Stone Throwers
Stone throwers are destructive weapons that lob large rocks into the air, sending them crashing down into the enemy ranks. The largest stone throwers can hurl a projectile big enough to flatten monsters or knock down city walls.
Unless otherwise specified, a stone thrower has the following profile.
Range 12-60″, Strength 3 (9), Multiple wounds d6
Firing a stone thrower
To fire a stone thrower, take the small round 3″ template and place it anywhere with the central hole within the war machines line of sight, outside the stone thrower’s minimum range and within it maximum range.
The template cannot be place over friendly models, or enemy models from a unit that is engaged in combat, as the crew refuse to deliberately target their allies (although the shot might well go wide and hit friends by mistake)
If placed over an enemy unit the hold in the middle of the template must be placed over a single model.
Scatter
Once the template has been placed, roll for scatter using the scatter dice and an artillery dice. If a misfire is rolled on the artillery dice, something has gone wrong – roll on the stone thrower misfire table to discover what that is. Regardless of the result rolled, the stone throwers does not shoot this turn.
Assuming that you didn’t roll a misfire on the artillery dice, it’s now time to find out whether or not your shot was on target.
If a hit is rolled on the scatter dice, the shot has landed on target. In this case we ignore the number shown on the artillery dice, the his is all we need.
If an arrow is rolled, the shot has missed its original target and scatter off elsewhere. Move the template a distance in inches equal to the result on the artillery dice, in the direction shown on the scatter dice.
Damage
If a model is under the hold of the template it is automatically hit at the higher strength (9 normally). Only one model can ever take this hit.
Other models wholly or partially beneath the template avoid being clobbered by the main payload, but instead are showered by bits of loose rock and, after the payload has landed, fast moving chunks of battlefield. Such models are hit automatically at the stone throwers lower strength (3 normally).
The stone throwers multiple wounds (d6) special rule only applies to the high strength hit caused against the model under the templates central hole- unsaved wounds from the low strength hit are not multiplied. This make the stone thrower very good at disposing of enemy monster’s and other resilient models as well as dealing horrendous damage to massed ranks of enemy warriors.
Firing Indirectly
As a stone thrower lobs its shots in a high arc, it can be used to attack enemies that are hidden from its view. Such shots are inaccurate, as the stone throwers crew essentially have to guess where their foe lies, working form fragmented and often unreliable information provided by other warriors.
If you wish to fire indirectly, declare that you will do so before taking the stone throwers shot. An indirect shot does not require line of sight, but is otherwise treated as a normal shot and has the usual requirements with range.
An indirect shot is not as accurate as one where the crew can see their target. If an arrow is rolled on the scatter dice, resolve the scatter as normal. If however a hit is rolled on the scatter dice, the shot does not land on the target but merely scatters less – how much less depends greatly on the skill of the crew. You’ll notice the Hit! symbols has a small arrow at the top of it – this indicates the direction of scatter for an indirect shot – the distance travelled is equal to the score shown on the artillery dice minus the crew’s ballistic skill characteristic to a minimum of zero.
Otherwise the damage is worked out like any other shot.
Stone Thrower Misfire Chart
D6
1 = destroyed
2-3 = disabled – stone thrower suffers a wound – no armor save allowed. Can’t fire this turn or next turn
4-6 = may not shoot this turn