No luck with Ironblasters!

Played 2 games yesterday with my ogres and had nooooooooo luck at all with my Ironblasters!

Game 1: A 1000pt against a tourny empire gunline - my IB got sniped turn 1 with 2 great cannons....GONE!

Game 2: A 2000pt game against ogres - my 2 IBs both misfired on my turn 1.....KABOOM!!

I think I need to rethink my lists to not rely on Ironblasters!

Yesterday mine hit and wounded a cannon first turn, only to do 1 wound and be killed off by said cannon next turn. S*** happens.

I don't think your list needs to be re-thought It's just lady luck being her usual fickle self. A friend of mine plays Dwarves and Daemons and his cannons have a fairly regular tendency to blow themselves up in one fashion or another. My Ironblaster however has never destroyed itself, Sure I've cracked the barrel and been left with a glorified chariot but it's just luck. Play with them enough times and you will come across that game when they stomp face.

Ha ha I know it was just lady luck going against me.....TWICE!!

The IBs will be staying for the time being but they gotta redeem themselves.....SOON!

Haha yeah right! At their price tag they had better be shooting stuff down on the regular! Especially considering Empire and Dwarves can afford almost 2 cannons per our 1 IB!

round 1 : chalice of dark rain can't shoot
round 2 : roll a 1 to wound a monstrous beast shot stopped
round 3 : roll a 1 to wound a monstrous beast shot stopped
round 4 : roll a 1 to wound a monstrous beast shot stopped
round 5 : roll a 1 to wound a monstrous beast shot stopped
round 6 : roll a 3 to charge a incoming chariot to pick up desperately needed points. Enemy charges Ironblaster and destroys it.

My Ironblaster's cannon has at most killed some Skeletons. Everything else it's ever fired at just laughs it off.

Mind you, round here most War Machines seem to suck. I haven't seen a Warp Lightning Cannon accomplish anything in two years, and the Casket of Souls can only do any damage to Mournfangs (another unit that seems cursed under my leadership).

I have marvelous luck with one of mine.  Destroyed a doom wheel turn one.  Turn two destroyed a warp lightning cannon.  Turn 3 killed the grey seer and also destroyed his bell.  My other one blew up in turn one.  I've since converted the good one with a giant holding it.

Dont make me start about my IBs...

In my first two games, the one IB I had was aweome. I played against Tombkings twice. In the first game, my IB shot the Necrosphinx in turn one. In the second game, the same IB shot the same Necrosphinx in turn 2. Each time, only one shot was needed. "Awesome thing!", I thought. So I bought a second one. While waiting for the second one to arrive (mail took forever), the first one started to suck. Destroyed itself in turn 1 against some dwarves and in turn 2 against some high elves. The next games were pretty much average. Lady Luck sometimes smiled on my, sometimes flipped me off... Then the second one arrived and I was like "Yeah! Now, one can suck and with Lady Average on my side, the other one will rock." Lady Average... My ass... The first game with double IB was against Skaven. One IB instantly killed itself in turn 1, the second one sucked the whole game. I still won, so no worries. We had a rematch some days later and BOTH IBs got shot by WLCs, while the IBs caused no damage at all. Later, I played against High Elves and after that game, I almost threw my IBs against the wall... After deployment, both my IBs were able to shoot against high value targets. The first one took a shot at a Stardragon. Hit it, rolled 1 to wound... Nuff said. The second one took a shot at the phoenix. Malfunction, but only wasnt able to shoot that round. Some rounds later, the first IB had ANOTHER straight shot at said dragon. Shot didnt arrive, got lost on the way due to not jumping far enough. The second IB got destroyed by some nasty silverhelmets... Sucked... I really hope, Lady Average takes a look at the mess she made so far and keeps a better eye on me next time...

My Ironblaster's kill sheet looks like follows:
Killed unit of 20 Xbow Dark elves
Killed unit of 20ish skeletons
Killed a Stegadon
Killed a Terrogheist
Killed a Giant
Killed unit of 5 Cold Ones
Killed a Deamon prince of Tzeench.

It did all of this... IN CLOSE COMBAT!!! 
My ironblaster's shooting streak is 3 dwarf warriors (not 3 units, just 3) and a few Bretonnia Peasant archers.

I don't think I've ever had a functioning cannon after turn 3 (always crack the damn barrel), but it still makes a hell of a chariot atleast .

I don't have too much misfire trouble, but my enemies consistently make it their #1 priority target and it usually goes down to magic or artillery before it can do much of anything.  In my final game versus the old WoC book, it got a nice flank shot at some knights, killed only one, and then got blown up by a super Infernal Gateway shot.

It has recently, however:  Sniped a High Elf BSB.  Slew both an unwounded gorebeast chariot and a dragon ogre with a single shot.  Did 4 wounds to a Great Unclean One so that my Tyrant could slay it in a challenge the next turn.

I don't stake the game on it, but it's successes are generally more spectacular than its failures.

Mine killed 2 Bolt Throwers and a unit of archers in 1 game. Got the Archers in combat. I won THAT artillery war

As with all cannons, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. It's very common to remember the bad luck  rather than the good.

You gotta play it smart though. If you're up against Empire with two great cannons, you will loose that gunfight. Keep it behind cover, you can move and shoot, they can't.

My last game with my Ironblaster it was facing off two warp lightning cannons. It killed both of them and still had 2 wounds left at the end of the game.

I have pretty much set my two as the first models added to any new list.

I've had some bad results with mine, but they've also averaged/managed to take out more than their share of points most games.

The bounce rules, toughness, and versatility of the IB being more than just a cannon make it more significant than the other options to me.

I just played in a 76 person tournament called "Tides of Chaos" in Reading, on the weekend. Game 1, shot 1, Ironblaster 1 goes BIG boom = dead. Ironblast 2 fails to wound. Game 1, turn 2, Ironblaster 2 goes smaller boom = no longer able to shoot.

Over the course of a 2 day, 6 game tournament, my Ironblasters only had 1 wound result higher than a 2... and it was a 3! Either the Gnoblar that sold me them needs a good talking to, or I'm returning them to my local GW as they are clearly faulty and not working like it says on the box!

Last game I played, I had parked my IB on an Anvil of Vaul.

Got a side shot at a skeleton bunker that had 3 banshees, wight king BSB, and a Vampire in it.

Wight King and 2 banshees fail their LoS, all 3 die.


Bad things happen, and good things happen.

I've got my 2 Ironblasters, there's the Failblaster (never hits a damn thing, often blows itself up.  Exists as a proximity mine) and my Ironblaster (does alright, occasionally murderates)

Though in my last game, Failblaster was my 2nd last model standing (last being the Tyrant) and actually did pretty well for itself.

Seems like i'm not the only one with less than avg luck with there IB. Always some type of shennanigans goes down.
I always take 1 though, I just keep on moving it keep shooting it and charge when it's in range. As long as it doesn't blow up which seems to be the case 1/2 the time.

But at the least its some what of a fire magnet and in combat it's toughness 6 with 5 wounds and some good impact hits. Not to shabby.

Will I take 2 of them in a standard game though, probably not i'll use the points elsewhere.

Seems like i'm not the only one with less than avg luck with there IB. Always some type of shennanigans goes down.
I always take 1 though, I just keep on moving it keep shooting it and charge when it's in range. As long as it doesn't blow up which seems to be the case 1/2 the time.

This is the real reason people take 2 of them - it's not so much about doubling up on the power as it is about ensuring you aren't screwed over with a misfire on a vital turn.

Best day of shooting for me with my IB's was at the last Colonial GT against a TK player. 1st turn killed his casket and 1 stone thrower. Next turn killed the other stone thrower and his Necrosphinx. I felt bad....well, not that bad but still......

Well, at least it was only two IBs. Many years ago, back in 6th, my friend who played dwarves had a horrible first turn. (maybe it was 2nd) He took as many war machines as he could, and gave them the runes (where possible) that allowed him to reroll misfires and on th emisfire chart. we watched in awe as every single war machine on the board blew up. it was something like 2 cannons, a catapult, a flame cannon, and an organ gun. We calculated the odds of rolling that many "1's" in a row it and was almost the same as winning the lottery. Somethign i will likely never see again. One turn and he blew up nearly half his army in points. it was enough to bring a tear to a Skaven's eye.

I feel with ye, Gutpaunch, last 2 games I fought my Gnoblars swabbies must 'ave messed with my blackpowder, doing me Pirate Crew's artillery support no good. During a battle against the High Elves, my usually reliable Ironblaster went up in a fireball, after hitting naught. Nearly the same thing 'appened again when me crew met with Skaven on the battlefield, with both ironblasters causing little damage before being destroyed by Skaven magic (crack's call) and a warp lightning shot.

Howe'er, I learned that a Gnoblar's quick reflexes can save the entire contraption from being swallowed up in a bottomless pit (using the highest I stat available to avoid things like Crack's Call, Pit of Shades etc, means using the Gnoblar's I)

I have a friend who plays ogres and swears by taking only 1 IB and som LBs and laughs at me taking 2 IBs.....but I will keep taking them till I have some more statistical evidence / proof either way!

plus....They are beutifully painted and I love the look of them in my army...so there!

 

The best results I've seen (in person) with an OK list involve 2 IBs AND a fair amount of Leadies (2 x 6, to be exact), so I'd say this is a "why not both?" scenario.

Mixed results with my IBs in my latest game against WoC.

My IB on the left flank in addition to 4 LBs failed to kill a rampaging chimaera before it flank charged my main block of guts....THEN on the next turn....KABOOM!! Gone!

My right flank IB managed to kill some hounds and a couple of Khorne Warriors before charging in to aid my remaining MFC to wipe out the warriors in 1 turn...YAAAAY!


So, the lesson learned about IBs is.......use them as bloody chariots and forget the gun!!

Good game though, lot of fun 

I brought two Iron Blasters in my most recent three games- vs. High Elves, Tomb Kings and Lizardmen (2000pts).

I loved having two of them. Facing a lack of monsters meant that I usually had to use them in both shooting and combat to get the most out of them.

Vs. High Elves: I deployed one on each flank. One did well, one did badly; even doing badly, the second one still managed to keep a White Lion chariot and some Shadow Warriors occupied for several turns. The good one made it's points back by moving and lining up a flank shot against a unit of Silverhelms- killed 5 of them plus a level 2 Wizard; the last 2 (with Noble) ran off the board, so that was a good chunk of points gone in one round of shooting. Later the good one was able to flank charge a Lion Chariot and destroy it.

Vs. Tomb Kings: Both aimed at a Necrosphinx in my turn one- one failed to wound, the other blew it's barrel off! They made up for this terrible luck by charging a unit of 14 Heavy Horsemen + mounted Liche Priest together. Between Impact hits, crew attacks and CR I wiped him out in one round. They proved how capable they are in close combat.
This game they were both deployed on one flank, alongside 4 Leadbelchers. This created the impression of a weak flank, so he sent his fast moving units at it, although it turned out to be no such thing and I beat him soundly on that side of the board.

Vs. Lizardmen: I had no monsters to shoot at (one Kroxigor and one Slaan, who was bunkered in Temple Guard) so they both spent their time taking pot shots at blacks of Saurus/ Temple Guard and then charging. I deployed one in the middle and one on a flank. They killed 4 Temple Guard each with perfect bounces, then combo charged a Skink screen, overrunning into a different Saurus regiment each... Because they couldn't hit the same unit they slowly lost combat, were beaten and ran away. I didn't get a lot out of them in this game because I couldn't support them on the charges (I had hoped to get an overrun with my Ironguts to help one out, which would have been a massive game changer, but I rolled 1" less than I needed to with my Ironguts to join in and swing it in my favour).
One thing that stood out though, was their speed; Swiftstride is very useful.

I have tried but to me the army gets point-heavy in the rather immobile fraction

I know exactly what you mean; I want to add some Maneaters to my list, but I don't know where to fit them.

After taking:
500pts of Core
610 for Characters (SM lvl4, CoC - BSB - Butcher lvl2)
340 for Ironblasters

You only have 550 for anything else... I hate the fact that so much of my points allowance is decided before I even come to the table.

Even without Ironblasters it feels pinched, and the 610 on characters is the lowest I've ever taken with Ogres; I usually enjoy taking a lot of magic items, but tried going with more plain characters to make space for more units.

The Ogre players I face have run 2 IBs since the moment they bought the boxes, and they're formidable. It has made any efforts at bringing creatures like Giants pretty much futile in this meta, and gives you a fighting chance against the better monsters like Chimerae and Daemon Princes.

I have tried but to me the army gets point-heavy in the rather immobile fraction

I know exactly what you mean; I want to add some Maneaters to my list, but I don't know where to fit them.

After taking:
500pts of Core
610 for Characters (SM lvl4, CoC - BSB - Butcher lvl2)
340 for Ironblasters

You only have 550 for anything else... I hate the fact that so much of my points allowance is decided before I even come to the table.

^This is what really annoys me I have the same problem when building 2400 lists, auto included are my slaughtermaster, Bsb, Firebelly (because i love the model) 2xIB's 3xkitties, doesn't leave me many points for alot of stuff

I'd give 2 x L2 Firebellies and a Tyrant over a SM a shot. People have had success with that (in fact, the most success I've seen Ogres have is with that setup).

I'd give 2 x L2 Firebellies and a Tyrant over a SM a shot. People have had success with that (in fact, the most success I've seen Ogres have is with that setup).

I was going to build a recent list like that myself, but totally convinced myself that I would die in droves without having LotGM to back me up. I always take a SM + lvl2, so I know I'll get all of the buffs; sometimes I take a lvl1 (Beasts) for Wyssans Wildform as well. Having three wizards and a BSB eats up points even more, but I found the S/T buffs to be invaluable. I won my last three games, by 2000+ victory points each time (although they weren't against WAAC lists).

I so badly wanted to try something new that the first thing I did was build a Tyrant/ 2x Firebelly list, before talking myself out of it...

EDIT: I also do the same when I try to talk myself out of taking double Ironblasters. I love Giants, have done for ages, and probably have a reputation for liking them by now () but I haven;t used one for ages, because I find points are tight already, and for 30 less points I can get an Ironblaster that will be at least as useful as a Giant, and most of a Crown of Command, or a Dispel Scroll as well. It's the same with the Tyrant, double Belly list- I want to use it, but it costs between 70 points and 170 points more than my SM builds, so I find that I tend to stick with what I know, as I can get more of the other stuff I need/ want, like Maneaters, Mournfang and an extra Ironblaster :p

Bob, if you've won your last three games by such a landslide, I'd say now is the perfect time to try out a new list.  Worst case scenario, you lose some games, and still have a good time trying out something fun and different.  Best case, you realize you can still win with less than optimal units, and become an even better general for it.

At my store, my opponents are much more likely to run a fun/experimental list against me knowing that I'll only have the one Ironblaster, and everyone has a better time; YMMV.  Go for the Giant!

Bob, you have the same approach to characters as me. Never go anywhere without that second wizard!

What your list has does depend on your meta though. I find that going straight for the strongest does just create a kind of arms race with relatively cookie-cutter lists all round though, which is why I'm happy with just one Ironblaster, and a great hairy horned thing to go run over stuff.

Just mess around and see what works in a way you like and what doesn't. That's how I found out that a Heavens Slaughtermaster is useless in a conventional Ogre list (needs more shooty and other such things), but a lvl 2 support with Heavens is often more useful than a Beasts (though having said that, I have before won games with the level 2's useful application of Savage Beast or Curse of Anraheir, and a particularly wonderful moment wherein I use Transformation purely to get a Str 5 breath template on top of a rather pesky Tomb Guard unit...)

I use an Ironblaster in my 1000 pt. army. My usual opponent is Dark Elves. (I recently played the new book.)

Previously, I've had it kill a Hydra (back when it was stupid OP) in one shot, much to my opponent's chagrin. I know how to aim, (excellent advice in this thread on it, by the way) and it's been used as a decent chariot, as well... But.

Yesterday we managed 3 games, as my friend wanted to try out his new DE comp with the new book, and after those fights at 1000 points I was actually rethinking its presence in my army.

Keep in mind here we have limited space so we play on boards smaller than 4' x 6'.

Fight 1, it took out a few Witch Elves (the only viable target while waiting to get a shot at the Kharibdyss) then Turn 2 it misfired and exploded.

Fight 2, Turn 1, it misfired and exploded.

Fight 3, Turn 1, it misfired and couldn't fire for the rest of the game. I used it to block a flank charge from the Kharibdyss, trying to protect my Ironguts, (my wizard had miscast on a Lvl. 1 Fireball and died instantly) and it died easily to the Kharibdyss as Witch Elves shredded my Ironguts utterly. That was unequivocally the worst Turn I've had. Aha it was terrible.

After that luck (though I know luck is a fickle woman) I'm thinking about swapping it for 4 more Leadbelchers. I simply can't afford to give my opponent free Victory Points like that, especially at such low values. My thought process is the Leadbelchers are just more reliable.

I also played against the new DE book for the first time last night. We played 2400 and my opponent wanted to try out a shooty list. Not realizing this I took a combat heavy list and thought, aaaah to hell with it Trollguts will minimize damage while I get close enough to chew face! Turns out I never got Trollguts off due to poor dice rolls and the Ironblaster combo saved the day!

In the end my Double Ironblaster combo managed to decimate 4 Bolt Throwers, 2 of them silly Bolt Thrower Chariots and about 40 / 100 Crossbowmen on charges. They were very effective as they offered serious threats to the enemies key shooting models and kept a lot of fire off my Bulls and Ironguts. My MFC didn't fair quite as well, I lost 2/4 on the first turn to roughly 80 shots from their douchey crossbows. Still.... at the end of the day I didn't give up a single VP to the guy so I went away laughing after my Thundertusk, IG's, lone MFC and Bulls ran rampant through his lines.

my 2 iron blasters had the perfect chance to nail a nurgle DP using grapeshot. it landed 3 inches away. both IBs misfired. 1 blew up and the other couldn't fire. it lost me the game. dual IBs are great for making sure you have counter battery fire or can kill a high value target when you just really need to kill it.

my 2 iron blasters had the perfect chance to nail a nurgle DP using grapeshot. it landed 3 inches away. both IBs misfired. 1 blew up and the other couldn't fire. it lost me the game. dual IBs are great for making sure you have counter battery fire or can kill a high value target when you just really need to kill it.

It's like your opponent knew they would fail if he landed the DP right in front of them! : )

My IB curse is catching!

I popped in to my local store yesterday to check out a multiplayer Triumph and Trechoury game that was going on.
I stood beside my OK chum just as he was about to fire his lone IB at a DE Hydra. He saw me, freaked and asked me to move in case I cursed him.....so I did and he rolled the dice and guess what................KABOOM!! He was not a happy bunny....but how everyone laughed, including me 

First game with ogres. Took 2 ironblasters. Sum total killed with cannons: a bolt thrower and 3 ellyrian reavers. In return one ironblaster misfired, lost its cannon then failed a dangerous terrain test and died.