Yep, like the title says, I would like to hear people's opinion's on the dwarf ballista.
Pros, cons, any interesting anecdotes, tactical suggestions, et cetera.

Thanks.

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Backlog reduction Oath Participant

No, not worth taking in competive play because there are to much shadow lords and the scatter. But if you can roll double 6 you can kill a hero or monster with one shot but that chance is not very large. Also if your emeny doesn't have the shadow lord I still think they are not worth it. You must first roll 4+ and then a 6 to hit the target you want. But with great luck you can get some kill with it. For the point you can almost take 7 dwarf warriors. Much better uses for them.

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"There are only 4 things you need in life: Lasagna, beer, a girlfriend and of course a gondor army."

I've played against a ballista only once but have considered using them multiple times, he used the ballista to open up bottlenecks and it worked quite well, however the fact that you could have a RoTn and 4 rangers or a dwarf shieldbearer for the same cost always makes me reconsider the purchase..

Are Dwarf Ballista worth taking? Well, in a word, no.

hero of gondor is right.

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"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings

I've used them twice and had success with them both times. In the first game I crippled a Balrog so that Gimli and co. Could finish him off. In the second, I killed a Cave Troll and a scad of goblins.

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Respectfully,
Jonathan

Do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly

Battle Companies

Like any other model the answer depends on what you are facing. Just taking one can force an opponent to hide his best hero, even Balrogs need to fear it! I've taken one to the doubles and my mate at singles, its surprising how they can neutralise an enemy hero without even firing a shot. Take an engineer captain as well and all your opponents will fear it.

A enigineer captain with balista is almost 140 points... That is almost the same cost as durin. And still you need a 4 to hit a 6 to hit and a 4 to wound. Against a balrog( Who actually takes him??) Rest needs 3 to wound of multiple wound models. but every multiple wound model that is used in tournaments has fate beside the spider queen.

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"There are only 4 things you need in life: Lasagna, beer, a girlfriend and of course a gondor army."

I know, but I am taking fact here and not just an opinion, number crunching or theory. As said in my post, you don't even have to fire it to effect the battle.

That was my experience too, Hith. My opponents wasted a lot of time and were on the back foot for most of the game because they were trying to avoid getting shot up by my ballista.

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Respectfully,
Jonathan

Do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly

Battle Companies

If you want to use your ballista and your enemy does have the Shadow Lord, you cold always use Floi Stonehand to neutrallise his special rule.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

In 500pts I've learned not to bother with them due to their point cost and needing numbers (of warriors) to give my opponent something to fight against.

In higher point games, 750pts+, I've fielded them singly and in pairs. With various results. As stated before, understand what you are facing...understand what has to be rolled to make the ballista effective and in that way you can decide if taking one is worth the points spenditure. The main reason I have taken a ballista is that it forces your opponent to take it in account in every move. Make sure you have at least 3 crew members, that way you can move it around the battlefield when you need to at 5" (pts wise it adds 8pts to the ballista). They will either: dedicate troops to take it out, holding back till the dwarves engage in H-t-H, or spreading out so that the 6" scatter doesn't kill anyone of their troops. Hero's and Hero Caster can negate the benefits of having a ballista..but..it will take them a few turns to do so. Giving you time to secure defensible areas or even setting up to take out said Hero's.

Be ready to lose it early on. Either your opponent will have sent enough force to neutralize it or whittle the crew down to 1...again neutralizing it. If you do take one..or two..make sure you have a screen of warriors handy for the pesky enemy units sent to tackle it.

For me, I like to change up what I bring and to have fun when I play. Sometimes that means enjoying the randomness of a scatter dice roll or "seeing" your enemy flying through the air at the business end of a stone bullet!!

Best of luck -Scar

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Free speech carries with it some freedom to listen. -B.M.

did someone say dwarven shieldbearer, are there profiles for them in SBG, can you please send them?

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Ours is the fury!

Well i find that all Siege Engines, from Catapults and Demo Charges to Ballistas and Trebuchets are really only for games that involve Siege warfare or bigger forces (though WoTR has taken over that). Essentially the Ballista is best for either battering Trolls / Heroes if you are lucky or battering your enemies Siege kit.

In a normal 500-750 point game i would say no, just take the Dwarf Warriors or Rangers instead. In a 1000pt + game then maybe one or two but even then they are not that great compared to the same number of Warriors.

'FireKnife'

I just played against dwarf ballista, they splatted my werewolves and many others before they were eventually destroyed by Buhrdur.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

But this topic is for SBG...

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/conte ... whiteDwarf
I think they're in the "Reinforcements" pdf section. They're pretty good.

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"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesnt the dwarf ballista have a 3" scatter?

can you please post it, my old account doesn't work anymore, and the e-mail adress i don't have used for that is defect(one of my PCs has problems with internet)

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Ours is the fury!

I believe that is illegal.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

ow, not nice
doesn't matter, they just have brought back the Computer

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Ours is the fury!