Orbital Bombardment

[Tomatazo]

I am sitting here trying to create a good list. I can see that the chapter master and the captain are the EXACT same except for the orbital bombardment rule. My question is simple, Is it worth the 25 points? I have never had a chance to use it because my master has stayed on the move, or i have fielded a special character who doesn't have it. I have gotten along just fine without it, so has anyone actually found it useful and worth the 25 points you have to spend?

[Gaz1858]

80% of the time id say its not that useful. Once or twice ive had good luck. Decimated a 10 man berzerker squad. Other times the scatter takes it half way to China.

[Master Melta]

Agree with Gaz1858,

 

I used it to great effect killing lots of nobz who's trukk I just blew up.

 

I also used it and only killed a loota...

 

 

Just don't rely on it. ;)

[greatcrusade08]

just think of it as a 25 point lottery, if it pays off, its a game changing event, but normally it doesnt get you much.

But then again all you have t do is kill a couple of standard tac marines and it pays for itself.

 

GC08

[kaiserstole20]

just think of it as a 25 point lottery, if it pays off, its a game changing event, but normally it doesnt get you much.

But then again all you have t do is kill a couple of standard tac marines and it pays for itself.

 

GC08

 

This is right. It depends on what your opponent takes and even then it doesn't always make a difference. If you can hit your opponents elite troops not only will it make back the points (sometimes many times over) but it can also completely swing the game in your favor.

 

As Master Melta said - just don't rely on it.

[Brother Captain Josef]

I used to use it a lot and it really is either awesome or misses. Once it took out tigurius and a whole tac squad he was standing in. beautifull... Another time I missed a whole hoard army...

 

If your HQ is running about kicking the hell out of stuff then its not gonna be worth it as you will never fire. better points to take digi weapons and a storm shield (25pts).

 

Always remember it will prob scatter, this will usually be 7 inches as its the most common roll on 2 dice so don't try to take out vehicles, T6 stuff etc. Whack the plate in the middle of an elite squad and hope to hell to get a good roll.

 

I personally like it until I started to field a drop pod assault army. Just too risky but if you going with a gun line like what I used to play then it can save you a lot of bother but I must re-iterate do not rely on it! Its a shot of opportunity and that opportunity might not even present itself and if you do have to rely on it then your tactics need looking at.

 

Have a try, WYSISYG doesn't even come into it!

[Cornishman]

Orbital Bombardments is anything but reliable but they can be exceeding deadily.

For your 25 pts you get a 1 shoot Str 10 AP1 Ordance barrage. This means should it hit a unit it will wounds pretty much anything (STR 10), ignore armours and causes pinning, and is excellent at cracking armour (ordance and AP1). Additionally cover saves are working out from the centre of blast, so allowing you to level that squad hiding behind a building (but otherwise in the open).

 

So 'prime' targets are closely packed (heavy) infantry/MCs without cover saves, and as said at STR 10 and AP1 on a direct hit it armour is likely to be in trouble especially is it is resolved against side armour. If you don't get a direct hit then you can still cause damage.

 

The most important factor in determing how effective an orbital bombardment it is where it hits, naturally this is one of the most unpredicable elements. There isn't much you can do about this, but if you target the centre of enemy formations then you stand a better chance of hitting thing should you scatter.

 

Cover (or the lack of) makes a huge difference, avoid area terrain if possible those 5+ or 4+ cover saves instantly hit the effectiveness. I've had 9/10 CSM pass their cover saves.

 

Don't plan anything around the results. On balance I would say on average it is worth 25pts, but this doesn't mean it is the most effective use of those 25pts in your list. Personally I've got my orbital bombardment from Kantor, but I selected him for his scoring sternguard units, +1A effect and for being stubborn NOT the orbital bombardment.

[Bannus]

just think of it as a 25 point lottery...

Love it! :D

[Frosty the Pyro]

25 points for a 1/3 chance to place a str 10 ap1 pie plate whever I want? I will take those odds. If things go as intended your average beatstick captain/master isnt going to get in alot of shooting, one or two rounds. So why not make those rounds Glorious beams from the sky.

[Brother Nihm]

It can also be used as a deterrent factor, say if you're defending an objective with your Chapter Master. :P

[ShinyRhino]

I like to drop mine first turn, typically against the highest concentration of troops I can. Remeber that you don't need LOS to drop it, so you can hide that Chapter Master behind a rock, and call in the pain anywhere on the board. I like trying to drop it dead center on my opponent's HQ squad, or the center of an Ork Mob.

The full scatter is a bit off-putting, but for 25 points, it's worth the giggles you'll get to enjoy if you smoke an entire unit on turn one. Heck, the scatter could be worse. You could be using an IG Master of Ordnance, whose equivalent bombardment ALWAYS scatters at least 2d6 and can never be a direct hit!

[gil galed]

the 25pt lottery is basically the best explanation

 

sometimes it works, but if not have you really lost alot?

[chapter master 454]

I gave shrike and his vanguard a bad dad with it. They infiltrated at the 12" threshold (with jump packs so it would of been turn one charge) but my chapter master brought it down and shrike survived however he looked rather silly now. It can really hurt when your opponent brings in his uber unit, when it shows just call down your shot and hope for the best.

 

It's generally the chapter master being able to something game changing without effort. In essence, like the above have said, if it hits it mauls and if it misses you'll have a nice pretty crater for the opponent to put his oppsies after nearly having his uber unit killed in one go.

[DevianID]

The best way to illustrate if the orbital barrage is worth it, is to assume you can buy as many as you want for 25 points. For example, 3 for 75 points. Of the 3, one will hit dead on. Even just assuming its the 1 that hits dead on, and the blasts that scattered do nothing, can you kill 75 points of stuff with a bang-on s10 ap1 ordance barrage? I think so!

 

A barrage will always hit side armor, which is only useful some of the time, but even versus a land raider you have a 5/9ths chance to pen the thing, and a 7/36 chance to glance. Your chance to kill a raider (or monolith) with a barrage on a pen is 50%, 1/6th on a glance, for a total chance of 31% to kill the thing, PER SHOT.

 

Extrapolating the cost of a 250 point land raider, and you can see that 1 barrage hit (which cost 75 points, 25x3) earns back 77.54 points in dead raider. Add in the added effects, such as anything else under the large blast, the damage from vehicle explosion, the damage to embarked units, the near misses that scatter but still hit the raider or close by units, pinning with a -1 check, ect, and I hope the math proving the amazing ability of the barrage is demonstrated.

[Brother Captain Josef]

The best way to illustrate if the orbital barrage is worth it, is to assume you can buy as many as you want for 25 points. For example, 3 for 75 points.

 

AWESOME, imagine if it really was a bombardment and not just a single shot... Sick.

 

In honesty I only dropped my CM to a captain cos my army and therefore his role in it changed. For a gun line Army it can be very usefull but if your CM starts in a drop pod or other transport that will move about first turn the chances of him actually using it are quite small. Unless he's on a bike... Quick strike force AND bombardment...

 

This raises a question, can a drop pod take a IC in terminator armour? it has the spare transport capacity even when containing a 10 man squad and to my recollection I don't think it specifically says a DP can't...

[Marlow]

In honesty I only dropped my CM to a captain cos my army and therefore his role in it changed. For a gun line Army it can be very usefull but if your CM starts in a drop pod or other transport that will move about first turn the chances of him actually using it are quite small. Unless he's on a bike... Quick strike force AND bombardment...

He still can not move and fire the Bombardment, even with Relentless USR...

[Master Of Malfeasance X]

watched 2 chapter masters kill 2 monoliths on turn 1 vs necrons with them. If I had chapter masters, I'd pay 25 points for just the possibility of wiping the smile off a necron player's face.

[DevianID]

Yesterday my orbitial bombardment targeted a land raider, scattered 4 inches but still hit the giant land raider, rolled a 3 and 6 for pen, taking the 6 for a pen, and then I rolled a 5 (which turned to 6 from ap1) blowing the thing up.

 

In the game before that, I targeted a leman russ squadron, rolled a 3 and 4, taking the 4 versus side armor, and blew off the battle cannon.

 

The one before that, they killed ½ an assault squad, neutering their effectiveness.

 

The final game, i didnt get to use the bombardment to noticable effect.

 

All in all, in the 4 games I earned 265 points from the raider, and by killing the battle cannon I effectively neutered another tank 160 point tank, plus 90 points for the 5 assault squad members. All for ~100 points spent over the 4 games.

[Giga]

If you're lucky orbital bombardment can do one hell of a lot of damage. If you get a really bad scatter, there's nothing you can do about it, so who cares.

 

The way to use it is to make sure you're throwing it into a bunch of opponents, or on a big vehicle, or something like that. This way if you get a small scatter, you'll still hit some stuff.

 

Like others said, it's good to have as an option. Just don't rely on it.

[Roleplayer]

Not entirely true.

Part of the price you are paying is for the keys to unlock the Honor Guard HQ units.

So in reality its like 13 points orbital bombardment and 12 points to unlock the honour guard, I'd say.

 

The honour guard can be a truly devestating unit, too.

[kaiserstole20]

Not entirely true.

Part of the price you are paying is for the keys to unlock the Honor Guard HQ units.

So in reality its like 13 points orbital bombardment and 12 points to unlock the honour guard, I'd say.

 

The honour guard can be a truly devestating unit, too.

 

Isn't the Honor Guard gain balanced out by losing the Command Squad (vs. using a capt)?

[Vel'Cona]

Not really, comparing Honor Guard to a Command Squad is pretty much a case of comparing something devastating in the right build to something that can't really be modified at all. I won't go on here saying Command Squads are bad, but what you're really getting for taking a Captain is scoring bikes (if you put him on one, of course). If you're not putting him on a bike, I'd say Chapter Master all the way. Even if OB is less accurate than a Shoota Boy Night Fighting, it still makes your opponent go "dang that could suck for me better spread my stuff out" which can put him on the defensive pretty early on. Against IG, Nids, and Orks I'd also like to note that the accuracy is less of an issue since they'll pretty much fill their quarter on most games, so the template is pretty likely to hit something unless you scatter off the table. It may not always earn back the 25 points, but then again it just might.

[eyescrossed]

Not really, comparing Honor Guard to a Command Squad is pretty much a case of comparing something devastating in the right build to something that can't really be modified at all. I won't go on here saying Command Squads are bad, but what you're really getting for taking a Captain is scoring bikes (if you put him on one, of course). If you're not putting him on a bike, I'd say Chapter Master all the way. Even if OB is less accurate than a Shoota Boy Night Fighting, it still makes your opponent go "dang that could suck for me better spread my stuff out" which can put him on the defensive pretty early on. Against IG, Nids, and Orks I'd also like to note that the accuracy is less of an issue since they'll pretty much fill their quarter on most games, so the template is pretty likely to hit something unless you scatter off the table. It may not always earn back the 25 points, but then again it just might.

Sorry if I'm reading wrong, because I'm really tired, but Command Squads are waaaaaaaaaay better than Honour Guard units.

[Todosi]

Why do you think so eyescrossed??

[eyescrossed]

In my personal opinion, Feel No Pain and a 3+ is better than a flat 2+. Plus the ability to have Storm Shields. also, you only get 3 Honour Guard for 4 Vets and an Apothecary. You also can't put them on Bikes. Oh, and they can't even have Meltabombs. All in all, Command Squads seem a lot more useful and flexible, especially the 4 Special Weapons on Bikes.