Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Haven't read the rules in a physical book yet, but if it hasn't changed from some images linked on BOLS.

I really like the fluff behind the Mastodon. It rolls up the battlefield, melts a fortification and then a mini army of marines storm out. However on the tabletop, I think it's kinda useless. It will probably never die while on the battlefield which is nice, but what does it offer compared to 2 Spartan assault tanks (which is still slightly cheaper)?

Opinions?

Afaik the Spartan doesn't allow for dreadnoughts to be taken, in this you can drop a primarch, 18 marines and two assault dreadnoughts!! This gives some survivability to close combat dreads but whether that is worth 700 is in the eye of the filthy rich beholder!! Skyfire/Interceptor is grim too

it's okay. It has some neat rules, but beyond that I'd give it a solid 6/10. not the best, not the worse. It would probably be fun to dump 20 tacticals and 2 dreads in there, so you can pop out and have a solid threat speed up the board, but we all know that it will carry 10 terminators, 1 centurion, and a primarch minimum

The mastodon is a genuinely good LOW choice for a CC legion army i recon.
It ticks a lot of boxes - a good anti-air weapon, a great anti fortification weapon, universal protection from small arms fire (void shields) and overwatching when loaded with troops as well as being a decent holding point when it is finally destroyed. If i wasn't rocking the 'angels wrath' ROW i'd go for one.
I'd want to fill it with support squad MSU spam and a CC/leviathan dread if i were to get one.

You can have the fastest deployment phase ever. Just this one vehicle, the rest of your army is in it
I want three of them. Please give me money.

If only it had a Flare Shield.... Siiiiiiiiiigh.

 Iron_Captain wrote:
You can have the fastest deployment phase ever. Just this one vehicle, the rest of your army is in it
I want three of them. Please give me money.

^This is the best reason to get one.

Love it. It's on my list of wants, but a £300 price tag will mean it gets shunted behind the Ordinatus that I have planned. Filling this with Dreadnoughts, Terminators and the like just makes it a nastier Super-Spartan. The fact that, when destroyed, it's still there is a nice bonus.

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:
If only it had a Flare Shield.... Siiiiiiiiiigh.

10 Hull Points, Armoured Ceramite and 2 Void Shields not enough?

 zedmeister wrote:
Love it. It's on my list of wants, but a £300 price tag will mean it gets shunted behind the Ordinatus that I have planned. Filling this with Dreadnoughts, Terminators and the like just makes it a nastier Super-Spartan. The fact that, when destroyed, it's still there is a nice bonus.

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:
If only it had a Flare Shield.... Siiiiiiiiiigh.

10 Hull Points, Armoured Ceramite and 2 Void Shields not enough?

Not really in 30k.

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:

 zedmeister wrote:
Love it. It's on my list of wants, but a £300 price tag will mean it gets shunted behind the Ordinatus that I have planned. Filling this with Dreadnoughts, Terminators and the like just makes it a nastier Super-Spartan. The fact that, when destroyed, it's still there is a nice bonus.

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:
If only it had a Flare Shield.... Siiiiiiiiiigh.

10 Hull Points, Armoured Ceramite and 2 Void Shields not enough?

Not really in 30k.

Pop a techmarine in there, then you got yourself a pseudo It Will Not Die.

Do you really want to add to the cost when it starts at 700? lol

Just got to be smart about keeping DDP Leviathans away!

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:
Do you really want to add to the cost when it starts at 700? lol

Just got to be smart about keeping DDP Leviathans away!

easy: melta/las heavy support with apothecary w/ augury scanner

 Brennonjw wrote:

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:
Do you really want to add to the cost when it starts at 700? lol

Just got to be smart about keeping DDP Leviathans away!

easy: melta/las heavy support with apothecary w/ augury scanner

I was thinking super-cheap militia bubblewrap.

Just to check I understand one of the rules correctly, specifically "Reinforced Shell".

So when the Mastodon is destroyed, I roll on the Catastrophic Damage Table and -2 to that result. On a value of "0" or "-1", it doesn't explode and becomes a ruined building. Do the models embarked inside take a S4 hit? Or is that only when it rolls higher than a "0"?

Models embarked take a S4 hit on the 0 result. On a 1-4 they still suffer a S10ap2 hit, which is why the Mastodon is way inferior to two spartans which only cause S4 hits ever.

If I were to run a Mastodon, it would be to transport 4 dreadnoughts, flanked by two spartans carrying the infantry.

TompiQ wrote:
Models embarked take a S4 hit on the 0 result. On a 1-4 they still suffer a S10ap2 hit, which is why the Mastodon is way inferior to two spartans which only cause S4 hits ever.

If I were to run a Mastodon, it would be to transport 4 dreadnoughts, flanked by two spartans carrying the infantry.

Whew... that is almost 1400pt in transports!

I think that drawback on SH Transports is too extreme. Really tough for a unit whose primary use is as a transport. It should have had that Reinforced Shell rule negate the S10 AP2 hits entirely.

Does it mention at all if it can be taken by a 40k army?

 Kharne the Befriender wrote:
Does it mention at all if it can be taken by a 40k army?

No.

 Kharne the Befriender wrote:
Does it mention at all if it can be taken by a 40k army?

I am sure that will happen when it releases on the FW site via a pdf. Probably a "Relic of the Armory" LoW choice.

Probably.

So, a Mammoth, 2 Spartans, and Rhinos....

Cult of speed marines?

 Kharne the Befriender wrote:
Probably.

So, a Mammoth, 2 Spartans, and Rhinos....

Cult of speed marines?

Wreck-marker Marines.

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:

 Kharne the Befriender wrote:
Does it mention at all if it can be taken by a 40k army?

I am sure that will happen when it releases on the FW site via a pdf. Probably a "Relic of the Armory" LoW choice.

I hope they will also give it to CSM. My Iron Warriors need this thing. It is the most Iron Warrior-y thing since the Typhon Siege Tank.

Amazing model, but that's 700 points, man. Damn.

So you'd have to be in a 3000 point game to use it.....

Put 10 Grave Wardens and 10 Deathshroud for wins?

Or 40 Iron Havocs...

 Kharne the Befriender wrote:
So you'd have to be in a 3000 point game to use it.....

Put 10 Grave Wardens and 10 Deathshroud for wins?

Or 40 Iron Havocs...

well, if you're gonna do the second one, you may as well try and get a stormlord in your army.

 Spyro_Killer wrote:
Afaik the Spartan doesn't allow for dreadnoughts to be taken, in this you can drop a primarch, 18 marines and two assault dreadnoughts!! This gives some survivability to close combat dreads but whether that is worth 700 is in the eye of the filthy rich beholder!! Skyfire/Interceptor is grim too

That would be about 1100 points of LoW. You'd need a 4400pt game minimum to do that.

So 700 base cost plus filler units.
To be honest I rather take a warhound with 2 turbo lasers.

Much more damage output, doesn't cook the guys inside when it goes bang and drops D everywhere.


Model looks ace but 700 for a fortress transport?
I'll pass on this one.

 djones520 wrote:

 Spyro_Killer wrote:
Afaik the Spartan doesn't allow for dreadnoughts to be taken, in this you can drop a primarch, 18 marines and two assault dreadnoughts!! This gives some survivability to close combat dreads but whether that is worth 700 is in the eye of the filthy rich beholder!! Skyfire/Interceptor is grim too

That would be about 1100 points of LoW. You'd need a 4400pt game minimum to do that.

....wait, what? The Mastodon is 700pt. Easy to fit on most games.

Sadly no, because BA RoW prohibit Lords of War that aren't Sanguinius or Flyers.

Model looks ace though.

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:

 djones520 wrote:

 Spyro_Killer wrote:
Afaik the Spartan doesn't allow for dreadnoughts to be taken, in this you can drop a primarch, 18 marines and two assault dreadnoughts!! This gives some survivability to close combat dreads but whether that is worth 700 is in the eye of the filthy rich beholder!! Skyfire/Interceptor is grim too

That would be about 1100 points of LoW. You'd need a 4400pt game minimum to do that.

....wait, what? The Mastodon is 700pt. Easy to fit on most games.

Plus Primarch... see the post that I quoted. You can't have more then 25% of your army be a LoW. Even the Mastadon alone would require a 2800pt game, which is not "most" games.