Steelhead Cannon Crew

99% of this website is about Mark 3 (mk3), which is the previous edition of the game (2016 to 2022). The reasons for this are explained here. 1% of the website is about Mark 4 (mk4), but only in regards to which mk3 models are useable in mk4 Prime and which are mk4 Unlimited. See Legacy Armies for more detail.

Steelhead Cannon Crew Mercenary Steelhead Weapon Crew Unit

Prime This model is available in one Prime Army, Soldiers of Fortune. It can also be used in the Unlimited game mode. You can view the other Mk3 models that made it into a Legacy Army at this page. Note that the rest of this page is about the model's Mark III rules.

As the Steelhead Mercenary Company evolved into a larger outfit, capable of fielding full armies for hire, it saw the need to develop an artillery division. This cannon is the mainstay Steelhead artillery weapon, providing blasts of concussive firepower to complement withering volleys of riflemen and the charge of halberdiers. The heavy explosive charge packed into cannon ordnance is quite capable of knocking anyone caught in the blast to the ground, disrupting the formations of advancing soldiers and leaving even those who survive its lacerating shrapnel shaken.

Basic Info

Steelhead Cannon Crew
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Gunner / Grunts BASE Large / Small SPD 2 / 4 STR 6 MAT 5 RAT 5 M.A. N/A DEF 13 ARM 13 CMD 5 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 1 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA 2 UNIT SIZE 1 Gunner 2 Grunts COST 6 N/A N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Mercenary - This unit will work for Crucible Guard, Cryx, Cygnar, Khador, and the Protectorate.

Abilities

• Gunner
  • Officer
  • Man-Sized - This model is treated as a small-based model and occupies the space from the bottom of its base to a height of 1.75".
  • Mobile Artillery - When this model advances as part of its Normal Movement, it gains +1" movement for each Grunt in this unit within 2" of it at the start of its advance.
  • Take Up - If this model is destroyed, you can choose a Grunt in this unit within 1" of it to be destroyed instead. Effects on this model expire, and it gains the effects on the chosen Grunt. Remove the Grunt from the table instead of this model. This model has the same number of unmarked damage boxes as the chosen Grunt.

• Grunts
  • None

Weapons

• Gunner
  • Cannon - 14" range, 3" AOE, POW 14 ranged attack
    • Brutal Damage - On a direct hit, gain an additional die on this weapon's damage rolls against the target directly hit.
    • Quake - On a direct hit against an enemy model, all models hit are knocked down.
  • Sword - 0.5" reach, POW 3, P+S 9 melee attack

• Grunts
  • Sword

Theme Forces

• Mercenary
  • Operating Theater (Only if a Cephalyx Dominator is attached)
  • Soldiers of Fortune
  • The Kingmaker's Army. Steelhead Cannon Crew gain Feign Death in this theme.

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this unit in the Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Crosse2 is leading the army.
  • Furthermore, Mercenaries can be hired by other Factions. Normally those Factions' themes will have a limit on how many models they can hire. Refer to #Other Theme Forces, below.

Thoughts on the Steelhead Cannon Crew

Steelhead Cannon Crew in a nutshell

In a nutshell? It's a cannon - it does what it says on the tin.

The Cannon Crew is one of the scarier pieces in the Steelhead theme with both Brutal Damage and Knockdown on direct hits. It also has modest anti-infantry utility with a POW 7 blast.

Combos & Synergies

• Played in Soldiers of Fortune (the Steelhead theme) with Mark the Target on solos it gets more accurate.
• Captain Damiano's Money Shot makes its shot much more powerful and highly accurate - even more so with Deadeye.
• The Steelhead Gunner can grant an additional damage dice against huge bases allowing 4 dice damage. He also adds Veteran Leader to help with the low RAT.
• The Steelhead Arcanist grants it magic weapon and deals with clouds.
• Durgen Madhammer appreciates this piece more than most thanks to his feat as 2 of these will have 4 or even 5 dice damage on his feat turn should they hit directly.
• General Ossrum can cast Fire For Effect on the piece, which could potentially be a 5 dice POW 14 shot against a huge base when you pile on Siege Tactics.
• Sergeant Nicolas Verendrye can bring back their grunts.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• Range 14 is fairly low and incoming fire has right of way
• RAT 5 is likely to miss anything smaller than a heavy without a buff.

Tricks & Tips

• Bulldoze something easy to hit with your cavalry near a high DEF model, shoot it with the cannon and knock down the high DEF target.
• Having a decent range, quake and high accuracy (in Soldiers of Fortune) the cannon can be the first step in setting up assassinations.
• Mobile Artillery requires the crew to be within 2". The Ironhead can place the cannon 2". Use this to get some extra threat distance!

Other

Trivia

• Released 2019.03

Other Theme Forces

Cryx (Edit)

• Black Industries
• Dark Host
• The Ghost Fleet
• Scourge of the Broken Coast

Cygnar (Edit)

• Gravediggers
• Heavy Metal
• Sons of the Tempest
• Storm Division

Khador (Edit)

• Armored Korps
• Jaws of the Wolf
• Legion of Steel
• Winter Guard Kommand

Protectorate of Menoth (Edit)

• Exemplar Interdiction
• Guardians of the Temple
• The Creator's Might
• The Faithful Masses

Crucible Guard (Edit)

• Magnum Opus

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Officer      (Edit) Even if they're not on the Officer's card, an Officer can give (and benefit from) any non-standard orders that are on the unit's card (such as Shield Wall). Refer main rulebook. A Ranking Officer can't do this, though. When the Officer dies, the Leader model becomes the new Unit Commander (you don't get to choose). But if your unit doesn't include a Leader model, then you do get to choose any of the remaining models to be the new Unit Commander. You don't swap the model, but it may be worth putting a token down so you can tell that grunt apart.

Rules Clarification : Man-Sized      (Edit) Despite being mounted on a large base, the model counts as a small-base for any and every rule. (Infernal Ruling) This includes Ranking Officers being able to join them. (Infernal Ruling) This includes being able to take them as a Requistion Option (if you have a Man-Sized solo in a theme that allows free solos). (Locked Thread) This includes abilities that only work vs small-based models (such as Consume, Trampling over them, etc). Those work just fine vs Man-Sized models. When drawing LOS it blocks LOS across the full width of its base (some players think you should swap it for a small proxy base when trying to draw LOS past the edge of its base ... don't do that). Since it only counts as a small-based model, it only blocks LOS to other small-based models. You can see medium and larger bases through it just fine.

Rules Clarification : Mobile Artillery - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Take Up      (Edit) If you use Take Up the attacking model cannot trigger anything that needs the attacker to "Destroy" a model (such as Alpha Hunter, Killing Spree, Berserk, etc). Although the model that was attacked reached the Destroyed step of the timing sequence, Take Up negates that entirely. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Brutal Damage and/or Brutal Shot     (Edit) Brutal Damage/Shot only applies to the damage vs the model directly hit. It does not affect blast damage.

Rules Clarification : Quake      (Edit) If the weapon misses, then it will deviate and do blast damage as per a normal AOE (assuming it has a POW to begin with). Other effects of the attack will still occur (such as the Mitigator's auto-point of damage to all models hit). Knockdown (Edit) - Remember, knockdown only prevents what it says it does. Refer to the Knockdown page for a recap of what a model can/can't do.