AoS stegadon or engine of the gods?

[dwarfepic]

So, I have recently got myself a new seraphon army and am looking to expand with a stegadon. I am, however not sure what to assemble the kit as: an engine of the gods, or a stegadon and if so what with? Sunfire throwers or skystreak bow? I though It may help if you knew what I had so here we go:
1x bastilidon
15x temple guard
10x chameleon skinks
I also have the stormcast part of the starter set and 5x paladin protectors

My army looks geared to defence with skinks to cause havoc behind lines. I am also going to get some heroes so which ones should I pick?

 

[Crowsfoot]

Engine of the gods to buff your troops, Lord Kroak and an Eternity Warden, maybe another 5 guards.

You will have a very tough defensive army, check out the tactics posted by @Bainbow @Killer Angel

 

[Bainbow]

That's definitely the set-up to a defensive build. In general you'll want to grab things that can support your Guard and prevent enemies from breaking through your lines, Kroak and an Eternity Warden for the Eternal Starhost are ideal, an Astriloth Bearer is great because you won't be moving much so you can use those rerolls to hit, always make sure 33% of your army's wounds/points are spent on Guard to keep your infantry levels healthily high.

But more on topic, an Engine of the Gods is most ideal for a Guard army. You'd want it back behind your defensive line acting more like a caster than a monster with a focus geared at trying to rail of those D6 Mortal Wounds in order to offer a good ranged support for your unmoving blockade. A good combo is to use your Slann for the extra dice when rolling the Engine's effect, and a Starseer using Curse of Fates on it to allow you even more control over the result of the Engine's roll or a +1 to the number of Mortal Wounds it causes, and the rerolls don't hurt for changing your Engine's result if it's not what you wanted to get. The regular Stegadon is much more orientated towards offense, and while it can find use in a Guard army (I have one in mine) it's only really good for larger scale games.

 

[dwarfepic]

thanks guys for the support! i use these independent pool system for my games and normaly play to 20 choices here are the rule updates and points. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88222296/1 AoS Comp/Clash Comp v1.41.pdf
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88222296/1 AoS Comp/Independent AoS Pool Document v1.41.pdf
if you could help me with a list that would be great. I may drop some stormcast stuff to fit more lizzies. so, what should I take/ thanks again for the support, greatly appreciated! long live the slaan!

 

[Killer Angel]

Bainbow is on topic (not that I could have doubts about it).
EotG is not only a beautiful model, but it's a very strong defensive unit. It needs a Slann and possibly a Starseer to work at full power, so you should plan to take also them (a thing you should do anyway... ).

Regarding standard Stegadon, I have played both Sunfire throwers and Skystreak. To me, it's Bow all the way, hands down (with 25", it's the thing most similar to a cannon we have), but probaby it depends also on your meta. If you face lots of hordes, then Sunfire could work better.

 

[Bainbow]

thanks guys for the support! i use these independent pool system for my games and normaly play to 20 choices here are the rule updates and points. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88222296/1 AoS Comp/Clash Comp v1.41.pdf
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88222296/1 AoS Comp/Independent AoS Pool Document v1.41.pdf
if you could help me with a list that would be great. I may drop some stormcast stuff to fit more lizzies. so, what should I take/ thanks again for the support, greatly appreciated! long live the slaan!

I dislike points systems so I won't be too much help, but the basics of solid army building still stand. 33% of your points allowance should be spent on Guard, don't get any skinks, warriors, or knights, use the Eternal Starhost, Kroak is the best choice for a defensive army because he's used like a dwarf cannon, and try to get as many specialist roles as you can in your army for a very healthy balance (Salamanders fulfill a variety of roles so they're an adaptable choice in a group of three.)

 

[dwarfepic]

thanks for the suggestion of the eternal starhost! hadn't realised it was so good. I am probably going to be getting an EoTG, 15 more temple guard ( 3 units of 10) an eternity warden and a slaan. not sure wether to get standard or kroak yet.

I dislike points systems so I won't be too much help, but the basics of solid army building still stand.

I can understand why you don't like points, I am not such a fan either, but my local games club uses them, so I go along with it. I think wounds is better, or just balancing it out between the players. you said don't get any skinks. does this mean drop the chameleons? I like to use them as assassins and get me a turn to rearrange my temple guard wall with them. so far my skinks have assassinated 3 wizards and 2 standard/totem bearers!

 

[Bainbow]

thanks for the suggestion of the eternal starhost! hadn't realised it was so good. I am probably going to be getting an EoTG, 15 more temple guard ( 3 units of 10) an eternity warden and a slaan. not sure wether to get standard or kroak yet.

I can understand why you don't like points, I am not such a fan either, but my local games club uses them, so I go along with it. I think wounds is better, or just balancing it out between the players. you said don't get any skinks. does this mean drop the chameleons? I like to use them as assassins and get me a turn to rearrange my temple guard wall with them. so far my skinks have assassinated 3 wizards and 2 standard/totem bearers!

Oh god yeah, the Eternal Starhost is one of our best battalions and one of two that's necessary for an army (the other one's the Firelance Starhost for any Knight army,) it allows for a 2+ Save without any magic. The Warden was a must-have for the Guard anyway since he gives all Guard units within 5" a bonus attack which is quite massive, and it's rather easy to keep your Eternity Warden within 5" of all of your units to make sure they get every buff the Warden gives. With our Rend resistance, Guard become the best defensive unit in the game.

You should get Kroak because he's a damage dealer. Usually the Starmaster is the better choice because he gives a bunch of supportive abilities that we really benefit from, but the Eternity Warden as well as other heroes such as the Starseer and the Astriloth Bearer already give us all the support our Guard need, especially the Warden. What we lack with this build is an effective means of long-ranged damage, which is where Kroak starts to shine. Comet's Call can be used to snipe enemy heroes from far away to cut off support to the infantry, and once your innevitably surrounded by your enemy Celestial Deliverance begins to shine with up to 3D3 Mortal Wounds on every nearby unit. This power of Celestial Deliverance is massively enhanced by an Astriloth Bearer as it gives a bonus 8" range, almost doubling the average range of the spell and making into a real board-clearer if you're up against a hyper-aggressive enemy.

And no, I don't mean drop the Chameleons. They're good for any army, I meant don't grab any normal Skinks. We have four kinds of core infantry in our army, Guard, Warriors, Knights, and Skinks. You only ever want to dedicate to one of those.

Also I think I hate Clash Comp in particular now. Not because it embodies everything I hate about points systems, not because it embodies everything I hate about AoS points systems that misunderstand AoS drastically due to an archaic game-view that's an unfortunate relic from 8th edition, but because the tonnes of various spelling mistakes leave me feeling that whomever wrote this just isn't qualified to write anything that should be taken seriously, let alone a rule sheet. I mean good god, at least the other ones can actually spell!

 

[dwarfepic]

Also I think I hate Clash Comp in particular now. Not because it embodies everything I hate about points systems, not because it embodies everything I hate about AoS points systems that misunderstand AoS drastically due to an archaic game-view that's an unfortunate relic from 8th edition, but because the tonnes of various spelling mistakes leave me feeling that whomever wrote this just isn't qualified to write anything that should be taken seriously, let alone a rule sheet. I mean good god, at least the other ones can actually spell!

clash comp is not one of the best. The problem with all points though is that they limit what you take and make things to competitive for most people. despite being a loving fan of 40k,points I do find are overrated, especially in age of sigmar.

But back to the point. how does the EoTG come into this? do drop it? or take it? how do I use it? I may take it just cos of the model, or take a second bastilidon instead. I have seen an EoTG win a game and have seen it kill a few skeletons. is it overrated. all help much appreciated.

 

[Bainbow]

clash comp is not one of the best. The problem with all points though is that they limit what you take and make things to competitive for most people. despite being a loving fan of 40k,points I do find are overrated, especially in age of sigmar.

But back to the point. how does the EoTG come into this? do drop it? or take it? how do I use it? I may take it just cos of the model, or take a second bastilidon instead. I have seen an EoTG win a game and have seen it kill a few skeletons. is it overrated. all help much appreciated.

I hate points systems because they generate imbalance, some things get so overpriced they become worthless and some become so underpriced they become game breakers. I hate the AoS points in particular because they all ignore how the game acutally plays and stick to a rigid archaic belief in the power of stats when really it's abilities where the real power is. Kroak's a good example, most points systems list him as at least twice as expensive as a Starmaster, often more, but in reality he's weaker than a Starmaster in every army but Guard armies because he lacks the same utility and adaptable supportive abilities as a normal Starmaster so 3/4 times he's the lesser choice. But people look at his higher stats, ignoring the abilities, and list him as way more expensive than he should be and that's dumb.

But more on topic, the EoTG is a great source of Mortal Wounds. It's inferior to the regular Stegadon in any combat situation but it brings a rather effective power from its capability for Mortal Wounds. Its ability to cause D6 Mortal Wounds makes it an excellent sniper not only against Heroes but against other Monsters too, allowing it to bring a very lethal level of ranged support that can be used safely from behind your defensive line. Always try to get those D6 Mortal Wounds when you can, unless you can get the Time Stop instead. For full effect, try a Starseer and Kroak to combo those rerolls, +1/-1 modifier from Curse of Fates, and bonus dice from Kroak being a Slann. With it I rail off the D6 Mortal Wounds almost every time, and if the roll it natural then I get a +1 to my D6 Mortal Wounds.