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Combi-weapon: Bolter-stake crossbow


Mosk

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They pretty much do exactly what they say on the tin: awesome against psykers but a waste on anything else. That should be all you need to know! The trick is getting your combi-stakes to the right place at the right time but with Assault 2 at 24" that's not too difficult.

Bolter-Crossbows and Power Stakes are rubbish. They have one fatal flaw.

 

You can only use them versus IC Psykers. So either a lone IC Psyker in shooting (lol) or you get your Power Stake user into B2B with one in CC. And *no* uber CC mini can use one.

A few other good points. It's an assault weapon, so you can fire before going into combat. It also is effective against anything with invulnerable saves, like tyrannid pskers, daemons, eldar warlocks. It looks really cool to boot, plus you still keep your bolter, which can have psycannon bolts.

 

Lots of people don't like them, I like mine.

It's so utterly situational, it's hardly ever the right wepaon for the Job.

 

The only thing you'll use it in shooting versus is a MC 'Nid or maybe one of the Chaos SM DPs. In CC just about anything that can use one in the WH list will be eaten when in B2B with an IC Psyker.

 

And they are of no use versus non IC Psykers at all.

 

Well, unless the Psyker becomes the sole surviving member of a squad.

It's so utterly situational, it's hardly ever the right wepaon for the Job.

 

The only thing you'll use it in shooting versus is a MC 'Nid or maybe one of the Chaos SM DPs. In CC just about anything that can use one in the WH list will be eaten when in B2B with an IC Psyker.

 

And they are of no use versus non IC Psykers at all.

 

Well, unless the Psyker becomes the sole surviving member of a squad.

The power stake is something I've never used because to use them you need the whole unit geared up to deal with CC (mancatchers etc) but the combi X-bow is, quite frankly, awesome.

 

I have a regular Nid opponent who always used to field a flyrant & CC tyrant in his lists. He was pretty much untouchable for quite a while until I played a game where I fielded these little beauties. Suddenly his MC's didn't seem quite a certain as they did before and because of this 10pt piece of wargear he's totally changed his lists when facing me. Against an opponent who you know reliably uses psykers they are worth the very small outlay. Regardless of anything else if you know you're facing nids then pack at least one in the roster somewhere. You'll notice a change in confidence of your opponent when they realise that their 2+ save isn't going to be enough and if you achieve that then you've put them on the back foot from the very begining.

Against an opponent who you know reliably uses psykers they are worth the very small outlay.

 

Apart from 'Nids, who else has MC Psykers (Oh and the WH Throne...)?

 

Expect every other IC Psyker to be attached to a squad, which renders the Combi-XBow useless.

That's interesting.

 

Looking back at it, I don't think it should be called a "Combi" Weapon at all. And that it should be it's own weapon, just called "Bolter-Stake Crossbow".

 

As it looks like it's not a one shot deal, and you don't fire it as a normal Bolter after. :/

 

Dodgey weapon that.

 

Still rubbish though.

Against an opponent who you know reliably uses psykers they are worth the very small outlay.

 

Apart from 'Nids, who else has MC Psykers (Oh and the WH Throne...)?

 

Expect every other IC Psyker to be attached to a squad, which renders the Combi-XBow useless.

Not useless, it just changes the way you need to use it. I think far more important though is the effect that it can have on an opponent who likes, or better still needs, to use psykers.

If an IC is with a unit or you've got a MC with a retinue then the tactics have changed but only in regards to the fact that you pile the fire in to take out the meat shield but when they've been taken out what's left is usually the hardest nut to crack. However with the combi staker you've got 2 shots hitting on at least a 3 and then wounding on 2+ without the possibility of an armour save. For 10pts this is not to be palmed off lightly.

 

If you manage to do ths to your opponent successfully just once it can totally change the way they play their game. From my experience against nids I went from having nothing that could stop the tyrants from systematically wiping out my entire force (and this happened more than once back in the early days of 4th ed nids) to having the tyrants running away from my lines because my opponent feared the x-bow so much. In fact a couple of games ago I achieved what no one else had managed which was to eliminate every synapse on the table. No easy feat and it took a good 3 turns of exorcist fire to strip the TG's away but after they had gone it was bug game hunting.

The effect is that my opponent isn't so sure anymore and if you do face psykers on a regular basis paying 10pts for that psychological advantage can really make a difference.

That's interesting.

 

Looking back at it, I don't think it should be called a "Combi" Weapon at all. And that it should be it's own weapon, just called "Bolter-Stake Crossbow".

 

As it looks like it's not a one shot deal, and you don't fire it as a normal Bolter after. :/

It is a regular combi weapon! You either have the regular bolter fire every round, infinite ammo (which can be upgraded to Psycannon bolts!)

 

OR...

 

One use using the profile given in the wargear section, which is assault 2.

 

It works just like every other combi weapon. Combi-plasma is the same way.. you get only one round of shooting with a plasma gun profile, which CAN be rapid fired for two shots in that one round of shooting, but then your weapon goes back to being a bolter the rest of the game.

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