I need help. Have searched the CD discusssion forum and couldn’t find any references anywhere to anyone using the Hobgoblin Rocket Launchers. I pretty sure I’ve seen/heard of someone using them as bolt throwers but I really want to use them as what they are. So as a last check before I do use them I thought I’d ask you all for advice. Here is the rules I’ve mulled over for them.
Hobgoblin Rocket Launcher Toughness of 4 and Wounds 4
Crew is 1 x Taskmaster & 3 Hobgoblins Crew.
Rocket Launcher, Range up to 36" and is a Flaming (explosive) Attack.
Guess Range as per Stone Throwers etc. Direct centre Str 6 Hit with D3 Wounds, Fully covered Str 3 Hit, Part covered bases Hit on 4+.
Guess Range = Under 12" use BS to hit target unit, use Scatter and Artillery Dice only to determine if it�?Ts a misfire. In Addition - 1 x Goblin Crewman ( the current Aimer ) takes 1 x Str 4 hit from the rockets exhaust.
Guess Range = 12" to 24" Use Scatter and Artillery Dice once as per normal except a “Scatter” of a 12" causes a Misfire in Flight.
Guess Range = 25" to 36" Use Scatter and Artillery Dice twice as per normal except a “Scatter” of a 12" causes a Misfire in Flight.
Normal Misfires as per Stone Thrower Misfire Chart. Misfire in Flight basically just a miss. If ever a rocket hits a CD Unit the Hobgoblins Panic and Run Immediately with no rallying possible.
Fluff wise. Us CD’s find it amusing to watch slaves blow themselves up and tolerate the practice. If ever they hit us though, they are gunna be dead. The hobbo’s only get access to the sweepings of inferior black powder and I tried to represent this with added misfires and increased randomness. For the under 12" range the Aimer sees an enemy real close and lifts the rocket up to aim after the fuse is lit. use the BS and a miss is just a straight miss. The aimer though takes a hit from the flaming exhaust as he looks down it.
Points wise would 50 each be appropriate? Please feel free to comment
I feel that if u enforce the funny aspect of the wm well i suppose it could easily cost less than 50 (with 30pts a boltrhrower is far more effective reading your rules:P)
You could Justify it with your increased S, T and W…but let me point out that while wounds could be reasonably 4 (it takes 4 “not-so-smart” hobgoblins to fire) as per actual WM rules, T4 i feel is not so much reasonable…Hobgobbos rocket is basically a 3 legs support where you put on a large, inefficent firework…
Moreover with 8th edition you have no partially covered targets, if they are touched they are hit! And if you should (i wonder you would) keep this rule it reduces drastically the effectiviness of your weapon.
Skaven Mortars with 60-65 point are a pain in the ass:D
I suggest you to give it 30-40 points (20 if you enforce some disastrous misfire event), but as a Dawi Zhaar Sorcerer, while i feel it is funny to see Hobgobbos burn themselves with that… i just prefer to sacrifice them easily at Zhaar Naggrund than risk to lose my battle (or my precious BBs with such a weapon:P)
Thanks for the reply Assur… It’s comparing something to other weapons that is a weak point with me. Trying to offset potential damage with range etc hurts my head. The pointers for points allocation are very welcome. Agree that the toughness should be 3 as it ain’t a real robust construction. I feel the whimsical aspect is needed for fun, otherwise its just a smaller rocket. We is a bit backward down here, I ain’t played the new-fangled edition yet despite buying it immediately, and well for that matter, I haven’t had many games this year total.
Firstly, pretty much all war machines are Toughness 7. It doesn’t matter how flimsy the construction is - if it’s inanimate, it’s not going to be destroyed unless it’s literally broken into pieces.
With the shooting rules, I guess you’re going for unreliability as the defining feature. The thing with them being able to aim at someone close by is a bit weird - why can’t everyone do it? I’d drop that altogether. Instead:
“The Hobgoblin Rocket Launcher counts as a stone thrower, but with a maximum range of 36”. Hits are resolved at Strength 3(6) and count as Flaming Attacks. The black powder used by Hobgoblins is inferior to that used by their Chaos Dwarf masters - use the black powder misfire chart for the Rocket Launcher, but subtract 1 from the result rolled to represent its extreme unreliability. The poor quality gun powder also means the rockets do not fly reliably - if the target unit is more than 24" away, the shot will scatter twice the distance rolled on the Misfire dice."
That would seem to represent what you’re after. A unit like this would cost about 40 points.
G’day Thommy and Zhatan, I was thinking of the two for one slot rule as I do have two of them and maybe having to have them nearish to a CD crew for supervision. Thanks for the input Thommy. Though I just can’t see them as Toughness 7 somehow. When you look at them they are a firecracker rocket and thats what I’m trying to represent with the repeated rolls. Your way is much easier now you’ve said it. I think I’d go with the double distance for over 24" but still keep the misfire/explode in the air on a scatter roll of a 12". The hobbo’s would love the pretty lights in the sky. As for the close in shot for these guys, other critters have close in shots, like the grapeshot option for cannons (actually the only one I can think of). You have to picture it, the aimer see’s someone close, picks the end up to aim down at them and cops the exhaust burn in the face. The only thing i need some more help with there is the damage in this case. The template damage seems maybe to much and I was thinking that maybe only D6 Str 4 Hits as it plows into the enemy and fails to explode because it is too close. What do you think?
Hey Zanko, here’s an address for the figures on the Stuff of Legends site. Aly Morrison Hobgoblins Someday I’ll learn how to insert links. Ooops looks like I did.
