Tomb Scorpions?

[ZealousJ]

Simple question really.

Does anyone get much use out of tomb scorpions?

It seems that as Death lacks long ranged shooting they'd make decent 'snipers' or at least harassers. Does anyone have any experience using them? Would it generally be considered acceptable to use them in mixed death lists?

Cheers

[Kamose]

Tomb Scorpions are do make decent war machine and backfield hunters.  Placing them 6" from an enemy unit makes for a relatively easy charge.  I've found that you really want more than 1 in the unit.  They only have 3 attacks (2 claw, 1 tail) and that's not enough to really hurt something the turn they show up since they tend to miss a lot.

[Countmoore]

I was looking into the possibility of using them in a Nagash list as a possible counter to the Rukk as they can wait a turn and try to take out the boss. If nothing else the threat of them will force that player to a) leave bodies behind, b) deploy differently thereby throwing off their game play or c) loss the Rukk turn two. 

I would also suggest using a pair of them and the rerolls of 1s to hit for Nagash will be very useful. They could even take a dambed test as they have the wounds to absorbe the wounds. 

[Rob Hawkins]

When using the scorpions to neutralize a war machine, have them charge and attack the CREW, not the machine.  According to the FAQ, the crew and machine are treated as two separate units and need to be targeted separately.  With the Scorpion's attacks inflicting multiple wounds, you only need to succeed with one attack to score 3 damage and kill off all three crew. The machine is always harder to kill, but without a crew it's useless.

I have one scorpion, and it was instrumental in neutralizing my opponent's hell cannon.

When fielding 2 or 3 scorpions, I'd be tempted to field them as separate units.  Check this:  If you have all three in a single unit, and surface them in position to charge a war machine, if you fail the charge roll ALL THREE can't charge.  But, if you surface three separate scorpions, they each get a charge roll, so you have a chance of getting at least one or 2 into combat.  You also have the opportunity to go after multiple targets.

The drawback to that is, you'll only attack with one scorpion and then the opponent has an opportunity to kill the other one(s) before they attack.

[Mengel Miniatures]

They work great as distractions or late game objective stealers. Mine hasn't ever done much in my games, but when I pop it up behind enemy lines it forces them to divert some resources to deal with it. I couple it with a unit of Sepulchral Stalkers. Together they can usually tarpit a unit or steal an objective.

[Solaris]

I find that in most cases, it is more effective to simply add another unit to your main army than it is to take Scorpions. However, they do bring tactical options that you don't get elsewhere in a Death army, and the 6" means that they are useful in the turn they pop up, unlike the Stalkers. I also bring them in separate units, to ensure that I succeed at least one charge roll. They typically attack something weak in the back line, so I'm not particularly afraid of return damage between my pile ins.