…if 20 or more models belonging to the same unit shoot at the same target with Hailshot blunderbusses, they may re-roll any rolls of a natural 1 when rolling To Wound> Blockquote
This working is so wierd… Do I need 20+ SHOOTING dwarfs (a line of 20?!) or a unit of at lest 20 models?
Wording seems pretty much straight forward to me tbh? Anyway, you need 20 models shooting.
Doesn’t need to be a line of 20 though (thank God) if you utilize hills (shoot from 2 ranks) and/or Volley Fire. But keep in mind that doesn’t work when the unit has moved or during a Stand & Shoot charge reaction. Bottom line: It’s tough to get 20 models shooting.
Writing this rule was like… total waste of time 
Shooting with 10 models in one line (with max. 10 models in a line being more and more popular) will not happen WITH being within 12" and not moving. Your enemy has to end 11" within Your blunderbussiers to GIVE You 2 line volley
It’s a bit strange, yes. It’s a rule that will only be at play in the rarest of circumstances. 
But hey, it is what it is. I’ll play my games as if the rule didn’t exist. Should I somehow end up in a situation where I can use it, it’s a nice surprise.
That is a good way of playing.
I just consider the rule to not exist for any practical purposes, just ignore it since it will never come up except in some giant siege battle that I will never play.
As with many other rules the current hailshoot blunderbuss is a variant of the Tamurkhan LoA blunderbuss. The ten shooter tier is now part of the base rule. And the twenty shooter tier was copied but the rerolls had been substituted with rerolling nat. ones.
But the writers forgot that, if I remember correctly, you could always fire with the second rank in 7th and 8th edition…
By the way the Tamurkhan art is still top peak!
Yes, and it was hard (and expensive) enough to get 20 models shooting in 8th. In TOW it’s next to impossible. If it would be up to me, Blunderbusses boni would be tied to range as much as model count, but it would actually benefit hitting, not so much wounding.
Psst travel mystical pathways
Yeah if the travelling unit is treated as not moved. I wish that it is ruled as movement and that the iron demon with attached warmachine is allowed to travel mystical pathways. This way it would be a move (with a huge price tag mage + iron demon + warmachine + upgrade) that only CD could perform: teleporting warmachines that are still able to shoot. Otherwise everyone could do and it would be to powerful.
Necroing a post here.
The way is Large Target:
Large Targets do not benefit from partial or full cover. In addition, a unit can draw a line of sight to a Large Target over or through another unit, and vice versa, provided that unit is not also a Large Target. Finally, a unit that shoots at a Large Target can shoot with one additional rank. For example, a unit armed with crossbows can shoot with its first two ranks when shooting at a Large Target, or with its first three if also standing on a hill.
You need to shoot at the big things which is where the rerolling 1s actually counts, because you need a 6+. Yes, 8th was better but blunderbusses are still playable but they definitely need to portal around and must have drilled.
Fly, shoot 20 dwarfs (40 shots! on 5+), 13+ hits, 2-3 wounds with AP3. Then You have 1-2 volleys before You get to into CC.
I think have managed to shoot 20 twice in TOW, once at a large target and once when I deployed 30 of them 10 wide. It is a tricky thing to manage
Imagine a NEcrosphinx charging 
You shoot it, deals 3 wounds, then CC… Killed.
When GW wrote the Hailshot blunderbuss rule there was no firing in multiple ranks against Large Targes, then the July 2024 FAQ came out that said ALL ranks can shoot against LT (because duh), then they changed it again in 1.5 (to two ranks against LT). All the while we paid our extra tax for something that was just left to drift. I hope this gets addressed in future updates, or, at least in the Renegade rules. Or just scrap it and give us the 4 p. BB that others have access to.
Legacy is left alone. And I do find it safer for us really.
You are asking a lot for an army that has been elvolving in the fringe of warhammer since basically almost 3 decades. 
Don’t get me wrong, I love it
This version is closest to 1994, very playable and even it is Legacy, worth laying. There is only one other legacy army in my group/league we play out of 16. Undead. Everyone moved to correct factions. And CD are kickin’ some ass so far.
Yep, as of 1.5 errata, 1 additional rank. But that all means blunderbusses must be played as drilled where you can add or remove up to 5 extra files before moving. They also get the 1+ for closed order over 10 (and you only need 4 in a rank for it to count as a full rank) so you can often get 2+ ranks a banner and you’ll get the Unsaved Wounds Inflicted from stand and shoot and you can often win combats against charging behemoths. I’ve done more than 20 shots a few times, often because of drilled and going 12 wide (or in one case, 24 wide because stand and shoot does not require range).
My record for shooting with them is rather silly. A unit of 23 in a 20+4 formation (with BSB) shooting on a stand and shoot and I got 58 dice for hitting. Note that stand and shoot does not require range, only that they are more than their movement back from you (they can fail their charge and still take the damage). Needed a 4+ (no penalty for stand and shoot, range or multishot) and got 52 hits. Needed 5s to wound and I rolled 24 wounds. Plague of Rust was on the target so they needed 4+ to save and they failed every armour save with some appalling dice. I overkilled the entire unit of 12 knights by a factor of two. The destroyed unit panicked another unit near them off the board. I asked my opponent if they needed a hug.
Dice do all sorts of madness. I’ve rolled 17 ones shooting 20 shots before and miscast every single spell casting attempt in a game before too (8 miscasts in total). Sure, these things don’t happen “on average” but they can and do happen. If we try and mathhammer the average case out then you get:
2x times the number of models shooting as hits
4+ if stand and shoot or 5+ if moved (and cover, I guess but you should mitigate that in the movement phase. Don’t give your opponent a cover modifier)
str3 so usually 4+ to wound small stuff or 6+ for big stuff.
-1 AP base (so 17% less than what they would have otherwise had, or 1 in 6 more die).
A standard case versus human infantry (with heavy armour, sword and board):
25 in the unit, 14 wide to get 20 hits (14 front rank and 11/2 rounding up in the second rank with volley fire). 20x2 hits on average for D3s, at 4+ so 20 hits and 10 wounds on 4+ but you get an extra 1.66(2) chances from the rerolls so 11 wounds. ~7 wounds when they make their 5+ saves.
A standard case vs large (say 3+ armour, tough 6 and a special save of 5+):
25 in a unit, 10 wide will be 23 hits (two full ranks, 5/2 =~ 3 rounded up for volley). 46 rolls at 4+ so 23 hits. 6s to wound so 4 wounds with another wound fairly likely from your averaged 4 1s getting 6s on rerolls. So 7 wounds to be saved on 4+ and then 5+ And after that most likely 2 wounds getting through all the saves. Which when you consider there should be another round of shooting is a good outcome.
Tactics for blunderbusses
The bigger point is probably how you use them. Heavy infantry are really good in 1.5 and with matched play becoming a regular thing blunderbusses play two rolls exceptionally well, not losing points and defending a point. This comes in way before the games starts, think about hills. It’s easier to shoot units on hills too and you can hide behind them (so you can’t be shot). Always think about hills. If you put an objective on a hill they have to come to you and you get the shots. A unit of blunderbusses is great for controlling an objective if armed with a shield and drilled as well (drilled can even be used before a reform or a turn manoeuvre, note that as it is very, very handy when going in wide lines). You can also redress the ranks twice because of drilled so you can go out into a really long line and forward 1.5" or backwards 0.75" for some utter silliness to maximise shots. Remember that you need to be within 3" of enemy models for the models on the extremities to maximise attacks too and that you get the second rank of models when you get charged which you want for the stand and shoot shots too. It’s entirely possible to get 20 shots from stand and shoot, then 20 hits in close combat with good positioning and planning on which formation to be in. They’re 3+ save with shields so very tough, WS4, str4 so decent capacity for damage. You get Steady in the Ranks, Press of Battle, Massed Infantry, Parry, Shieldwall and Stubborn, if you cannot win with all those special rules then you certainly aren’t running away (note too that Shieldwall and Stubborn are both “may” so you can choose not to which “may” be advantageous. And that you can easily have 4 or 5 as a static combat res plus at least 2 in extra wounds from stand and shoot. Banners and magic both help them but focus first on what are they for and it isn’t an IWIN damage button it is to take and hold an objective and to not give up points easily. They’re an anvil that you place somewhere for them to secure an objective. You don’t have to chase your opponent around the field, they come to you (or you slowly plod into their deployment zone and defend yours by clearing the field if that’s the objective). They can play at movement shenanigans but you need to invest heavily into magic to make that work and to commit to that plan and even then it’s still best to focus them on taking objectives or taking key units out instead of expecting them to take the opponent’s entire army head on. They are an anvil but one that needs to be used with finesse and one that should be used in ways that force your opponent to attack you on your terms and to your benefit. We have excellent tarpits with hobgoblins (either just shortbows or shields) where you can get 40+ and full command for under 150 points and they are better for playing the roll of throwing a unit at your opponent and making them think of what they can possibly do to deal with it. Blunderbusses are better for precision strikes and being a truly impenetrable mage bunker. Use other threats like monsters, iron daemons or hordes of greenskins to provide the shock and awe while the blunderbusses go around the side to take an objective or wipe out a BSB all while not giving points away unless your opponent diverts everything to killing them off. And if they do that then the monsters, Iron Daemons and hordes of greenskins can take the win (or close in to protect the 25-50% of your army value sitting in the blunderbuss unit).
Praise Hashut!
My experience is that before Stand&shoot You hit a lot on 5+ as You drill, move, fly intoposition. I call those bonus shots. If You push Your opponent into a bad charge then You have 4+ shooting that counts towards CR. I added a BSB and a champion has Hellshard so I challange my opponent, explode and get more CR… Willing combat by 12 is not uncommon 
