7th Ed. Counter to bolt throwers

[jormi_boced]

I played against a high elf player last night that had two bolt throwers on a hill. They destroyed my Steggie and caused other problems as well. What is the best way to deal with this?

Thanks!

 

[Sammy the Squib]

Do you use a Slann...?

If so I may have some tips

 

[Ninjaskink]

And if you don't, Terradons are the prime pick to go hunting the war machines. With their smaller than average crew (two or three), Terradons can usually rout a crew off of a charge. A group of three or four Terries is the normal suggestion on the site. ASF may give that crew a slight edge over most others, but at worst you'll have to hit and run and attack again next turn. Other suggestions are using the JSoD, Chamo skinks or scouting skinks, but these don't quite match up to the Terradons.

 

[SohCahToa]

Against High Elves, you might also want to consider fielding a FSOD. The fact that there are only 2 crewmen means that his normally lackluster performance will change into a kill. The fact that you can scout in a unit of skinks to start also allows you to deploy him after you know where all of the high elf characters are (note: mages)

 

[Dalkarius]

Chameleons can usually pick them off swiftly or screen with that nasty -2 if required. Personally I use skink scouts as an up-close and personal screen with chameleons firing in the backround on 1-2 bolts and have my terradons handle the rest. Though a JSoD also does a wonderous job of this.

 

[Craziecory]

Another real easy trick I have learned is just place your slann out of sight if possible.

 

[Aparach]

I just made me some hills and forests to place out. (We usually play at my place )
Regarding Slanns it should be enough to buy Divine Plaque of Protection. 2+ Ward vs Bolts should keep your toad alive long enough to get close enough and hit'em with a few magic missiles.
But I do agree: They'r a pain in the ass.

 

[Cragspyder]

I will be honest, I find that 6th edition Terradons are awful against any war machine army. I realize that is what they are supposedly meant to take out, but they are terrible at it.

A unit of 3 Terradons has 6 T3 wounds. Off the top of my head, I will say Empire, Dwarves, High Elves, Dark Elves, Skaven, Orcs + Goblins and Tomb Kings have war machines often enough that you have to worry about it.

I have yet to see a Dwarf or Empire line without an Organ Gun or Helblaster, which both have a range of 24''. As the Terradons are the biggest threat, they will eliminate our poor flyers before the Terradons get a chance to charge (barring a lucky misfire). Without either we have a much better chance of course.

High Elves and Dark Elves are even worse due to the Repeater Bolt Thrower multi-shot, which will on average kill one Terradon outright. If there are two Bolt Throwers or any sort of move-and-fire shooting troops (Dark Riders, Repeater Xbow, Archers, Reavers, etc), the whole unit will be wiped out most likely, or fail their Ld 5 cold-blooded Panic test. Skaven usually have Jezzails and Ratling guns, the former may need to shoot a Stegadon or something, but the latter will wipe out the Terradons, and we can't even charge it thanks to it being able to stand + shoot. At least the Warp Lightning Cannon has to flee. Tomb Kings might be able to kill the Terradons with a doubletap on their archer unit. Orcs + Goblins is really the only army that Terradons will have an easy time wiping out the machines (and triggering some fanatics, fun stuff!).

Wood Elves, you might as well take the Terradons off the board immediately.

With the new rules, we can at least use Woods as cover from a lot of shooting, so it is going to be a little easier to charge safely. However, we lost the -1 for US 1 Skirmishers as we are now Flying Cavalry, so we are just as well protected in woods now as we used to be out in the open...

To boot, Terradons are much weaker in CC then they used to be. I mean, the Skinks HAVE spears on the models (even the NEW models), couldn't they have given them spears in the list?

Don't even think about dropping rocks on the machine as you fly over. 2/3 rocks will hit the machine (and wound on 6's), so its likely to be a waste of time. They should be used on Fast Cav or a missile unit that can panic easily and has a low AS.

At least you need only the 3 models to crossfire people now (as opposed to 5). As well, they are LD 6 and cheaper by a bit.

I still use my Terradons because I love the models but it is not for no reason that I call them Terribledons

As for anti-war machine in the new book...the best I can suggest is Commandment of Brass or Rain Lord (if you bring a Slann). Even Tik'Taqto and his optional unit will have to take one round of Organ Gun/Helblaster/Bolt Thrower to the face before they get to charge, though they have a better chance of surviving and/or passing panic. Chameleon Skinks are hardly an option....