Norngahl:
I'm new to Fantasy and am planning/collecting/building my chaos dwarf force, however I'm unsure on the warmachines I should be taking.
Obviously it's a large part of a chaos dwarf list, but should I be taking 1 of each of the special warmachines, or doubling up with a specific type? Are there diminishing returns for taking more than 2? If not, again is it best to take all as one type or a mix?
Does it depend on who I'm going to be fighting? (VC and Dark Elves are my likely opponents in the medium term)
Also to tag on to the end of this, is the special allowance better taken as a destroyer or as more warmachines?
Coopervisor
As always you should ask yourself- what shall an entry do for you?
Template Weapons:Template Weapons are meant to destroy units. The higher the strength, the better they are, as wounding gets easier and failing armoursaves as well (or simply negating these in most cases).
Let's look on the Magma Cannon. With a very precise shooting (hitting almost ever if you place the template 2" in front of the enemy and then let it bounce), a high Strengh (S5) which wounds most models on 2+ and the "hard stuff" still on 3+, while reducing armour saves by 4, having flaming attacks AND causing D3 wounds per hit, these weapons are heavily destructive and easily render most regiments totally useless in 1-2 turns.
The Deathshrieker has a bigger template (5") an a bit less precise shooting (through they have the "auto-target") because the template not just bounces 2-10 inches, but can also move in any direction rather than just forwards and backwards like the Magma Cannon. Again, if it scatters off the enemy, it's just the 3" template (still better than nothing). As well, it's just S3 flaming attacks without the ability of causing D3 wounds. Sure, if a W3, AS5+ Unit got hit by the 5" template, the Deathshrieker will cause equal results like the Magma Cannon just because it get's more models under the plate, which make up for the poorer Strength.
But when it comes down to unit killing one must admit, Magma cannons are more precise AND more destructive, for a lousy bucks more. So we see- while DR are pretty decent at killing light stuff, MC are equal at this task and way better if aimed at harder stuff. So, even if a bit more expensive, take the MC over the DR if you want to kill units.
Single shot weaponsUsually Bolt Throwers and Cannons fall into this category. They are designed for killing lone and real nasty stuff like monsters or this or that charakter, warmachines or similar tough stuff with multiple wounds.
The Magma Cannon has, if aimed onto a monster, a single S5 hit that causes D3 wounds. While me thinks bolt throwers are lousy at killing tough stuff compared to cannons, a S5 D3 wounds hit is a joke against any serious target like Dragons, Hellpits, Steamtanks, Terrorgheists, Warmachines or something similar. First you have to wound, which is not sure with S5, than you will most likely only cause 2 wounds and this only if the target has no fair armoursave. A Steamtank will lough at the MCs, as with T6, W10 and 1+AS you won't get rid of this one. A Necrosphinx will only be wounded on a 6- which is pretty poor, even your Hobgoblins with bows will do more damage than the MC in this case. So while the MC shines against UNITS, it sucks against Monsters/Chars/equal Stuff.
That's where the Deathshrieker Rockets begin to shine. With S8 and D6 wounds they can seriously harm enemy monsters. Suddenly a steamtank is wounded on 2+ and left with a 6+ AS, after this taking 3-4 wounds in most cases. Take 2 DRs and it's left over with 3 wounds after 2 hits, which will definately scares the empire player and forces him to hold this one back more than he wants to. Score two hits on a Dragon and 320 points go to the ground dead. Even enemy artillery get's wounded on 3+ and than has to take d3 hits. Problem is - you must score the hits. In most cases, you will only hit the target on a "hit" or if you throw 2 or 4 inches of scattering, which means a chance around 40% you might score a hit. This is why Deathshriekers should be taken in pairs, so you can score at least a hit per round in common. Sure, a usual cannon would perfectly do the job as it is S10 and more reliable at hitting, but for the same point cost it does not bring a 5" plate.
But back to the MC and the DR: The DR clearly wins against tough targets, just because of S8 vs. S5 and D6 vs. D3. If you want to kill hard stuff, you need a DR (or at least an Iron Daemon, but therefore you get 3 DR) if you want to kill it at range, but most targets you fire the Single shot weapons at you will find them not wanting them in combat with your units.
Overall thoughts:
If it comes down to units, MC wins as it kills stuff more reliable. Therefore DR cost less and have the ability to get of a single shot- in times of monster mash and one-man-army-madnesses, this is golden.
If I had to decide I'd take the DR, just because it's much more versatile and can get me the high S D6 wounds shot which CDs need to deal with the big ones. If you got a Daemonsmith (or two! :))close to it, it's accuracy goes up pretty equal to a magma cannon/cannon, which shouldn´t be missed.
As well, if combat breakes out, a DR will more easily find a left over target than the MC, just due to range and versatile ammo. And for 100 points it's almost a present for what it does.
If you have to decide what to get, get 2x DR. If you can choose at 2k, get 2x DR and 1x MC. If you opt for win, get 2x DR AND 2xMC. 2xDR+1xMC is a pretty solid firebase that is versatile and cheap at 345 points, none armylist should miss that.
P.S. If you don't have a Kdaai Destroyer or don't want to play one, take a look on the Hellcannon and Dreadquake Mortar as well- both are excellent choices, they are just outshined by the Destroyer ;)
@Mutter
No, Steamtank is T6 an W10. http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440093a&prodId=prod2120007
), so why not?