Siege Animantarax

Lumbering inexorably across the battlefield, animantaraxes are living siege engines. The ornate houdaas atop their backs bristle with veteran crews of Praetorians wielding spears and Venators manning double-combed reiver guns. Incoming fire serves only to enrage these giant beasts, and their handlers gladly indulge their anger and watch with grim satisfaction as the behemoths smash through their foes and deliver death to everything within reach.

Basic Info

• Template:Battle Engine

Abilities

• Template:Cavalry
• Template:Pathfinder
• Template:Beast
• Template:Dual Attack
• Template:Reposition 3
• Template:Trample Power Attack
• Template:Cantankerous

Weapons

• Double Reiver - 12" range, ROF d3+1, POW 13 ranged attack
  • Template:Volume Fire

• Club Tail - 2" reach, P+S 18 melee attack
  • Template:Knockdown

• Mount - 1" reach, POW 15 mount attack

• Spear (x2) - 2" reach, P+S 11 melee attacks
  • Template:Independent Attack

Theme Forces

• Template:Disciples of Agony
• Template:Winds of Death

Thoughts on the Siege Animantarax

Siege Animantarax in a nutshell

The Siege Animantarax battle engine works as if someone stuck a Venator Flayer Cannon on the back of a Rhinodon, gave it an injection of nitrous oxide, then cut it loose from the battlegroup; it neither needs, nor can receive much in the way of caster support. It shoots like artillery, with volume fire making up for any loss of aim bonus. It is faster than an unbuffed Archidon, has a POW 18 with auto knockdown, gets free charges with boosted attack rolls (thanks to the Cavalry rule), the ability to buy three extra attacks is as good as most heavies, and it has no leash.

The alternative comparison is that it's the Titan Cannoneer's battlegroup-independent cousin, costing the same and with fairly similar stats other than its speed; cantankerous tokens replace Fury.

Combos & Synergies

• Paingiver Beast Handlers - Whip (Anatomical Precision) then medicate the Animantarax on turn 1 to max out rage tokens; the paingivers can concentrate on the battlegroup for the rest of the game.
• Paingiver Bloodrunners can't medicate the Animantarax - but they can stab it just as well as the beast handlers can whip it to give it those sweet rage tokens. And then they are an excellent screen.
• Lord Arbiter Hexeris - Black Spot allows you to "launder" your attacks. Killing enemy infantry with the spears, the Reivers, or even impact attacks to get extra attacks from the tail onto an enemy heavy.
• Lord Tyrant Hexeris - Parasite makes for unpleasantly hard hitting Reivers.
• Lord Assassin Morghoul - Mortality to allow him to kill his target. Shadow play to go through obstructions. And frankly if the Animantarax starts in 13" of the enemy caster and has a landing spot that brings them within 2" then a boosted knockdown charge will leave most casters about to die.
• Makeda & the Exalted Court - Incite - a flat +2/+2 on to hit and damage on enemy models within Makeda3's CMD.
• Lord Tyrant Zaadesh makes the Animantarax really scary on feat turn. MAT 8 P+S 20 auto-knockdown defensive strike is not at all what anyone wants to see coming the other way.
• Basilisk Krea - because no one likes facing a huge base, ARM 22 vs shooting (ARM 12 vs Armor Piercing), and 12" range charge coming back at them (since only a mount attack can be used for a Calvary charge). Also, the Animantarax loves being able to land that first hit on a heavy warbeast without boosting, so paralyze them.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• While huge bases can be jammed, keep in mind that independent attacks from the spears may help unjam the battle engine before it begins its charge (at MAT 6, P+S 11 you may need to boost attack and/or damage rolls against high DEF or ARM models) and, after moving at least 3", impact attacks may help clear the path to the target with MAT 6, POW 15 melee attacks.
• Landing a huge base after a trample almost never happens.
  • Spd 8 certainly helps.
• Recharging the cantankerous tokens when it's charged in can be a problem. Of course if the enemy isn't attacking it, you win anyway.
• Don't work very well in double (debatable). While sheer speed mitigate their speed, they still are bulky, and you will have your paingivers severely taxed if you need to fill them both although a single unit can manage six hits between two Animantaraxes (leaving them unmedicated).

Tricks & Tips

• Three paingiver whips (Anatomical Precision) and a medicate mean it's fully charged and down 0-2 health boxes. At that point it hits harder than some collosals.
• Trample and shoot for that bit of extra movement (counting reposition it's almost as much as you get from running).
• Knockdown on it mean your army can fire on his target without penalty. Assuming the Animantarax isn't in the way of course...
• Thanks to its almost 5" base you can run it on turn 1 to about the 12" line, then have Paingivers whip it.
• Don't forget that the Animantarax is cavalry so its charge attack roll is boosted.
• It is also one of the rare living battle engines, so affected by rules and abilities which interact with such models (Life drinker, Bleed, Butcher 3's feat, Poison, Annoyance, Burning Ash, etc.)

Other

Trivia

• Released in Hordes: Domination, 2011 November
• This model has been reworked possibly more than any other in Warmachine. In Mk2 it was given a complete overhaul because the original version was terrible. In Mk3 it was given an overhaul both as part of the Great Skorne Errata (2017.01) and then again as part of the Great Battle Engine Errata (2017.07).