8th Ed. Dealing with steam tanks

[Ichigo]

Do any of you guys have any experience dealing with steam tanks?
One of the guys in my local faming group runs a steam tank in his empire army, I've not played it yet but am doing soon. Most other people that have played against it have struggled.
Any tips?

 

[Eladimir]

death magic/searing doom from wandering deliberations or high magic

SV with a great weapon should be able to take it down eventually

But my favourite is railroad it off the board. Move a unit to within an inch of its side and it can from then only move forward for the rest of the game.

 

[Stonecutter]

The stank is a random mover and can't do anything during your turn so you can use this to your advantage. There are two main ways of dealing with it: 1) trap & destroy or; 2) deflect and delay

Trap & destroy: You will need a hammer & a fast moving sacrificial lamb. I like to use skirmish skinks and a 3 krox skrox unit. The skirmishes screen the skrox and you advance toward the stank until you are within 10-11" with the skirmishers. Shoot at every opportunity as poison works on the stank and eventually a 1 might come up. If the stank gets a charge in, the skirmishers die but the skrox countercharge during your turn. If the stank doesn't charge, charge in with the skirmishers and march the skrox to a flanking position that is within 8". The skirmishers will win combat on your turn and die/lose the next turn and flee. The skrox then countercharge and lay a beating on it. They will grind it down eventually and the skinks absorb 67% of the stanks' grinding/breath weapon hits.

Deflect & delay: A series of inexpensive units blocks the stanks route and charges as the skirmishers above if needed to tie the stank up for 1-2 turns. Painful but you can usually get away with losing a couple skirmish units, some of which may actually survive and rally while denying the stank any chance to become involved in a high value combat.

"railroading" - I am not a big fan of the railroad tactic of moving to within 1" so that the stank is "forced" to move forward. Locally, we don't allow this and many tournaments won't either.

Magic - as already mentioned, anything that denies armour saves is ideal. Even putting just a couple wounds on the stank makes it less useful as the chance of malfunction increases significantly and Empire players will then tend to nurse it carefully.

 

[Pinktaco]

Get off either searing doom or spirit leech to take off a couple of wounds. A single scar vet will do roughly 1 wound each turn in combat so taking it on at full health is.. A long process.

An oldblood will on average do 1.6 wounds, if put on a carnosaur it'll do 1 D3 wounds.

3 kroxigors with a champion will do 2.5 wounds.

An ancient stegadon with sharpened horns can do some decent damage on it, although it'll be stuck in combat afterwards with it'd 3 S6 attacks.

Getting off poison wounds requires either a lot of skinks or luck.

The steam tank is super annoying. Not because of T6/AS1+, bit because of the 10 wounds. It can take a massive amount of damage and hold up a lot of sh1t since it's also unbreakable.

 

[Markhaus]

I regularly lose 10-14 saurus/temple guard to stanks during the friggin move phase. Keep your main blocks the hell away from it.

Blast it with searing doom, blizzard+spirit leech, giant bows and cowboys. My skinks have never wounded the stank with poison. It will pretty much take all your power dice for several rounds to kill this obnoxious unit.

I would pay 500 points to have something like the stank and they get it for half that (actually I probably wouldn't play it because of the overpowering stench of rotten cheese).

 

[Pinktaco]

I regularly lose 10-14 saurus/temple guard to stanks during the friggin move phase. Keep your main blocks the hell away from it.

Blast it with searing doom, blizzard+spirit leech, giant bows and cowboys. My skinks have never wounded the stank with poison. It will pretty much take all your power dice for several rounds to kill this obnoxious unit.

I would pay 500 points to have something like the stank and they get it for half that (actually I probably wouldn't play it because of the overpowering stench of rotten cheese).

That's a lot of kills. No offence, but are you either super unlucky or your opponent do not know how to use it?

The steam engine can generate a maximum of D6 + 3D3. That's a total of 15 hits if one can actually roll four dice of 6.

On average we'd be looking at 7.5 hits or roughly 6 kills. That's still a lot if it's our templeguards, but we also have to remember that it can only do so in it's own turn. So even if it charges you it can only do a silly S3 attacks in the combat phase.

I still wouldn' recommend using templeguards, unless of course you have an oldblood with a great weapon and the razor banner in the unit. In that case the templeguards would do 1.3 wounds/combat phase and the OB would do 2.1 wounds. So 3-4 wounds/combat phase.

Also do remember that the less wounds it have left the bigger the risk for it to miscast. So one turn with the above mentioned would leave it with 2-4 wounds left.

 

[Markhaus]

It has happened to me twice, once killing 14 saurus and once killing 10 TG. That doesn't quite look like what he told me he was rolling... but I am particularly unlucky against this empire player.

 

[Pinktaco]

He would have to roll three 6 and one 5 and not flopping any if those rolls in the To Wound Phase (he should statically get two roll of 1 with 14 hits). Just think about it for one second. It's barely possible lol. He would have to roll yatzi twice lol

 

[Prof]

I reliably take down a stank with an oldblood on cold one. Equipped with dawnstone and armour of destiny, even taking a charge can be shrugged off

 

[Eladimir]

They are equal points

 

[housou]

Wouldn't an old blood on Carno be a pretty good counter I know it's more points but the Carno has 4-5 attacks at strength 7 doing d3 wounds plus whatever the old blood is packing

 

[SilverFaith]

Wouldn't an old blood on Carno be a pretty good counter I know it's more points but the Carno has 4-5 attacks at strength 7 doing d3 wounds plus whatever the old blood is packing

I'd probably use things like Stegadons, or straight up magic. To my knowledge, the Death Lore's signature should make quick work of iti.

Or, you know, the usual. Millions of skinks.

 

[zenteck]

hello, i generally dont see all the fuss about them, my friend uses a steam tank (just the one mind you!) and i find that using searing doom once/twice (i use a high mage slaan) is enough for it to be easily knocked about by anything in the army, not to mention i can get into combat with it at say 5/6 wounds and it cant generate as much steam points reliably that im not too phased by it, but i suppose that depends what else the empire list is packing! though safe travels, there are plenty of good suggestions already noted!

 

[dms505]

The railroading is usually ruled on at tournaments or groups to either force them straight as mentioned or sometimes it's ruled that they can do a "virtual pivot". I've seen two different rule versions of the virtual pivot:

1. They have two options, go straight or pivot into the unit beside them/railroading them.

2. Turn and move as if the unit beside them doesn't exist.

Personally I'm ok with them pivoting into my annoying unit but the #2 full "virtual" is just not cool. In no other rules are we allowed to ignore running into things while moving unless specifically stated like ethereal.

On a side note, in a game I played against an Abomination and the railroading rule, I did this and forced it almost exactly into a corner where it couldn't turn and was stuck. I sacrificed a 70 point skink unit and it was totally worth it.

 

[Kcibrihp-Esurc]

Wouldn't an old blood on Carno be a pretty good counter I know it's more points but the Carno has 4-5 attacks at strength 7 doing d3 wounds plus whatever the old blood is packing

I'd probably use things like Stegadons, or straight up magic. To my knowledge, the Death Lore's signature should make quick work of iti.

Or, you know, the usual. Millions of skinks.

housou, Any Carno would work as my Scar-Vet on Carno with a Great Weapon would do plenty
SilverFaith Spirit Leech is you both roll a D6 and add your unmodified leadership, a Steam Tank is leadership 10
I'd use Caress of Laniph or Searing Doom

 

[rantapanda]

Wouldn't an old blood on Carno be a pretty good counter I know it's more points but the Carno has 4-5 attacks at strength 7 doing d3 wounds plus whatever the old blood is packing

I'd probably use things like Stegadons, or straight up magic. To my knowledge, the Death Lore's signature should make quick work of iti.

Or, you know, the usual. Millions of skinks.

housou, Any Carno would work as my Scar-Vet on Carno with a Great Weapon would do plenty
SilverFaith Spirit Leech is you both roll a D6 and add your unmodified leadership, a Steam Tank is leadership 10
I'd use Caress of Laniph or Searing Doom

With my quick math. Carno+Scarvet on GW would do aprox 3 wounds to the Steam Tank. It does nothing back. Then on its turn, it destroys you. That is unless it hasnt shot down your carno with its cannon before the carno gets into combat.

I cant think of anything other than WD Slann+Searing doom or Beasts skink + Amber Spear what we really have against ST

 

[Kcibrihp-Esurc]

It managed to kill more generic skinks trying to generate steam points that it managed to kill with it's steam gun, I think my Armour of Destiny Great Weapon Scar-Vet on Carno would be fine

 

[NexS1]

Searing doom would melt it quite nicely.
Even if it doesn't die outright, the next generation of steam points will surely blow it up

 

[Kcibrihp-Esurc]

Searing doom would melt it quite nicely.
Even if it doesn't die outright, the next generation of steam points will surely blow it up

Yes, Yes it would

 

[SilverFaith]

SilverFaith Spirit Leech is you both roll a D6 and add your unmodified leadership, a Steam Tank is leadership 10

So is your slann with banner of discipline.