Thunderfire Cannons seem to be the new hotness for Space Marines armies. Is it worth taking in your list? Check out the latest on the Thunderfire Cannon.
Space Marines as a whole just got hit with a massive update, bringing them up to speed in 8th edition’s meta. With so many changes inside the book, we’re still exploring great combos in-game. However, there’s one special unit that might be a real bruiser and it’s just waiting to be used!
If you noticed seems like every Codex Marine list has one Thunderfire cannon in it now. Let’s take a closer look at the potential reasons why.
Watch Out For Space Marine Thunderfire Cannons Now!
Thunderfire Cannons aren’t new by any means. And for the most part, they’re just a slower, worse version of an Imperial Guard Mortar team. However, the new Space Marine codex might have brought this little guy into a spot that’s ripe for the meta.
Starting off, the Thunderfire Cannon WITH its Techmarine gunner is only 81 pts. And for the cost, you’re getting a decent platform for indirect fire out of the Space Marine-only selection.
With a 60″ range 4D3 heavy bolter profile indirect fire platform, it’s already looking good for what the Marines have to choose from. It’s no Basilisk for Guard, but what really makes this unit worth bringing is its Stratagem support.
Thunderfire Cannons Work Off of Their Stratagems
Moving on to the Strategem we’ve had for a while now. The Tremor Shells make for an awesome option to help convert your enemy’s force into manageable bite-sized chunks. While it doesn’t work on FLY and TITANIC units, it can still halve the movement of everything else it hits. Lord Discordants can be staved off for a turn or two if they end up being hit by this gun and can help you focus-down one unit instead of getting bum-rushed by three.
While this Stratagem was in the base Marine book, it wasn’t used too often. Mainly because Knights and Mortarions polluted competitive play. And like we said earlier, this Stratagem had no effect on them.
Suppression Fire lets you shoot your Thunderfire Cannon twice in a turn. The best part is that it’s done in the shooting phase and if you’ve already popped your Tremor Shells Strat, you’ll be able to halve the movement of another unit. Now, you can stop two Lord Discos, two Plaguebearer blobs, Biker gangs, etc.
While it costs 3Cp to pull off and CPs are a bit tight in all-Marine lists, there’s definitely some real use there.
One last important thing to remember is that now, Chapter Tactics apply to everything across the Space Marine army AND if you’ve got the Heavy Doctrine active, your Thunderfire Cannon will be lobbing 8D3 S5 -2AP shots downrange without any LOS. Not bad at all!
And the icing on the cake is the recent FAQ saying the Techmarine himself can still use his weapons to slap anything in range as well during the shooting phase!
What’s been your experience bringing Thunderfire Cannons? Which Chapter is best to bring them in? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and sign up to get your free hobby updates newsletter (with discount coupon codes) each morning as well!
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
