In Goonhammer Hot Takes, we do quick-pass reviews and reactions to new releases, rules, and events. In today’s Hot Take, we’re covering the latest additions to the Legion Arquitor Bombard’s loadouts – the Morbus heavy bombard and the Graviton-charge cannon
Since our previous article on this new addition to the Legion armouries, the Arquitor has had a number of new variants released by Forge World. In this Hot Take, we’ll take a look at them and run through our views, and how you might take them in an army.
Overview
To refresh on the Arquitor itself – 140pts for a 12/12/10 tank with four Hull Points, but its a bit slow as its a Heavy tank, taking up a Heavy Support slot. One thing which is nice is that it can be taken in squadrons of up to 3.
Its “standard” loadout was the Spicula rocket system, which we covered elsewhere. You can, however, now swap that for free for either a Morbus heavy bombard or a Graviton-charge cannon.
Graviton-charge cannon
Lets take the Graviton-charge cannon first. 24″ range, AP4 with Ordnance, Barrage, Concussion, Graviton Pulse, Haywire, Large Blast). Now, yes I know, Forge World made a mistake – there is no such rule as Concussion, its Concussive. Lets get past that, shall we?
This weapon is… OK. Ordnance is a bit of a blow, as it reduces the effectiveness of all sponsons and pintle weapons by making them fire Snap Shots. Haywire on a large blast is, admittedly, very very nice – but a bit niche, as you’re using it for counter-vehicle squadron work (it isn’t worth it to land a single Hull Point or whatever on one vehicle). By way of reminder, Graviton Pulse is roll a Strength Test or take a Wound – but at AP4 here so you aren’t going to be culling marines; basic Militia or Solar Auxilia would be in serious trouble though.
Overall this is a weapon which I would say you take in a squadron of at least 2 (to threaten vehicles) or not at all. I just can’t help but think, though, you might as well go for basic Land Speeders with grav-guns?
Morbus heavy bombard
Next up, the Morbus heavy bombard. This has two fire modes – Explosive shells and Carcass shells.
Explosive shells are a pseudo-Medusa shell (S 10, AP 2, Ordnance, Barrage, Large Blast) – but that is quite strange, if you think about it. The Morbus only has a 24″ range on its gun. The Medusa has 36″, and can take phosphex shells with the right upgrades. Now, I accept that the Arquitor is 15 pts cheaper base when compared to a Medusa, doesn’t have the 0-1 restriction, and is slightly tougher as a chassis, but this just seems odd to me. It’s not like its a similar role – its the same weapon more or less. Why even have it, when you already have an Artillery squadron? It if did extra damage to vehicles or buildings, I would understand, but… OK. Anyway, its Ordnance again – so same gripes with the sponsons apply.
This is not saying, just to note, that this is a bad gun – far from it! S 10 AP 2 Ordnance will threaten everything in the game, and a Large Blast can really put the pain on Terminator squads and large blobs of infantry. Its just that I scratch my head and can’t help but think I’ve seen the tank which does that before!
The Carcass shells are S 2, AP 4, Ordnance, Barrage, Large Blast, Fleshbane, Ignores Cover, Pinning. On paper, this is quite interesting – 2+ to wound on most things, no cover save, forces a pinning check. This will absolutely cull Militia and Solar Auxilia – no doubt about that at all. However, my gripe here is – why use it over the Explosive shells? I guess when you have that niche where an enemy has a 4+ save and is in cover? Otherwise most things will be wounded on a 2+ by the Explosive shells, and you will want to exploit the AP 2. Pinning doesn’t really compensate for this I feel – and the Explosive shells can hunt vehicles very competently as well (given they are AP 2, S 10 and can roll 2 dice and pick the highest for armour penetration).
The Carcass shells are cool and evocative in terms of the imagery, but I just can’t see them being used much in games sadly. You do get to choose, by the looks of it, which shell you use before each shot though, so it is a case of reading the situation.
Conclusion
Look, I want to like the Arquitor. I really do. It looks incredible, and I think two in a squadron is probably quite useful in most games. That said, I just can’t see much of a use for these newer variants – the Spicula Rockets are really very decent at putting out an outrageous number of AP 3 shots; when you compare that to the Graviton-charge cannon or Morbus heavy bombard, whose roles can be fulfilled better elsewhere, I just think its a bit one-sided.
As before, Iron Hands, Armoured Breakthrough and Armoured Spearhead lists can really make use of these. I look forward to seeing them on the tabletop in more battles of the historical far-future past!
Until next time! The Sons of Horus Article is in the works…
And in the meantime, if you have any questions or feedback, drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.
