Have you seen this unit? Part 1

Redheaded stepchildren, all 40K armies have them. These are units that never get used mostly due to competition within the force organization slot, cost, or specialized use.  These are units that might function well in the small gaming communities, but are rarely seen in wider circles or tournaments. 

Muck like Ken Burns (documentary guy for those who don’t know) I want to look at these units and see, what they are, why they are not used, and hopefully how they could have/ should have been made appealing to gamers.

This might take some time and will span the 40K universe. So where to start? Well let’s go with the most popular and polarizing army, Space Marines. The first unit that jumps out at me is prevalent in every Marine codex, the Whirlwind.

The little war engine that could

This is essentially a mobile artillery piece on a Rhino chassis. It can deliver a strength 5 AP 4 ordnance barrage (large blast), or a strength 4 AP 5 ordnance barrage (large blast) that ignores cover. This can be done directly or indirectly with ranges of 12”-48”. It can move 6” and fire directly or hide and fire indirectly. It is also relatively cheap for all Marine chapters.

So why is this not taken by most Space Marine players? The first is the fact it is a heavy support choice. Every Marine book has great heavy support choices (Devastators, Long Fangs, Land Raiders, Predators). The Whirlwind cannot compete with the damage a Devastator squad, Predator or Land Raider can dish out.  The armor 11 on all sides also cannot compete with the front armor the Predator or the all around armor of the Land Raider.  There is also the transport ability of the Land Raider as well.

The majority of the heavy support choices all cost more than the standard Whirlwind, but that is not why the Whirlwind is usually passed over.  It looks to be due to its frailty and damage output.

How could this have been made to be a more appealing vehicle? The simple answer is always seems to be, “make it stronger”, but I disagree. I think that the Whirlwind should have been given the option to be taken as a squad.

As a squad the lowly armor 11 is mitigated a bit. The damage potential of the tank is also increased. It would not be game shattering either. Is a squad of Imperial Guard Griffons are game breaking? They are very similar to the Whirlwind and can be run 1-3 in a heavy slot. The option to run two or three Whirlwinds as one heavy support slot would be much more appealing than it is now.

So why wasn’t this done? Was it some long standing G.W. rule, since all Whirlwinds are single they all will be single. Is it some Marine fluff that says they never to be used as a squad? Why is a strength 5 template better then three strength 5 templates? Who knows?

I would think they could sell more of these models if there was a squad option.  I also think they might be more prevalent on the tabletops if they could be taken as a squad. In the world of 5^th edition where vehicles are tougher and quantity of wounds caused is better than quality, who wouldn’t want to throw two or three strength 5 large blasts at an opponent?  

So until the next Marine codex is released I think the Whirlwind will stay where it is, in boxes on store shelves.