Man-o-War Strike Tanker

Man-O-War tankers are a response to the more impressive armaments and engines of war that Khador now finds set against it. Tankers support their smaller companions in battle, girding them with massive armored shields and laying down heavy supporting fire. Strike Tankers are armed with slug cannons, a high caliber, armor-piercing shoulder-mounted weapon. At full power, a slug cannon can breach bunker walls and other fortifications, and its shot is similarly effective against battle engines and colossals.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Bulldoze
• Template:Dual Attack
• Template:Repairable

Weapons

Slug Cannon
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		12			1			Template:-			8
Template:Armor-Piercing Template:Grievous Wounds Template:Siege Weapon
Shield (x2)
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		0.5				3				12
Template:Shield

Theme Forces

• Khador
  • Template:Armored Korps. This solo gains Advance Move in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this model in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Malakov2 is leading the army.

Thoughts on Man-o-War Strike Tanker

Man-o-War Strike Tanker in a Nutshell

Man-o-War Tankers are lumbering bipedal weapons platforms on Large bases that unleash hell upon the enemy. Incredibly durable thanks to their dual Shields, and effective and self-sufficient for their cost, they represent the next stage in Khador steam-powered armor technology. Currently, Tankers come equipped with one of two loadouts:

• Strike Tankers are dedicated to cracking the heaviest of armors with Slug Cannons capable of rending even Colossals, Gargantuans and Battle Engines apart.
• Suppression Tankers are designed to absolutely decimate incoming light enemy infantry with their devastating Shield-mounted Volley Guns that shreds lightly armored foes to pieces without a second thought.

Strike Tankers destroy low-DEF, high-ARM and Massive models with their Slug Cannon. Between Armor-Piercing and Siege Weapon it will severely damage key enemy models that you would otherwise struggle to chew through. Supplementing this power, the Slug Cannon has Grievous Wounds to prevent the opponent from recovering from the damage it has taken, setting them up for destruction on the next turn. Its Bulldoze and Dual Attack abilities help it resist attempts to tie the Tanker down. The Tanker's effective ARM 21 is very difficult to crack and can present a front to the opponent that's very difficult to punch through. Still, Tankers are not at all indestructible and a concerted effort will take them down so protecting them against long-range attacks is still important.

Tankers are positively excellent models for Armored Corps lists. They supplement the Man-o-War arsenal in significant ways, love advancing up in battle lines and count towards getting free solos, which can include themselves. A 5/6 point discount is really nice and Tankers are decent Repair targets. They're not great Advance Move targets though because unlike Shocktroopers they don't need to maintain a Shield Wall and unlike Man-o-War Cavalry they don't have the high SPD to really capitalize on it. Strike Tankers are wonderful when you need more armor-cracking power, Suppression Tankers are wonderful when you need more crowd control tools. Play Tankers in your Armored Corps.

Combos & Synergies

It is important to understand that--unlike much of Khador--Tankers are not melee fighters, they are lumbering front-line weapons platforms. When they get jammed, you use Bulldoze to disengage them and otherwise you have them keep pace with your main formation. When supporting them it typically pays to help them keep up or enhance their shooting capabilities, and that's about it.

• Irusk1: Khador's resident military genius has Battle Plans, an excellent feat and Inhospitable Ground to protect and boost Tankers.
• Irusk2: Gurvaldt's epic incarnation is a Tactician, commands Total Obedience and Solid Ground for Tankers, and Fire for Effect is terrifying on a Slug Cannon shot.
• Old Witch2: Her Black Wings attack and Windstorm prevents enemy models from outranging its Slug Cannon.
• Strakhov1: Strike Tankers not only appreciate his feat but are excellent Sentry targets.
• Strakhov2: Tankers love Strakhov's feat and Inviolable Resolve spell.
• Vladimir1: Boosting its many attacks with Signs & Portents is always a good thing, just remember that it doesn't work with Covering Fire.

• Battle Mechaniks: All Man-o-War models have the Repairable rule.
• Kommandant Atanas Arconovich: All Man-o-War models can benefit from his Tactician ability and the rest of your army will appreciate seeing and moving through it.
• Colbie Sterling/Gobber Tinker/Raluk Moorclaw: These three are Mechanikally Adept, meaning they can Repair Khador models.
• Saxon Orrik: Can give it crucial Pathfinder.
• Eiryss2 - Defensive upkeep spells (Arcane Shield, Iron Flesh, Defenders Ward, etc) are unaffected by the Armor Piercing rule, severely decreasing your Tanker's offensive output. Eiryss' Spell Breaker can help you out.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Like all Man-o-War infantry, its base SPD and DEF is very low.
• Any speed de-buff will hurt it, and it usually struggles in scenarios. Haley1's Temporal Barrier with the Stormsmith Grenadiers' grenade can shut down its move completely, apart of 3" charges.
• Tankers cannot be targeted by the Man-o-War Kovnik's Desperate Pace.
• It is susceptible to pushes and knockdowns.
• Without Pathfinder its advance will be slowed to a crawl on rough terrain.
• Like all Armor Piercing attacks, it gets substantially weaker with every source of additional ARM protection that a model gets above its base ARM (shields, bucklers, Carapace, defensive spells, etc).
• Massive models are immune to pushes and Grievous Wounds, while non-huge based models are unaffected by Siege Weapon's extra die.
• Grievous Wounds does not prevent warlocks from transferring damage.

Tricks & Tips

• Use its Bulldoze to move models engaged with it out of melee range, then follow up and hit them and shoot something with the Slug Cannon.
• Unlike the Suppression Tanker, it can both hit and shoot models it is in melee with.

Other

Trivia

• Released in 2018.02 Armored Korps CID.
• Tankers do not come in the same box, meaning you can't buy a box and magnetize its weapons to swap the model between its two layouts. There does not some to be any logistical reason for this.
• Its insignia signify its rank as Privat.
• "Tanker" is a colloquial military term for a tank operator.