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So I've been building a Genestealer Cult Army out of skaven models, and I'm about to open a Baneblade kit as the centerpiece for the army (who knows if it will hit the table often, but a baneblade crewed by Skaven sounds like a blast). My question is, what is going to be the ideal baneblade variant for 8th edition? Obviously all four sponsons are gonna put out a lot of damage, but I'm wondering about the primary gun specifically.

A few of the profiles;

Shadowsword: Heavy D6, Str 16, AP -5, 2D6 Damage... +1 to hit VS TITANIC Creatures, Re-roll to wound VS TITANIC
Hellhammer: Heavy 2D6, Str 10, Ap -4, 3 Damage ...Ignores Cover, Also Mounts a Demolisher Cannon
Stormsword: Heavy D6, Str 10, Ap -4, D6 Damage ...Roll two dice for attacks and discard lowest, (Re-roll ones for damage)
Banehammer: Heavy 2D6, Str 8, Ap -2, Damage 3 ... Halves movement of an enemy hit
Baneblade: Heavy 2D6, Str9, Ap -3, Damage 3 ... Which also mounts a demolisher cannon.

I'm torn, I suppose ultimately between whether you want more dice to shoot with, or more consistent damage. The Shadowsword is looking at absolutely wrecking other Lords of War, but maybe the Baneblade is just the better multi-purpose choice, since it's rocking a demolisher cannon too.

What do you guys think?

The one that prevents units hit from advancing and charging seems like it will have alot of utility. The 8th edition meta seems to starting as infanttry centric with vehicles being mostly useless, and the melee armies seem to have alot of tricks for getting into combat turn 1 and 2. So having something that can slow down the hordes will be really useful.

Standard baneblade is also the most general purpose of the guns. It'll deny the majority of armor saves, even with cover most won't get but a 5+/6+. Hell Hammer seems a bit like overkill, AP -4 will take care of anything that isn't a MEQ in cover, and most things with more armor than that have invulnerable saves of some sort. Still, it does kill MEQ really well, and is better versus tanks.

Personally I still like the shadowsword, that thing is gonna pop tanks and big monsters easily.

Shadowsword: Heavy D6, Str 16, AP -5, 2D6 Damage... +1 to hit VS TITANIC Creatures, Re-roll to wound VS TITANIC

For me unless you're fighting other Titanics, the SS is overkill really, although 2d6 dmg VS monsters is quite sweet.

Hellhammer: Heavy 2D6, Str 10, Ap -4, 3 Damage ...Ignores Cover, Also Mounts a Demolisher Cannon

Really like the HH, -4 will wipe anything short of ultra elites like termies, ignore cover is always a bonus. 2d6 shots is great and it has a demo cannon too.

Stormsword: Heavy D6, Str 10, Ap -4, D6 Damage ...Roll two dice for attacks and discard lowest, (Re-roll ones for damage)

Cant really see why you'd take this guy over the HH or Baneblade.

Banehammer: Heavy 2D6, Str 8, Ap -2, Damage 3 ... Halves movement of an enemy hit

Good amount of shots and decent dmg and halving movement could be very nice although perhaps situational.

Baneblade: Heavy 2D6, Str9, Ap -3, Damage 3 ... Which also mounts a demolisher cannon.

good number of shots, AP and dmg. Good all rounder plus the demo cannon added on.

Overall for me outside of Titan fights, I'd go HH. The SS and SS suffer imo from "only" having d6 shots. If you're going to pay a premium for a SH tank, you need to maximise its shooting.

I was wondering the same thing, and had two ideas:

Shadowsword with bolter sponsons. If you are going to see titanic units, then nothing is better. I don't know if it is the most cost efficient choice but it is a titan killing cannon, what is not to love? It is a shame you can't move it without losing BS. Save the CP to reroll the number of shots if it is a 1 or 2.

For something a bit more fun, take a Stormsword or a Hellhammer and give it flamer sponsons. Then proceed to ram it down the throat of the enemy. Sure, you are -1 to hit if you move but those weapons have either 2d6 or 2d6 pick highest shots. 8 heavy flamers are pretty scary and don't have to worry about movement penalties. Also, if you charge you get 9 str 9 attacks and can still shot in combat. I don't know how well it would work, but it sounds really fun. As a bonus, if someone charges you then all your flamers get a free round of shooting! The enemy can try to charge from outside 8 inches, but then they need to get an 8 on 2d6, which could fail and simply give you some free shots with your other guns.

Wait, no Stormlord? What about the big Dakka tank?

Thanks for the input gents! As a Chaos Night Lords player, I have always hated imperial knights... and I think I might go with a stormlord just to stick it to them. The thought of one shotting a IK (not likely, but possible) fills me with more glee than is probably healthy.

Also, just so no one is confused 'Titanic' is a Keyword now. Wraithknights, Imperial Knights, Stompas etc are all considered Titanic.

You can probably count the normal Baneblade and Stormsword out due to low firepower, but try to figure out the rest of your army first and use the tank to make up for any weaknesses.

 Ratius wrote:
...the SS is overkill really...

You mean the best kind of kill? (-:

 Ratius wrote:
Cant really see why you'd take this guy over the HH or Baneblade.

Well the Stormsword and Banesword are substantially cheaper than the other options. A Hellhammer is 100 points more and a Baneblade is 80, whilst being no more survivable. Something to consider anyway.

I'm actually slightly annoyed at the Stormsword stats. It used to be the biggest blast out of all of them, it was basically the hellhammer gun but with a 10" blast. It should really just be a 3d6 Hellhammer now, which would be really nice. I guess they didn't want 3d6 weapons of that strength, so we got a weird 1d1 reroll thing.

I'm looking at either of the top 2, moreso the Hellhammer. They do seem fairly samey though, it's all about weight of fire vs AP and damage. That 2d6 damage destruction with d6 shots (Shadowsword) is deleting anything Vehicle-wise in 1 turn, maybe 2 if you're unlucky with the damage/amount of shots. The Hellhammer seems more consistent, getting more shots at a decent enough strength anyway. The 2d6 shots should more then make up for the less AP, as well as not having to roll for damage - it is a set 3.

I wouldn't go for the Banehammer though, for the pure reason such a massive tank shouldn't be softening up or weakening a unit, but should be totally annihilating it. A strength of 8 and only -2 AP seems pretty lackluster for a big tank too.

I've got a hellhammer that I never got round to painting up. I think that could change!

My imperial fists are quite looking forward to seeing what their Falchion does... though they are less excited to learn its points cost!

Anybody's mind changing with the release of the guard codex. Rule of cool means mine will be a stormlord, but which is the most competitive

Shadowsword.

If, for some reason, you don't like the Shadowsword, Baneblade or Stormlord.

It depends on your target and what you are trying to achieve.

I tend to run generalists.

Points are also a consideration, with some of the cheaper tanks being good simply because they are cheap.

Do Renegades benefit from the points decrease and new rules?

 Intercessor wrote:
Do Renegades benefit from the points decrease and new rules?

No, I think the Renegades rules specifically call out the Index when sourcing the unit names.

That said, I'd be happy to let you use the nuBaneblade against me, since the Baneblade is the only superheavy they have access to anyways.

I have to say it's Shadowsword.

You aren't truly playing Imperium if you don't have a giant death laser.

Well I like the Shadowsword, although if I had to pick the most effective it would be a Catachan Hellhammer with full flamer sponsons. Get one of those and ram into the thing you want dead with "Crush Them!" and whatever buffs you want. Then fall back and do it again. Expensive but it will do the job.

What is the range of these weapons? For many is very long, but I suppose it should be taken into account for the discussion.

Catachan Baneblade just got pretty stupid good. 3d6 shots now at the same strength and damage means you are pretty much killing what ever you want each turn. Catachan lets you reroll one of the dice and you can command point another if you want. Or if you prefer stayability, Valhallan Baneblades have to get reduced to something like 6 wounds before they START degrading in stats.

I really love the look of the Hellhammer, its a threatening looking model.

In terms of the best baneblade? I would say the Shadowsword, followed by the Hellhammer.

Hoodwink wrote:
Catachan Baneblade just got pretty stupid good. 3d6 shots now at the same strength and damage means you are pretty much killing what ever you want each turn. Catachan lets you reroll one of the dice and you can command point another if you want. Or if you prefer stayability, Valhallan Baneblades have to get reduced to something like 6 wounds before they START degrading in stats.

The biggest issue with that is the SH needs to be in a supreme command detachment or a super heavy detachment because the regular super heavy aux detachment won't provide the regiment bonus.

 Mulletdude wrote:

Hoodwink wrote:
Catachan Baneblade just got pretty stupid good. 3d6 shots now at the same strength and damage means you are pretty much killing what ever you want each turn. Catachan lets you reroll one of the dice and you can command point another if you want. Or if you prefer stayability, Valhallan Baneblades have to get reduced to something like 6 wounds before they START degrading in stats.

The biggest issue with that is the SH needs to be in a supreme command detachment or a super heavy detachment because the regular super heavy aux detachment won't provide the regiment bonus.

Guard have no trouble taking 3 hqs really. Probably the easiest army to do it with. Hell, you could just take 3 tank commanders.

So I run mono-type companies in the fluff to make things easy on the Quartermaster...

...but I am seriously reconsidering. GW really hit the nail on the head when differentiating different Baneblades really well.

A Hellhammer is slightly better than a Baneblade but 20pts more; when an infantry squad is 40 points, that 20 points can actually make or break a Detachment size, and a Baneblade has some advantages over it (crucially, range... though whether that matters is up to you).

If you really want my real opinion, I think the winner is a Banehammer. There aren't many ways to cripple enemy movement in this edition, but dropping one of the enemy Melee threats to 1/2 speed and no advance is no mean thing - say goodbye to CQC Knights, 'zerker land raiders, really any big deathstar that has to move is in trouble. Even better, it's essentially a smaller Baneblade Cannon and still packs a helluva wallop, making it useful even when not utilizing the 'must move half' bit of its rules. Lastly, it's got a transport capacity of 25, making it quite useful for some of the newer guard units, like Crusaders.

I have a secret plan: 5 bullgryns, 10 crusaders, 1 ogryn bodyguard, 1 priest, and one Thunderhammer Terminator Inquisitor in a Banehammer that pins the enemy down with its main weapon and then rams a billion angries down their throat.

Hella expensive, but hella fun.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oops! Ogryn take up three spaces

Welp, gotta fink.

Also, volume of fire is usually better than damage in this edition. If I have a 10 shot S10 1 damage weapon, it will usually be better to have than a 1 shot S10 10 damage weapon. I know this is extreme but the point is that high damage low volume weapons are not as useful. My average damage output for both of my examples is the exact same. The low volume high damage has a much higher damage ceiling, but also a much lower damage floor. It also loses damage against units where the damage doesn't matter. If I fire 1 shot into a MEQ squad, it won't matter if I do 1 damage or 10. Only one MEQ will die.

Obviously there are differences like units taking 1 less damage from attacks but volume of fire is generally better than lower volume, higher damage.