Topic: question about battlewagons

[Jack Straw From Wichita]

I'm in the process of making a battlewagon.  The majority of it is built out of battlewagon parts but the bottom part of the hull and some of the front is from another model (something like an apc).  The top of the battlewagon has the turret that comes with the kit that you can mount the zzap gun or kannon in.  I'd like to make a killkannon to put on the battlewagon as well, but I'm a little confused as to how big it should be.  Ive seen some battlewagons with huge killkannons that take up the entire back portion of the battlewagon (guessing this is why the troop carrying capacity is cut down).  I've also seen some that have a killkannon mounted in the turret where the regular kannon would go.  Which way have most of you guys mounted the killkannon?  Also while I'm at it I have a question about the other weapons a battlewagon can take.  It says you can have up to 4 big shootas but where are they located? From the pictures I've seen it looks as if two are mounted on top and then there is one on each side.  The reason I ask is because I don't want to give myself an unfair advantage by mounting them improperly.  For example, with the scenario I listed above, only three big shootas could ever fire at the same time right? The two on top could fire any direction but the two on the side could only fire on that side they were mounted on.  Thanks so much for your guys help.

[Deathpepper]

There's no standard for the battlewagon weapons, put them where you want.  The OP way would be to construct one huge turret and put all the guns on that for 360 shooting with everything. 

In my experience, opponents don't care.  The assumption is that your guns will all be able to fire in a front arc. 

[SKEETERGOD]

So you want a wheeled pillbox... Putting 4 big shootas and the kill kannon on a BW tells me one of two things.
A: your not going to move so you can shoot the KK and the BSs
B: your only moving six, thus able to fire ONE weapon that will more than likely be the KK. The points you paid would be agaist IG.

If you realy have to add in big shootas, just add one. I prefere the grot turrent that comes with the kit, but the spotter commander kit works good too.

The reason to only take one is so you are wasting the least amount of points. If your KK gets blown off, then the next shot should get your BS, either way having a weapon makes it harder for your opponent to get a destroyed result on your BW

[DropFall]

To answer your question about the Kill Kannon issue, the GW Battlewagon upgrade sprue has a Kill Kannon on the sprue, and it goes where that oversized Kannon usually goes.
As a general rule of thumb I tend to make Kill Kannon's the same size as IG Battlecannons, and that stupidly oversized Kannon is close to that size to begin with, just reinforce and bulk out the shaft of the barrel and you should be sweet.

[OD from TV]

I've gotta agree with DropFall on this, I wouldn't make it any larger than the Battlecannon on the Leman Russ.  There is a twofold reason, 1: we have a basis of comparison as they are very similar stat-wise, 2 you can easily trade for one as the standard Leman Russ pattern isn't modeled too often (well it doesn't seem to out here, see a lot of the Exterminator, Nova and Punisher variety, but this may be one of the oddities of my area).

If you want to go bigger then you run the 'risk' of people misinterpreting and believing you are using the Forgeworld rules for a Supakannon Battlewagon (which is a most impressive weapon, but not worth it in my opinion).

If you realy have to add in big shootas, just add one. I prefere the grot turrent that comes with the kit, but the spotter commander kit works good too.

The reason to only take one is so you are wasting the least amount of points. If your KK gets blown off, then the next shot should get your BS, either way having a weapon makes it harder for your opponent to get a destroyed result on your BW

Skeetergod in your post you state that more than one Big Shoota is a waste, and frankly I have to disagree.  I usually use 2-3 Big Shootas on my non-transport Battlewagons (and switch from Kannon to KillKannon), and I find that the Dakka helps.  Yes you have to be stationary to let everything rip, and while you are on the move it may seem a bit pointless, but the best reason for Big Shootas you've already pointed out, they are essentially wounds for your Wagon.

Now I can only speak from my experience, and in that experience I have noticed that I end up on the receiving end of a lot of Weapon Destroyed Results (to be honest I'd say a disproportional amount of Weapon Destroyed results).  Lets say for example you have a Wagon with just a Killkannon and your opponent gets 3 Weapon Destroyed results in a row (it happens!).  First your tank looses its gun, then its Immobilized, then its wrecked.  Your Wagon is officially dead.  But if you happened to have the spare points (a couple cheaper then 2 Ork Boyz) to grab 2 Big Shootas that Wagon could at least still Tankshock and Ram (and bulldoze if it has a Deffrolla).

Now I admit fully that it is my jammy luck to receive a lot of Weapon Destroyed rolls, and as such my opinion is tainted.  It's a 1 in 6 chance, and the laws of averages say that you'll receive just as many Weapon Destroyed as Shaken or Stunned (or the other 3).  But as I already said if you have the points lying about for a couple Big Shootas, and you already have your bases covered with maxed Boyz units, I can't think of a better expenditure of points.  Well maybe Ammo Runts for a SAG Mek or Flash Gitz, but I think they're worth the points.

Peace
~OD

[SKEETERGOD]

LOL, I seem to get the disproportionate amount of immobalized results...

That is why I take the grot riggers and the extra armor so I can keep moving. Rarely do all the weapons on my BW get shot off before it gets destroyed.

On my death roller BWs I take 2 big shootas and on my rolling cover I take a kill kannon and 1 big shoota.
Of course they all have red paint
                                                   

The point being that if it is an assault BW then it needs the minimum weapons only for the weapon destroyed results, as OD said they are like wounds, as it will not be shooting. Conversely, if it is a fire plateform then max out the weapons and do not give it the roller.

Of course if your mek with KFF is riding you may not need the weapons or the grots, but the first time you don't take them....