Stupid question: Steam Trunk w/Rocket Launcher

[Davos]

Is the steam trunk allowed to use the attack actions from equipment upgrades?  As written currently, I would argue yes.  However, a totem getting a Sh6, 2/3/4, with Crit strike seems a LITTLE to strong.

That being said, I'm totally gonna keep abusing it until Wyrd makes me stop

[Adran]

I can't see any reason why not.

That still doesn't make it the strongest totem in the game (I think Chompy, Banasuva and Huggy are arguing over that)

[Davos]

2 minutes ago, Adran said:

I can't see any reason why not.

That still doesn't make it the strongest totem in the game (I think Chompy, Banasuva and Huggy are arguing over that)

Of course, but its cute at least  I caught my opponent last night out with it a couple times.  Little buddy steamy killed a flesh construct and blinged McPosionFace for a coupe damage

[Nikodemus]

Just so you know, Shenlong's totems (both of them) can, as a bonus action, move 6" and punch you with 1" range stat5 vs Df, 1/3/5 + Stagger. And they reverse + and - modifiers, so probably straight or positive to damage and bypasses Manipulative and Serene Countenance. It's not a charge so bypasses most anti-charge tech too.

Then they punch you twice range 1" stat4 vs Df, 1/1/2 +1 Distract.

Oh and they may or may not have Chi which raises their duel total by 2. All that requires Shenlong to, wait for it, activate. And survive. So long as Shenlong has activated once and is alive, that can happen.

This is 3e. Totems are pretty good

[Erorior]

On 5/17/2019 at 5:49 PM, Adran said:

I can't see any reason why not.

That still doesn't make it the strongest totem in the game (I think Chompy, Banasuva and Huggy are arguing over that)

Agreed. The trunk (or Von Schill) also need to consistently renew the Rocket launcher. It is a nice surprise to be sure (and the trunk playing tank is super cute) but I've yet to feel that it would be too good. 

[katadder]

think my trunk has been used more as a suicide bomb with minefield adding to explosive demise

[Grim]

On 6/4/2019 at 3:27 AM, katadder said:

think my trunk has been used more as a suicide bomb with minefield adding to explosive demise

Does the trunk's Demise (Explosive +2) do 2 damage or 4 damage (The description on the the ability reads "models within  pulse of 2 suffer +2 damage.)

[Adran]

1 hour ago, Grim said:

Does the trunk's Demise (Explosive +2) do 2 damage or 4 damage (The description on the the ability reads "models within  pulse of 2 suffer +2 damage.)

2 damage.

That +2 ties into the Explosive +2, so if you combined it with an ability that gave it Explosive +1 it would have explosive +3 and do +3 damage. If it was just Explosive then it wouldn't combine with another explosive ability , you would just count one of them, and if it just said it did 2 damage, then you wouldn't increase it based on the value of the explosive condition (after all explosive +3 doesn't do 3 area...)

[Da Git]

The trunk does 2 damage to enemy models within the pulse 2 when killed. If it had the Land Mines upgrade attached, it would combine the two (as the ability is +2) to do 4 damage (still within pulse 2, that doesn't change). Nasty!

[Wyamphri]

I did that with Drache Trooper, 4 damage plus 2 burning seemed like a good bomb to throw at my opponent 😛

[Barmution]

Add to that the fact that you can move Trunky ~15" (using place) and detonate him with two actions from von Schill wo Trunky even starting von Schill's activation w the Land Mines upgrade on him and it's actually a pretty flexible and high powered AoE with few real counters.

Goes like this:

1. Von Schill activates, does the Load Up w crow trigger on Trunky.
2. Trunky pushes 2", attaches Rocket Boots, places within 6" and discards a card to swap the Boots for Land Mines.
3. Von Schill charges Trunky who relents, hits him w Clockwork Arm and the Pull trigger. Trunky takes 1 damage and is placed within 5".
4. Another unit with LoS to Trunky gets a free shot at Trunky to kill him and trigger his demise.

Ideally Trunky is at 2 health before this chain of events starts or you'll have to fire with a model in step 4 that has easy access to 4 damage on a shooting attack (Rusty Alice comes to mind), or you could add a pre step with attaching an upgrade via Load Up w crow trigger to either a Librarian or Hannah within 6" (2" push + 4" range) of Trunky who could then use Siphon Power to deal 1 to him when using the action on the upgrade.

Fun times!

[katadder]

I liked it when my opponent put up a hazardous aura and I just drove the steam trunk around in it to blow up  

[cbtb11235813]

On 7/29/2019 at 6:48 AM, Barmution said:

Add to that the fact that you can move Trunky ~15" (using place) and detonate him with two actions from von Schill wo Trunky even starting von Schill's activation w the Land Mines upgrade on him and it's actually a pretty flexible and high powered AoE with few real counters.

Goes like this:

1. Von Schill activates, does the Load Up w crow trigger on Trunky.
2. Trunky pushes 2", attaches Rocket Boots, places within 6" and discards a card to swap the Boots for Land Mines.
3. Von Schill charges Trunky who relents, hits him w Clockwork Arm and the Pull trigger. Trunky takes 1 damage and is placed within 5".
4. Another unit with LoS to Trunky gets a free shot at Trunky to kill him and trigger his demise.

Ideally Trunky is at 2 health before this chain of events starts or you'll have to fire with a model in step 4 that has easy access to 4 damage on a shooting attack (Rusty Alice comes to mind), or you could add a pre step with attaching an upgrade via Load Up w crow trigger to either a Librarian or Hannah within 6" (2" push + 4" range) of Trunky who could then use Siphon Power to deal 1 to him when using the action on the upgrade.

Fun times!

My bias as a Ramos player may be showing, but that seems like an awful lot of work for 4 damage (granted, it is unresisted which is great). You need a 5, then a 7, then discard a card, then any . Oh and you need to have spent an AP beforehand, or a model that can hit for 4 damage? So in total up to 4 cheats to hit TN's and suits (which may require stones) 2 master AP and someone else's AP. Unless the trunk is going to explode onto at least 3 or 4 models, it seems like it would be better to just shoot the thing you would blow up on

[Barmution]

17 hours ago, cbtb11235813 said:

My bias as a Ramos player may be showing, but that seems like an awful lot of work for 4 damage (granted, it is unresisted which is great). You need a 5, then a 7, then discard a card, then any . Oh and you need to have spent an AP beforehand, or a model that can hit for 4 damage? So in total up to 4 cheats to hit TN's and suits (which may require stones) 2 master AP and someone else's AP. Unless the trunk is going to explode onto at least 3 or 4 models, it seems like it would be better to just shoot the thing you would blow up on

It's nothing to plan around but IMHO it's a strong option if the opportunity arises to say, kill off some squishy models that otherwise would be hard to get to (backfield Changelings, many totems, things that rely on either stealth, incorporeal or defensive triggers to stay alive). The main thing that makes it differ from Ramos' exploding constructs is that the game state is quite unpredictable for your opponent to read or plan against: Vs Ramos he knows that during Ramos' activation, if he is within range of either constructs or scrap markers then he's in danger of getting some pulses onto him. Vs von Schill there is literally nothing except Trunky being within 12-15" of something that indicates if this is coming.

What I described is the gist of the maneuver, there's plenty of other ways to pull off the killing Trunky part. And I personally don't think needing a 7 and 5 high cards and some specified suits or SS is a big price to pay for a 4 damage pulse situated basically wherever you need it. I don't think you could reliably get that much value for cards or actions with comparable use of plain shooting actions if you can guarantee at least 2 targets wo armor, esp. considering that the highest card in hand you need to pull this off is a 7.

Just remember that this will be a one time play per match. You're not looking to set it up, you're looking for your opponent to put himself into a position where you can hit a couple of squishy or damaged targets. In many cases it will catch people completely off guard and if they play around it then you've technically lost nothing since it requires almost 0 setup and only units on the board that you'd field anyway.

Will it win you games by itself? Probably not. But it's a potentially effective gotcha, a tool in your (explosive) toolbox. And it costs you nothing to field, so why not be aware that it is something that you can pull off unresisted with a 7 as your high card?