Question About Basilisks?

[knighter]

Hey so i'm a new warhammer 40k player and looking at some heavy supports, I find the basilisk a very cool tank for IG, however i read the range is 36"-270", So isn't this tank kinda not-usable in a normal 1500 game on a 8 by 4 table? Since you'll only get 1-2 turns of shots with it on a 48 inch long table?

Maybe im missing something though!

Thanks<3

[Cactus]

The Basilisk is a great tank - inexpensive and it drops a S9 pie plate on your foes. The 36" minimum means that most players put their tanks with their backs to the wall (so to speak) and in the corners. You'll find that you shoot diagonally across the field quite often - sometimes toward the opposite end of your deployment zone.

Except for a few armies, your opponents will usually keep units in their own deployment zone to cover objectives or shoot heavy weapons. I usually take a Basilisk in my IG lists and I rarely have a shortage of targets.

[This Dave]

Actually Basilisks can fire at things within the 36" range, they just oddly have to do it indirectly (page 34 under Barrage). Not super accurate but then again as thinly armored as a Basilisk is you usually want to keep it behind terrain if you can anyways.

[sangrail777]

Ahh, This Dave, I think u should read that page again. Or maybe I should cuz I don't see how a barrage gives a basilisk the ability to shoot out of it's 36-120 range. The barrage rule is for firing out of line of sight not range.

[This Dave]

Ahh, This Dave, I think u should read that page again. Or maybe I should cuz I don't see how a barrage gives a basilisk the ability to shoot out of it's 36-120 range. The barrage rule is for firing out of line of sight not range.

Check the first bullet point under Barrage on page 34. The second sentence is "This means they can fire at a target they they do not have a line of sight to and/or a target that is within the weapon's minimum range (if it has one)."

To me this means it can fire at something closer than 36" since that is within the minimum range.

[Cactus]

Check the first bullet point under Barrage on page 34. The second sentence is "This means they can fire at a target they they do not have a line of sight to and/or a target that is within the weapon's minimum range (if it has one)."

To me this means it can fire at something closer than 36" since that is within the minimum range.

I thought "within" meant that it needed to be within the 36"-120" range.

[sangrail777]

Yeah, I'm gonna go with This Dave and I don't speak or read the same kinda English.
The very same wording for your belief is the very same wording for mine....
Thx Cactus, I agree with your point of view.

[lobster-overlord]

It's always fun to think of the basilisk as lobbing a shell straight up in the air and hoping it doesn't land on itself. That's pretty much what is happening and it had drifted back on itself on me before. Not a fun result.

[This Dave]

I liked it better when you could use a Basilisk direct fire as an assault gun. It's not a mortar like a Griffon or Colossus which can't drop the muzzle and shoot right at something. But I guess the ability to shell pretty much anything on the table is a good trade off.

[Katharon]

I liked it better when you could use a Basilisk direct fire as an assault gun. It's not a mortar like a Griffon or Colossus which can't drop the muzzle and shoot right at something. But I guess the ability to shell pretty much anything on the table is a good trade off.

The number of times I've wished to just lower the muzzle on the Basilisk and just say "fire!" have been too many times to count. lol I've actually seen a Paladin do it once, when part of my unit's artillery platoon got mixed up in an advance through Ramadi in 09'. We needed a house shelled, the gun commander said he didn't have the range, and my captain said "just fire direct" and sure enough he did. Blew the house a new exit hole. Hehehe.

[Da Gargoyle]

Lads, you're missing the point. The Basilisk is either a direct line of fire weapon or, its primary role, a massive barrage weapon. See page 53 in the current codex under "Basilisk" and I quote,"A Basilisk is most effective when deployed as part of a battery of siege guns, but each can also be utilised as a direct fire gun, engaging targets at short range with devastating results."

That means you can still drop the barrel and blast away using normal rules. But Basilisks are not tanks, they are self propelled artillery and they have the armour to match, i.e. Paper thin and open topped, which is why guys liked to sit them behind a wall and go feral with indirect fire. The difference, the minimum distance is 3/4 of the battle field unless you have convinced your opponent to assault from the long edge of a 6 x 4 table. And without line of sight you scatter the full dice roll, see main rules.

When my lad gamed them he found them very fragile to Lance & Missile weapons. I also turbo boosted around the back in my Serpents or Falcons, dropped a Dragon or Wraithguard unit and bye bye guns. This was hell for him because when you deploy at the table edge there is limited room to maneuver and bring the guns to bear.

[This Dave]

You forget, that codex was written for 5th Edition rules. In those you could direct fire a Basilisk. In 6th unless the new codex changes things they can and in fact have to fire indirect at anything closer than their 36" as they are Barrage weapons. Check the Barrage rules under the first bullet point.

[Anggul]

I prefer Collosus, has the AP2 and IDs T5. Basilisks are only really relevant in Apocalypse.

[This Dave]

I prefer Collosus, has the AP2 and IDs T5. Basilisks are only really relevant in Apocalypse.

I think you mean the Medusa and is direct fire only. The Colossus is only S6. Though I agree, on a smaller table the Medusa rules. It's only drawback is it has to expose itself and its light armor to fire.

[Skeletay]

The barrage rules say you CAN fire indirectly. Any weapon with the barrage rules can still fire directly, unless it's special rules say otherwise (griffon, colossus). Once your targets get within 36", you have to to fire directly.

[Da Gargoyle]

Hi This Dave, I disagree with your summation and a review of the Barrage rules in special rules. They do not limit or over rule specific barrage weapons. It states you "can" fire indirectly and "when" you do certain penalties apply, in other words it is an option you can use not you must use. This means you have a choice which includes,for a basilisk, indirect fire barrage, line of sight fire barrage, or as a direct fire weapon, which needs line of sight. :)

Of course if you fire as a barrage weapon you have the minimum range to deal with. If you use direct fire, then targets in cover get the cover save. There was nothing in the barrage rules to prevent direct fire and the codex is making the statement that direct line of fire is not a barrage.