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Obelisk : 300 (Lord Of War)
- 4 24" guns that fire 5 S7 shots each (20 shots minimum against 4 possible targets, but realistically, probably only 10 shots at a time against any one target, very occasionally 15 at a single target, given the right positioning)
- AV14 on all sides, 6 HP
- can't jink
- not Twin Linked
- has 3++, but if active, can't fire
- 36" anti flyer bubble (... which is actually kinda lame, considering what it USED to do)
- some tourneys/players may object to using one because of LoW status

3 Annihilation Barges : 360 (Heavy)
- 3 24" guns that fire 4 S7 shots each (12 shots minimum against a possible 3 targets)
- Twin Linked, so even more likely to hit 6s
- AV13 on front and sides until first pen (then AV11), 3 HP each/9 HP between them
- if jinked or firing at fliers, no bonus hits from Tesla

So which really is worth taking more, and why?

[did I miss anything?]

A big downside for the obelisk is that is firing arcs are awful. After the discussion in this thread http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/633613.page it's clear that the tesla spheres are hull mounted so only have 45 degrees of LoS making making very hard to get two spheres to shoot at the same target and impossible for three to do so. So the obelisk is pretty much forced to shoot each sphere at different targets.

Depends on the ruling on his weapons and whether those balls can move or not.

Kangodo wrote:
Depends on the ruling on his weapons and whether those balls can move or not.

The thread I posted covered all of this. The weapons absolutely do not move.

You can also take the Obelisk in the living Tomb formation on the Decurion.

The Tesla Spheres firing on diffrent targets is fine. I played an Obelisk recently, and was able to hit 3 units pretty consisently.

To me, it's no contest for a few reasons.

-It's more durable. A lot of Armies don't have an answer to AV14 super heavies. if you start it on the board, you can start it with a 3++. It also can regenerate hullpoints.

-Flexability if the other team goes first. You can guarantee Deepstrike it in on turn 2, if you're running it in the living tomb. You can pretty much ensure that it gets the alpha-strike.

-Gravity pulse is pretty huge against skimmer-heavy armies.

-Firepower It puts out more firepower than 3 abarges. Even if you are only firing at 2 units (Which will be pretty rare) you are only putting out 2 less shots.

-It's faster. It can move 12' and still fire to full effect.

-It's cheaper. 60 points cheaper than 3 barges, which you can't even run if you are using the Decurion.

In a vacuum, the 3 barges are better than the lone obelisk. The 3 barges can be in 3 different spots on the table to engage any 3 separate targets. The 3 barges can contest/control 3 separate objectives.

The obelisk can engage up to 4 separate targets, but only if the enemy puts those targets within range. Otherwise the obelisk can only chase after one enemy target. The obelisk can only contest/control one objective.

It should be easier to kill an obelisk then 3 separate barges. The enemy can focus more of its weapons at the one target (obelisk) rather than the 3 separate targets (barges) who might be scattered all over the board.

Looks like running the Living Tomb added to a Reclamation Decurion is the way to go, then.
Question, though: It's a Lord Of War. Meaning we can only ever take one in our army, right?
(or do we get around that with the whole "add up to 10 of any of these" thing?)

Lord of War is just another FOC slot like Fast Attack or Elite. There is nothing different about them rules wise.

 skoffs wrote:
Looks like running the Living Tomb added to a Reclamation Decurion is the way to go, then.
Question, though: It's a Lord Of War. Meaning we can only ever take one in our army, right?
(or do we get around that with the whole "add up to 10 of any of these" thing?)

In CAD you're only allowed one (think Mephrist also allows one)

If you have enough points in a Decurion you could field 10 Living Tomb's...that would be tasty...

 Frozocrone wrote:
If you have enough points in a Decurion you could field 10 Living Tomb's

Oh no...

That's ~3500 points (assuming Decurion) or exactly 3000 if you just field them as their own detachements (assuming no monoliths)

At that level you may as well just play Apoc

Welllll, you could play 3 at 900 points. That'd be a hell of a lot of fire power/headache for an opponent to deal with.

It would be very expensive too, an Obelisk costs £95

I wouldn't want to spend that much :p

Well, I find that three Annihilation Barges are more effective than a single Obelisk.
However, the Decursion doesn't promote three AB's without a Doom Ark.
That's pretty lame.

So would the solution be add a CAD detachment to the army for Ob.Sec troops and triple A.Barges?

 CrownAxe wrote:

The thread I posted covered all of this. The weapons absolutely do not move.

Lol, that guy again. He posted persistently in other thread that Tesla spheres don't shoot sideways and now he is quoting it as a gospel, because people stoped to disscuss with him (so he must be right).
Weapon doesn't move it don't have to because :
- It's a sphere, not a barrel. It doesn't shoot projectiles. It discharges energy.
- Not all elements in GW models are mobile, the sprues are done like they are.

 Xyxel wrote:

 CrownAxe wrote:

The thread I posted covered all of this. The weapons absolutely do not move.

Lol, that guy again. He posted persistently in other thread that Tesla spheres don't shoot sideways and now he is quoting it as a gospel, because people stoped to disscuss with him (so he must be right).
Weapon doesn't move it don't have to because :
- It's a sphere, not a barrel. It doesn't shoot projectiles. It discharges energy.
- Not all elements in GW models are mobile, the sprues are done like they are.

You mean the one thread where basically everyone unanimously agreed that you were wrong? Yeah, that one. They're hull mounted with vertical movement.

For the Obelisk: you forgot to add the bonuses of Thunderblitz and being able to move 12" without losing any fire power.

 skoffs wrote:
Welllll, you could play 3 at 900 points. That'd be a hell of a lot of fire power/headache for an opponent to deal with.

If you're playing unbound.

Otherwise you need the ~480 min points of the Reclamation Legion.

Also you're getting really caught up on the LoW status. They aren't any better than an Imperial Knight. In fact I'd rather face 3 Obelisks than the Ad Lance.

There is always that one guy... (xzxel)

OP, it's not something I'd answer in a vacuum. Depends on your list really. If you are playing very aggressively I like the Obelisk as it's fire power will make certain armies clump up to avoid it's firing archs, making things like wraiths very happy, or they will s[plit up to avoid bottle necking from your wraiths and your Obelisk is very happy.

Either way don't forget it moves 12" ignoring terrain and firing at full effect and can also thunderblitz which can be nasty.