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Iron Hail Gunners vs Crane Gunners at a glance

How the two guns work

An Iron Hail gunner rolls a D3 for the number of shots, then rolls To Hit for each shot separately. The gun ignores the usual To Hit penalties for long range, for firing Multiple Shots and for Stand & Shoot, which is why Iron Hails stay so accurate at 12 inches. They still take the normal penalty for moving and shooting. Do not confuse this with the optional gunpowder bombs, which turn one successful hit into D3 hits: that is a different weapon, and I left it out.

A Crane team fires one Strength 6, AP −2 shot at 36 inches, and Armour Bane (2) makes a natural 6 To Wound even harder to save. The catch is Move or Shoot: a Crane team that moves cannot fire that turn, and Cumbersome rules out Stand & Shoot. Crane teams are not immobile, but every move costs a volley.

I tested 8 Iron Hails and 6 Crane teams because both cost 96 points, with no command, upgrades, characters or magic. Profiles come from Arcane Journal: The Breaching of the Great Bastion, pages 46–47, with the core rules and FAQs current as of July 2026.

One volley at 12 inches

Put both units 12 inches from the target, give every model a clear shot, and fire once. Iron Hails pour out roughly 16 shots, and against lightly armoured targets that volume wins.

One volley at 12 inches: average unsaved wounds n = 10,000 trials per cell

Five turns, starting 24 inches apart

A single volley flatters Iron Hails, because it hands them a target already inside 12 inches. So we also scripted a five-turn approach. Each turn the shooters act, then the enemy walks straight forward at its normal speed. The Crane teams stand still and fire every turn the target is in range; the Iron Hails move up to stop about 11.5 inches away and fire on the move.

Five-turn scripted approach from 24 inches: average total unsaved wounds n = 10,000 trials per cell

The volley count explains almost everything. Cranes fired on every turn the target stood within 36 inches, so they got three to five volleys. Iron Hails only fired once inside 12 inches, and fast enemies closed that gap quickly: against 8-inch Knights they got a single volley. Treat this as a scripted approach, not a battle. A different starting distance changes the Iron Hail volley count, and a real player would position them far more carefully than our script does.

Matchup by matchup

Clanrats

The best Iron Hail target. Shot volume against a 5+ save gave them 3.33 wounds a volley against 2.52 for Cranes, and over five turns the two finished almost level (10.05 against 10.86).

Ironbreakers

The clearest Crane win. Gromril armour rerolls failed saves of 1, and the 6+ ward catches more, so Strength 3 shots bounce. Cranes did more in one volley (1.18 against 0.92) and roughly half as much again over five turns.

Knights of the Realm

I assumed the Knights had the Blessing, a 6+ ward that improves to 5+ against Strength 5 or more, which takes some shine off the crane guns. Iron Hails did more in one volley, but the Knights’ speed meant Iron Hails rarely got a second shot, and Cranes did about twice as much over the approach.

Chaos Warriors

With heavy armour, shields and a 6+ ward, the single volley was a tie: 1.50 for Iron Hails and 1.45 for Cranes. Slow Warriors gave Cranes five volleys over the approach, and that decided it.

Ogre Bulls

Iron Hails did more per volley (2.69 against 2.02), but remember these are wounds, not Ogres: three wounds remove one Bull, so a volley rarely kills more than one. Over five turns Cranes did more, again because they shot more often.

Moving, marching and the real risk to Iron Hails

We also ran a generic test against a T3, 5+ target that started 30 inches away and advanced 4 inches a turn for five turns. Iron Hails that walked, marched or moved cautiously all finished on almost exactly the same damage, about 8.86 wounds from 3 volleys. Marching earlier did not buy an extra volley. Stationary Cranes did 10.01 from 5 volleys. Against a faster 6-inch enemy the gap grew: Cranes 10.81, Iron Hails about 6.63.

The bigger issue is where Iron Hails end up. To shoot, they have to stand within 12 inches of the enemy, and that is charge range for most units. In our separate exploratory tests with return fire and charges, Iron Hails ended up in combat in the large majority of runs, while Cranes starting 30 inches or more away never did. Their Stand & Shoot without the usual penalty helps, and in those tests it regularly put a few more wounds on the chargers, but I would not read those runs as precise survival odds.

When I would take each one

• Crane Gunners when the enemy brings armour, high Toughness or cavalry, and when I can give them a firing lane they never need to leave. Three or four teams already threaten a lot of the table.
• Iron Hails when the enemy is mostly light infantry, when I need a unit that redeploys quickly, or when I want something to march up a flank and force a reaction. A small unit of four is a cheap way to try them.
• Both in the same army: Cranes thin the enemy as it approaches, and Iron Hails punish whatever reaches the midfield.

These are my hypotheses from the data, not tested army lists.

A note on Battle March

Battle March games last five turns on a smaller table, which is exactly why we scripted five-turn approaches. A smaller table helps Iron Hails reach range sooner, but it also brings the enemy to them sooner. I love Battle March, and I think both units have a place in it; Cranes simply give you more reliable shooting from turn one.

How we tested

• Equal points: 8 Iron Hail Gunners and 6 Crane Gunner teams, 96 points each, with no command, upgrades, characters or magic.
• Fixed-range test: one volley, stationary, every model with a clear shot, at 12, 24 and 36 inches against the five enemies, and at 6 to 36 inches against five generic targets. 10,000 trials per matchup.
• Enemy profiles: Clanrats (T3, light armour and shields (5+)); Ironbreakers (T4, gromril armour and shields (3+, rerolling 1s), 6+ ward); Knights of the Realm (T3, barded with shields (3+), Blessing ward (6+, or 5+ against S5 or more)); Chaos Warriors (T4, heavy armour and shields (4+), 6+ ward); Ogre Bulls (T4, light armour (6+), 3 wounds each).
• Scripted approach: the shooters act, then the enemy advances at its normal speed. No charges, no return fire, no losses for the shooters, and no terrain or line-of-sight problems.
• Crane Armour Bane (2) applies on natural 6s To Wound; each Crane team has two wounds.
• Return fire, charges and first combat ran as separate exploratory scripts. I only describe them in words here.

For Peasant Levy archers alongside both units, read my Grand Cathay shooting units compared guide. You can also see how both guns did in my Old World shooting units table, on the Iron Hail Gunners and Crane Gunners pages, and the rest of my Grand Cathay units.