8th Ed. EOTG Points Slot

[thedanman13]

Hi guys,

I always thought that the EOTG took up points in your heroes section but since the new book I have seen people using it as a rare choice :S

Do we have the option to choose now? because if so then that would benefit me greatly

 

[Rango]

Indeed we do! One of the new book gifts

Fielding EoTG w/o Skink heroes provides flexibility to use our Skink characters to tame the predatory fighter instincts
or take advantage of Arcane Vassal

Stegs look much better in 8th ed army book

 

[thedanman13]

Sweeeeeet

So does that mean an engine w/priest is a hero choice but an empty engine is rare? And can an empty engine still cast? :S

Cheers!

 

[Rango]

Up to my knowledge yes to both questions
Any mount for Skink character comes from hero point allowance, and EoTG works well today with Skink Crew
Five crew models are small in size but definitely not count as empty Engine

Have fun with the "rare" Engine!

 

[spawning of Bob]

There are risks to running the EOTG without an experienced skink priest at the helm.

 

[FlaktheFox]

My question is though, are they still preferable to take over a baby/ancient steg? Unfortunately the Engine of the Gods has alot of competition in the rares slot now, and since they nerfed it's effects is it at all worth taking with the options presented? Asking this because I have a steg with the howdah still unassembled as I struggle to figure out how to make him.

 

[Caneghem]

My question is though, are they still preferable to take over a baby/ancient steg? Unfortunately the Engine of the Gods has alot of competition in the rares slot now, and since they nerfed it's effects is it at all worth taking with the options presented? Asking this because I have a steg with the howdah still unassembled as I struggle to figure out how to make him.

For the most part, I favor the Ancient Stegadon with blowpipes and sharpened horns. The Engine of the Gods' I think might fit into certain lists, but you might consider building a second steg as an EotG.

Also, let's wait for the FAQ, maybe we'll get a favorable ruling on the skink chief being able to fire the Giant Bow.

 

[Spiney Norman]

My question is though, are they still preferable to take over a baby/ancient steg? Unfortunately the Engine of the Gods has alot of competition in the rares slot now, and since they nerfed it's effects is it at all worth taking with the options presented? Asking this because I have a steg with the howdah still unassembled as I struggle to figure out how to make him.

For the most part, I favor the Ancient Stegadon with blowpipes and sharpened horns. The Engine of the Gods' I think might fit into certain lists, but you might consider building a second steg as an EotG.

Also, let's wait for the FAQ, maybe we'll get a favorable ruling on the skink chief being able to fire the Giant Bow.

I would tend to agree, now the blowpipes have a longer range there is a possibility that you will get a chance to fire them before charging into combat in some situations. The thing that endears me to blowpipe ancient stegs is I can fit two of them with sharpened horns in my meta's standard points value - 2k, which is totally scuppered by going for the engine.

The engine does synergise well with a dual priest magic strategy (esp if you want to cast lots of Wildform, reducing the casting value will be important), but if you are running a Slann there is a good chance you are either using the focus of mystery (note the engine cannot be used to reduce the casting value of high magic) or wandering deliberations (in which case you cannot affect more than one spell). The ward save is nice, but largely negligible as it is 6+ and the burning alignment is the lesser of the bound (3) spells we have on offer.

I think the engine probably is worth its points as a rare choice in games of 2400 or more, but it is by no means a great deal, it suffers slightly from 'troglodon syndrome' in that it pays a lot of points to do several things quite badly (negligible ward save, ignorable bound spell, slight buff to a magic lore) but fortunately because the Ancient Stegadon profile is sound it still manages to be a competitive unit. I would only take it if you have the points to spare, its really just icing that you can easily do without.

On the other hand I will almost certainly play with one at the right points level because I have the model to do so from last edition, but if I were buying up my plastic Stegadon kits now (rather than 5 years ago) I probably wouldn't bother.

 

[Caneghem]

I think the one thing that is underestimated slightly on the EotG is the bound spell. Against armies that field multiple small units, this can be a great way to tag a bunch of them at once. Some people pay to take a bound fireball spell which does D6 to one unit, this one's area of effect is 4D6, so an average 14 inch radius around your Engine. Let's say you move the steg into position (or it charges into position), and you pop the bound spell off. You could quite easily tag 4-5 units, adding up to a total 4D6 or 5D6 strength 4 hits. It probably won't wipe out whole units, but it really shines against armies with a ton of drops (OnG).

 

[Spiney Norman]

I think the one thing that is underestimated slightly on the EotG is the bound spell. Against armies that field multiple small units, this can be a great way to tag a bunch of them at once. Some people pay to take a bound fireball spell which does D6 to one unit, this one's area of effect is 4D6, so an average 14 inch radius around your Engine. Let's say you move the steg into position (or it charges into position), and you pop the bound spell off. You could quite easily tag 4-5 units, adding up to a total 4D6 or 5D6 strength 4 hits. It probably won't wipe out whole units, but it really shines against armies with a ton of drops (OnG).

It's true that the burning alignment will have flashes of brilliance, but my difficulty with it is that there are only likely to be one or two magic phases when the engine is in a good position to really make use of it, and when that does happen the spell itself is very easy to dispel. Set that against the beam of chotec which has the potential to be a major threat every turn, and I know which one I would choose.

 

[Vukodlak]

I kept the EOTG and the Bastili between my two Saurus blocks in the 2 games I played with the new book,
and the 6++ increases the Saurus survivability surprisingly. I once had the situation where the -1 to the casting value just exactly saved my ass after a mediocre casting role, but I agree that this is a rare situation. Statisically it would be most useful to reduce a spell from complexity 12 to 11, since a role of 7 is plausible with 2 dice, but 8 is unlikely (am I right ????)

I also had one situation where the flaming stuff would have been great: an undead player throwing three spirit hosts and a wraith unit towards virtually everything that didn't have magic attakcs (rippers, salamanders, skink skirmishers).
I didn't geat the configuration to work though, because my Slann burned the power dice pool with a miscast

 

[Spiney Norman]

I kept the EOTG and the Bastili between my two Saurus blocks in the 2 games I played with the new book,
and the 6++ increases the Saurus survivability surprisingly. I once had the situation where the -1 to the casting value just exactly saved my ass after a mediocre casting role, but I agree that this is a rare situation. Statisically it would be most useful to reduce a spell from complexity 12 to 11, since a role of 7 is plausible with 2 dice, but 8 is unlikely (am I right ????)

I also had one situation where the flaming stuff would have been great: an undead player throwing three spirit hosts and a wraith unit towards virtually everything that didn't have magic attakcs (rippers, salamanders, skink skirmishers).
I didn't geat the configuration to work though, because my Slann burned the power dice pool with a miscast

Well 7 on 2D6 is exactly average, your odds of getting 8+ are less than 50% but its still worth the attempt, 9+ and you really need to think about adding another dice.