Rough Guide to Steel Legion Units and What They Do (or Don't)

[Logliu]

This guide is mainly for the lost who don't know what units do because the either do not know Panzer Corps or they don't know Warhammer 40k. As in the title it is rough and not be all ends all, but it should give you a good idea of what unit does what.



Steel Legion
-Steel Legion units focus on ranged combat. If an enemy units gets adjacted to them and engage in melee you will lose out. The initiative of the units is usually higher than orks, but lower than space marines. Most of your fighting power will be in your vehicles, tank and artillery. You have access to the most powerful units in the game: titans.

-Infantry
-Best used in cities or prepared positions infantry are a necessity, if only to follow after your titans and take points they cannot. While the Steel Legion's Infantry is not the best, they are cheap and almost always handy.

-Steel Legion Company Command
-A useful Unit that you should have at least one of in pure Steel Legion.
-It has similar firepower at range compared to Steel Legion Infantry, but also comes with a powerful melee attack.
-It tends to take more losses as Orks are also strong in the melee phase, but if used as a finisher this problem goes away.

-Steel Legion Conscripts
-Cheap Infantry, overall slightly more durable than normal infantry but its combat power tends to degrade faster

-Steel Legion Infantry
-Bread and butter of Steel Legion infantry forces. Mediocre firepower but useful nevertheless.
-Decent Initiative.
-More effective per cost than any other available infantry to the Steel Legion pretty much

-Steel Legion Special Weapon Flamers
-A pure melee unit that cannot retaliate to enemy attacks if they don't enter melee.
-Good city fighters vs infantry

-Hive Mililtia w/ Autopistols
-More expensive than conscripts and worse in nearly every way. Also more expensive.

-Hive Mililtia w/ Autoguns
-Have better weapon damage than Conscripts, but worse accuracy makes the result roughly equivalent.
-More expense than conscripts and less durability means that if you absolutely can't buy regular infantry, conscripts are still a better idea.

-Ratling Snipers
-Squishier, faster, harder hitting and longer ranged than Steel Legion Infantry.
-Over twice the cost and cannot hit enemies adjacent to them.

-Steel Legion Rough Riders
-Horse cavalry, effective in melee range but squishy and best considered infantry scouts.

-Steel Legion Fire Support
-Useful unit that fires at enemies in range that engage adjacent allies. Effective against infantry.

-Steel Legion Mortar Support
-Similar to Fire Support in helping adjacent allies, but can also fire at enemies behind buildings or other terrain that blocks lines of sight.
-Cannot engage adjacent enemies with the Mortar.
-Same cost as Fire Support and same firepower, but better in city fights usually.

-Steel Legion Anti-Tank Support
-Good vs medium armor or lighter, useful on many of the defense missions
-Takes heavy casualties if not in good terrain even vs light armor. Should not engage heavy armor in most situations. Cannot touch gargants.

-Walkers
-Great scouts with high mobility. Both variants are armed with anti-tank weaponry and can take advantageous positions to engage easily. Steel Legion Walkers are only scouts though, and will die in prolonged fights if not pulled back.

-Sentinel
-Scout with anti-tank weapons. Very useful early campaign, but fragileness means that it should be phased out later on.

-Sentinel Armageddon pattern
-Heavier armored version of Sentinels.
-Faster, better aim and better armor means that there is no reason not to upgrade if you still have sentinels alive when these are unlocked.

-Vehicles
-Useful units that do almost everything but best used in a support role. Typically they cannot take the brunt of the fighting although they often play pivotal roles in it

-Tauros
-Fast fragile scout with a short ranged powerful weapon.
-Dies too fast to be much use in most cases but the terror property of the weapon can make it handy.

-Tauros Venator
-Ventilates enemy armor by putting holes in them.
-Power twin lascannons on a scout platform. Useful for engaging light armor or finishing off heavier forms of armor.
-Just as fragile as the Tauros

-Salamander Scout
-First form of armor you get
-Slightly slower than Tauros and slightly heavier armored
-Excellent for facing infantry threats, least if they lack rokkets.
-Always useful because of Fog of War. Go to cheap needsight-asap scout if you lost all your scout titans somehow...

-Salamander Command
-Same as normal salamanders, but with the leadership property and more expensive.
-Higher initiative also helps makes it worthwhile.

-Hydra
-Less Anti-Infantry firepower than salamanders
-Eats the Ork flyers for breakfast, then has seconds, and thirds...

-Hellhound
-Devastating vehicle that kills large amounts of infantry and hurts their moral.
-Effective vs light armor and sometimes medium armor. Try hitting the anti-infantry ones as Hellhounds will die to the anti-tank ones fairly easy.

-Bane Wolf
-Want a nastier Hellhound? Have a nastier Hellhound
-Shorter range, more effective vs infantry targets but worse vs vehicles.

-Devil Dog
-Anti-tank tank that scares the daylights out of the target.
-Most useful vs heavy armor with the main gun significantly better at killing armor compared to lascannons
-Still fragile enough that if should not engage heavier armor without a terrain advantage.

-Tanks
-The main fighting units you'll probably use. They range from Leman Russ medium/heavy armor to superheavies like the Baneblade or Shadowsword. They come with various arms for various jobs. Some specialize in anti-infantry duties, and some anti-tank combat. Using them effectively will be key to victory.

-Leman Russ
-Bog standard tank
-Low shot count means it won't kill infantry as fast as you'd like, but decent vs heavy infantry if no other option.
-Will engage light-medium armor favorably, but struggles vs heavy and superheavy foes

-Leman Russ (upgraded)
-Gains 2 Heavy Bolters that allow it to kill infantry at decent speed.
-Good vs everything, excellent vs nothing (except light armor, poor bastards)

-Leman Russ (armor upgrade)
-Significantly more armored than a standard Leman Russ, can survive the attentions of anti-tank enemies much better
-Still lacks fire power with only the battle cannon and lascannon, cheaper than the (upgraded) version though

-Leman Russ (dozer blade upgrade)
-Has the firepower of the (upgraded) version, but slightly less initiative. Is cheaper though.
-Dozer blade helps movement through difficult terrain. This can help ensure terrain advantage.

-Leman Russ (weapon upgrade)
-Replaces the 2 Heavy Bolters of (upgraded) and replaces them with a plasma cannon.
-Noticeably better vs all targets at a slight cost increase.
-Plasma cannon is shorter ranged than Heavy bolters

-Leman Russ Annilator
-Expensive when you first get them, but effective
-The 2 Lascannons are more effective than the battle cannon almost every time, less accuracy though
-Higher firepower than (upgraded) at a bit of a premium
-Go to anti-tank tank early campaign, but still has decent anti-infantry firepower

-Leman Russ Annilator (upgrade a)
-More expensive than the Annilator, but worth it every time
-Really high initiative lets it shoot first vs everything but space marines pretty much
-Has the dozer blade which can help movement and slightly tougher than Annilator

-Leman Russ Conqueror
-Honestly I'm not sure the point of this unit
-As expensive as the upgraded Leman Russ, with lower firepower and initiative
-May perform slightly better than (upgraded) vs heavy armor, but neither should really be engaging those targets

-Leman Russ Demolisher
-The demolisher cannon is very effective vs all targets, but only works at range 2
-Lack of Heavy Bolters not much of an issue because of the demolisher cannon's all around effectiveness

-Leman Russ Eradicator
-Again it’s all in the cannon, this time the nova cannon
-Good vs all armored targets, but not as good vs infantry as demolisher cannon
-Less finicky range than demolisher

-Leman Russ Executioner
-Bit of a middle ground between Eradicator and Demolisher
-Good vs all targets

-Leman Russ Exterminator
-Exchanges firepower for range compared to executioner
-The 2 autocannons are noticeably less effective vs medium and heavier armor

-Leman Russ Punisher
-Point at target, pull trigger, see if something lives
-Massacres infantry not in cover
-Terrible vs anything with skin thicker than a troll

-Leman Russ Vanquisher
-Incredibly good vs armor and longer than normal tank range
-Expensive end all anti-tank tank in the leman russ sized ones

-Destroyer
-Devastating tank destroyer
-Significantly cheaper than the Leman Russ Vanquisher with better anti-tank, at the cost of near all anti-infantry ability

-Destroyer (upgraded)
-Really high initiative on par with Annilator upgrade A and Vanquisher
-Even better anti-tank abilities than Destroyer for a near non-existent upgrade cost

-Thunderer
-Demolisher cannon on a stick
-Same cost as Leman Russ but higher initiative

-Thunderer (upgraded)
-Even higher initiative and slightly better accuracy

-Macharius
-Superheavy-lite
-More firepower than a Leman Russ with better durability
-Worse anti-tank, better anti-infantry

-Macharius Vanquisher
-Replaces the 2 Battle Cannons w/ 2 of the Leman Russ Vanquisher's cannon
-Much better anti-tank than the Macharius, with good anti-infantry secondary weapons

-Macharius Vulcan
-Replaces main cannons with a mega bolter
-Incredible anti-infantry firepower (out punishes the punisher)
-Decent anti-light armor

-Baneblade
-Superheavy tank
-Incredibly powerful main cannon
-Also has a demolisher cannon and 5 heavy bolters

-Baneblade (upgraded)
-Another heavy bolter, much higher initiative and higher accuracy

-Banehammer
-Superheavy tank
-Powerful tremor cannon, but its best vs medium armor
-2 lascannons and 6 heavy bolters round out the firepower

-Shadowsword
-Superheavy tank destroyer
-Volcano cannon is the end all of anti-tank firepower
-4 heavy bolters secondary weapons is subpar for superheavies

-Shadowsword (targetter upgrade)
-Increases the accuracy of the tank to 100%, With no terrain it will always hit
-Expensive, even for a superheavy tank

-Shadowsword (weapon upgrade)
-Instead of increasing the tanks accuracy a much better secondary armament is used
-4 lascannons and 8 heavy bolters let this thing kill all things very well
-Most expensive superheavy tank

-Stormsword
-Superheavy tank
-Only one gun, the main gun
-Main gun is mediocre, heavy armor reduction, but middling power
-Cheap for a superheavy, a poor man’s Shadowsword

-StormSword (upgraded)
-Gains a secondary armament for a price
-Secondary armament only really good vs infantry, although the 2 heavy flamers will slaughter them.
-Higher initiative

-Stormlord
-Superheavy tank
-Megabolter with 2 lascannons and 4 heavy bolters make this thing an anti infantry focused superheavy

-Stormlord (upgraded)
-2 extra heavy bolters and higher initiative
-price different is small so its always worth it

-Stormblade
-Super heavy tank (surprise surprise)
-The plasma blastgun is devastating vs all targets
-2 lascannons and 4 heavy bolters add a bit of anti-tank and anti-infantry to the tank

-Stormblade (upgraded)
-Higher initiative for a really cheap price

-Banesword
-Superheavy tank
-Main gun is a very long range quake cannon
-Basically artillery, with 2 lascannons and 6 heavy bolters to defense itself
-Best at range 3, but quake cannon typically doesn't kill enough to make the tank worthwhile over other superheavies

-Banesword (upgrade)
-Usual initiative upgrade

-Artillery
-Every have too many orks to kill? Artillery, affectionately know as arty, helps, a lot. They can make a tough hardpoint trivial for infantry to waltz in striking from afar and rarely hit back. Some can even swing a battle between titans and gargants. In any case, the problem can be solved with more arty.

-Wyvern
-Like the infantry mortar it aids adjacent allies
-Lacks range for an artillery piece

-Griffon
-Higher damage, less shots compared to wyvern
-Also supports allies
-Also lacks range

-Bombard
-First true Artillery you get
-Good range and decent damage makes it very useful and ideal for beginning a fight
-Does not return fire when attacked

-Medusa
-Close range heavy support gun
-High damage makes i useful, but short comings of range and durability means it should finish enemies and not engage in prolonged combat

-Medusa Armageddon pattern
-Moderate price increase for a durability increase
-Needed for continued use in campaign, otherwise the cost too much and die too fast. Even with the upgrade...

-Basilisk
-Great range, good firepower
-Bread and butter of your artillery
-Expensive, yet very very useful
-Fragile and do not return fire, so don't let the enemy get too close

-Basilisk Armageddon pattern
-Moderate price increase for moderate durability increase
-Your basilisks should be getting shot anyway, but good insurance for a bad situation

-Deathstrike
-Hardest hitting artillery vs vehicles
-Bad anti-infantry means that you shouldn't only have these
-Only artillery effective vs gargants and gives anything smaller a really bad hair day
-Longest range for artillery, but also most fragile

-Aircraft
-Fast, fragile, and a lot of firepower. Flyers can zip from one spot to the next aiding wherever needed. Just watch the flakk and hope an ork doesn't get lucky or learn to shoot.

-Valkryie
-Cheapest flier, best vs infantry

-Vendetta Gunship
-6 lascannons put the hurt on any enemy armor
-Fragility means that engaging bigger targets than medium armor is typically known as a Bad Idea
-Can be used to finish heavy armor

-Vulture Gunship
-Most expensive aircraft
-2 lascannons ans 2 anti-tank missiles
-Bit better than vendetta vs vehicles and noticeably tougher

-Titans
-The most powerful units in the game, rivaled only by stompas and gargants. Half the time you can walk these through an enemy wave no problems. They are incredibly expensive and you must learn how to apply their mighty force to get the best out of these mighty avatars of war.

-Warhound Scout Titan
-Wields a plasma blastgun and megabolter
-Large vision radius
-15 HP and incredibly heavy armor makes it tougher than super heavy units
-Has enough firepower and durability to take almost anything on

-Reaver Battle Titan
-For whenever the Warhound actually runs into a problem
-Best range is 3, where it can fire all 3 of its weapons
-Can take on a gargant 1v1, although since the fight is basically even nearby support or a shadowsword or other superheavy is required to ensure victory (exception to high experience difference)
-Has massive range
-Basically best unit availible to any fraction, and the best you can get in campaign
-Not invunerable, occasional rest and refit needed for best performance

[Poor Yurik]

Awesome post. I've learned a bit of this via playing the game/experimenting/reading the stats, but this is a great summary and every you said matches up with what I've seen. Thank you for all of the info.

[Logliu]

You're welcome. I'm glad it helped. If you have questions just ask.

[Lampros]

Another gem that needs to be stickied!

[EngineerKenny 123]

Truly EXCELLENT job of describing the units. We all thank you!

[Tiewaz]

Thanks, this helps me understand the role of certain units, especially how certain vehicles and arty units work.

One of the things I've noticed the most (re: parallels between PC and Warhammer) is how in Warhammer both Recon and Anti-Tank units are theoretically combined into the 'Vehicles' class of units.