40k ahead-- A review of the Striking Scorpions
A number of sites are available for learning eldar tactics. Such as, and, and, to name but a few. Most of these suck. To be quite honest, every member of the Eldar army is useful in some way, but generally, only in that way. In other words, unlike space marines, if you use a unit of Eldar incorrectly, they will be wiped out. So, to say that Striking Scorpions are good at hand to hand is dumb. That's what they're sort of designed to do, but point of fact, they aren't very good at it. You can't, for instance, hope to wipe out an enemy squad in a turn--that's what howling banshees are for. But this is not to say that striking scorpions are not without their purpose, and I thought I'd elucidate on this some here on my blog. Hell, it's my blog.
Okay, so a few things to note. Striking Scorpions do not get fleet of foot because of their armor save. This means that the Striking Scorpions are not going to be moving very far across the battlefield. They are not designed to bring the fight to the enemy and work best in a defensive capacity. Some Eldar players may argue that you can put the Striking Scorpions in a Wave Serpent or Falcon, but for many reasons this is not a good idea. First of all, you probably have better things to put in your personal carriers. Second, according to the new rules, troops cannot charge after disembarking and so the Striking Scorpions will be left for an entire turn unable to do crap except die. Don't do that.
The third reason that you shouldn't move the Striking Scorpions to the enemy relates to the basic point behind the scorpions which I will discuss, but first a quick break down of kill ratios.
Assume that a squad of 10 scorps charges a squad of 10 space marines. First of all, there will be one fire phase. Unlike other troops who have to decide what to do with their pistols (use them in fire or get an extra attack during hth), scorps don't have this problem. They have three close combat weapons, and thus, using the pistol will still leave them the extra attack. So...fire the pistols. One shot a piece.
Each scorpion will hit 2/3 of the time, will wound 1/2 of the time, and will make it through the armor 1/3 of the time, or 1/9 of the shots fired will kill. 10 scorpions, 9 marines.
Hth time, the scorps charged (+1 attack), they have two weapons (+1 attack). So, each scorpion gets 3 attacks. One worked out at initiative 7, the other two worked out at inititiative 5, both of which beat the marines initiative. So...
The mandiblasters hit 1/2 the time, they wound 1/2 the time, and they penetrate armor 1/3 of the time. In other words, 1 out of every 12 shots fired will kill a marine. 10 shots fired. Going off of statistics (and not luck), the mandiblasters don't do shit this turn.
The other attacks (of which there are 20) may be a little more effective. They hit 1/2 the time, wound 1/3 of the time, and penetrate armor 1/3 of the time. Or 1 out of every 18 kills. So, one more dead marine. Eldar 10, marines 8.
The marines retaliate: they hit 1/2 the time, wound 2/3 of the time, and penetrate armor 1/3 of the time, or 1 out of every 9 attacks kills. 10 marines=10 attacks. 1 dead Eldar. At the end of turn 1: Eldar 9, space marines 8.
If you keep applying these statistics over time, what transpires is an overwhelming victory for the striking scorpions. They will kill these hapless marines and still have 7 models left to carry the fight to the next enemy. That's not really the important feature of the Striking Scorpions combat potential. What is striking is the fact that this victory will occur on turn 8. That is, 7 turns after the Striking Scorpions begin their assault. Considering that most games of Warhammer 40k are only about 5 turns long, you may very well be asking "what's the point?"
And it is the answer to this question that really gives you some sense of how Striking Scorpions are meant to be employed. Keep in mind that Hth pretty much blocks every aspect of the game--line of sight, movement, etc. So, here in the middle of the battlefield is a rolling mass of combat (conceivably 20" wide) that is likely to block everything for 8 turns. I mean sure, you can "make" cover with tanks, but tanks can get shot at and blown up. You can't shoot the striking scorpions when they're in hth. Also, you shouldn't get too close to them, or they will more than likely pull units into the hth. Even if they lose, you have locked up the enemy worse than any barricade could.
This is why I say you should never put Striking Scorpions in a transport. Why set up this barricade on the enemy's side of the battlefield? Use this living wall to provide cover for your falcon, your fire prism, your vypers, or your jetbikes--anything that can move across the wall, fire and then move back. Also, are you having trouble getting your howling banshees into hand to hand (let's face it, you shoot them and they die)? Here's their cover and their destination. This wall is exceedingly a pain in the ass for the enemy because there is nothing they can do about it except to throw more troops into the fray. If you drop a personality model in with the scorpions you can take out those pesky marines who've upgraded to power fists, and if you make sure there are other hth specialists (howling banshees, wild riders, or storm guardian squads), you can quickly win the hand to hand, if you want to take down the wall and release the striking scorpions to set up somewhere else.
And if you don't play 40k, but still enjoy my pictures of my miniatures--this is for you.
Okay, so a few things to note. Striking Scorpions do not get fleet of foot because of their armor save. This means that the Striking Scorpions are not going to be moving very far across the battlefield. They are not designed to bring the fight to the enemy and work best in a defensive capacity. Some Eldar players may argue that you can put the Striking Scorpions in a Wave Serpent or Falcon, but for many reasons this is not a good idea. First of all, you probably have better things to put in your personal carriers. Second, according to the new rules, troops cannot charge after disembarking and so the Striking Scorpions will be left for an entire turn unable to do crap except die. Don't do that.
The third reason that you shouldn't move the Striking Scorpions to the enemy relates to the basic point behind the scorpions which I will discuss, but first a quick break down of kill ratios.
Assume that a squad of 10 scorps charges a squad of 10 space marines. First of all, there will be one fire phase. Unlike other troops who have to decide what to do with their pistols (use them in fire or get an extra attack during hth), scorps don't have this problem. They have three close combat weapons, and thus, using the pistol will still leave them the extra attack. So...fire the pistols. One shot a piece.
Each scorpion will hit 2/3 of the time, will wound 1/2 of the time, and will make it through the armor 1/3 of the time, or 1/9 of the shots fired will kill. 10 scorpions, 9 marines.
Hth time, the scorps charged (+1 attack), they have two weapons (+1 attack). So, each scorpion gets 3 attacks. One worked out at initiative 7, the other two worked out at inititiative 5, both of which beat the marines initiative. So...
The mandiblasters hit 1/2 the time, they wound 1/2 the time, and they penetrate armor 1/3 of the time. In other words, 1 out of every 12 shots fired will kill a marine. 10 shots fired. Going off of statistics (and not luck), the mandiblasters don't do shit this turn.
The other attacks (of which there are 20) may be a little more effective. They hit 1/2 the time, wound 1/3 of the time, and penetrate armor 1/3 of the time. Or 1 out of every 18 kills. So, one more dead marine. Eldar 10, marines 8.
The marines retaliate: they hit 1/2 the time, wound 2/3 of the time, and penetrate armor 1/3 of the time, or 1 out of every 9 attacks kills. 10 marines=10 attacks. 1 dead Eldar. At the end of turn 1: Eldar 9, space marines 8.
If you keep applying these statistics over time, what transpires is an overwhelming victory for the striking scorpions. They will kill these hapless marines and still have 7 models left to carry the fight to the next enemy. That's not really the important feature of the Striking Scorpions combat potential. What is striking is the fact that this victory will occur on turn 8. That is, 7 turns after the Striking Scorpions begin their assault. Considering that most games of Warhammer 40k are only about 5 turns long, you may very well be asking "what's the point?"
And it is the answer to this question that really gives you some sense of how Striking Scorpions are meant to be employed. Keep in mind that Hth pretty much blocks every aspect of the game--line of sight, movement, etc. So, here in the middle of the battlefield is a rolling mass of combat (conceivably 20" wide) that is likely to block everything for 8 turns. I mean sure, you can "make" cover with tanks, but tanks can get shot at and blown up. You can't shoot the striking scorpions when they're in hth. Also, you shouldn't get too close to them, or they will more than likely pull units into the hth. Even if they lose, you have locked up the enemy worse than any barricade could.
This is why I say you should never put Striking Scorpions in a transport. Why set up this barricade on the enemy's side of the battlefield? Use this living wall to provide cover for your falcon, your fire prism, your vypers, or your jetbikes--anything that can move across the wall, fire and then move back. Also, are you having trouble getting your howling banshees into hand to hand (let's face it, you shoot them and they die)? Here's their cover and their destination. This wall is exceedingly a pain in the ass for the enemy because there is nothing they can do about it except to throw more troops into the fray. If you drop a personality model in with the scorpions you can take out those pesky marines who've upgraded to power fists, and if you make sure there are other hth specialists (howling banshees, wild riders, or storm guardian squads), you can quickly win the hand to hand, if you want to take down the wall and release the striking scorpions to set up somewhere else.
And if you don't play 40k, but still enjoy my pictures of my miniatures--this is for you.
posted by Monstro D. Whale at
10:51 AM
2 Comments:
There are some children who, despite all my cantankerous grumblings, insist on playing two-square in front of my patio. How effectively might these Striking Scorpions deal with them?
What the Striking Scorpions would provide for you and your family is not necessarilly peace from teh two square game in front of your patio. I imagine that the children are WS 3, S 2, T 3, W 1, I 3. But what's the point, the striking scopions would surely win this battle, but it would still take a while. Now, while they are fighting. It would be impossible for a waaaaaaarrrrgghhh ork horde or a group of Kroot mercenaries to simply shoot through the melee outside and into your house. Thus, in attacking the Two Square players, the Striking Scorpions would have erected a wall of defense in front of the most vulnerable entrance into your house.
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