Sentinels are very small and Orks are very bad shots, out in the ash wastes a suitably equipped Sentinel would be able to blow holes in Stompas from far outside the latters effective range - the Orks outriders would be a far greater threat, and Sentinels being recon units would be used to dealing with them as well.

 Gashrog wrote:

The Imperial Answer wrote:

My second question is from a military and lore stand point can a few armored sentinels even threaten a stompa or any small class of titan and is it really a good tactic using them to ingage such heavily armed targets when storm troopers or a marauder or even a few devil dogs might do the job better ? Or is there some special reason sentinels are preferred ?

Gargants are ramshackle wannabe Titans. Stompas are ramshackle wannabe Gargants, they are far from impervious from standard weaponry. In 'reality' Sentinels are very small and Orks are very bad shots, out in the ash wastes a suitably equipped Sentinel would be able to blow holes in Stompas from far outside the latters effective range - the Orks outriders would be a far greater threat, and Sentinels being recon units would be used to dealing with them as well.

Since when does a sentinel outrange a stompa ? I thought things like super rokkits, lifta-droppas, big-shootas, dethstorm mega-shootas, deth-cannons, deff arsenals, and lobbas all had some pretty significant range in the lore. Also how would a sentinel even make it through an ork force to reach the stompa. I was under the impression smaller ork walkers (Kans dreads, nauts), and boys cluster around the stompas in combat given its big, shooty and is a totem to form and Mork.

Aren't the guns controlled by grots?

 Co'tor Shas wrote:
Aren't the guns controlled by grots?

And regular orks. Its an odd mix really.

Because the lore isn't the table top and vice versa (although fielding nine lascannon Sentinels would be a hilariously bad counter to a Stompa, maybe.).

Sentinels are able to setup ambushes in areas where the Stompas are hemmed in and unable to use any of their poor mobility. I'm sure these 'Stompa Hunters' don't engage 'thousands' of Stompas in open-field combat, despite the Guard having almost zero tactical sense as a whole. I also wouldn't be surprised if these Sentinels weren't apart of the Ork Hunter Catachans that fight Orks in the Armaggeddon tropical zones or something similar.

I too would imagine these Stompa Hunter Teams would be waiting in ambush positions in areas where their maneuverability would not be hampered while the Stompa's is. Last I checked, Sentinels were surprisingly agile for their design. That being said, this is the Imperium we are talking about, so not every idea is a good one. And the Emperor knows they aren't hurting for bodies or cheap suicide alternatives to take out something that important.