Annihilators

[Colzerino]

Every tournament list that I have seen with Annihilators uses the Grandhammer version. I understand that the weapons are less damage, rend and to wound by one a piece, but with sixty points less cost and one better Save, I was wondering if anyone has had any joy with them? They still do the same mortal wounds right?

[Dogmantra]

I think the main reason you see Grandhammers more often is because they have a much clearer singular role - drop down, charge, and annihilate a target. Regular annihilators lack the punch to drop and one shot so are often overlooked.

I've had luck with them though, they're good to cripple a unit or wipe a weaker unit and then act as a roadblock with their absurd 2+ save. The big downside is that while they can weather a lot of normal attacks, if your opponent has even moderate mortal wound output they are extremely fragile. That doesn't matter so much for the grandhammers since you're probably bringing them exclusively for offensive power, but the tankiness of the shield annihilators is a big selling point.

Overall, they're good but not really a top tier pick so they get overlooked in favour of other options. Definitely worth trying out and annihilator focused lists (either hammers or shields) are some of the most fun stormcast lists I've played.

[RocketPropelledGrenade]

Dogmantra has it absolutely right--it's not about the stats, it's about the role they play in a game. If a warscroll's stats don't form a cohesive whole that does something useful, that warscroll will not see popularity in tournaments. Imagine a slow unit with a decent ranged attack and a decent melee attack at a mid-tier points value--say 130 for 10 1 wound models. Something like Arkanauts in KO, but with better attacks all around in exchange for a slight points hike, Sound good to you? Most people would rather ditch the ranged attack for the speed to get into melee or the melee attack for better ranged output, because in most games they won't be able to effectively leverage both. Even Arkanauts, a close analogy, only work at their speed because they can fly on the boats and cheat.

Common rolls include screens (also commonly called chaff) to block enemy movement, deck chair sitters or objective holders to just lockdown objectives with bodies, hammers to smash enemy units, anvils to survive and block hammers, support to buff or debuff other units, and mobility pieces for battle tactics and grabbing distant objectives at the right moment. Good units will do at least one of these things, and in a tournament-winning list (or any list that aspires in that direction), many units will pull at least double duty. Shield Annihilators, unfortunately, are not good hammers due to the reduced damage, mediocre anvils due to low wounds and lack of mortal wound protection, and have terrible mobility once they deepstrike. They also don't buff anything else--in fact, it's the opposite, with them frequently requiring a Lord-Imperitant as an additional unit to derive value. So basically, every role they could do is done better by another unit (such as Grandhammer Annihilators, or even entirely different options like Dracoth cav, Aetherwings, etc).

This isn't to say you should never play Shield Annihilators or feel bad for liking them. They are cool! I love 'em, and wish they had a role in competitive play. But they mostly don't, so just know what you're getting into.

[Colzerino]

Thanks for the useful responses. I've played other wargames competitively so I'm familiar with the roles you discuss, but am INCREDIBLY green at Sigmar (and by extension Sigmar) so useful to hear that as a perspective applied to this unit. I guess the role I was imagining for them was more as a deep striking flank harrier. Like something that you drop on a flank objective to clear it and stay there needing dealing with. Takes a good bit of shifting (unless the opponent have ranged/mobile mortal output ofc which are a problem in this hypothetical example). At 180 they are about the same as a chariot which probably does a similar job - maybe a little less tanky but obviously a lot more mobile.

[Dogmantra]

Yeah the Chariot probably does what you want it to do better. 15 pts cheaper, you save on the Imperatant too. 3+ save rather than 2+ hurts a bit but is probably on the whole made up for with 12 wounds instead of 9, and its mortal wound output doesn't diminish as it loses wounds, unlike Annihilators. The big downside is that it can't issue itself commands, but there are ways around that.

The issue with deep striking flank harrier is that they are only 3 models so incredibly easy to outnumber.

[JackStreicher]

Imo there’s nothing to add to the responses up to this point except for a summary tldr:

- Grand Hammers have a clear role -> jump in and smash

- Shield Annihalators suffer from a lack of rend and they die to even a few mortal wounds. Their role as tank is too easily compromised.

- They’re too few to contest objectives (so they have to kill anything that contests, which Grand Hammers are better suited for)

———

Overall the discussion is interesting since I still have an unbuilt box of Annihalators and I tried to reason with myself if it males sense to build the shield version (I like the style)

[Colzerino]

Thanks everyone. Yes. This all makes sense. I have got 6 annihilators off ebay but they are the dominion ones I think which come with only the shields and not the grandhammers. Might investigate conversions or might use the bodies to convert into characters (vex banners dudes seem purty fun)...

[Colzerino]

Okay then. Acceptable conversion? Since you’ve all talked me round. 

[Colzerino]

Wreathed in flames, from on high they strike down like meteorites and ******.