Skaven Doomwheel

My Doomwheel is coming along nicely. I was always attracted to Skaven because of models like this one. It's steampunk. And the Skaven, as a unique race to warhammer, benfit greatly from that type of esthetic.  So of course it was an auto include when I first started building the army. Problem was, I had no idea how to use it. I didn't know what it's role was in the army. I just knew it had three cannons and random attacks and random movement distance. 

Set-up is very important for this model as it does not have an all comers profile, it's strengths lie in taking out specific targets, and therefore must be used as a defensive counter to the enemies more elite units . The wheel has two possible targets it favours. Monstrous creatures and small blocks of T3 infantry. The multiple wounds from its 3 warplightning shots are tailor made for monsters. If that type of model isn't present then small blocks of infantry are also a nice target. It has a small front profile to reduce incoming hits and can do 6-7 wounds against low toughness models with its random attacks and impact hits. Keeping the model back during deployment and countering one of these two troop types is important for the models success.  Skaven generally have more units to place then most armies so it usually isn't a problem placing it last, and the flank becomes a natural choice for deployment because you can generally find one its two favorite targets there. It's also easier to manage it's distance from the rest of the Skaven army, or the enemies forces, when placed on the flank. Position is critical because it fires at the clost target friend or foe, so compensating for it's random movement becomes easier when I can keep it arms length from my own models. 

You have to keep expectations low when you push this unit forward, it's Skaven, and Skaven can be unreliable, but if you play the percentages and give it targets it can have success against then your playing it the right way.