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What are the best war machines in aos? The new beast claw raiders have made me want a destruction army, but I would like some heavy guns to back up my forces. I love the look of the ironblasters and scrap launchers, and well, prettt much everything destruction. But...what are the best long range weapons the game has to offer?

Does it expressly need to be Destruction, or are you only playing fluffy-mode, where you can build anything you want? I ask only because Destruction just doesn't have a ton of what I would call "good" options.

Beyond that...

I think anyone in math-hammer mode will unequivocally tell you that Duardin Cannons with a Cogsmith/Grimm Burlockson are objectively the best shooting artillery in the entire game. They're just devastating.

I would also add that Screaming Skull Catapults can't be brutal. Their damage (similarly paired with a Necrotect) can be quite solid, but smartly utilized their Bravery debuff can do devastating things against the right targets. Plus, not needing LoS can be amazing if your table has competent terrain layout.

If you go a step further to Warmachine/Behemoths, which iirc it is both of, the Steam Tank is just gross. A baby cannon on a durable, punchy chassis is just crazy-good.

I think the chaos dwarves are pretty cool, but I hate that they are all forge world. Makes them feel like an army that isn't really supposed to be there. I dunno. Thanks for the input! The duardin are very cool.


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Oh wait you meant regular dwarfs, sorry! Their cannons are pretry cool, and pretty cheap. Any idea what a sample dwarf army might look like? Any other armies that have really good long range attacks? Skaven maybe? I don't need a wide variety of long range weapons, just a few good ones is enough for me.

The Bretonnian Trebuchet has my vote for being in the top rank...wow, that thing hurts!

Hey Steuern. If you're looking at a sample Dwarf list, I could go on for days. I have almost "pure" shooty lists built around Irondrakes, Cannons, and Thunderers, or many more varied lists.

That said, I would say that I ALWAYS find myself starting a list around this little castle.

- 2 Cannons
- 1 Grimm Burlocksson (an Engineer so makes your Cannons obscenely good)
- 1 Unit of 20-30 Thunderers

Grimm makes one, and only one unit of Thunderers extend their range by 6" which makes their range 22" Considering deployment and their movement phase, they are threat 38" on turn one, and the cannons are obviously in range.

Essentially its the one Dwarf list that doesn't mind going first, as they WILL have some valid targets.

Skaven, everything.
Flame cannon is pretty good for duardin

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Hey Steuern. If you're looking at a sample Dwarf list, I could go on for days. I have almost "pure" shooty lists built around Irondrakes, Cannons, and Thunderers, or many more varied lists.

That said, I would say that I ALWAYS find myself starting a list around this little castle.

- 2 Cannons
- 1 Grimm Burlocksson (an Engineer so makes your Cannons obscenely good)
- 1 Unit of 20-30 Thunderers

Grimm makes one, and only one unit of Thunderers extend their range by 6" which makes their range 22" Considering deployment and their movement phase, they are threat 38" on turn one, and the cannons are obviously in range.

Essentially its the one Dwarf list that doesn't mind going first, as they WILL have some valid targets.

That sounds super fun! I think I'm going to have to resign myself to the fact that I don't need to only have one army. Too many things look fun! Thanks for the input! I'll be getting my general's handbook soon and can try to put some point lists together.

Tha Skaven Clan Skryre battallion that allows your WLC's to fire in the hero phase as well as in the shooting phase can certainly have its moments.

Dwarven Flamestorm cannons are pretty gross, but they're legacy, so if you don't already have one, it might be a bit more difficult to get a hold of one.

Empire cannons, helblaster and helstorm rockets are also no slouches, especially with an engineer nearby, not to mention griffhounds and handgunner support.

Dreadquake Mortar with a Daemonsmith nearby, with the +1 to hit Command Trait. One shot at 40" range, no LoS needed, that hits on 2+ (3+ normal) and if in the Battalion rerolls of 1s. Wounds on a 3+, and if a Banner is planted rerolls of 1s. -2 Rend at d6 (2d6 if unit is 10+) and if any models are slain that unit cannot run next turn.

Plus with the Daemonsmith you have a 50% chance to get to fire it again and take a mortal wound. Also it doesn't get worse the more wounds it takes and has 8 of them. Oh yea and a 3+ save vs. shooting attacks!

That or a Hellcannon, which has an 8" longer range than the Dreadquake, shoots twice, and does d6 mortal wounds on a 4+ to hit. Needs line of sight though and might run away to eat faces instead...still damn good.

Seems like only order has warmachine

I think Hellstorm Rocket Batteries might be a little bit better than cannons. I have never played with them, but on paper they seem amazing.

1. They have a higher damage potential at 3D6.

2. Although the to hit rolls are slightly worse, aiming at the same target gets you on 4+/3+ (And having a Hurricanum nearby would get you 3+/3+).

3. An engineer means any misses that then roll a 6 hit another target within 10" of your original.

4. NO LOS to fire! That's the big one. You could put a ring of Swordsmen around them to protect the crew for another turn.

Normally i'd agree Bottle, but taking into account the cost of the support from Hurricanum (to get to statistically the same hitting chance as a Cannon) versus a simple Cogsmith/Grimm... I think the Cannons pull ahead.

That said, we're down the math-hammer rabbit hole here, so the short answer is, you're right... its a damn good war-machine. :-)

TK Skull not needing LOS works for me. They have been very effective as well as Plague Catap for Skaven.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
Normally i'd agree Bottle, but taking into account the cost of the support from Hurricanum (to get to statistically the same hitting chance as a Cannon) versus a simple Cogsmith/Grimm... I think the Cannons pull ahead.

That said, we're down the math-hammer rabbit hole here, so the short answer is, you're right... its a damn good war-machine. :-)

Sure! It's probably a "grass is greener on the other side" with the cannon/rocket battery. I have two cannons in my list and curse every time I roll low damage or my crew get killed early.