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Beyond having models attached to the platform for realism/aesthetic purposes, do they actually need crew members operating the Earthshaker Cannon, or does this only apply to Heavy Artillery Carriages? I do not own Imperial Armor V1 second edition, and I don't want to pay $90 to have one question answered. I would love to take some Earthshakers in a game but I'm not entirely clear on their rules beyond what I can scrape together from various forum posts and Battlescribe.

Furthermore, if they do require a crew, can the crew be issued orders?

As far as I know, the Basilisks are Tank(vehicles), so no they do not require artillery crewmen. You can include them for aesthetic reasons, but you do not have to. Think of the Basilisks as self-propelled artillery. That means the tank chassis does all the work for the unit in question.

As for giving orders to crewmen that is a big NO. The rules in under the orders section lists what units can be given orders properly.

Just to be clear, I'm talking about the immobile version of the Earthshaker Cannon that is not mounted on a tank, ie the Basilisk. It's an entirely different unit but they use the same weapon.

This thing:

Not this:

The platform version is an immobile vehicle, not an artillery unit. Any crew models you add to it are just for decoration and have no gameplay effect.

 Peregrine wrote:
The platform version is an immobile vehicle, not an artillery unit. Any crew models you add to it are just for decoration and have no gameplay effect.

Exactly this. Think of them as vehicles.

 alanmckenzie wrote:
Exactly this. Think of them as vehicles.

Don't just think of them as vehicles, they are vehicles. Their unit type is "vehicle (immobile)", they have an AV/BS/HP stat line, etc. The only thing unusual about them is that they have a "may not move" special rule like drop pods.

Of course the real question here is why you'd want to use such a terrible unit. If you're willing to give up the mobility of the Basilisk the earthshaker carriages are a much better unit. The platform version is only included to support an old OOP model, if you don't already have the model and need the right rules for WYSIWYG then don't even think about it.

 Peregrine wrote:
The platform version is an immobile vehicle, not an artillery unit. Any crew models you add to it are just for decoration and have no gameplay effect.

Thanks for clarifying.

 Peregrine wrote:

 alanmckenzie wrote:
Exactly this. Think of them as vehicles.

Of course the real question here is why you'd want to use such a terrible unit.

Actually, this is not the question here.

Exactly, think of them as immobile vehicles.

And build whatever models you like.

I've just shot you a pm Bubbles.