New Vehicle: The Serpent

will · by **will** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:01 pm

hi all

Ive created an IG vehicle using the VDR on this site. so here goes.

The Serpent STC was found during the Sabat worlds crusade, and, after many years of consideration, was put into use. It is very heavily armored, but to have this armor it must sacrifice every view port, even external cameras, therefore, the crew have no way of knowing what they are shooting at. it is driven by servitors, as there is not even an access hatch.

The Serpent:

front. side. rear BS
14 14 14 2

PTS 320
(I took a bit off the VDR pts
because of its randomness.

Weapons:
5 assault cannons, 1 vanquisher cannon
Type: tank
Special rules:
Wild shooting: to represent the fact that the crew cannot see out, when firing the serpent, roll a scatter dice for each of its weapons, then draw a line from the gun end in the direction the arrow is pointing, the first unit the line goes over is shot at, friend or foe, and yes this does mean that the serpent will probably hit a different unit with each of its guns. if the scatter dice rolls a hit, or points out of the guns fire arc, the controlling player decides where the line goes.

Vanquisher cannon: the vanquisher cannon shoots as detailed above, but when the it is decided what unit it hits, it scatters 2d6 if the serpent was stationary that turn, or 3d6 if it moved.

You must decide whether to shoot the vanquisher cannon or assault cannons each turn, you must decide before you roll to see the direction it shoots.

Wild movement: to move the serpent, first decide whether it will move or not, if you elect to move it, it moves 2d6 in a direction decided by the scatter dice, if a hit is rolled, the controlling player decides how far and in what direction it moves. if it move over a friendly unit, they simply move out of the way in a direction decided by the controlling player, if it moves over an enemy unit, they count as tank shocked. vehicles, (friend or foe) move out of the way.

there we go.

LordMalekTheRedKnight · by **LordMalekTheRedKnight** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:57 pm

wow! that is one crazy tank!

will wrote:front. side. rear BS
14 14 14 special

Weapons:
5 assault cannons, 1 vanquisher cannon
Type: tank
Special rules:
Wild shooting: to represent the fact that the crew cannot see out, when firing the serpent, roll a scatter dice for each of its weapons, then draw a line from the gun end in the direction the arrow is pointing, the first unit the line goes over is hit, friend or foe, and yes this does mean that the serpent will probably hit a different unit with each of its guns. if the scatter dice rolls a hit, or points out of the guns fire arc, the controlling player desides where the line goes.

Vanquisher cannon: the vanquisher cannon shoots as detailed above, but when the it is decided what unit it hits, it scatters 2d6 if the serpent was stationary that turn, or 3d6 if it moved.

couple of techical points:
IMO you should change "draw a line from the gun end in the direction the arrow is pointing, the first unit the line goes over is hit..." to "... the first unit the line goes over is shot at..." (same goes when the firing player picks the direction).

autohitting is a bit too good (not even the Vibrocannon hits automatically), and it screws up the rule mechanisms with regards to Assault Cannons (without a BS roll to-hit, you cant score a Rend against non-Vehicles).

i would suggest BS 3 personally... or maybe even BS2 (like POTMS).

another point that needs clarifying is the Vanquisher Cannon - isnt that Ordnance? if so, does that mean the owning player has to choose between firing it or the Ass.Cannons each turn?

hope that helps

~ Tim

will · by **will** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 2:01 pm

thx lordmalek, Ive cleared up those few points (i hope)

LordMalekTheRedKnight · by **LordMalekTheRedKnight** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 2:38 pm

will wrote:thx lordmalek, Ive cleared up those few points (i hope)

yes, thats better.

am i right in assuming this will be for Apoc? and do you have any idea how the model will look?

cheers

~ Tim

killmaimburn · by **killmaimburn** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 2:39 pm

Its fun, kind of like a chaos dreadnought inside a landraider. (presumably at the start of a game you'd use vanquisher a lot more until the ass cans are out of range of the core of your forces? Heck on a 4+ you must fire the ass cans :lol:

)
Not to labour the point but the VDR points I've always considered an imagination tax, e.g. My chaos force can have VDR imperial tornadoes but they are going to cost me an awful lot more than 80 points. If it was too many points try taking another negative? (open topped armour 14- or isn't there an option for really slow moving

) oh if its for apocolypse ignore that sentance

Does this version give you one of those handy cards you can attach? (helps to see the working out a bit)

Love the concept, I can think of a few orcys who'd use the vehicle.

LordMalekTheRedKnight · by **LordMalekTheRedKnight** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:11 pm

killmaimburn wrote:Does this version give you one of those handy cards you can attach? (helps to see the working out a bit)

yeah, its got the "Generate Datafax" option at the bottom. what ive done when fiddling round with the VDR calc. is generate the datafax then take a Print Screen snapshot and paste into Paint so i can cut out the entry and save it as a JPEG (which could be uploaded to the Gallery here and linked into a thread as an IMG).

killmaimburn wrote:Love the concept, I can think of a few orcys who'd use the vehicle.

hehe. my psychopath Tech Priest would probably order a few himself (in Inq. he replaced his perfectly healthy left arm with an Assault Cannon and exclusively fired it on full auto just for kicks). :twisted:

~ Tim

Spack · by **Spack** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:23 pm

I might look at adding a "generate PDF" for the datasheet if there's enough interest

jlong05 · by **jlong05** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:27 pm

will wrote:You must decide whether to shoot the vanquisher cannon or assault cannons each turn.

My only comment on this is the choice of weapon MUST be selected prior to checking for direction. This way it truly is random.

Spack wrote:I might look at adding a "generate PDF" for the datasheet if there's enough interest

Yes! I think this would be a great idea, and a great addition to the site.

killmaimburn · by **killmaimburn** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:58 pm

Spack wrote:I might look at adding a "generate PDF" for the datasheet if there's enough interest

Sounds good spack, as long as it doesn't steal your genius away from other projects etc (as Tim says we have a way to do it ourselves if we really want to at present) please delete my post after reading it as I don't want to clog up wills thread

Ranhothep · by **Ranhothep** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:17 pm

Hm, what would be the purpose of such a unit/model? Do you really intend to construct such a model? I dont mean to be negative, but there just is no reason for such a vehicle to exist apart from a "funny conversion" point of view... What made you choose a name like serpent for something big, clumsy and erratic? Serpents behave in a different fashion...

will · by **will** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:22 pm

Thx for all that people

Anyway, it will probably be a land raider with all hatches, doors, cameras etc removed, the vanquisher turret on top, the lascannons removed, the central assault cannon made so that there is only one, then assault cannons dotted around the place.

On to why it exists, well it will be a fun, random model, and the tech priests are always eager to include any STC's they can get their grubby, robotic hands on.

Culven · by **Culven** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:01 pm

will wrote:On to why it exists, well it will be a fun, random model, and the tech priests are always eager to include any STC's they can get their grubby, robotic hands on.

I would be more inclined to call it an irritating, random model. I don't understand why such a vehicle would exist. Sure, if the AdMech found the STC, they would be more than happy to build it, but that doesn't explain the logic of why the STC was created. Fortunately for you, I can come up with some bull-plop excuses. :lol:

"During the Great Crusade, a safer means of breaching enemy defensive positions was needed. From this need, the Land Raider Firestorm (or some other powerful/random natured name, Serpent just doesn't fit, IMHO) was developed. This was a Land Raider modified to carry a Vanquisher Cannon and multiple Assault Cannons. The vehicle was designed to break through enemy lines and then unleash a torrent of fire on the defenders. Due to the high level of danger involved in this mission, the vehicle is crewed by servitors, allowing the Space Marines to follow up the vehicle's initial breaching of the line."

I think I would lose the randomness, the low BS will be random enough. Besides, how could a mobile vehicle achieve its goals without at least having a way to navigate, much less target.

If you want the random shootyness, I would suggest an Orbital Lander which can land in the midst of the enemy. Like a Deathwind Drop Pod.

Spack · by **Spack** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:18 pm

Shouldn't random stuff be exclusive to Orks?

SanguinaryDan · by **SanguinaryDan** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:47 pm

Wow. That's the silliest thing I've ever seen. Random shooting and movement? Why bother?

I'm sure it will be fun to build, but you have to be drain bramaged to put it on the table. C'mon, 300+ points of totally random...crap?

Though if you made it Ork and had a Zzap Gun and a bucket load of Big Shootas it might actually make sense.