Inspired by the fact of daemonic engines in Warhammer as well as the 40k-exclusive Brass Scorpion, I decided to try my luck to create this baby of an engine. Please comment if you read:
A monstrous engine built ideally for massive battles and sieges, the Steel Scorpion is the pride of any Daemonsmith able to construct the metallic titan. Its iron hide is tougher than any armour of vehicles crafted by the other races and it bears powerful pinchers able to crush a castle gate with simple ease or snap a single soldier into two. But its most dreadful piece in its arsenal is its enchanted Stingcannon; a strange mechanism mounted upon the engine’s tail which hurls bolts of energy born from the rage and hate of the daemon trapped inside.Though its true origins are unclear even to this day, there are myths that speak of a wandering Daemonsmith who was inspired by the fearsome power of the giant scorpions that prowl the outskirts of the Dark Lands in search of runaway slaves and foolish travelers to prey upon. Eventually he took upon a design after years of long studying the large arachnids and set off to build his new construct of power. From that mere design came forth the first Steel Scorpion and since then, it has continued to be a favorite among the Daemonsmith guilds, though there is open debate to what guild the engine’s creator descended from.
Steel Scorpion = Points/model: 235 (Rare Unit)
Steel Scorpion M6 WS6 BS4 S7 T6 W4 I2 A5 Ld8
Unit Size: 1
Wargear: Huge crushing pinchers and stingcannon.
Special Rules: Daemonic Engine; Large Target; Killing Blow; Scaly Skin (3+); Rampage; Strider; Stingcannon
Daemonic Engine: As a construct bound with daemonic essence and power, the Steel Scorpion has the following rules:
*Terror
*3+ Ward Save
*Unbreakable
*Bound Daemon - Once per turn, if the Steel Scorpion suffers a Misfire while firing its Stingcannon, roll a D6 and consult the Bound Daemon table.
Roll-------------Result
1-------The leaking energy from the engine’s misfire is too great to hold back, allowing the held daemon within to tear apart its iron prison and unleash a burst of uncontained power as manifestation of its rage. The model is killed outright. Each model in base contact suffer 1 Strength 8 hit with no armour saves allowed.
2-5--------The daemon fumes and screams but remains sealed in its metallic form. The model is controlled normally.
6--------The daemon’s rage drives the engine forward into a state of berserk hunger and madness. The model is subjected to Frenzy for the rest of the game and may not lose its Frenzy.
Strider: The Steel Scorpion ignore all Dangerous Terrain tests.
Stingcannon: Mounted upon its massive tail, the Stingcannon is a fearsome weapon - able to launch bolts of hateful daemonic energy at the enemy. The Stingcannon can be used only during the Shooting Phase and fires as you would a cannon. It has a range of 24’’ and inflicts a Strength 6 hit with no armour saves allowed.
The energy bolt then goes through the ranks of the target in the same way as a missile from a bolt thrower.
Seems a little vulnerable with that Bound Daemon table - especially for its high points cost. At 4 Wounds, I’d be looking at something closer to 200 points (although it does have a very high Toughness…), especially as it has a 1 in 6 chance of dying outright if it takes a wound.
I’d be more inclined to treat the Stingcannon as a stone thrower or cannon, and have it roll on that table when it Misfires instead. Make it Unbreakable rather than ItP too, and maybe reduce the ward save but give it some armour. I picture this as a big armoured behemoth, so armour would make more sense than magical protection, Daemon or not. Following the precedent set by the Hellcannon, a Daemonic Engine probably shouldn’t work in quite the same way as a normal, unbound Daemon. I think it should probably be faster too, and maybe Strider to represent its unusual method of locomotion (big, insectoid legs, I’m guessing?).
Also, any thoughts on having it Rampage like the Hellcannon? Otherwise why the low Ld at all?
Seems a little vulnerable with that Bound Daemon table - especially for its high points cost. At 4 Wounds, I'd be looking at something closer to 200 points (although it does have a very high Toughness...), especially as it has a 1 in 6 chance of dying outright if it takes a wound.
I'd be more inclined to treat the Stingcannon as a stone thrower or cannon, and have it roll on that table when it Misfires instead. Make it Unbreakable rather than ItP too, and maybe reduce the ward save but give it some armour. I picture this as a big armoured behemoth, so armour would make more sense than magical protection, Daemon or not. Following the precedent set by the Hellcannon, a Daemonic Engine probably shouldn't work in quite the same way as a normal, unbound Daemon. I think it should probably be faster too, and maybe Strider to represent its unusual method of locomotion (big, insectoid legs, I'm guessing?).
Also, any thoughts on having it Rampage like the Hellcannon? Otherwise why the low Ld at all?
Just some thoughts anyway.
Thommy H
Hmm...Thanks for the heads-up...I was trying to make it relatable to its true counterparts with the ItP and maybe I should boost the Ld and M, but what's the Strider rule?
Yeah, but it’s not a Daemon - it’s a Daemon-powered machine, so maybe look at the Hellcannon for inspiration for basic mechanics and abilities. If it’s just a Daemon, I’m not sure it belongs in a Chaos Dwarf army, that’s all.
Strider allows the model to ignore Dangerous Terrain tests. I’m thinking this thing would just scramble/stride over everything. It would be nice to represent its unusual form, is what I’m thinking.
Yeah, but it's not a Daemon - it's a Daemon-powered machine, so maybe look at the Hellcannon for inspiration for basic mechanics and abilities. If it's just a Daemon, I'm not sure it belongs in a Chaos Dwarf army, that's all.
Strider allows the model to ignore Dangerous Terrain tests. I'm thinking this thing would just scramble/stride over everything. It would be nice to represent its unusual form, is what I'm thinking.
Thommy H
Gotcha - Thanks for the info on the Strider :) Got any links to the rules for the Hellcannon? Also - the Stingcannon is supposed to represent the scorpion's sting so the bolt thrower ideal seemed good at the time...But does the Bound Daemon table has good purpose?
I agree that it needs a hefty armor save instead of the 3+ ward save. Maybe something like 3+ Scaly Skin. Then you could do a 5+ ward save to represent its demonic essence. Movement 4 seems too slow for a scorpion-themed machine. The Strider rule is a nice addition though.
I don’t see the correlation between a bolt thrower-type weapon and a misfire dice being rolled. It’d be nice to combine the two into a single rule. Perhaps a “to hit” roll of 1 with the stinger causes a misfire roll. Otherwise, you could have it fire like a stone thrower as Thommy H suggested. I’d go for a different type of misfire table as well; perhaps more like the daemonic engines in the Indy GT list where a misfire is more apt to cause the machine to move towards and/or engage the nearest enemy unit instead of destroying itself.
I assume its unit type would be Monster. The D6 S7 Thunderstomp attacks would really pack a nice whallop in combat. I think I would use this more as a close combat unit than an artillery piece.
I agree that it needs a hefty armor save instead of the 3+ ward save. Maybe something like 3+ Scaly Skin. Then you could do a 5+ ward save to represent its demonic essence. Movement 4 seems too slow for a scorpion-themed machine. The Strider rule is a nice addition though.
I don't see the correlation between a bolt thrower-type weapon and a misfire dice being rolled. It'd be nice to combine the two into a single rule. Perhaps a "to hit" roll of 1 with the stinger causes a misfire roll. Otherwise, you could have it fire like a stone thrower as Thommy H suggested. I'd go for a different type of misfire table as well; perhaps more like the daemonic engines in the Indy GT list where a misfire is more apt to cause the machine to move towards and/or engage the nearest enemy unit instead of destroying itself.
I assume its unit type would be Monster. The D6 S7 Thunderstomp attacks would really pack a nice whallop in combat. I think I would use this more as a close combat unit than an artillery piece.
Akhakk
Hmm...I actually was for it to be a balance between the artillery commonly found in the shape of Hellcannons and the combat-only shapes of Inferno Golems. But I should make the Stingcannon fire like a cannon but the missile does the same as one from a bolt thrower. BTW, the slow Movement is supposed to represent that the Steel Scorpion is a HUGE piece of machinery so with its legs it's not swift.
Kinda cool but wish there were more comments…