[Archive] Alternative rules for Kollossus

Archive [Archive] Rules Development
1

Sanguinarian:

Quite a few people have complained about the Kollossus in the Indy GT list, that its too complicated, not worth its points etc. I had a bit of spare time today and figured I’d have a go at designing some alternative rules for the Kollossus. Now what I have so far is an extremely rough copy and I haven’t yet thought up a points value for it, so I figured I’d post it here to see what people think.

I wanted to create something that would fit into 8th edition and would be in a similar vein to a Lord on a Dragon, i.e. not often seen in games below 2,500pts but very scary. If anybody has comments/criticisms please don’t hesitate. This isn’t something I’ve poured my heart and soul into, it’s just an idea I had that I thought was interesting so I won’t be offended by criticism. Also suggestions for tweaks and for a fair points value would be appreciated.

Kollossus

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Troop type: Monster

Special rules:

Large target, Magic Resistance (2), Forest Strider, Unbreakable

Crunch! : The Kollossus has no need of conventional weaponry to dispatch its foes. The monstrosity simply wades into combat and flattens the enemy with its gargantuan bulk.

Instead of attacking normally in close combat, the Kollossus causes d6+1 impact hits on a single enemy unit in combat with it. Note that this is in addition to the Kollossus�?T Thunderstomp on account of being a monster.

Blunderbuss Barrage: The Kollossus holds a number of annihilators within its armoured shell, these spiteful dwarfs delight in blasting foes apart from within the safety of their obsidian behemoth.

In the shooting phase the Kollossus may fire at any enemy unit within 12�?� (treat the Kollossus as having a 360 degree line of sight for this ability only) that unit takes 2d6 S3 armour piercing hits.

Obsidian Body: The Kollossus is forged from Obsidian, black iron and countless other alloys and arcane substances. In addition to providing significant protection from magical attacks, the body of the Kollossus is almost impossible to breach.

The Kollossus has an armour save of 1+ and a ward save of 6+

Possessed: If sufficiently damaged, the daemonic spirits powering the Kollossus will begin to escape, slaughtering the crew of the warmachine and damaging its interior before disappearing back to the realm of Chaos.

Once the Kollossus is reduced to 5 or fewer wounds, the controlling player must roll a die at the beginning of each of their turns. On a 5-6 the Kollossus is momentarily stable and no negative effects occur. On a 3-4 the Kollossus may not use its Blunderbuss Barrage this turn as the chaos dwarfs inside battle against the rampaging daemons. On a 1-2 the Kollossus takes an automatic wound with no saves of any kind allowed in addition to suffering the effects described for a roll of a 3-4.

Options:

The Kollossus may select ONE of the following upgrades:

Death Rocket �?" 90pts

The Kollossus is attached with a Deathrocket as described in Warhammer Armies: Dwarfs of Chaos with the following exceptions: The Kollossus may move (even march) and fire the Deathrocket. In the event of a misfire, ignore the misfire chart, instead the Kollosus takes D3 S10 hits. The Kollossus may only fire the Deathrocket at an enemy unit within its front arc and line of sight.

Steam Roller �?" 50pts

In place of a ranged weapon, the Kollossus has been equipped with an enormous, spiked roller, a wrecking ball or similar device. The Kollossus rolls 2d6 +2 for its Crunch! attack.

Earthshaker �?" 100pts

The Kollossus is fitted with a terrifying Earthshaker Cannon as described in Warhammer Armies: Dwarfs of Chaos with the following exceptions: The Kollossus may move (even march) and fire the Earthshaker. In the event of a misfire, ignore the misfire chart, instead the Kollosus takes D3 S10 hits. The Kollossus may only fire the Earthshaker at an enemy unit within its front arc and line of sight.

Magma Blast �?" 60pts

The Kollosus may unleash enormous torrents of molten rock upon its foes; it counts as having a Fire Thrower as described in the Warhammer Rulebook with the following exceptions: The Kollossus may move (even march) and fire the Fire Thrower. In the event of a misfire, ignore the misfire chart, instead the Kollosus takes D3 S10 hits. The Kollossus may only fire the Fire Thrower at an enemy unit within its front arc and line of sight.

The Kollossus may also be taken as a mount by certain characters, in which case it is treated as a Monstrous Mount with the following exceptions: the Kollossus never tests on the monster reaction table if the character is slain as there are still plenty of crew to keep it running normally. In addition if the Kollossus is destroyed, any character riding it will take D3 S5 hits as they attempt to escape the burning wreckage. Note that characters may attack in close combat as normal as it is assumed that the Kollossus has openings near its base to allow the character to get close to the enemy

2

nitroglysarine:

Its a mammoth!!

I’d love to put it to the test!

3

Sanguinarian:

Its a mammoth!!

I'd love to put it to the test!

nitroglysarine
By all means do! Like I say this was just one of those things where I thought "this would be cool", but if people want to use it as a house rule that'd be awesome. Let me know how it goes :cheers
4

Grimstonefire:

I always thought it was strange including a siege tower ‘monster’ in a list primarily designed for tournaments, something I did point out a few times.

Anyhow, I am confused by something.

You’ve called it a Monster, I think in the descriptions of the ‘warmachine’ upgrades you need to clarify if they are proper ‘warmachines’ (i.e. with crew, making the Kollossus a weapons platform where each machine can misfire), or whether the Kollossus has a missile attack exactly like those warmachines, but doesn’t have crew (the weapon being built into/on the monster).

It will probably be easier to class it as Unique, otherwise it may get a bit confusing if it’s seen as a ridden monster.

5

Sanguinarian:

Anyhow, I am confused by something.

You've called it a Monster, I think in the descriptions of the 'warmachine' upgrades you need to clarify if they are proper 'warmachines' (i.e. with crew, making the Kollossus a weapons platform where each machine can misfire), or whether the Kollossus has a missile attack exactly like those warmachines, but doesn't have crew (the weapon being built into/on the monster).

It will probably be easier to class it as Unique, otherwise it may get a bit confusing if it's seen as a ridden monster.

Grimstonefire
That's a good point. The weapon upgrades were indeed intended to represent an aditional missile attack built into the Kollossus itself. I'm also not certain whether the points for each upgrade is fair (especially the steamroller). In the case of the earthshaker and deathrocket I just used the points from the Indy GT book, but I'm not sure how appropriate those points are in the context of upgrades.
The classification as a monster was largely because the Kollossus is available as a mount. Making it Unique would require a lot more explanation as to how it works as a mount. Still, I know where you're coming from, Unique would be more appropriate for a 500 ton possessed siege weapon!