Cannons in WoE (Dwarfs alternative to missile troops?)

[Dan]

Hi,
I’ve found the remnants of my brother’s Warhammer Dwarf army in a dusty box. There are only axe-armed infantry, a couple of characters and a nice little cannon with crew. Could that be a viable force in WoE without missile troops?

If I am reading the rules right, the cannon is effectively like one warrior with a single long range shot per turn. So at best, assuming I successfully roll to hit, all I can hope to do is kill one enemy warrior per turn. (Unless there is a second unit behind the target, so I might slay two warriors?) Is that right?

[JJ]

The cannon is represented by a single cannon plus a crew of 3 to 5 dwarves.

You are correct with regards to the single shot however you keep rolling for all units hit in a straight line until you miss one.

Cannons are good for taking out monsters with high Res especially the large cannon can do this across the whole table. In general ranged attacks are more useful for putting pins on the enemy instead of killing.

[Tim Haslam]

Yup, I’d agree.
Give it try, once my mammoth gets rolling through an army there is little to stop it. But your cannon will.
Besides it’s cool model.

[Dan]

Thanks guys, I’ll give it a go and report back.

The test to hit with acc=5 at extreme range modifier of -2 means it’ll be more likely to miss than hit unless my son parks his units up close where I can get them. He plays Undead so I am hoping to snipe his Wraith warlord at long range.

At the very least, I reckon the cannon will get his full attention until it is destroyed and distract him from the rest of the dwarves!

[coljacksimpson57]

Yes, in games like WoE, and Bolt Action, a good use of direct fire long range shots is to attract your opponent’s attention away from your ankle biting warbands. If you’re successful you can position yourself to outmaneuver their forces and who knows, you may score a lucky kill.

[AbsoluteZero]

Keep in mind however that your cannons cannot shoot over your own troops(one of the worst erratas imo). They can ‘see’ over your troops but cannot shoot over.

[Author]

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