Battle engines worth it?

[Kovnik Obama]

Quantify that. I see that comment made a lot on gaming forums without any real detail.

After seeing the arcantrik force generator, I can certainly agree it's worth the time, effort and points. I just think for the price of the gun carriage you can get something more useful. That's not including the cost of supporting units, like mechanics, you might need to make it more survivable.

I don't think there is anything wrong with making something more powerful than a Jack. In fact, you could probably argue pretty strongly that the Gun Carriage is much more strong then most Jacks. If it weren't for the base size, I'd say it could potentially be one of the best buys in the game. Base size plus a few Battle Engine rules put's it more in the meh category. I'd take the Behemoth, more points and all, over the gun carriage almost anyday.

I'm more sold on the Arcantrix Force Generator. It supports it's army much better and provides more than just a large target on the tabletop.

Really?... 1 pow 16 AOE 4 or D3+1 POW 14 missile attacks beats 2 Pow 14 AOE 4, in your book? And even looking at the special rules, you get more bang for your points with the Gun Carriage. I do hope lots of my ret opponents think like you. I will be releived when I see a Arcantrik Force Generator being put on the table.

[FastEd]

Ignoring my thoughts on the subject at hand, you just quoted a post directed at somebody else asking them to quantify something, and responded to it without actually quantifying your feelings on the matter. I must admit, respectfully, that I got a little bit of amusement out of that. Also, why so aggro?


Back on to the subject at hand, I actually do prefer the Arcantrik Force Generator over the Gun Carriage, though they both have their own merit. I find myself leaning more toward the general toolbox that the Force Generator seems to be, instead of the Gun Carriage's apparent, comparatively, lack of options. I think the Force Generator brings a new set of tools to the table for Ret, where as the Gun Carriage mostly falls in line with what Khador already does. Admittedly that isn't necessarily a bad thing, in fact it may be a very good thing. I just think because of it you will see less Gun Carriages on the board then Force Generators in the long run if we base it on that reason alone.

As for the comparison between ranged attacks, at RAT 7 I do prefer the selection of shots the Force Generator has over the guns of the Gun Carriage at RAT 5, though they clearly serve a different purpose. At RAT 5, unless you are aiming at something big (read: low def) your really looking to deviate into troop formations to cause general havoc, where as at RAT 7 I think your more looking to hit a particular target and splash everything around it when using the AOE, or pound a small handful of targets with multiple shots, with the ranged slam being nice icing to help round out the edges while providing a tactical option to potentially clear something out of the way.

Lastly, on a quick related note, the Gun Carriage's Heavy Cannons are only POW 12, not 14, though it wouldn't actually make a difference in my thoughts on the subject.