@KiyamaHarumi
Functionally I did indeed think about something like the Dragon Cleaver tank gun. Slow fire. Strong precise impact. A very strong scalpel, not a sledge hammer.
I am not sure about the presentation though.
I could think of many cool effects I could use. But at the same time I don't want to come up with some crazy energy beam that doesn't fit the Dwarf aesthetic.
I am currently thinking about using the Dreadquake mortar projectiles and just speed them up like hell. They look kinda cool. We will see xD
Thanks for the ideas! I am rather confident that I will look further into it in the next month.
The arrival of the next DLC would be a nice opportunity to introduce a new airship into the mod.

Yes, the impact of weapon is extremely important—take that derpy's Chaos Dwarf areomachines for example, I really love it. The camera shake when it fires, the smoke and dust on the ground, and the cannon sound effects all give a sense of "impact". You’re absolutely right; the Dwarves’ current aircraft have attacks that are far too "clean"—they lack that chaotic feel of swirling smoke, gunpowder, and cannonballs flying everywhere. Yes, the player only needs to control the main gun, and the rest can be automatically control by independent gunners. The player should manage the distance, provide protection, and ensure that the firepower is brought into full play. What do you think of the main gun on your Dragon Cleaver tank? I think that main gun is really cool. Or do you have a better idea?

@KiyamaHarumi
I am not sure if I am against basic archers taking it down. If your "core of the fleet" as you called it isn't properly defended by the rest of your army thats kinda your own fault xD
I wouldn't split up its purpose though. The game doesn't allow you to properly command different weapon types independently. Its probably the best to have the player directly control the main gun and have the rest as independent entities that shoot at anything in range.
For the latter smaller cannons are fine. Gives it a nice atmosphere of gunpowder and explosions.
But the main gun needs something special.

Yes, I also prefer diverse force compositions that demand strategy and careful planning. Having obvious weaknesses is only natural—after all, in reality, aircraft carrier also have significant vulnerabilities, though that doesn't diminish its overall power as the core of fleet. As for the weapons, I haven't thought that through yet. If there is only cannon, it's not cool. It should have a variety of weapons, some basic self-defense capabilities to ensure it won't get taken down by a single bat or archer. My concept is that long-range weapons require precision and moderate rate of fire, while medium-range weapons need explosive power and low rate of fire. Close-range weapons are solely for basic self-defense.

@KiyamaHarumi
While its true that some busted units aren't necessarily the end of the world, I do prefer designs that can be used in more meaningful army compositions. Its just more fun to me to have multiple army pieces fit well together instead of just one steamrolling everything.
With that being said, a flying artillery piece that is almost useless in a low range scenario does sound like exactly that. It relies on strong support from the army and is only a very specialized long range tool. I can see that. I am not sure about the gun though. Just a cannon sounds kinda boring.

By the way, being a bit more versatile isn't a big deal for boss-level units. In every campaign, there's always something overpowered shows up. A lord or hero decked out in legendary gear. 90% physical damage reduction and health regeneration—wiping out my entire army. A fully-manned elite force of beastmen or skaven continuously ambushes your armies. A "nuke" shattered your meticulously arranged formation. If you're using the “Jurassic” mod, the Thunder Lizard can wipe out 2-3 infantry squads with a single attack. For a boss unit, being a bit overpowered isn't a big deal as long as it can still be defeated. What matters is that it's cool—that's the key!

@Vrooktar I think a new fortress should provides stable medium-to-long-range firepower that ignores line-of-sight, but it should not be effective at close range(since artillery fixed on distant targets cannot aim downward). This is the opposite of the Thunderbarge and other airships. While less effective against rapidly approaching enemy forces compared to other airships, it possesses effective strike capability against mid-ong-range enemy, especially those deliberately maintaining distance.

@KiyamaHarumi
Regarding the flying fortress concept. I like the design idea a lot. A flying fortress like that with 6 huge rotors or something and a battery of 16 aiming cannons aimed at all possible and impossible directions sounds cool as shit and would be different.
But how to balance this? It could be less tanky, because its more a giant gyrocopter and less an airship, okay. But what about its shooting? So far flying units are balanced in part by the fact that their range is comparably low. You talk about full fledged flying artillery. Thats certainly possible. But how do we make that balanced and interesting at the same time?

@Kiyama Harumi
Lets start with the bombing concept. I could see that from a design perspective. Basically Gyrodynes which drop bombs in some kind of dive bomb fashion as primary weapon. Would be smaller bombs since they have more of them. I am not sure about their core purpose and balance though. I also have to say that the gyrocopter animation framework really struggles with fire while moving. I am worried that it wouldn't "feel" great to use them. Another Gyrocopter variant with bombs does also just not sound that interesting if I am being honest. It feels like there is still something missing here.

Thunderbarge is formidable. However, it remains a short-range air force incapable of serving as a “fortress.” The description also notes it's “lightweight.” So let's redesign a “heavyweight” version—a long-range fortress capable of long-range precision strikes and mid-range explosive firepower, an air force-class boss akin to the human aircraft in the movie Avatar. This colossus would take flight with four or more propellers, equipped with anti-infantry, anti-artillery, and anti-aircraft weaponry. Yet it should be vulnerable to fly melee unit and nearby range units.What do you think?

What if there were a cheaper, faster, automated aircraft dedicated solely to battlefield bombing? I believe its role wouldn't overlap with the vanilla Gyrobomber. It could effectively strike large areas of enemy rear positions—something the Dwarf Air Force struggles to achieve. Lingering for sustained fire means exposing themselves to concentrated enemy long-range fire.
Moreover, the Dwarf Air Force has always struggled with how to deal with ranged units, especially artillery and advanced ranged units. This task must be handed over to ground artillery, but if complex terrain (Line of Sight/obstacles) is encountered, it becomes an dead end.

If it's a niche issue, then it involves many aspects. For instance, the bombing tactics of the Gyrobomber and the Thunderbarge differ significantly. One involves manually dropping bombs quickly before switching to long-range firepower, while the other employs automated, sustained hovering bombardment. The Thunderbarge's slow speed and high cost make it impractical for large-scale military deployment. If the Gyrobomber had infinite bombs and could automatically drop them like the Thunderbarge, carpet bombing could be achieved through mass production. Otherwise, no one could coordinate multiple bomber squadrons to hit targets with precision simultaneously.

@KiyamaHarumi
I would be open to the idea.
The problem is that it of course becomes more and more difficult to find remaining meaningful niches to fill.
The niche of a carpet bomber is already well filled by the Gyrobomber.
And the Thunderbarge is already a slow and heavily armed aerial fortress.
I think I could come up with a design that looks more like a "fortress". A little more in the direction of my War Balloon maybe. Maybe even some kind of SHIELD Super carrier design with huge rotors.
But I struggle to come up with meaningful ideas for a good gameplay niche.
What would you want said fortress to do that makes it different from the other already existing approaches?
And you are free to go crazy.
I already made lightning gyrocopters and Runefire Airships after all xD

I absolutely love your mod, especially the Gyrodynes design.It brings to mind designs from World War I. Would you consider a more “traditional” design? For instance, an aircraft primarily armed with cannons and bombs. It may not as precise as your Rune Cannon, but there's something satisfying about these crude shells flying all over the battlefield. Perhaps a aerial fortress heavier than thunderbarge? Or an aircraft capable of carpet bombing like Gyrodynes bomber ?

unit keys?

@n.pedrazalis
It appears that all my mods, apart from the SFO submods, since SFO hasn't been updated yet, work fine and require no update.

Hello the mod is outated in my mod manager uptate please

Love the broadside one

Don't use attack orders with the broadside just position it manually. You know the left side will always be the killy side. I do agree it may make more sense to put thunderers in the balloon. However I have a better idea. Why not both? Have two types to recruit. I also would humbly suggest a "right handed" broadside. Since right now they are all "left handed". Could open up fun strategies using them in pairs. Regardless this is the best damn unit pack for Warhammer 3 love this mod.

The main issues I think is their range of fire is very short they get out-ranged by most archers who can move faster than the barge so they can effectually kite them in skirmish mode. The AI really struggles with an attack order on them. It tried to move towards the enemy by aiming the front of the blimp towards the enemy instead of the side that can shoot. This can be fixed by manually ordering them to turn so the guns aim the right way but it requires some micro-managing.

@Diremerc
Great ideas!
The firing cones with Thunderbarge units are really iffy and I had to experiment a lot to get it to work at all as well as it does. That basically has something to do with the fact that the original Thunderbarge has a rather weird way of determining its attack orders, due to its 4 different ammo types. If I change the arc to properly represent the gunners on top, the attack orders start to bug out.
If there is a way to "twist" the direction of the directional armor attribute then I also don't know how. Kinda sucks, I would have really liked that approach.
Rifles do make more sense than shotguns on an airship.
But is range really the core thing its missing?
Apparently you played more with the Broadsiders than I did.
What do you feel are the things that make them unpleasant to use?

I went back to my dwarf game and made a full stack of the Broadsiders to test them a bit more.
assuming you wanna keep the current design and not have it shoot on both sides.
My suggestions to changes to them would be:
-Replace Grudgerakers with Thunderers. Rifles make more sense than shotguns if you are going to be shooting out of a blimp.This way the blimp would have a proper range attack of like 200.
- Remove the flat 25% missile resistance and add a 180° 55% (silver) shield facing the opposite side than the shooting side
-Not sure if this is something you can change but right now the Blimp seems to think it has a 360 fire arc and you should see if you can change it to be a cone in the direction it can fire.

@Diremerc
Thanks for your feedback! I won't fundamentally change the mechanics of the Broadside Airship, because I like its identity and the drawbacks of it only being able to shoot into one direction very much. If you think its too weak overall there are of course other possible solutions though. What do you think its core problem is? Too little damage? I think its almost as powerful as a regular unit of Grudgerakers which doesn't sound too bad on paper, especially due to its height advantage. Or do you think its too squishy?

Excellent mod, I used this along with the tank one. These felt properly balance, no major issues with any of them. If I were to chance one thing is that I would make it so the Broadside Airship can shoot on both sides at the same time. As it currently stand it's actually a bit underwhelming for the cost and time it takes to make them. It should have the same amount of riflemen facing both directions and that would make it a very good unit while not being overwhelming overpowered as it can still be taken down pretty easily by archers and artillery units. Definitely my favourite unit of the pack thought.

The broadside airship is the best modded unit that anyone has made For this game. Bravo! I love the look. I love the unique "broadside" way it works. Can not wait to see what airships you make next!

Why dont you just write it into your description? :D

@david.vicr Great to hear. Thats a piece of advice I can forward in the future if someone has a similar question then!

@Vrooktar Thanks for the quick response! I managed to do it with the Warhammer3 Mod Manager – there you can simply just deactivate them. :)

@david.vicr Glad you like it!
The only way I know of would be to change the mod. Would be a rather simple change though.
You could easily try it yourself.

Such a great Mod, i love the Bugman Balloon! Since i play also with a lot other Mods that add Units i would like to deactivate the other Units - is there any way? I cant find it within the Mod Manager ingame. :(

@Kane Beckett
You are welcome to do one yourself. Its really not a big deal. You simply need the 3 or 4 tables that define which factions are allowed to recruit them and from which buildings.

Oh please a submod for the empire!

@Don Cheadle
I prefer that they are more distinct from one another.
But you are welcome to try that yourself!
That wouldn't be a terribly difficult beginner mod project.
All you need is the AssetEditor from Ole and then you just kitbash them together.
You could even design your own engine after a few hours of getting used to the editor!

It'd be sick if you added the engines from the runefire airship to the broadsider, maybe its just me but it looks a little bare as-is

@DonTony
@Illegal FQ

The mod is fully functional.

update plz

update?

@硕小衰
Thank you for the feedback!
Its Riflemen have the damage output of 80% of a regular Grudraker unit.
I only tested for a small number of encounters so far, but since Gruderakers are usually not considered weak, an underwhelming performance would surely surprise me. I will look into this!

"Hello, author. The damage output of the airship you designed seems too low. I observed that the musketeers on the Sky Terrace needed 4-5 shots to barely eliminate a Chaos Hound."

@Luca.barbieri1
I am always happy to hear new suggestions!
From other factions as well.
I feel like my imagination for more Dwarf units is slowly running out and there are many factions that deserve more love!

thanks for your reply,what you say is rigth, this new airship offers a line of fire from above,
have a nice day, we are waiting for your new creations

@luca.barbieri1
Glad that you like it!
This might have made it more powerful thats true. I wanted to introduce a new dynamic though, instead of just building a Thunderbarge without cannons and bombs. This new airship has a strength the Thunderbarge doesn't have without just being even stronger. It can support a frontline with more focused fire in a specific zone. Maybe thats just me, but I find that this creates better synergies with the rest of the army compared to a unit that just does spread out damage everywhere.
I also like that this offers meaningful counterplay and that it requires better positioning.

hi, i tried your new airship ...it is beautiful and fun !!! but what if you had put the rifleman on the two side? it would become even more powerful !!! thanks for your work !!!!!

@luca.barbieri1
Its already in the mod.
I updated it yesterday ^^

really ????!!!! nice idea !!!!! when will we be able to see ?? thanks for your reply and again compliments for your mods really well done and that make the game more beautiful

@luca.barbieri1
I made another airship with 16 riflemen.
Hope you like it as much as I do!

@luca.barbieri1
Copying the same Airship, just with more rifleman sounds kinda boring.
A different kind of gunship that relies primarily on riflemen and has no primary weapon, if thats what some people like, doesn't sound so bad though.
I will think about that!

congratulations for your mod, i wanted to ask you if a version of the runefire airship with 8 rifleman could be interesting (another 4 alongside those already present) thanks

@julian-walzl93
Not really.
The Empire simply got so much DLC with so many units in a similar category of what I would design that I struggle to really come up with interesting ideas to fill meaningful niches with.

nice work man really,
something for empire^? have you programm for empire?