Hi folks,
Quick thought and point for discussion. Although EoS and Empire before it have been my primary army for over 20 years, I play multiple armies. EoS, KoE, HBE, SE, DE, O&G, and Tomb dudes. I play with and against artillery quite a lot.
Artillery, in my experience, needs to be either cheap, or reliable. Paraphrasing that from a regular opponent of mine. Goblin Bolt Throwers, cheap and cheerful. Dwarven Guns, reliable. Elvish Bolt Throwers, reliable and reasonable price. EoS warmachines seem be be neither.
So I am heading in to a round of tournament prep, with lists that no longer include any warmachines. Have I made a critical error, or do EoS warmachines need some TLC to get more time on the table?

Hope this generates some discussion.

Cheers ~ Michael (Gaius Marius)

Nostalgia:
For me, I have played Empire for ages. Like since 4th edition. I have seen power builds come and go. Artillery come and go. Back then, Hellblasters were one shot wonder weapons until, like 6th edition. Cannons kept Dragons at bay. Mortars were kind of niche.
For years I used 1 Volley gun, 1 Cannon and 1 Mortar, to give me options, and to avoid cries of cheddar-listing.
Then in 8th, guess ranges went away, and the artillery got weird, as people got very afraid and the cost reflected that. In 9th, to hit rolls added a new layer of un-reliability to the mix, but opponents remained as afraid of them as they had been in the past. In fact, there have been various hard-caps on how many machines we could take from the beginning of the 9th age project, which shows in some quarters there was some concern about the power curve of artillery.

My hypothesis as to the issue:
SkargitCrookfang (my most regular opponent) asked me, "What need/target are you trying to address with your War-machines?" My conclusion was that the targets and situations that I take Artillery to deal with, are all more reliably / consistently addressed with tools other than the big guns. The problem is that they are priced as though they are effective. However, they aren't effective, they are fluke-machines. I have used progressively fewer war machines since starting 9th age (and now am playing with none) because although they are noted as an Army Strength for EoS, they are neither reliable enough/ nor cheap enough to warrant taking.

Review:
1 - The cannon, with the d3+1 wounds (and 1 more if flying) they can do in a single hit, are life altering for flying dragons, heroes on chimeras and Griffons. They CAN, on paper, and in memorable instances, change the fate of a game. The time you successfully got a hit, rolled a wound, avoided the Aegis save, and then got max wounds on some big gribbly monster stand out. On the other hand, they as often or more often fail to hit anything of value before rolling a 1 and taking themselves out of the game. 250pts, occasionally amazing, often a crushing disappointment.
2 - The Volley gun. S5 shooting is good. 24" range less good. Aim 4+ less good. High misfire chances also less good. We all remember "That time" a volley gun turned a unit of Chaos Knights in to a fine red mist. Or brought some Elite Elves to their knees. We also know the the majority of times that without magical support and maybe an Engineer, our 200pt wonder gun did precisely nothing.
3 - The Mortar. Actually, if this weapon can see it's opponents (and that is a bit of an issue), it isn't too shabby. At killing horde enemy infantry. Low toughness, low armour infantry. For the record, the one thing the EoS doesn't usually need extra help to deal with is horde infantry. 200pts to help extra kill goblins and skeletons is not usually a priority. (See "what am I taking artillery for anyway?" comment)
4 - The rocket battery. S5, 3 shots, actual fluffy helpful rules for misfires, d3 wounds. It is actually pretty good. I would argue that it is the only piece of EoS artillery that is almost good value for points. It is still aim 4+, but at 160pts it is so much cheaper than our other options it feels like a deal in comparison. It is still however a fluke machine. It is best shooting at multi wound big stuff, and with only S5, it often fails to wound even when it hits. Honestly, if I could by 4 Goblin Bolt Throwers for 360pts instead of 2 Rocket batteries for 320pts, I would. Every time.

Constructive Criticism and solutions going forward:
A - Reduce the impact of Misfire. From a game mechanics point of view, the war machines with misfire charts were given those charts to offset the lack of a to-hit roll. It was fun and fluffy too, if a little random. Well, now all our Machines have to roll to hit, and we still have onerous misfire charts and opportunities. Dwarfs for a price get to more or less ignore misfire. All Bolt throwing machines have no misfire. Why do we? The Magic miscast chart is a very toned down version of its old self, why are misfires as bad as ever for war-machines? Possible solution, give the other machines the same misfire mechanic used by the Rocket battery. Roll a 1, lose a wound, move on with your life. Maybe make that a bubble ability provided by an engineer.

B - Reduce the damage "ceiling" on these weapons and reduce the price. Artillery scares people who own nice center piece Dragons and Manticores, and big multi wound stuff. One of the early changes to cannons in 9th age was to remove some of the randomness of d6 wounds. Now cannons can no longer 1-shot the big stuff, but can't roll a 1 for damage either. The balance issue is that if cannons get too cheap or effective, it will kill off big monsters from other army books. I would personally rather be able to score a few wounds on a big bad thing reliably, rather than kill it outright on occasion. The same goes for the mortar, and the Volley gun for me. Limits on the number and types of machines is fine, but make them cheaper. A cannon that only does d3 wounds, or even d2 wounds is fine, if it costs a lot less too, and doesn't blow up. A mortar with a smaller footprint 5x5 or 4x4 or a lower strength, at a significant drop in price would be fine. A volley gun that could choose the number of barrels fired, or only shot 2d6x2 for a significantly reduced price would be good.

C - Make them more reliable damage producers and perhaps raise the points cost. A dwarf cannon simply shoots better, and misfires less, and can get runes. Plus the Discipline is better, the crew wears armour, and although the range is 60" instead of 72", they pay only 5pts more. That would be nice. Ditto their Catapult, their Organ gun. Better versions of EoS options. Make an order that can be given to War-machines that lets them stand and shoot, or gives them a bonus to hit a particular enemy, or allows re-rolls to hit or something. Let an engineer assist multiple machines, or decide to intervene AFTER we roll to hit.

D - Add fun quirks or options that help with reliability or function without adding seriously to cost. Let the crew entrench, or wear a cod-piece or helmet for crying out loud. Give us a Horse-Artillery option that allows move and shoot, or allows scouting deployment in our own deployment zone like the Dwarf Bolt Thrower, or a Vanguard. Give the engineer access to magic items that allow 1 off attempts to actually hit a target - "Magic Telescope" 1 use only allows 1 war machine a +2 to aim, Or "Magical Spotlight" 1 use Engineer targets one enemy unit, all shooting gets +1 to hit this phase on that target. Make a step-ladder or crow's nest a purchasable upgrade to make your machines tall. Give the Engineer a hot air ballon as a mount and use his line of sight, or a megaphone as an upgrade option to allow him to give orders to machines further away.

I know B&C are mutually contradictory but EoS machines need to be EITHER cheaper, or more reliable. Otherwise I suspect, for internal balance reasons they will continue to dwindle on the battlefield.

Cheers ~ Gaius Marius