Yesterday Dernicus wrote about one of his new favorite units in 8th edition, Kastelan Robots. Today I’m going to walk through the crazy math on these things in our first Mathhammer Unit Focus: Kastelans. Their rules are in Index: Imperium 2.
Quick Rules Review
-Kastelans hit on 4’s. If they move they hit on 5’s.
-We’re assuming they are equipped with triple heavy phosphor guns.
-Their guns are S6, apply a -2 to saves, and are 1 damage.
-They can change protocols to shoot twice.
-Bellasaurius Cawl can let them reroll failed to hit rolls if they are within his aura.
Shooting
Alright so first up lets take a look at these bad boy’s base shooting attack. This is how each *individual* robot performs in terms of wounds:
| 2+ | 3+ | 4+ | 5+ | 6+ | |
| T3 | 1.875 | 2.5 | 3.125 | 3.75 | 3.75 |
| T4 | 1.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 3 | 3 |
| T5 | 1.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 3 | 3 |
| T6 | 1.125 | 1.5 | 1.875 | 2.25 | 2.25 |
| T7 | 0.75 | 1 | 1.25 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| T8 | 0.75 | 1 | 1.25 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
That’s 2 wounds for one robot against space marines…Ouch. That may not seem like a lot but remember that there’ll commonly be 4 robots in a unit. Here’s the quick math on a single model: 9shots*.5=4.5 hits *.66=3wounds*.66=2 unsaved wounds. I’m multiplying the 3 wounds by .66 because the 3+ save goes to a 5+ save and I’m looking for unsaved wounds as a success.
Now let’s take a look at 4 of these guys firing together:
| 2+ | 3+ | 4+ | 5+ | 6+ | |
| T3 | 7.5 | 10 | 12.5 | 15 | 15 |
| T4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 |
| T5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 |
| T6 | 4.5 | 6 | 7.5 | 9 | 9 |
| T7 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| T8 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Yeah that’s a lot of wounds from a single unit. Especially the 4 wounds on a knight. At ATC the best AdMech armies had 4 units of these things with a 36″ range. That’ll degrade a knight down to useless in a single turn on average.
Let’s take a look at 4 robots shooting but with Cawl’s re-rolling to hit:
| 2+ | 3+ | 4+ | 5+ | 6+ | |
| T3 | 11.25 | 15 | 18.75 | 22.5 | 22.5 |
| T4 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 18 |
| T5 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 18 |
| T6 | 6.75 | 9 | 11.25 | 13.5 | 13.5 |
| T7 | 4.5 | 6 | 7.5 | 9 | 9 |
| T8 | 4.5 | 6 | 7.5 | 9 | 9 |
Did you say you had conscript problems? There’s 22-23 of them gone in a single shooting attack. If you brought 4 units of these you’ve got a good chance of wiping 2 50 man blobs off the board.
The Kicker
Wait didn’t I say earlier that they could shoot twice if I put them in the right protocol? Why yes, yes I did. Here’s the full fury of a double shooting Kastelan unit with 4 robots and Cawl’s re-rolling:
| 2+ | 3+ | 4+ | 5+ | 6+ | |
| T3 | 22.5 | 30 | 37.5 | 45 | 45 |
| T4 | 18 | 24 | 30 | 36 | 36 |
| T5 | 18 | 24 | 30 | 36 | 36 |
| T6 | 13.5 | 18 | 22.5 | 27 | 27 |
| T7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 18 |
| T8 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 18 |
Facing knights? Yeah each unit degrades a knight, two units should give you a decent chance of killing one. Facing conscripts? Almost a whole unit gone each shooting phase per unit. Did you say Brimstone Horrors? Yeah there goes a bunch.
Analysis / Tactics
I think we’ve proven Kastelans can put out a lot of damage in the shooting phase. They are high toughness, with 6 wounds each. Those can be repaired by Cawl or a Datasmith making it a nightmare for your opponent if they fail to kill off a whole robot. Also, the 6 wounds means if your opponent is attacking with high damage weapons one robot could soak up two lascannon shots that both roll 5’s giving you that extra damage mitigation.
Another added benefit from these guys is that on a 6+ invulnerable in shooting the opponent takes a mortal wound. Using the Aegis protocol to give them a +1 to this seems to make their invulnerable save a 4+ dishing out mortal wounds on a 5+. Not bad. Make sure to keep a datasmith nearby though as you’ll need one to not only repair the wounded Kastelan but also change protocols so they can shoot twice.
In short these guys put out a ton of damage in shooting and are very difficult to kill at range. They’re a great addition to any Imperium army that needs a small fire base as long as they can be protected from melee. This is a tanky, shooting unit, don’t let it get wasted by allowing your opponent to charge them or consolidate into them!
If you’re looking for new Kastelans you can find them online at Amazon or you can find their rules in Index: Imperium 2. Let us know what units we should focus on next by emailing us at [email protected]!