Hello all, In my current list I use a carnosaur as more of a for fun and because it is a really nice looking model. I also have two stegadons. I find my self not knowing how to use these creatures correctly. I'm afraid to commit the carnosaur to any battle that is not extremely one sided and therefor i've noticed i rarely get a good engage with him. Does anyone have experience in knowing how to use him correctly? What should I look to engage? What about stegadons, can they be used as a tarpit? (ancient is T6 with a 3+ ward save). If not what do you do with them? They are only M6, no swiftstride and okay shooting. What should I look to engage?
Have you considered running them in a group, and Multicharging some large blocks with them, (I immagine the results would be devasting) with good chances of a decent overrun.
The main issue with the Carnosaur is that you should not attack a ranked unit that has a character or a champion in in unless you do a double-charge of some sort. It is far too easy for your opponent to issue a challenge, you kill the champ/character in the challenge and even with overkill, you lose due to ranks and banner and end up breaking from the combat. The problem is that if you kill the challenge opponent, you can't Thunderstomp the unit and that great combat res equalizer is removed. Bringing a second unit into the conflict allows you to generate more combat res and keep the carnosaur from getting bogged down or beaten. Stegs are great tarpits against anything strength 4 or below, especially if the BSB is nearby.
I have three general rules for using big monsters: 1) charge in tandem with a ranked unit for the reasons Dyvim Tvar has outlined (based on the premise that he ranked unit has a champ or scar vet that accept any challenges if carnie is being used) 2) minimize contact by either a flank/rear charge or by clipping the corner of the unit during a combo charge. 3) use them where their thunderstomp can be employed.(i.e. vs infantry, swarm, warbeast targets) The key offensive part of steggies and carnie is the autohitting thunderstomp since the low WS and limited attacks often results in very few or even zero wounds inflicted.