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Grand Cathay · 144 points
Are Cathay Crane Gunners good?
Cathay Crane Gunners are good against armour, and their 36-inch reach is the real asset. In this table they were the second-best short-range unit into Knights and Ironbreakers, and they kept 59% of that damage at 27 inches, a distance most units here cannot reach.
Quick answer: it depends what you point Cathay Crane Gunners at
- Role
- Long-range armour breaker
- Good against
- Knights of the Realm (2.4, 4th), Ironbreakers (2.7, 2nd), Rat Ogres (3.4, 5th)
- Struggles against
- Empire State Troops (3.1, 17th), Skaven Dregs (3.1, 23rd), Skirmishing Empire Archers (2.5, 19th)
- Range
- 36-inch reach, some damage lost past 18 inches (59% kept)
Long-range armour breaker is the job Cathay Crane Gunners did best in my testing, and it is the yardstick I would judge them by, rather than their 12th-of-29 overall average.
How many simulations I ran
I ran 120 volleys with Cathay Crane Gunners: ten fresh volleys at each of six targets, at both long and short range. I then fired 1,800 more Cathay Crane Gunners volleys at fixed distances, after moving and into cover. Those main volleys were part of the 4,080 I ran across 29 shooting units, and these were the Cathay Crane Gunners results.
No simulation is perfect, and my Cathay Crane Gunners results are no exception: the dice fall on open ground, with no magic, no extra characters and no opponent making decisions. With ten volleys per result, Cathay Crane Gunners (2.9) and Goblin archers (2.9) finished level at short range, so I would not read anything into their order. Read the Cathay Crane Gunners results as a guide to roles and matchups rather than a forecast.
My verdict
I think Crane Gunners earn their place as a long-range armour answer. This table measures short and long range against each weapon’s own maximum, so their “long range” is 27 inches while an Iron Hail Gunner’s is 9. In my dedicated Cathay test, Crane Gunners out-shot Iron Hails over a five-turn approach against all five enemies I tried, because they start shooting from turn one.
For the full head-to-head, with 10,000 trials per matchup, five real enemy units and a five-turn approach, read Iron Hail Gunners vs Crane Gunners.
Best and worst targets for Cathay Crane Gunners
Cathay Crane Gunners by target. Ranks out of 29. n = 10 volleys per cell
| Target | Long | Rank | Short | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knights of the Realm | 1.1 | 13th | 2.4 | 4th |
| Ironbreakers | 0.8 | 11th | 2.7 | 2nd |
| Empire State Troops | 1.9 | 19th | 3.1 | 17th |
| Skaven Dregs | 2.6 | 18th | 3.1 | 23rd |
| Rat Ogres | 2.5 | 5th | 3.4 | 5th |
| Skirmishing Empire Archers | 1.3 | 25th | 2.5 | 19th |
Range and armour
At long range Cathay Crane Gunners kept 59% of their short-range damage. Their best long-range target was Skaven Dregs (2.6).
Against my two heavily armoured targets, Knights of the Realm and Ironbreakers, Cathay Crane Gunners averaged 2.6 wounds at short range. That puts them 2nd of 29 for cracking armour.
Cathay Crane Gunners after moving and in cover
My main table is a clean volley in the open, so I also fired Cathay Crane Gunners at fixed distances, after moving and at targets in partial cover. Cathay Crane Gunners cannot shoot after moving, so every moved result below is zero; standing still at 22 inches with the target in partial cover, they averaged 0.73. Standing still in the open at 10 inches, Cathay Crane Gunners averaged 2.53 (10th of 18).
Cathay Crane Gunners: mean wounds across all six targets. Still or moved, open ground or partial cover. n = 60 volleys per cell
| Distance | Still, open | Moved, open | Still, cover | Moved, cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 inches | 2.53 (10th) | 0.00 | 1.65 (12th) | 0.00 |
| 22 inches | 1.65 (9th) | 0.00 | 0.73 (12th) | 0.00 |
Ranks in brackets compare Cathay Crane Gunners with the other 17 units in the fixed-distance test.
Cathay Crane Gunners after moving into partial cover, by distance. n = 60 volleys per cell
| 6in | 10in | 16in | 22in | 28in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
How I set up the test
8 models could shoot in every matchup. My method page has the full setup.
How do they compare?
Other Grand Cathay shooters
- Cathay Iron Hail Gunners144 pts · 3.7 avg short, 3.4 avg long
- Cathay Sky Lantern150 pts · 2.2 avg short, 2.2 avg long
Similar overall damage
- Goblin archersOrc & Goblin Tribes · 2.9 avg short
- Bretonnian Peasant BowmenKingdom of Bretonnia · 2.9 avg short
- High Elf ArchersHigh Elf Realms · 2.9 avg short
My conclusion
Based on these results, I would use Cathay Crane Gunners for shooting armour and Rat Ogres at close range, and not for units that need to move and shoot in the same turn, to get the most out of them on the battlefield.
FAQs
What are Cathay Crane Gunners best at shooting?
Rat Ogres: Cathay Crane Gunners did 3.4 wounds per short-range volley against them in my tests. Their lowest number was against Knights of the Realm, at 2.4, but that still ranked 4th of 29, because every unit struggles there.
Are Cathay Crane Gunners better at long or short range?
Short range. Cathay Crane Gunners kept 59% of their short-range damage at long range, 26th of 29 for holding up at range. Cathay Crane Gunners averaged 1.7 wounds at long range against 2.9 at short range.
Are Cathay Crane Gunners good against armour?
Against Knights of the Realm and Ironbreakers, Cathay Crane Gunners averaged 2.6 wounds per short-range volley, 2nd of the 29 units I tested.