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DISTRACTION CARNIFEX

2019-12-24T14:26:18Z

2601:1C0:5C00:C130:5CA4:89B3:23FA:B6A9: /* Imperium */

{{Cleanup}}
{{Topquote|Remember - SHOOT THE BIG ONES.|[[Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer]] on Tyranids}}

'''DISTRACTION [[Carnifex|CARNIFEX]]!'''

'''EVERYONE START [[dakka|SHOOTING]]!!'''

DISTRACTION CARNIFEX is a psychological wargame tactic which can be used by most [[Warhammer 40,000]] armies, some [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] armies, and in several other wargames for good measure. The short version is that you plonk a huge, scary-looking model in the middle of the table, which draws a tremendous amount of enemy gunfire, while the real threats make it up the field relatively unmolested. Basically like an RPG tank.

It's named after the [[Carnifex]], one of the big monsters of the [[Tyranid]] faction, because the DISTRACTION CARNIFEX was one of that faction's most popular tactics after their 4th edition codex. Many models other than the Carnifex can be used as a DISTRACTION model; in that case, it might still be called a DISTRACTION CARNIFEX (even if it isn't a Tyranid), a DISTRACTION <WHATEVER> (e.g. "DISTRACTION [[Battlesuit#XV104_Riptide_Battlesuit|RIPTIDE]]"), or simply a DISTRACTION. The use of all caps is '''not''' optional.

==DISTRACTION TACTICS==
First, choose your DISTRACTION model. A DISTRACTION model must have the following properties:
*Physical size. Remember, you ''want'' the DISTRACTION to get shot. You still want it to stay alive, so by all means chase after cover saves as best you can, but if there's ever a ranged threat on the table that can't see the DISTRACTION, then you're doing it wrong.
*Toughness. DISTRACTIONS don't necessarily need offensive punch -- they're actually fairly likely to die before they hit melee -- but you need them to grip the table for as long as possible.
*Scariness. Remember that DISTRACTION is a psychological tactic; the bigger and scarier your model ''looks'', the better your chances are of it pulling enemy gunfire.
*Low(ish) points cost. The DISTRACTION is a ''support'' model (indirectly) -- it should not be hogging your army points. By all means, give it all the toughness-boosting wargear you can get, and maybe one really scary-looking melee weapon wouldn't go amiss, but you want the rest of your army to be able to compensate for the loss of the DISTRACTION in the early game.

Second, choose the rest of your army. Anything that can boost the DISTRACTION's toughness without being too vulnerable itself is a must. Aside from that, try to build your army with a focus on smaller models and glass cannons -- if the DISTRACTION is taking fire, you don't need to worry so much about the little guys.

When you're deploying your army on the table, put the DISTRACTION down first, and put it right in the middle of the board (unless there's an obstacle in the middle, in which case you should put it in the longest unobstructed lane from front to back). Alternatively, you can deploy the DISTRACTION model through [[Deep Strike]], but only if you have a [[Drop Pod]] or some other method for guaranteeing that it'll enter from reserve by Turn 2 at the latest.
*As of 8th Edition rules, deep strike rules and all their mishaps and issues (e.g. scattering and delays) no longer apply, but you can only deep strike units outside of your own deployment zone starting on Turn 2, and even then the deep striking has to be at least 9" away from enemy models. As a result, it's best suited for things which either have a way to reroll charges or have something to shoot with in case they don't make the charge.
*You could also plonk your DISTRACTION down last, after building an intentionally-there hole in the middle of your army. Make it nice and memorable, and the other guy won't even remember you put the rest of the army there to begin with.

During the battle, move the DISTRACTION either first or last in your turn order, and keep it in front of the rest of your force to keep its alleged threat fresh in your opponents' minds.

If the DISTRACTION pays off, the battle will go something like this:
*'''Guard turn 1:''' Everything shoots the DISTRACTION CARNIFEX.
*'''Tyranids turn 1:''' Tyranids advance.
*'''Guard turn 2:''' Everything shoots the DISTRACTION CARNIFEX.
*'''Tyranids turn 2:''' Tyranids advance.
*'''Guard turn 3:''' Everything shoots the DISTRACTION CARNIFEX. DISTRACTION CARNIFEX finally dies.
*'''Tyranids turn 3:''' Remaining Tyranids eat everyone else's face.

===How to counter a DISTRACTION===
To be honest, if you can recognize a DISTRACTION play, you already know how to counter it; ''don't dedicate your entire army just to killing the DISTRACTION.'' If you spread your firepower in a vaguely sensible way, then you can weaken the DISTRACTION and the rest of the opponent's army. For example, if you have some weapon which only hurts the DISTRACTION on a 6+ and doesn't break its armor, maybe don't shoot the DISTRACTION with it.

===Is it really a DISTRACTION model?===
People often confuse DISTRACTION units with death star units. To alleviate these misconceptions, we'll give a brief run-down of each role:

*DISTRACTION - a DISTRACTION unit, is large, menacing, and most importantly ''expendable''. It needs to serve as its namesake suggests: as a distraction. It's not meant to be a line-breaker (although it can certainly act as one if given the chance), it's an assistant to your line-breakers, by re-directly damage to them that would otherwise cripple your main force. A DISTRACTION unit doesn't have to be heavily armed or be an avatar of destruction, it just has to be cost-effective enough that it seems menacing that your opponent can't leave it alone for too long (as it can still do a number to their units if it got close enough to be effective), but at the same time: cheap enough that losing it doesn't cripple your chances of victory.

*Death Star - like the Star Wars superweapon its named for, a DS unit is large, but is ''destructive'', ''valuable'' instead, as it costs a lot of resources to field, and losing it is a hard-hit for your side (also that it has a glaring weak-point that can quickly destroy it, if exploited). It's meant to wreck your opponent's shit in, but unlike the DISTRACTION units; you can't afford to lose them (or at least you can't lose them before they managed to do their intended role). So, the main tactic is that you have DISTRACTION models close in on your opponent to draw fire, then your DS moves in for the kill.

It should be noted that there are cases where the line between a DS and a DISTRACTION starts to get blurry, either because the unit is far more powerful than its cost would suggest or because the rest of your units are almost as expensive as the unit in question. While very rare, such hybrids are by far the most effective DISTRACTIONS of all since if they're not killed immediately, they place an opponent in a no-win situation where ignoring the DISTRACTION is as likely to make them lose as falling for the DISTRACTION.

==Some good DISTRACTION models==

===[[Warhammer 40,000]]===
====[[Tyranids]]====
*'''DISTRACTION [[Carnifex|CARNIFEX]]:''' The original, but not really the best any more, because the Carnifex's point cost and access to toughness-boosting abilities have bounced back and forth a bit between editions. It was essential in 4th ed, impossible in 5th ed, and possible but not great in 6th, was up to the RNGs 7th, but work fairly well for the role in 8th. Scythefexes can do a huge amount of attacks at S6 for their relatively low points cost (and if you splurge for Screamer-Killers instead they get a LD debuff aura and an improved Bio-Plasma that messes up MEQs/TEQs), and Dakkafexes can put out absurd amounts of S6 firepower with much better accuracy than other Nids might get: A full brood of Dakkafexes with two devourers each can put out a whopping 72 S6 AP-0 shots, hitting on 3s with enhanced senses; their Thornback cousins don't get quite as many shots due to only getting one set of devourers, but their Stranglethorn Cannons still give them a bit of punch and they ignore cover with all their shots. You bet people are gonna put firepower into them. [[Just as planned|Because they'll have no choice as your Dakkafexes will turn their infantry into mulch otherwise.]] Which you need because 8th is the horde edition.
**They can also get a built-in -1 to hit via Spore Cysts for only 10 points per fex. Needless to say, it's totally worth it since it frees up your Venomthropes to protect other units.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Haruspex|HARUSPEX]]:''' A 6th ed beast that seems to be practically made to fill the DISTRACTION role, especially since it can regain wounds by killing models in melee (if it gets there). [[Games Workshop|So the new unit replaces an old one that can't do its job any more]] -- [[JUST AS PLANNED]]. AS of 8th, they've kinda fallen out of favor in favor of cheaper models or more powerful models, but it retains its melee power and self-healing effect.
*'''DISTRACTION STONECRUSHER CARNIFEX''' - Same as the Carnifex above, but it absolutely annihilates enemy vehicles, as opposed to making mincemeat out of medium infantry.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Hierodule|HIERODULE]]''' - Your Tyranid Knight equivalent. Massive damage sink and can be buffed to be nigh-invulnerable. For ~400 points, they put out titanic amounts of hurt and can absorb just as much.

====[[Imperium]]====
*'''DISTRACTION [[Dreadnought#Chapter_Specific_Dreads|AXE DREADNOUGHT]]:''' Again, drop pod one of these guys face first into the opponent's army and watch your opponents cry as your Dreadnought shrugs off even the strongest of attacks with it's 3++ save on top of its AV12. Be careful though, if they get your back armor you're dead.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Deathwing|DEATHWING KNIGHTS]]:''' Put [[Belial]] with them, deepstrike them right next to all the most dangerous units in your foe's army, and watch them squirm to murder them all. They may all die either by the sheer amounts of firepower or melee directed towards them, but it's worth watching your foe ignore Devastators, Deathwing Terminators, Ravenwing, and other such unit, just for the sheer infamous reputation that the Knights have gained.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Dreadknight|DREADKNIGHT]]:''' Take a T6 W4 Termi with a weapon for ~170 points and see the enemy focus him without really damaging him fast.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Ogryn|OGRYN DEATHSTAR]]:''' 10 Ogryn with 2 Primaris Psykers (faq stated each get 2 rolls) with biomancy for toughness and allied dark angel psyker for rerolls on everything and 4+ invulnerabilities. Watch it absorb loads upon loads of fire as your tactical units sneak up on the enemy.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Space Wolves|LONE WOLF]]:''' Give your Lone Wolf 2 Fen Wolves and Terminator Armor and just let him roam. If you feel generous, slap a Chainfist on him. The fact that you gain points by letting this guy die means you can expend him without much consequence.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Skitarii|SKITARII VANGUARDS]]:''' To be honest, this only really works against someone who hasn't played against your army much, if at all (which, since it still isn't very common, should mean this works quite often). Bare bones vanilla vanguard will run you 100pts for a ten-man squad and with their basic guns can put a serious smackdown on anything with a toughness value; add plasma calivers for extra distraction, though realize that this will make the unit a prohibitively expensive meat shield. That being said, if your opponent is targeting one vanguard squad with plasma calivers while the other three are closing in with a plethora of haywire and rad-weaponry unscathed then you're doing it right.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Adeptus_Mechanicus|KASTELANS]]:''' T7 W3 FNP 3+/(5++ against shooting) robots, take 4+ and a Techpriest Dominus with the Relic Pimp Cane in formation for extra hilarity. Give one of the Datasmiths the Robes of the Technomartyr for the sweet, sweet boon of giving everyone Cognis. Their ability to severely hurt assaulters on Overwatch will perturb your opponent even more
*'''DISTRACTION [[Adeptus_Custodes|CUSTODES]]:''' The entire army is basically Terminators on Steroids (albeit lacking in anti-tank) ''at the bare minimum''. Special mention goes to the [[Telemon Heavy Dreadnought]], which is devastating in both melee and ranged combat, can take a heavy beating, is able to deep strike via From Golden Light They Come, and pretty much forces the opponent to either focus fire on it or die. And given that your other units will be moving up while the Telemon does its thing, the opponent may very well die even if he doesn't fall for the distraction.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Culexus|CULEXUS]]:''' While this sounds as though it shouldn't work (the Culexus model is human-sized), the eighth-edition target priority rules force the enemy of an all-assassin army to shoot the closest model, even if that model is an invisible (hit on a 6+, always) culexus assassin. With a low cost (they're cheaper than most armies' infantry squads), five wounds apiece and a 4+ invulnerable save, they're almost impossible to kill too. Thankfully no longer possible with the Beta rules for targeting characters.
*'''DISTRACTION [https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Imperial_Ordnance#Demolisher_Cannon DEMOLISHER CANNON]:''' Historically the [[Vindicator]] and it's cousin the [[Leman Russ Demolisher]] bounces back and forth between Distraction and actual killing tool. The sheer power and potential of the Demolisher cannon meant that players would focus fire on them and be at risk of over committing, especially with the Leman Russe's high armor. At the same time, if ignored they could get there points back just by shooting once. They become distractions because if left alone they can ruin an enemy's plan, allowing them to flip back and forth between distraction and asset almost at will. Sadly the lack of templates in the latest ruleset weaken there killing power, shifting them more toward distraction as there reputation form ages past means a player with any amount of beard will have had it drilled into them not to ignore them.

====[[Chaos]]====
*'''DISTRACTION''' '''[[Chaos Space Marines|MURDER SWORD]]''': Chaos Space Marine one. Give a '''MURDER SWORD''' to a (random champion (<strike>NOT LEGAL</strike> Exalted Champion...)) chaos lord, or DAEMON PRINCE(illegal too (<strike>Nope, Daemon Princes can take it</strike> NO, you really can't. A Hellforge sword is NOT a "powersword")), stick it in a nest of Cultists, and laugh as the enemy targets it for the rest of the game because they don't want it getting within 400 clicks of their special snowflake character, though you are fucked if the enemy has good snipers, fucking Vindicaires... or artillery... or any decent amount of guns AH FUCK IT! This one doesn't work! <s>Still decent for removing faggots like [[Marneus Calgar|papa smurf]].</s> NOPE! Calgar has Eternal Warrior, making him immune to the Sword's ID. Better have the dice gods at your back. [[Forge World|Almost makes us wonder how this thing can be a threat to a]] [[Primarch]].
** (clears throat) "Look Out, Sir!" - on a 2+ for special characters. Even against Vindicares (but with a -2 penalty so ICs get 4+ LoS while everyone else gets a 6+) and Precision Shots. Yes, I checked before posting.
** (punches previous speaker in the throat) As the power creep goes on, even the Cultist ball gets stomped on (literally) by the new Knights as Stomp results of 6 remove all models from under the Blast. Yes, Removes. No saves, 2++, FNP or Look out Sir. Just pick those models off the table and put them into your bag. Even then, it wasn't that scary as a single turn of decent shooting can wipe your '''MURDERER''' before he gets near the corpse.
**Then again, the fact that the MURDER SWORD gets shot off the table means something else get is not getting shot at, so as far as distractions it's working.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Nurgling|NURGLINGS]]:''' Take 6-9 bases of these cute little shits,Infiltrate them as close to the enemy as possible behind ruins, enjoy a tasty 2+ cover save while your army moves up. Just pray they don't have flamers or ignore cover weapons.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Daemon Engine|DAEMON ENGINE]]:''' A Forgefiend, Maulerfiend, Defiler, Kytan, or Heldrake will be a guaranteed fire magnet. Fortunately, they all have It Will not Die (tied for second best name for a 40k rule ever with He Has A Plan, only recently dethroned by the arrival in 40K of WHFB's best named rule, My Will Be Done), and the Drake has the added bonus of being a flyer when Skyfire is still a relative rarity. The reputation of the Defiler and Heldrake in particular will ensure that literally everything the enemy has will be hurled at you, including the models, the table, the dice, the players at the WHFB table, and chairs. Lots of chairs.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Mutilator|MUTILATOR]]:''' Pretty much the only use for Mutilators with the new CSM book, Deep Strike one behind the enemy (bonus points if it's a Tau or Guard gunline) and it will die in style as the enemy wastes a turn of valuable shooting which could have been better spent trying to bring down that Land Raider full of Terminators, or the rampaging Maulerfiend in the corner

====[[Eldar]]====
*'''DISTRACTION [[Wraithlord|WRAITHLORD]]:''' It's big, scary, 3+ save, T8 and capable of fucking shit up.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Wraithknight|WRAITHKNIGHT]]:''' Its bigger, scarier, and has more D than the average pornstar.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Wraithseer|WRAITHSEER]]:''' Give it Mark of the Incomparable Hunter, a D-Cannon (for sniping characters), and the Psytronome of Iyanden (8x S9 AP-4 D6d attacks with a Ghostspear). Give it a Bonesinger to tag along, and combine with Tears of Isha to heal 2D3 wounds every turn. Make it Iyanden so its stats only degrade by half. Less a DISTRACTION and more a core Deathstar unit, but it's suprisingly cost effective.

====[[Dark Eldar]]====
*'''DISTRACTION TALOS PAIN ENGINE:''' The best part about DISTRACTION TALOS is that nobody plays DEldar. Therefore, the majority of the player population has no idea what to expect. Player: "Wait, Toughness seven?!" You: "Yep." Player: "With 3+ and FnP?!" You: "You betcha. Oh, also, enjoy [[Rip_and_tear|haywire and Shred]]." Your enemy then proceeds to unload everything they have at your slow, dead 'ard, floating scorpion beast while your gunboats, Scourges, and Reavers tear them [[Anal_circumference|several new assholes]]. For better results,(aka:something that can also function as a threat) add a cronos with a spirit probe. "4+ FnP!?!?!". If you have the [[Haemonculus]] covens supplement then take the dark artisan formation and give your heamonculus the nightmare doll for a 3+ FnP, if you make him your warlord then you get a 3+ FnP re-rolling 1s.

====[[Orks]]====
*'''DISTRACTION [[Deff Dred|DEFF DRED]]''' Just kit it out with a few scary looking weapons, let it stumble forward with the boys. This is really effective when your enemy takes less anti tank because you are playing a mainly infantry army. This is also better used in smaller games, as this thing looks like a scary, choppy hulk of metal (which it is).
*'''DISTRACTION [[Ork Boy|BOYZ]]''' Let’s face it, as 8th is Horde Edition, a good old-fashioned Boyz mob and a [[Weirdboy]] using the psychic power Da Jump means you can deposit said Boyz Mob (almost) exactly where you want it. Just make sure the mob is 20-30 strong and they might actually survive past the DISTRACTION period. Also make sure you have several more 30-Boy mobz heading across the board. [[Ork Kommando|Kommandos]] also make an excellent DISTRACTION unit, especially when used alongside a Jumped Boyz mob. 60 Orks getting a 1st turn charge? Yeah that might DISTRACT someone.

====[[Tau]]====
*'''DISTRACTION [[El'Myamoto (Sub-commander Darkstrider)|DARKSTRIDER]]:''' Enemy has a charging focused army and you only took one Pathfinder squad, stick this guy in there with a Grav-Inhibitor Drone and laugh as your opponents thrashing, snarling wave of hate never comes anywhere close.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Stealthsuit_Team|STEALTHSUITS]]''': Dirt Cheap and pretty durable for their cost (T4, 3+ armor, 2W apiece and you can mount shield generators on the lot of them). Infiltration lets you deploy them right on top of relics and capture points, which will certainly draw the enemy to them. With a minus 1 to hit debuff that they benefit from all the time, your enemy will have a hard time hitting them. Plus you can mount some Fusion Blasters on them for added scariness.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Battlesuit#XV95_Ghostkeel_Battlesuit|GHOSTKEEL]]:''' The stealth field grants a -1 to hit with shooting attacks. The drones an additional -1. Most infantry will only be able to hit this thing at 6+, Marines at 5+ and Conscripts/Boyz can't hit it at all. This will goad them into charging into melee. 2 flamers are recommended to prevent reliable charges. Slap on a target lock for accuracy and a shield generator for survivability. Infiltration will allow you to place it right in the enemy's face, perfect for baiting them into wasting their firepower. Oh and you can easily field 2 of these for the cost of one riptide.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Battlesuit#KV128_Stormsurge_Ballistic_Suit|STORMSURGE]]:''' Its big and has even bigger gun. Slap it somewhere centerline and in plain sight behind some cover and perhaps drone or three and you have fine DISTRACTION that can sometimes hit something with said big gun.

====[[Necrons]]====
*'''DISTRACTION [[Aza'Gorod|NIGHTBRINGER]]:''' Now much faster, killier, and WAY more durable than before. This guy is going to chop up anything he gets his hands on, and the enemy is HEAVILY incentivized to keep him from dying anywhere near their army thanks to Reality Unravels. Bubblewrap it and charge it straight at something valuable, and your enemy is guaranteed to devote every gun he has to its destruction. However, being a sub-10-wound Character, he can't be singled out with shooting except by snipers, and Living Metal means they need to pile on the damage quick or he's going to get a bunch of Wounds back as he just keeps fucking running at them.
*'''DISTRACTION [[Tomb_Stalker|TOMB STALKER]]:''' Deep strikes reliably, doesnt deteriorate with damage, has good weapons and durability, and can carry a gloom prism to screw with psykers. Deep striking a T7, 9 wound MC that can make Deny the Witch rolls directly on top of your enemy's backline is sure to cause a stir.

===Warhammer Fantasy Battles===
*'''DISTRACTION [[Skaven|HELLPIT ABOMINATION]]''' - A giant scary monster, which can wreck whole hordes of infantry with some luck. Due to it's ability to regenerate, any sensible enemy will focus it down... Except it also has a chance to RISE FROM THE GRAVE, which forces the enemy to continue focusing on it until it dies for good.
*'''DISTRACTION TREEMAN''' - Being worse than it was in last edition, it is still big and tall, and is a fine monster killer, and its shooting can wreck small elite units, so it is likely to attract much dakka (vs very inexperienced player). Beware of fire, or Treebeard's cousin becomes kindling.
*'''DISTRACTION WYVERN''' - Just flys behind enemy units the whole game. Wrecks chaos very easily, assuming the enemy doesn't realize that it's just a distraction.

===Warmachine and Hordes===
It can be done here too!

*'''DISTRACTION CENTURION''' - The [[Cygnar|Cygnarian]] Heavy Warjack Centurion is made for this - Though reasonably killy in and of itself, it's main job is absorbing stupid amounts of fire and hits while your shooty army gets into place, and with defensive buffs up the arse, Cygnar can easily make it even tougher.
*'''DISTRACTION BERSERKER''' - Khador is nothing but inventive - Though the Beserker Heavy Warjack is unstable and technologically weak compared to its predecessors, it can still majorly fuck up some unlucky sod with its twin axes. That is not why you use it, though - It is because it have a tendency to explode when given focus. It is fairly cheap too, so send it after whatever you want and watch as it gets blown up by anyone on the field - Your enemy if they manage to bring it down, or you, for the lulz.
*'''DISTRACTION GHORDSON BASHER''' - This might just be the epitome of distraction - A rather fast Heavy Warjack made for one thing, smashing things with its head. Really. That is what it does. Throw it into the enemy and watch as it bounces the enemy about like gravity went on a break.
*'''DISTRACTION AVATAR OF MENOTH''' - Arguably the best of the Character Heavy Warjacks (The [[Cryx]] Deathjack being the only other real contended for the title), it is big, scary, hits like an a freight train and is hard enough to endure the return fire. Throw the Choir Hymn of Passage, the Vassal of Menoth's Enliven and, if you are playing Grand Scrutator Severius, put Defenders Ward on it for a 12/23 monster that's immune to non-magical shooting, can move after taking damage and can lock enemy units in place/force them to move towards you for your next turn when shit is going to get fucked. This is literally the Sain Distraction Carnifex as it forces the enemy to move towards it instead of doing anything productive, and combined with Harbinger of Menoth's feat you either force the enemy to stay still, or get blasted by instagibbing Fire damage roll.
*'''DISTRACTION COLOSSAL''' - Basically every Colossal is a giant distraction tool to draw fire. Especially against inexperienced players who vastly overestimate their threat value.

==Variations==
There are a couple variations on the DISTRACTION Carnifex theme.
*High Axe Low Sword - Used primarily in fantasy wargames, especially pre-Age of Sigmar Warhammer, although it can be applied elsewhere. The idea is to place several Distraction Carnifexes on one side of the field, forcing you opponent to overcommit to one side with their "tough" units. On the other side of the field, a fast, hard-hitting unit or units is placed, allowing that group to strike before proper defense can be mounted.
*Magician's Left Hand - The magician's left hand is the opposite of a Distraction Carnifex. It is valuable, innocuous, and fragile. Typically it's worth far more points than it appears and can inflict massive damage if ignored. Small, elite units with attached characters often fit into this category (although they aren't tough enough to be Death Stars). Distraction Carnifexes are almost mandatory with these types of units, as it allows them to function properly.
*Space Created - Stolen from [[video game]] MOBAs, the term refers to a player character acting as a Distraction Carnifex. This generally allows that player's team to secure an objective or just deny the opponent farm, often at the cost of the player's life. Also used facetiously to refer to a player faffing about.

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Warhammer 40000 Tactics]]

Commander Kubrik Chenkov

2019-12-24T12:57:04Z

2601:1C0:5C00:C130:5CA4:89B3:23FA:B6A9: /* Alternative view */

[[File:IG5EChenkov.jpg|thumbnail|300px|{{BLAM|'''*CHENKOV BLAM!!!*'''}}]]
{{Topquote|You see, Killbots have a preset kill limit. Knowing their weakness, I sent wave after wave of my own men at them, until they reached their limit and shut down.|Zapp Brannigan of 'Futurama' fame}}
{{Topquote|If we come to a minefield, our infantry attacks exactly as if it were not there.|Georgy Zhukov }}
Not to be confused with [[Star Trek|Chekov]].

There are commanders that are actually careful when sending their forces into combat. There are commanders that aren't that careful and throw larger groups into the meatgrinder. Then there are those who don't care so much and throw in a lot of people. And then there is Chenkov.

Of all the Imperial Guard Commanders, Commander Kubrik Chenkov of the 18th [[Valhallan Ice Warriors|Valhallan Tundra Wolves]] actually embodies everything bad about the [[Imperial Guard]] (or to be more precise, everything that the Guard embodied before 4th Edition). The guy is stubborn, short-tempered, brutal, single-minded, doesn't acknowledge defeat or surrender, and he's pretty damn merciless to both his subordinates and his enemies.

Now, the job of a Commanding Officer of the Imperial Guard, and pretty much all armies in general, [[Grimdark|is to send people to their deaths]], which, this being the Guard, is logical. Most commanders utilize strategy and tactics to minimize casualties - even the most brutally efficient commanders of the Guard will minimize losses to a manageable amount as lives are the Emperor's currency. Wasting them needlessly is [[Heresy|heresy.]] Some, of course, will simply throw people into the meatgrinder. Chenkov belongs to the latter group, but even these types of Commanders would actually give their men heavy support in the form of a Leman Russ Tank Platoon or spam a sufficiently large number of Chimeras, since in most cases, the infantry is just a distraction for the Guard's armored might to get into position. Not with Chenkov. Ohh no, he will figuratively '''drown''' the enemy in corpses (while lamenting how rare it is to face an enemy of the Imperium that needs an external air supply, since he wants to do it literally) and not much else.

Even among the Astra Militarum Generals known for their extreme methods, Chenkov is a rarely seen extreme. He simply points his men where to go, and kill and get killed. His favored tactic is to send a shitload of Conscripts close enough to the enemy lines so that they won't disengage. He'll send wave after wave of Conscripts to take an objective. His solution if there is not enough men? Send in more of them. Not enough? SEND IN MOAR! His solution to distract a fortress so a commando team can enter it? PELT THEIR FORTIFICATIONS WITH BODIES! His solution for clearing minefields for Leman Russes to go through? SEND IN THE CONSCRIPTS!!! His solution to [[Hive Fleet Jormungandr]] invading? SEND IN ALL THE CONSCRIPTS!!! Seriously, even other asshats would be disturbed by this guy.

He's not a Commander that one wants to fight under. If you won't fight, he'll execute you. Not fighting hard enough? More executions. You aren't trying hard enough at anything? He'll execute you HARDER! He's even worse than the more zealous Commissars. How much? That he actually scares them. How much? He is known to include [[Commissar]]s to be executed. And people who can inspire fear in a Commissar are really something.

And he might even execute you if you've done nothing wrong. He once ran out of mortar for some war, so he decided to execute a squad of his troops.

The only (read:ONLY) redeeming quality in this human equivalent to a [[Marines Malevolent|Marine Malevolent]] is that he's a frontline commander that fights in the first line, just to bring in his own brand of "motivation" to his men.

To rub insult into the wounds of every single Guardsman in the universe, this guy constantly survives. [[grimdark|What's even worse...HE GETS A LOT OF SHINY MEDALS FOR WHAT HE DOES!!]] However, the Imperium will only validate results, and the only reason they haven't executed Chenkov for wasting the Emperor's resources to this extreme extent is that his tactic works in all the wars he's fought in (somehow). Given that Virus Bombs are known to empower Nurgle, it seems likely that Chenkov's victories empower Khorne. Since he basically only has one trick, his string of victories is bound to end in failure as soon as he faces an [[Tyranids|enemy empowered by being fed hordes of unskilled troops]].

At least he doesn't appear in the Codex: Astra Militarum (THANK THE EMPEROR). He still got the last laugh in the end though, because in 8th edition ''every'' Valhallan commander can pull his "Send in the Next Wave" bullshit as a Stratagem.

To waste what the Emperor provides is [[heresy]], heretic.

===Alternative view===
Remember that quote at the top of the page ''"If we come to a minefield, our infantry attacks exactly as if it were not there."'' While it sounds wasteful of human life, it is actually sound military advice. A minefield's primary purpose is to hold you in position and slow you down while you wait for engineers to arrive so the enemy can better shoot you, meaning the soldiers would almost inevitably take more casualties from enemy fire waiting for the engineers to arrive than they would crossing the thing in the first place. This cold logical calculation is at the heart of what makes Kubrik an effective if commander.

Remember who was the greatest strategist amongst the Primarchs (Guilliman, Horus, and The Lion aside)? (Is it Corvus? Alpharius? Khan? Lorgar?) That's right, [[Perturabo]]. And what Legion always suffered second highest casualties (right after the crazy berzerkers from the World Eaters)? Yep, the [[Iron Warriors]]. Why? Because wars are won through applying sheer, overwhelming power to the enemy's weakest point. And that's what Chenkov does, but instead of a Space Marine Legion he has an infantry regiment, and, in fact, didn't lose a single battle, often fighting without even tanks or artillery against a superior enemy. Those who say "Chenkov isn't capable of anything more than drowning foes in bodies" didn't actually read his fluff - he is more than able to use distraction (the story of ending '''A ONE-YEAR SIEGE IN TWO DAYS''' using conscripts as a lure for the enemy while sappers blew the walls) and flanking attacks. This man would end the Siege of Vraks in a week, ''with more casualties'', but without needing titans, all while not leaving the planet a polluted wasteland. And just like Perturabo, he can't stand cowardice or incompetence. Unlike the Primarch though, he leads from the front, not being protected by some [[Iron_Circle|giant-ass robots]] and being a squishy humie on top of that. All in all, Chenkov has no pity for the enemy, his soldiers, or himself - when the future of Humanity is at stake, you [[grimdark|have no choice but to sacrifice thousands to save billions]]. He is ready to die for the Emperor and Imperium and expects his soldiers to do the same.

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]][[Category: Imperial]][[Category: Imperial Guard]]

{{IG-Characters}}

Tarrasque

2019-12-24T12:52:51Z

2601:1C0:5C00:C130:5CA4:89B3:23FA:B6A9: /* (5E) How to Kill the Tarrasque at any level in one or two rounds. */

[[Image:Tarrasque.jpg|400px|right]]
The '''Tarrasque''' is a pure fucking engine of destruction (which not-so-coincidentally resembles Godzilla). Dreaded by adventurers for its high HP value and its obscenely high regeneration ability, only surpassed by Zargon the Returner in the [[Elder Evils]] book, it is known to rampage across nations eating everything. It cannot fully be killed through normal means; therefore, anyone lucky enough to reduce a Tarrasque to negative 30 HP will then have to use a wish or a miracle spell to completely destroy it, with only a 50% chance of success. If unsuccessful it will wake up again x years later and fuck more shit up. Also, no matter how big your army is (assuming your adventuring party had enough cash to recruit mercenaries), the Tarrasque's fast metabolism will allow him to produce such powerful flatulence that all your troops will die by suffocation in just one turn.

He only wakes up for 1-4 days every 2-12 months, but every now and then he stays up for several weeks before napping for several years for some reason that's never explained. Yeah, he's a heavy sleeper. Must be all the binge drinking.

Named after a famous [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarasque dragon myth] from the south of France, which originally featured Saint Martha taming the beast with her prayers and piety, only for the people to kill it anyway once it came quietly, because man is the real monster, etc. You are welcome to try that on this version of the beast. We'll wait. With popcorn well in hand. Incidentally, this is almost certainly the origin of the shell on its back and the fierce, leonine look of its head.

As 3.Xe went on, more and more monsters were introduced to constantly one up the Tarrasque who already had to compete with Great Wyrm Dragons. In the monster manual II, we at first got the Leviathan and the Phoenix, neither of which had an comparable hit point count (though the phoenix has some fuckawesome spell like abilities, and goes boom with the force of a disintegration spell when killed, after which it promptly COMES THE FUCK BACK TO LIFE!) and Linnorms, who are massively over CRd. Nothing really similar to the Tarrasque was introduced in the other three monster manuals save for Dalmosh, who the Tarrasque would eat for breakfast, and then there was this giant prismatic...hamster...thing. But then a (lot of) challenger(s) approached when the [[Epic Level Handbook]], and the very first monsters that were undoubtedly bigger and stronger than the Tarrasque appeared in the form of Abominations, Colossi, Prismatic and Force Dragons, Devastation Vermin, and other such shit (like the bullshit permanent HP loss inducing wights.) Then came the books of Vile Darkness and Exalted Deeds which gave us the outsider lords, then came Deities & Demigods, and the fiend folio which gave us thunder worms, after which wizards didn't make much more uber-high CR shit. The Tarrasque got a break when the Fiendish Codex 1 nerfed the fuck out of the demon lords, though the Fiendish Codex 2 kept the Lords of the Nine where they were. Then came the [[Elder Evils]] book (a fuckawesome splatbook) and now the Tarrasque was literally swimming in competitors.

But salvation came when Dragon Magazine and the WotC website offered advanced and templated Tarrasque statistics, allowing the Tarrasque to reclaim his rightful spot as the strongest creature in all of D&D. That's right, you Atropals and your other abomination pals can fuck off, the big T is number 1!!!111ONEONEONE
[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/5789941/ According to some, however, the Tarrasque is actually a pretty swell guy.] Well almost. The same Dragon Magazine issue that had the advanced Tarrasque statistics also introduced Time Dragons, Epic Dragons that dwarf even the Force and Prismatic dragons.

''[[Spelljammer]]'', as usual, had its own unique spin on the Tarrasque. Turns out, in their native environment, Tarrasques are peaceful lithovores that wouldn't harm a fly. It's just that the nitrogen-rich atmosphere of most habitable planets simultaneously super-charges their regeneration and collects in several glands in the brain, resulting in their typical murderous insanity.

Traditionally, the Tarrasque's biggest weakness was its lack of any ability to counter flying opponents. Surprisingly, both [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition|4e]] and [[Pathfinder]] took steps to fix this, though they did it in different ways. 4e gave the bugger an "Earthbinder Aura" that covers a fuckhuge area -- 40 squares, bigger than any other effect in the game and wider than any other attack can reach -- in a magical effect that cripples Flight speed to 1 square a round and forces a max altitude of 20 feet... which, as the book sardonically notes, is well within the Tarrasque's reach. Pathfinder instead just gave ol' Tarry the ability to make about 6 ranged attacks a turn and the power to make fuckhuge leaps. Both games explicitly made the Tarrasque unkillable, so even Wish doesn't kill it now; when its health drops to 0 it just burrows deep underground to hibernate. Though 4e does note that Earthbinder Aura might mean that Big T is somehow tied to the earth, and as such it might (maybe) be possible to kill it if one were to find a way to "coax it off this world," whatever that means. (Shoot the Tarrasque into space. You know you want to.)

5th edition further boosts its threat level by giving it the ability to auto-pass three failed saves a day, magic resistance, the ability to reflect ranged spells back at the idiot who casted them, and the ability to make five attacks in a single turn. And that's ''before'' it gets its Legendary Actions! However, it once again lacks any long-range attacks, <strike>and while it does regenerate a sizable chunk of health a turn</strike> scratch that, it doesn't even have fucking regeneration anymore, you no longer need a Wish spell to kill it, leading to a derogatory saying among fans of the old nigh-indestructible Tarrasque that "the new Tarrasque is basically just a big dinosaur". Granted, nothing stops you defying RAW and upscaling an older variant, but...

== How to Kill A Tarrasque ==
What are its weaknesses? Well... it's has a stat block. Unlike, say, The [[Lady of Pain]] the Tarrasque is designed to be tough but not totally unstoppable,Un-killable or omnipotent. And if something can be killed in a game, it can be Cheesed.

The following are mental exercises, not meant for actual gameplay. In a real game, a halfway-decent Dungeon Master would come up with a creative solution, and hopefully a player wouldn't really optimize a character solely for the sake of killing a unique creature that might never appear in the campaign.

So stop bitching about how "this would never happen in a real game."

Although all this could mean jack shit if your Dungeon Master decides to strengthen the Tarrasque.

===(3.5) How to Kill A Tarrasque in 20 Easy Levels===
First, the feats for each level (''and source book if it's not the PH''):
*Human extra feat: Power Attack
*Fighter 1: Combat Reflexes, Weapon Focus: Greatsword
*Fighter 2: Improved Bull Rush
*Fighter 3: Mage Slayer
*Fighter 4: Weapon Specialization: Greatsword
*Fighter 6: Leap Attack (''Complete Adventurer''), Shock Trooper (''Complete Warrior'')
*Fighter 8: Blind-Fight
*Fighter 9: Pierce Magical Concealment (''Complete Arcane'')
*Fighter 10: Melee Weapon Mastery: Slashing (''Player's Handbook II'')
*Fighter 12: Greater Weapon Focus: Greatsword, Pierce Magical Protection (''Complete Arcane'')
*Fighter 14: Greater Weapon Specialization: Greatsword
*Fighter 15: Martial Study: Tiger Claw: Claw at the Moon (''Tome of Battle'')
*Fighter 16: Martial Study: Tiger Claw: Sudden Leap (''Tome of Battle'')
*Fighter 18: Martial Study: Tiger Claw: Pouncing Charge (''Tome of Battle''), Weapon Supremacy: Greatsword (''Player's Handbook II'')
*Fighter 20: Improved Initiative

Key Equipment:
*+5 Speed, Valorous (''Unapproachable East''), Adamantine Greatsword: 166,050 gp, provides an extra attack at your highest attack bonus when making a full attack, and deals double damage on all charge attacks.
*+1 Soulfire ([[Book of Exalted Deeds]]), Heavy Fortification, Mithril Armor: 100,000 gp + the cost of the mithril armor, provides immunity to critical hits, death effects, and negative energy effects
*Manual of Gainful Exercise +5: 137,500 gp, provides a +5 inherent bonus to Strength
*Belt of Giant Strength +6: 36,000 gp, provides a +6 enhancement bonus to Strength
*Ring of Freedom of Movement: 40,000 gp, provides immunity to grappling and movement impedances
*Ring of Mental Protection (''Player's Handbook II''): 110,000 gp, provides immunity to mind-affecting effects
*Mask of True Seeing (''Unapproachable East''): 75,000 gp, provides continuous True Sight

Strength:
* 18 base from point-buy
*+5 from level ups
*+5 inherent bonus from Manual of Gainful Exercise
*+6 enhancement bonus from Belt of Giant Strength
Total Strength: 34, with a Strength modifier of +12

Attack bonus with +5 greatsword when charging:
* 20 Base
*+12 Strength bonus
*+1 Weapon Focus
*+1 Greater Weapon Focus
*+2 Melee Weapon Mastery
*+5 enhancement bonus from magic weapon
*+2 charging
Total attack bonus when charging: +43

Damage with +5 greatsword:
*2d6 base damage
*+18 Strength bonus and a half
*+2 Weapon Specialization
*+2 Greater Weapon Specialization
*+2 Melee Weapon Mastery
*+5 enhancement bonus from magic weapon
Total damage: 2d6+29

So, you're a Human Fighter 20, standing 60 feet away from the death machine that is the Tarrasque. This is the moment of ultimate truth. If you lose initiative, you're supremely and irrevocably fucked like a bunny on fire in a bucket of gasoline with poo for a brain, since although you can survive a charge of the Tarrasque, you probably won't be able to survive the AoOs from repositioning you. If you win initiative though, with the help of some initiative-boosting items I forgot to list down then it's game time.

You spend a full-round action using your Pouncing Charge maneuver, which lets you charge and make a full attack at the end of it, while getting the +2 bonus to attack rolls on all your attacks. As part of your charge, you make a Jump check (easy enough with your ranks and Strength bonus) to activate Leap Attack, as you Power Attack for your full Base Attack Bonus, transforming the attack penalty into an AC penalty using Shock Trooper. So, you're making a full attack at +60 damage on each hit, at the cost of -20 AC and then another -2 AC from charging. Now, at this point, the damage on each of your attacks would normally be 2d6+89 (average 96) from your Leap Attacking shenanigans. However, your Valorous weapon makes you deal double damage on any and all charge attacks, shooting it up to a ludicrous 4d6+178 (average 192). This isn't including critical hits, but they're a pain to calculate in 3.5 anyway.

So then, as you charge past the Tarrasque's threatened squares, it takes an AoO against you, using its bite. It damages you some, but it won't be able to score a crit thanks to your Heavy Fortification armour, and your Ring of Freedom of movement prevents a grapple and a swallow. You then make five attacks, at +43/+43/+37/+32/+27. The Tarrasque has "only" 35 AC. The first three only miss on a natural one, giving them a 95% hit chance. For the fourth one, you activate your +5 bonus from Weapon Supremacy, shooting it up to +37, and thus giving that one a 95% hit chance as well. The fifth and final attack is where you take 10, also using Weapon Supremacy, to make it automatically hit. So then, four attacks at a 95% hit chance, and one attack automatically hitting. 0.95 * 4 + 1 = 4.8.

4.8 * average 192 damage on each hit = average 921.6 damage in total. The Tarrasque has damage reduction 15/epic, however, subtracting a total of (15*4.8) = 72 damage from (nearly) five hits, but that's still an amazing 849.6 damage inflicted on the Tarrasque's hit point total of 858 anyway. At this point, the Tarrasque should be down to -180 or -181 hit points, meaning it will be back in action in 5 rounds, and that's why I hope you've got a means to cast Wish right then and there.

===(3.5) How to Kill A Tarrasque in 18 Easy Levels===
Key Requirements:
*Cleric/Master of Shrouds with the [[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure|Time domain]].
*Greater Rod of Maximize spell or the Maximize Spell feat and DMM or Illumian race with the Naenhoon sigil word.

Method:
*Start your turn within close range and cast Maximized Time Stop giving you 5 turns to prep.
*For five turns use the Master of Shrouds ability to summon shadows, 4 each time for a total of 20. (For this to work we only need 15 shadows assuming they all hit, but best to be on the safe side.)
*Master of Shrouds gives +2 damage to all summons, Shadows deal 1d6 str damage on touch turning it into 1d6+2 str damage.
*All shadows ready action to touch Big T inappropriately when time stop ends.
*Assuming one rolls a 1 and misses the shadows deal a minimum of 19*3(min str damage) = 57 str damage, no save, no SR.
*Big T has a str score of 45 (only 15 actually have to hit) and the shadow ability specifies that when a living creature has its str reduced to 0 it dies.

===(3.5) How to Kill A Tarrasque in 17 Easy Levels (or 1, if you are wealthy)===
Start off as a Cleric or Wizard. Add whatever full spellcaster PrC's you want/qualify for. Reach 17th level.

Key Equipment:
*Holy Symbol (Cleric) or Spellbook (Wizard). If you're a Wizard, you'll need to have learned the Gate spell.
*Some method of flying for around 10 rounds or so (yes, you can use a spell if you have a suitable one). Or just be able to run quickly.

Method:

Stand (or fly) far enough away from the Tarrasque so that it can't attack you.
Cast Gate, to Call an Angel (Solar). You should be able to get one with at least 34 HD.
Have the Solar attack the Tarrasque with Slaying arrows. Be ready to hit the Tarrasque with ongoing damage once it goes down, but stay out of melee range of it.
Use the Solar's Wish (Spell Like ability) to kill it. If that fails, have the Solar cast Miracle (one of its standard spells).

Note: Anyone with 8,400 gp (including a wealthy 1st level Commoner) can also accomplish this by using a Good aligned Candle of Invocation.

===(3.5) How to Defeat The Tarrasque in 3 Easy Levels===
[[Image:Kill_tarrasque.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The illustrated guide.]]
*No particular feats required.
*No particular items required.
*Be a wizard of level 3.
*[[meme|Put on your robe and wizard hat]].
*Cast Command Undead on an allip (it's a CR 3 monster, if you can't find any just learn to cast Summon Undead.)
*Cast Silent Image in front of the Tarrasque or Invisibility on yourself.
*Have the allip attack it. Every hit will take off 3 wisdom on average with no saving throw, and the Tarrasque has an abysmal touch AC, with no way to hit incorporeal targets.
*Once at 0 wisdom, it'll be unconscious until its ability score is restored. Cast Unseen Servant and order it to shovel dirt into the nasal passages and sinuses of the disabled Tarrasque so it can't breathe.
*Per the MM, regeneration does not restore HP lost from suffocation, so it will be stuck at negative hit points, at least until some fool unpacks the dirt from its sinuses.
*Congratulations! For defeating the Tarrasque, you're now a level 4 wizard, with 1 XP away from level 5. Make some wealth by opening a Bar and Grill on its back.
*For added hilarity, take the Precocious Apprentice feat and with some mildly lucky rolls do this at level 1.

===(3.5) How to defeat The Tarrasque in 1 Easy Level===
[[Pazuzu]], [[Pun-Pun|Pazuzu, Pazuzu]]... ''gets knocked out by thrown DMG.''

===(3.5) How to ''Become'' The Tarrasque===
In 3.5 D&D, start as a Psion, focused on Telepathy. Take True Mind Switch.

Method:
* Fly near Tarrasque so it can't attack you.
* Cast True Mind Switch until you run out of XP, or the Tarrasque fails its save.
* If you run out of XP, leave, earn more, then come back later.
* If it fails the save, congratulations. You now possess the body of the Tarrasque, with all its invincibility, as well as the abilities of a 17th-level telepath. The rest of the multiverse is officially fucked.

This trick doesn't work in AD&D because the AD&D Tarrasque is explicitly immune to all psionics, but AD&D psionics are shit anyways. This trick probably won't work in Pathfinder either, as the PF Tarrasque is immune to "mind-affecting effects."

===(4E) How to Defeat The Tarrasque in 6 Easy Levels===
*Be a 6th Level Wizard with a starting Intelligence of 20.
*Grab the Implement Focus feat.
*Buy a riding horse for 75g.
*[[meme|Put on your robe and wizard hat]].
*Obtain a +2 Staff of Missile Mastery.
*Cast Magic Missile on the Tarrasque while 20 squares away. With your staff and a reasonably high starting Intelligence, your Magic Missile will do more damage than the Tarrasque can resist, and hits automatically.
*Ride away from the Tarrasque until you're far enough that it can't close the distance with you in one of its turn. If you have the Wizard's Fury daily power, you can cast Magic Missile as a minor action, allowing you to use both your standard and move actions in order to maintain a distance of 20 squares.
*Repeat the last two steps a thousand more times. This will take roughly two hours.
*Congratulations! For defeating the Tarrasque, you are now level 18.
*For added hilarity, have some friends roll Warlords or other basic attack factories with their own horses, and switch off leading the Tarrasque while receiving extra basic attacks which can be used to fire more Magic Missiles.
*Beware the Tarrasque's burrow and action points - without action points it can't try to get a lucky shot on you or your horses. While burrowing, it cannot be seen but it can still be attacked, and your attacks are automatic hits - your magic missile simply veers into the tunnel it created and pops it in the ass. The rules never state that burrowing removes line of sight, only that the creature cannot be seen, which is different (for example, you can still attack an invisible enemy or an enemy you cannot see due to blindness.)

===(PF) How to Defeat The Tarrasque===
By tricking it into thinking you turned it into something harmless and mortal, like a squirrel. See, its regeneration is ''technically'' just another ability in its stat block. It even follows all the normal rules for special abilities, like specifically being extraordinary, so it still works in antimagic fields. So since Baleful Polymorph removes all extraordinary, supernatural, and spell-like abilities, that would include its regeneration, which would render it mortal. There's just one little catch. Baleful Polymorph only does that on the ''second'' save, and since the Tarrasque is immune to polymorph effects, it never even reaches that point.

Enter Baleful Shadow Transmutation. This spell does functionally the same thing as Baleful Polymorph, but puts the save in the opposite order. It doesn't matter if you're immune to polymorph effects, because the spell just starts off by tricking you into ''thinking'' you were polymorphed, causing you to lose all those abilities... like the Tarrasque's regeneration. Sure, you still need to overcome SR 36 and +12 Will, but that's comparatively easy.

* Level 20 Cyclopean Seer Oracle gets to pick the result of one die roll per day, so spell resistance isn't a problem.

* Samsarans can add spells from other classes' lists to theirs, so you still have access to BST

* Heighten Spell lets it be a level 9 spell, to increase the DC

* By level 20, it's easy enough to have a solid 34 in your casting stat. (18 base +5 levels +6 headband +5 tome = 34)

* Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus collectively increase the DC by +2

Now you just need the Tarrasque to fail a DC 33 Will save, and with a +12 bonus, that isn't looking too likely. It would need a natural 20 to pass. Conversely, you have at least a +20 to Will (+3 headband, +12 base, +5 resistance), so that DC 27 save against its frightful presence isn't looking too difficult.

Congratulations. You now have 24 hours to kill the Tarrasque, before it realizes you didn't actually turn it mortal.

===(PF) How to ''Become'' the Tarrasque at 20th Level===
As of the release of Occult Adventures (OA), you can now play a [[Mesmerist]]. This wonderful class gives you the option of choosing the ability "Psychic Inception", an ability which allows - if you are looking at the target of your spell (no duh), to have a flat 50% chance of affecting ANYONE, no matter the immunities (yes, even swarms can fall prey to suggestion). Even something with quote: "immunity to mind-affecting effects". You then cast Major Mind Swap (also from OA), while having Extended Greater Invisibility cast on yourself, and pray for the best as you expend all of your 9th level spells. Then you can become the Tarrasque. It may not end the problem completely, but now you can only be ejected from the Tarrasque's body with a wish or miracle.

*Gain two levels in Mesmerist
*Gain eighteen levels in Psychic
*Possess the Tarrasque
*Buy as many SR items as possible, as to prevent wish/miracles from affecting you
*Be kicked from the table
*???
*Win.

This does not have the problem that Pathfinder doesn't actually have epic levels in the official rules because mesmerists gain their first trick at 2nd level, not third.

===(5E) How to Kill the Tarrasque in 1 Easy Level===

*Be an [[Aarakocra]] cleric, sorcerer, or wizard. Cleric is the optimal choice here, as Sacred Flame is better than Acid Splash and aarakocra get a Wis boost.
*Choose a as one of your cantrips either Acid Splash or Sacred Flame (as both require a Dexterity saving throw, and the tarrasque has a +0 Dex save and advantage, it'll fail about 36.1% of the time).
*Fly 85 feet above the tarrasque
*Repeatedly cast your chosen cantrip at it, flying down 25 feet to be in range and then flying 25 feet back up (both cantrips have a range of 60 feet).
*Spend 1 hour blasting away.
*???
*<strike>Win</strike>. Die, because it's trivial for the Tarrasque to cover 85ft, even vertically, and kill the caster. The thing is already 50 feet tall, it has a 20ft reach on it's tail, and +10 to all Str skills, that's more than enough to hit a target 85ft away by jumping at it.

===(5E) How to Kill the Tarrasque at any level in one or two rounds.===
*Conscript 1,500 Wood Elf Commoners, arm them with longbows
*[[Dakka|Start shooting]]
*If the Tarrasque is still alive, then move 35 feet after loosing the arrows.
*Win

And now the math behind that statement.
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
In 5e a crit will always hit, and always do damage:25 Ac or not. So if 20 commoners shoot at the Tarrasque, mathematically 1 of them '''will''' hit and '''will''' do double damage due to the crit. The issue being that if you have 400 commoners shooting only about 20 of them will hit so you need a number of commoners high enough that even if 1/20 of them hit you will still do notable damage.

The Tarrasque has 676 hit points, While the average result of a D8 is 4.5. So you need 150 average damage rolls from a weapon that does D8 damage to kill the Tarrasque, but that's a base damage hit, not a crit. The average crit is double that at 9 damage, meaning you actually need 75 crits to do 676 damage to a Tarrasque. However the Tarrasque's "Frightful Presence", means any creature within 120 feet of it will likely be frightened and have disadvantage on the attacks. So our commoners now need to get a 20 twice on two different dice, a 0.002% chance.

To get 75 crits we first need 20 times that, for 1,500. Which all things considered is not an absurd number, there were far more longbow men at the Battle of Agincourt for example if we look to history and those were trained soldiers. But with disadvantage 1,500 commoners shooting at the Tarrasque means only about [[Fail|three]] will hit. To spare you the rest of the math to get 75 crits with disadvantage requires '''750,000 men'''. In One place. All shooting at One target. That's more people then where on fucking D-day. While the total number is better then that since about 20% of the time even a commoner will pass the frightfully Presence roll that is still beyond possible.

But "Frightful Presence",has a range of only 120 feet. If a range weapon was used that had more then 120 feet of range then we only need 75 crits, bringing us back to the reasonable 1,500 number. The longbow is the only candidate in D&D and as mentioned there is historical precedent in reality for that many trained archers being at one location so a even a strict DM would find it hard to object to this plan, and commoners are suppose to obey there lord when a muster is called so basically any well off noble or half decent or even bad king could pull this kind of draft off (assuming the nation is so poor it can't muster 1,500 trained soldiers), again lot of historical examples of this happening in countless political systems. In 5e when you make an NPC a race it gains that races traits, including in this case the wood elf weapon proficiency with longbows. So a wood elf commoner would know how to use the longbow. The cost to arm 1,500 elves is the sticking point with this plan: it would take 75,000 gold. But one could also make a strong argument for them already having them for hunting and home defense at least depending on the culture.

So with the army raised you approach the tarrasque to 130 feet, (we get closer then the longbow's max 150 range to allow the whole army to start shooting but it still means are ranks need to be less then 20 feet deep if we want the back ranks to be able to fire). If we get all 1,500 arrows in the air then we could get all 75 crits we need in the first volley, dropping the tarrasque in one round, but that required number of crits is of course on average and there are only ''"Lies, damned lies, and statistics"'' to quote a phrase. So there is a decent chance the Tarrasque is still alive. So now the whole army uses it's movement to take 35 feet (+5 due to being a wood elf) move back.

The Tarrasque now has three options: First it could with it's 40 speed step forward, but this put's it more then 120 feet away so it can not use Frightful Presence to impose disadvantage (130+35=165-40=125). or it can dash to get 80 feet closer so that next turn it can be in range no matter what the army does, but Frightful Presence is an action and dash is also an action, so either way it can not use Frightful Presence, and it's going to be point blank to an army of 1,500 longbow men, and unless the rolls are truly terrible they are going to do another 75~ish crits, to it next turn, mathematically doing twice the average damage of it's hit point maximize. It's third option is to run away like a little bitch, but supplying 1,500 men in the field is not impossible as proven countless times in history so one can easily give chase and repeat until it's over a border and it's no longer your problem.

If you were feeling fancy one could pad those numbers with a second reserve force of 1,000 troops behind the first line so that if the Tarrasque did to grip with the first line, (after taking 3,000 arrows to the face and about 150 crits), the second line could fire into the large target that is the Tarrasque as it's chews through the first line Finishing the job as it would be badly bloodied from takeing that many crits.

</div>
In general this approach will work on any version of the Tarrasque, [[Commander Kubrik Chenkov| throw enough bodies at it and even the Tarrasque will fall.]] The exact break down of the math and how many bodies and of what quality are required will differ based which version of the Tarrasque your facing and what it's exact statistics and ability are. In some ways the 5e incarnation is the weakest of the Tarrasque's lacking damage reduction and it's signature hyper regeneration so it is the weakest to a massed army approach. At the same time it's a proof of concept of the core idea of throwing an army against the Tarrasque. This example used the shittest possible troops against one of the Highest CR monster in game and we only need a thousand and a half which for a determined medieval society: is easily doable. Tougher Tarrasque's need only bigger armies and more troops. In a way this is the worst case scenario of Army vs Tarrasque and the army still has the math to pull out a win.

Of course this all goes a far beyond D&D as an RPG and starts becoming a war game but it's not impossible at all for players to pull off, nor had D&D not dabbled in doing just that. With Roleplay any player with a noble title, something a seasoned adventurer could acquire, and can be acquired at level 1 with the noble background call up, or at least have the connections to speak to somebody who could call up, the requisite levy of troops. This is also the option on this page least likely to have your DM strangle you for attempting.

== tl;dr ==
WHAT'S THAT YOU SAY? YOU CAN FLY? YOU THINK YOU'RE SAFE NOW? THE TARRASQUE HAS ONE THING TO SAY!

'''BRING IT.'''

[[Image:Balloon Tarrasque.png]]

== See Also ==
* [[Emperasque]]
* [[Tarrasque with Wizard Levels]]
* [http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Heart_of_Tarrasque In vidya games too!]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Tarrasque_Sam_Wood.jpg|3e concept sketch
Image:Tarrasque_1st_Edition.gif|A long time ago, in a MM2 far away...
Image:Tarrasque 4e.jpg|oh how the mighty have fallen... due to Earthbinding Aura!
Image:Tarrasque_Adventurers.jpg|"[[Meme|Gentlemen]]."
Image:Tarrasque_copy_anonib.jpg|DR 15/epic won't protect you from [[Rule 34]]
Image:Tarrasque_nyaaan.jpg|...or [[Rule 63]] nyaa~n!
Image:Chibitarrasque.JPG|Nyoro~n
Image:Tarrasque_we_cant_stop_here.jpg|OH SHIT WE'RE FUCKED.
Image:EMPRAHASQUE_PROTECTS.jpg|OH SHIT, WE'RE '''SERIOUSLY''' FUCKED.
Image:Torrasque_-_StarCraft_and_StarCraft_II_Wiki.png|Now (i.e. since 1998) Starcraft has their own version.
</gallery>

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Dungeons & Dragons Monsters]][[Category:Monsters]][[Category:Pathfinder]][[Category:Gamebreaking]]