This also allows for the solo terradon to get a chance to rally. If you have a unit of three, lose two of them, the and are fleeing, I am pretty sure the last guy cannot rally (below 25%), unless you have something the The Oxen Stands spell, etc. With a unit of 4 the last solo Terradon can rally as you not below 25% but just at it. Am I correct in this statement?
Actually if my math is right if a unit of three looses two out of it's number then that leaves 1/3 of the origonal unit size, therefor can rally. Now if you buy four and loose three then that single man left can still rally because the US is still not BELOW 1/4 it's starting.
I suck so bad at Mathammer... I have no idea why I though 1/3 was smaller that 1/4. Too much time spent painting and not enough gaming,
I would rather take 5 that way you don't need to take a panic test if you loose one, and their shooting becomes a little more efective.
thats a good point. I was up against Orcs, and the guy got Hand of Gork off on on my unit, 1 model D6 S10 hits. Killed one guy, I panicked, fled, and was denied charging his lone wizard my next turn. Had the unit been bigger, it would have come out much different.
Surprisingly everyone has failed to comment much on drop rocks. For 30 more points you get another D3 rocks which is always nice. My buddy brought 8 blackguard and a master with his dark elf army and I flew over them on the second turn, which cost him 7 guys (pretty lucky rolling on my part). Automatic str 5 hits wound on 2's and negate all of their armor though. After that, they sat behind his army to march block and then for when his repeater crossbows/units of corsairs failed their terror checks from a carnosaur and all fled through eachother... That netted me another 2 blocks of elves Terradons are my favorite special choice as well. They just have such a sweet rules package. Flying into the woods to hide for a turn, baiting and drop rocks make them just too cool to not take. I usually take 2 units of 3. However, if you were going for just one group you should take 4. 5 is starting to get a little big though... those clumps of trees just can fit them all.
For 30pts I wish they'd at least drop rocks more than once. Maybe theyd have to wait a turn to reload their rocks lol.
Re: Best use of terradons We all wish that. But for 30 points you get a very very good Model. For 90 points a support unit which can destroy/take on/delay any other support unit in the game. They can also fly into woods, hunt mages, destroy war machines. If that weren't enough, they also can redirect any unit. Crossfire very effectively. Charge any fleeing units. Take table quarters. March block very easy. And if you need the Terradons on the other side of the field, just fly them over! Also, they are fast cavalry so if they rally, they can move again (under circumstances. Read the rules carefully). And this complete package comes in at a price of 30 points a pop? DEAL! The Hunted
Alright, here's an excellent example of Terradon's making back their points...and then some! I recently played agaisnt a Skaven player. This guy is a good General and he'd taken quite a decent mount of shooting (two Warp Lightning Cannons, 2 Poisoned Wind Mortars, 5 Jezzails) and a decent magic phase (Grey Seer and 2 Plague Priests). Amoungst other things I had a single unit of three Terradons. Turn 2 - They charge a Warp Lighting on far flank, dropping rocks on a Gutter Runner team (killed three of ten) and over ran behind Giant rats. Turn 3 - Giant rats fled from terror check (Carnosaur) right into Terradons. Turn 4 - Charged Jezzails and broke them (sustaining no wounds), chased them as they broke and killed them. My apponent conceeded at the bottom of turn four. Cursing my Terradons and stating they were the worst and most underestimated unit in my army!
I agree. Terradons can be the most useful, and the most underestimated unit in an army. I have had many opponents who do not eliminate them and the Terradons do cause a lot of damage when people do not worry about them.
I'll throw this question into the terradon topic... How do you resolve what direction a unit flees if they fail a panic test due to casualties from drop rocks? The attack is resolved after you land, but technically occurs from overhead... so there's 4 ways I could rationalize an argument for flee direction: 1. Directly away from where the terradons came from. The unit sees them coming, has the rocks fall, and runs 'away' 2. Directly away from where the terradons land. The unit is dealing with its casualties, sees where the terradons end up and runs away from them. 3. Scatter dice. Rocks drop on their heads, and they run - don't care which way, just follow the first guy who breaks. I think this is the rule for skirmish units? 4. Nearest table edge. I think this is the standard rule for unknown source of attack from the rulebook for infantry? How do you normally resolve it? So far with friends we've been doing where they land is the source of attack - but I haven't been fully taking advantage of that potential either.
2. I play it that way because it makes the most sense. Fleeing back into the Terradons is ridiculously overpowered because you can crossfire the same unit you panic. The unit also flees away from the unit that caused the panic test, which is at that point the Terradons when they land.
Most likely 2, though you could argue for 4. 1 and 3 have much less support from the rule book. From BRB p.49, under 25% casualties "If the test is failed, the unit will flee directly away from the unit that has caused the most casualties." Since the terradons will be done with their movement when the test is taken, I would say the enemy would flee away from the final position of the terradons. The justification for 4 would be this... "If you cannot tell in which direction such strange situations would cause the panicking unit to run (as in the case of the casualties being caused by a member of the same unit exploding!), the survivors will flee towards the closest table edge." I would play it the first way.
I had this happen on Sunday. The High Elves fled away from my landed terradons. Almost into my Saurus.
I believe that the drop rocks is considered shooting. So if a unit suffers panic from shooting it should flee towards the nearest table edge. Not sure what page number from the BRB that is from but I'm reasonably certain that's the rule.
From BRB p.49, under 25% casualties "If the test is failed, the unit will flee directly away from the unit that has caused the most casualties." "If you cannot tell in which direction such strange situations would cause the panicking unit to run (as in the case of the casualties being caused by a member of the same unit exploding!), the survivors will flee towards the closest table edge." The initial direction of flight from shooting is always away from the unit that caused the most casualties. If the unit fails to rally and must continue to flee, they go for the nearest table edge.
That's what I was thinking of, if you couldn't nessisarily tell which unit caused the panic, I knew that there was a reason for fleeing to the nearest board edge but couldn't remember because of the 25% casualty rule. Thanks!