Hey, what's that little tank over there?

It's nothing, don't worry about it...

...snicker...

That somewhat infamous exchange is now something of a running joke in our gaming group. It was between myself & Neverness (who will no doubt comment when he sees this post) when he first saw my Forgeworld Cyclops speeding towards his fast approaching Ork bikers. Shortly thereafter, three bikers were vaporized and he asked 'okay, now what the hell was that?!?'

Its what I like to call '25 points of annoyance' yet is more commonly known as the Imperial Cyclops.
Long a fixture in my now sold 110th Ryza imperial guard army, this week I repainted it for use with my renegade guard. In the interim the cyclops has sat hidden away in a drawer, hoping (probably futilely) that it will be forgotten by my friends. So infamous is this little guy that I've had to change tactics & keep it (and it's operator) well hidden for most of the game, in some piece of terrain, laying in wait for the enemy's approach. Indeed, people have walked over to the table, pointed it out and told whomever I was playing to 'SHOOT THAT THING FIRST! JUST DO IT!'

...sigh...

However if all goes to plan, then around turn three or four my opponent will have one of those 'What's tha--oh shit! I didn't see that.' moments.

Hopefully it'll be in my turn where the cyclops can race forwards & kill something, otherwise it's promptly shot at & disabled or (on a roll of a '6' to glance/penetrate) it explodes! Some may call that a dirty trick, but @ 25 points is it? Using FW models & characters (with the exception of super heavies) isn't all that uncommon, and considering most people can't build a list without a 'deathstar' unit included, I would hardly call the cyclops 'dirty'. Perhaps I can get another opinion tonight when it makes its debut against some Tyranid MC spam.

For those who aren't familiar with it, the Cyclops is an IG fast attack choice. AV 10 all around plus an operator which is a lone IG grunt equipped with a lasgun (or in my operator's case, just an autopistol) & a radio controller. You can have 1-3 Cyclops per FA choice (I only have the one). So long as the cyclops is within 48" of the operator it may move normally with the exception of it may move within 1" of an enemy model. If it goes beyond 48", it stops & may not move again till the operator gets back into range.

Once you find the best place to stop (within 1" of something the enemy considers valuable) it explodes in the shooting phase & it does so like a demo charge, except it doesn't scatter and against vehicles the strength isn't halved as the hole is always going to be over the cyclops itself (the cyclops is then removed as it has been vaporized).

Of course if the enemy shoots & glances or penetrates it, the cyclops is automatically wrecked, no rolling on the chart. If the glancing or penetrating roll is a '6', then it explodes in the same manner as above, so it's best not to let this little guy near your own troops! If the operator is killed before it blows up then it basically becomes another piece of terrain, it can't even explode. So it does have it's limitations.

Alternatively, Col. Gravis has one which he uses to represent a demo charge for his veteran squad. That's a pretty good idea actually, except that for me this model has become a bit notorious. So putting it with a veteran squad (even if I were to repeatedly explain that it is just a demo charge and not an actual cyclops), would more or less be the death knell of that squad.

The cyclops is a cheap & fun little curve ball to throw out on the table every now & again though, and I highly recommend you try it out.