The Melta Myth

[Fetterkey]

I've taken a short break from my comprehensive tactica to clarify a specific point that often seems to be unclear or misunderstood. Meltas are, as many have pointed out, the most reliable anti-tank weapons that are easily available to an army. Unfortunately, many people, especially on the Internet, seem to have confused "most reliable" with "best," relying entirely on melta weapons for anti-tank purposes and disregarding other options. This doctrine is incorrect.

 

Two factors combine to make this flaw apparent. First, many or most enemy vehicles are transports; ideally, you should destroy enemy transports when they are far from your force rather than when they are close, thus inflicting the maximum possible disruption on the enemy battle plan and rendering the contents as useless as possible. Second, melta weapons require you to close with the enemy, and therefore impose tactical inflexibility on your troops. A meltagun kills from 12" away if the target is not heavily armored; a missile launcher does so from 48" away, and therefore incurs far less risk. A Cyclone launcher or Typhoon launcher is even better; such weapons are essentially autocannons with an extra point of strength and much better anti-horde capacity. Such weapons should make up one's primary anti-tank firepower; they are both more flexible and safer than meltaguns, and can destroy enemy transports and light vehicles before they close into dangerous distances. Even the much-maligned lascannon can be an effective weapon for this sort of long range anti-tank work.

 

There is one other important consideration to make, however, which is that meltas are generally not only the most efficient method of taking out heavy vehicles, but also necessary to do so. Long range anti-tank weapons are often not useful at all in these cases; AV 14 vehicles are immune to autocannons, can only be glanced by missile launchers, and are rather difficult to stop even with a lascannon. In some armies, such as Tau and certain Imperial Guard builds, more powerful anti-tank weapons exist that can accomplish the same task, but for many lists, melta must serve as the primary anti-heavy vehicle weapon.

 

Therefore, an army is best served by a reasonable mix of the two weapon types. The primary anti-tank firepower in a shooting-based army should be provided by weapons that can pick off enemy light and medium vehicles (especially transports) from range, such as autocannons. Melta weapons should also be present though; both in order to eliminate enemy heavy vehicles and as secondary "sweepers" that eliminate any vehicles that manage to get through the long-range fire. In this way, the high penetrative power of melta weapons can be used in those cases where it is most important, while the detriments of short range are minimized. Obviously, those units that are equipped with meltaguns should be as mobile as possible, so as to best close in and use their weapons at maximum power.

 

 

Note that there are some units, most notably Sternguard in pods, Termicide squads, and the like, for whom the range of melta weapons is not a significant downside. Though such units can be powerful, one should always evaluate the tradeoffs; in many cases, the suicide unit may prove unable to have a significant effect on the enemy, or will prove unable to kill units that are more valuable than itself. Further, such units may be positionally countered by a savvy player, or even directly countered by a player who takes a Dæmonhunters Inquisitor with Mystics. However, they fill a role that other units generally do not, so may be worth taking. If you do decide to take such units, melta is obviously the best option, as its primary disadvantage (range) is mitigated by these units' Deep Strike or other rapid deployment capabilities.

[minigun762]

Well said. I think this is an important point to stress.

 

In a world of AV14, Melta is necessary but not always sufficient.

 

You either need to rely on long range high strength weapons like AutoCannons or Missiles Launchers to knock out AV10-12 units at range

OR

Rely on fast moving Melta squads like Attack Bikes or Termicide who are either fast enough to dodge the counter attack or tough enough to fight back after you open up a tank or transport.

[Giga]

You forget the fact multimeltas have 24" range.

 

A multimelta shot is str 8, ap 1. It means it glances rhino side & front armor on 3+, and doesn't even need to penetrate to do some serious damage.

 

Combine this with the multimelta platforms - landraiders, landspeeders, and attackbikes, and you suddenly have a very efficient 24" range anti-transport weapon that you can reposition each turn to deny your opponent cover saves, or to move into position to shoot at the side or even rear armor.

 

 

 

 

When choosing an anti-tank weapon, I would still consider meltaguns & multimeltas by far the most versatile and, well, the best weapons on the offer. The reasons for these are;

 

- AP1

- melta range effect that enables you to take out the heaviest vehicles

- the fact meltaguns are assault weapons (this is huge, as it supports the mobility thing and makes it harder for the opponent to get cover saves since you can reposition your guns)

- vulkan hestan

- highly versatile & effective platforms

- the high availability of meltas and combimeltas

 

 

 

IMHO, the nature of 5th edition is such that it rewards "in-yo-face" playstyle. Sitting back and forming a lascannon, missile launcher, & autocannon gunline only really works against certain armies (tyranids come to mind), which is IMHO good game design. It actively encourages players to maneuver around each other, forming their lines of fire and setting their models to get the best use out of their weaponry and range. Vulkan + the high availability of melta weapons in vanilla SM armies pretty much epitomizes this design philosophy.

[I AM THE AWESOME]

Frankly, I have always used a mix of stuff in my army. But as soon as the new IG codex came out and with the advent of Hydras, I knew that using autocannons and missile launchers was the way to go against transports.

[Fetterkey]

Multi-meltas, at least vehicle-mounted ones, are indeed fearsome. Nonetheless, I favor the Typhoon pattern Land Speeder over the MM variant. As for Vulkan, I think he really is quite overrated. I prefer to concentrate on stopping the enemy at a distance and retaining Combat Tactics for those instances in which they do get close. At the same time, I generally don't have a stationary force-- in fact, I'm almost fully mechanized. Much of my long-range firepower comes from highly mobile Land Speeders, and Dreadnoughts aren't exactly locked in position either.

 

I find that multi-meltas and meltaguns are generally not good at all against some targets-- for example, a Valkyrie or Vendetta will never let you get in range unless the player wants them to. Such targets are ideal for long-range fire.

[Grey Mage]

I agree whole-heartedly. The ability to get 2d6 armor pen into a list should never really be ignored, but there are many ways to go about doing something and a wise general will have ways of dealing with any situation.

[waaanial00]

Now this is something I completely agree on.

 

Meltas and Multi Meltas are definitely a tool for dealing with armour but are not the tool. I have and use melta weaponry but as Fetterkey explains by the point where I get to use it, its usually a little too late to have that big of an effect on the game. Of course drop podded Melta is the exception to this, however these tend to miss quite a lot because my dice hate me!

 

I do find that at 24" Multi Meltas are decent Transport killers but mainly that is because of their +1 than anything else. Which I might add is their greatest asset IMO, being able to bump the damage table is far more useful to me than their 2D6 penetration. I say this because usually I face few AV14 locally and their use in local tournaments is limited.

 

I am finding more and more the benefit in long ranged High Strength weaponry and 24" for me just isnt long enough. Missile Launchers seem to Miss when I dont want them to so am floating towards the humble Autocannon. In fact my next purchases will be the forge world autocannon arms (after I attempt to convert my own from IG heavy weapon squads I have kicking around). Multi shot and S7 is good enough for most AV11 - 13 with enough luck. Plus as has been said, the added advantage of killing tanks at range is the range part of the statement.

 

Fighting Eldar, as much as I do, I find that Melta Weaponry is actually less important than Lascannons, simply because unless you have multiple elements which are fast and melta based you are unlikely to catch them before these units are destroyed. My Eldar opponents are also more than capable of sitting 36"+ out and picking apart my Marine army (Emperor damn them!) which means having units able to take down AV12 at this range is much more important than units which can do so at 24" and less ranges.

 

Having fast Melta and long ranged fire support makes a more rounded army for me. I also think the system is quite balanced, an enemy seeking to kill vehicles at range has a harder time than those doing so closer, however those which seek to engage closer must survive the long ranged efforts in order to gain the advantage.

 

Wan

[Giga]

Multi-meltas, at least vehicle-mounted ones, are indeed fearsome. Nonetheless, I favor the Typhoon pattern Land Speeder over the MM variant. As for Vulkan, I think he really is quite overrated. I prefer to concentrate on stopping the enemy at a distance and retaining Combat Tactics for those instances in which they do get close. At the same time, I generally don't have a stationary force-- in fact, I'm almost fully mechanized. Much of my long-range firepower comes from highly mobile Land Speeders, and Dreadnoughts aren't exactly locked in position either.

I believe MM/HF speeders are better then Typhoon ML speeders because;

 

- the MM/HF is cheaper then Typhoon

- the speeder mobility basically gives you 36" range on those multimeltas, hence if you position your speeders properly, you can pretty much sweep the entire table, the opponents can't hide or get out of range, with typhoons this mobility isn't that useful

- the synergy of mm/hf with vulkan

- the synergy of multimeltas and heavy flamers, both being short-range weapons allows you to get both highly efficient anti-tank and highly efficient anti-infantry, typhoon on the other hand usually will keep further away from the enemy to take advantage of its greater range, and a heavy bolter can never compare to a heavy flamer when it comes to infantry murder (particularly hordes, 3 mm/hf speeders shooting can easily take out a 30 boys mob)

 

Vulkan is overrated only in the minds of those who constantly cry cheese against him. He's nowhere near as good as these people seem to believe. But for the player who knows how to use him? Vulkan is great, and needs to be taken into account when comparing weapons & units to other options from the codex. Combat Tactics, while quite useful if you're running bikes, are pretty hit-and-miss otherwise - TBH, I don't much care for it in most of my lists, and I surely don't miss it in my vulkan lists.

 

 

 

 

 

Again, I'm not saying you should never use anything except melta. Even my vulkan lists usually have plasma cannon(s), missile launcher(s), and lascannons in addition to all the melta & flamer goodness. But the thing is, in the current vanilla codex, melta really is by far THE best option when it comes to anti-tank. Nothing else can compare, and from my experience an army that relies on non-melta for anti-tank is far less effective then an army that has plenty of melta + the means to get these meltas quickly into an opponent's face.

[thade]

I'm going to hop on this and ask for some relevant advice, as this is something I have been giving direct thought to over these past two weeks.

 

I have two tactical squads and two Rhinos. Presently they both have identical gear (the standard flamer/ML, and I have been giving the serg a PF, usually meltas too). One of the squads gets combat squadded and I sit one half (with the ML) usually on my base objective (which I will have put in cover, or even in a ruin that my tech marine bolsters). I put the other half into a transport, usually a razorback (I love the assault cannon).

 

Now that I've read this I'm considering changing that squad's load out (replacing the flamer with a meltagun) and either dropping the razorback to a rhino (so the melta can fire out of the top hatch) or switching the razorback's gun to the lascannon. The first option drops the unit's antivehicle range to 12"; this might be acceptable, as my primary antivehicle these days is my devestator squad which is loaded up with 3 lascannons. (Placed in a ruin high up on my table edge puts them out of run-off-the-table range and in a very good position to cover most of the table. There are, of course, not always such ruins.) Though a mobile twin-linked lascannon also has an appeal, and that would present me with situations where I could disembark the unit and hit something at close range with several hard-hitting anti-vehicle weapons (lascannons, meltagun, power fist or meltabomb).

 

Anyway, I'm not sure how to configure this first little anti-tank unit, but this will be my first meltagun.

[waaanial00]

@giga - I think they are a close tie. The HH/HF has the advantage of hitting power at close range but then has the disadvantage of being close enough for effective counter attack. You can also only realistically fire one of the weapons at a time without wither over/under kill and being prey to assault.

 

Whilst the typhoon is able to operate at 36" quite happily shooting all its weapons. The fact that it is not melta means that it targets other units (no heavy armour unless you run out of targets or fancy your chances) and the added shot essentially gives it Vulkan Boost + (2 shots - both of which could hit). The ability to shoot both its weapons in anti hoard makes up for its ability to ignore cover (in the main).

 

However it costs 20 points more and is still only AV10. Though of course most weapons will have to be 24" + range in order to shoot at it, which makes it both more and less likely to take damage. More because the weapons shooting at it are likely to be higher strength and less because those weapons are more likely to be pointed at other things.

 

As I said I dont think there is much in it, whilst the MM/HF is a weapon used to counter mostly Heavy Armour with an anti hoard mix. The Typhoon has the flexibility to take most units but cant handle Heavy Armour and units get a cover save for a potential boost in survivability due to its operating range.

 

As for Vulkan, its like most things. Hes only as good as people make use of him, lots of melta is only as good as the people directing it. A rubbish player without Vulkan is likely to still be a rubbish player with Vulkan, its just they are less likely to be rubbish because of poor luck.

 

Wan

[The Black Watch]

Lascannon are so expensive. Whereas they're practically giving MM's away.

 

The opening statement is full of useful and interesting points but for me, my 2 MM/MM Land Speeder's are all I've ever needed. 80pts each and the ability to deep strike. I did this next to a Chaos LR and took it out over 2 turns while taking minimal damage from a massive amount of return fire. Flukey but it happened. And thats without Vulkan.

 

I don't think the extra 1 strength and range on a Lascannon make up for its extra cost and inferior penetration and damage. And there is NOTHING else that is widely available in a SM army that can take out av14 at range.

[DerekLee688]

Nobody is putting up the lascannon against the MM against AV14 here. They're saying when you got to have that Chimera, Fex, or Dread dead when it's over there and not over here, and wan't enough room for a second shot 48" sounds alot better than 24".

 

I plan to start testing haveing a cheap Flamer/ML Tac squad, a Melta max tac squad in a rino.

Then have a Typhoon and a MM/HF in seprate slots.

[Fetterkey]

Vulkan is overrated only in the minds of those who constantly cry cheese against him. He's nowhere near as good as these people seem to believe.

 

Presumably, people who cry "cheese" think that Vulkan is in fact great, not overrated.

 

 

Again, I'm not saying you should never use anything except melta. Even my vulkan lists usually have plasma cannon(s), missile launcher(s), and lascannons in addition to all the melta & flamer goodness. But the thing is, in the current vanilla codex, melta really is by far THE best option when it comes to anti-tank. Nothing else can compare, and from my experience an army that relies on non-melta for anti-tank is far less effective then an army that has plenty of melta + the means to get these meltas quickly into an opponent's face.

 

What if you end up against an army who wants to get in your face? The whole point of this is that other weapons are much more versatile than meltaguns because they allow you to control your distance better. If I melta an Ork Trukk that is 12" away from my unit, that's not particularly good-- the Trukk has, in fact, already done its job, and I still have to worry about the Trukk's contents. If, on the other hand, I blow the Trukk away from 48" with an autocannon or Typhoon launcher, the unit inside won't be a threat for quite some time, if at all.

[minigun762]

What if you end up against an army who wants to get in your face? The whole point of this is that other weapons are much more versatile than meltaguns because they allow you to control your distance better. If I melta an Ork Trukk that is 12" away from my unit, that's not particularly good-- the Trukk has, in fact, already done its job, and I still have to worry about the Trukk's contents. If, on the other hand, I blow the Trukk away from 48" with an autocannon or Typhoon launcher, the unit inside won't be a threat for quite some time, if at all.

 

This goes back to what I said.

Meltaing a Trukk at 12" might not be a bad thing if you're Chaos and have a unit of Berserkers waiting to pounce on the Orks once they're out. However it could be a horrible thing if you kill it 5" away from a static shooting unit.

If you are prepared and/or want the opponent up close (because you're army is assault based or short ranged firepower) then its not a drawback.

If you're army can't handle an opponent like that, then it is definately a drawback.

 

So, like most things, you have to view this in light of your army as a whole.

[Giga]

What if you end up against an army who wants to get in your face? The whole point of this is that other weapons are much more versatile than meltaguns because they allow you to control your distance better. If I melta an Ork Trukk that is 12" away from my unit, that's not particularly good-- the Trukk has, in fact, already done its job, and I still have to worry about the Trukk's contents. If, on the other hand, I blow the Trukk away from 48" with an autocannon or Typhoon launcher, the unit inside won't be a threat for quite some time, if at all.

The thing is, there are few armies that I don't want to have in my face.

 

I WANT most armies, even hordes, to get close & personal with me as soon as possible, so my flamers & melta can rip through their ranks fast. Many regulars at my LGS play Khorne chaos marines, tyranids, blood angels, green tide, and soon space wolves. In these fights they're always the beatdown and I'm always the control, but that doesn't mean I have to shun getting close-and-personal with them. In fact, I WANT them close to my board edge by turn 2 or 3, because that's when my speeders and attack bikes arrive from reserve to rain some 24" melta death into their side and rear armors (short of popping smoke, it's almost impossible for enemy vehicles to get proper cover saves against this).

 

The only one of these opponents I don't go toe-to-toe immediately against are the nids, because their bunch of MCs would make short work of my vehicles, but tbh 24" is enough range to keep shooting them while falling back. Against everyone else, I keep within the 20" range, utilizing cover & short range stuff (melta, flamers, demolisher cannons etc.) to first blow up their transports and then blow up their troops. It's like doing a lapdance - you breathe down their necks, and they might even touch you, but all the while you're in control, and in the end they'll go home exhausted, battered, and with blue balls. ;)

 

In many missions, there's also no option between whether I want to go close to the enemy or not. In two-objectives missions, I'm pretty much forced to move at least a part of my army into an opponent's deployment zone. In 3+ objectives missions there is no way I can afford to sit tight and form a lascannon/missile launcher gunline - I have to actively strive to get that win.

 

 

 

 

As for the trukk... It's a really bad example because multimelta is far superior there, too. It can shoot the trukk at 24" (36" total range), penetrates on 3+, and wrecks on 3+. Add the to-hit reroll from Vulkan, and we got the winner. ;)

 

 

 

 

Another thing I dislike about the lascannons is their price & lack of proper platforms. Land Raider is the single most reliable and point-worthy lascannon platform. Everything else just isn't good enough. The combi-predator is good, but it suffers from enemy having cover saves. Devastators with lascannons are overpriced (35 pts per lascannon, lol) + they lose a shooting turn in DoW deployment. Razorbacks with lascannons are good, but I personally prefer the barebones razorback. Dreads with lascannons are quite crappy, IMHO; one lascannon shot just isn't worth the points invested, especially when compared with other weapons options. 3 lascannon predator is overpriced.

 

In the end, all of these lascannon platforms are horribly limited because they're all either immobile (devastators, tacticals and predators) or slow (dreadnoughts, razorbacks, and land raiders). Add to it that there's no way to enhance the expensive lascannon, and compare it to the fact you can take Vulkan who gives you an army-wide bonus on all your melta, and lascannons just become not-so-good.

 

 

 

 

And TBH, I think this is actually very good design philosophy. By making nobrainer gunline weapons such as lascannons less effective, and improving on more skill-based stuff like melta and flamers (requires more skill with positioning, better understanding of distances, better use of reserves, etc.), I believe the designers turned 40k into a faster, more entertaining game that has more "SWEET EMPRAH" moments and as thus is much more satisfying and unpredictable for both players.

 

 

 

EDIT: Almost forgot...

 

Another problem of lascannons is that they render you predictable. A lascannon is a heavy weapon, and most of its platforms are either immobile or slow. This means the opponent knows where it's going to be in your following shooting phase, making it easier for him to gain cover saves or completely block line of sight. With mm/hf speeders and mm attackbikes (as well as mm landraiders, and meltagun & combimelta infantry) the opponent doesn't have this kind of foresight. You can move your melta platforms 12" and still shoot at full power. This makes you less predictable and hence more dangerous. It forces your opponent to anticipate your moves (which is a hard guessing game when you have so many options), and often will cause weaker players to act overly-defensively, which sometimes means they will end up pretty much handling the victory to you.

[chapter master 454]

Personally I find meltas rather useless with my tactics. Nine times out of ten enemy armour isn't a problem, I use MMs on my LS and LR but thats it, no foot sloggers (bar one stern who has a combi-melta) has one in my army and never has because I get all my Anti-tank power from tanks. Yes I have seen meltas to effect and yes they are powerful but with my knowledge of this I often pick out units like this and do one of two things: 1.take out whatever means they use to get close or at least take the weapon off before it gets to effective firing distance (something that LS can negate hence why I believe they are the ultimate in heavy armour popping power) or 2. if they are in a building camping on the distance bubble I ignore them and fire at targets that are a threat or If they are the only targets I have outshoot them with superior range weapons.

 

Another point I will make to me not using melta GUNs is that my squads get armed with melta BOMBs instead, if my squad is close enough to get a 2D6 penetration I will prefer to also charge in and make use of my kraks grenades as well on the tanks rear armour this way I get more shots at the tank being killed or hurt to the points of being no more threat. I also take preference of using my more powerful units (like my raiders and terminators with chainfists) to deal with enemy armour while my men focus on dealing with infantry. So far I am yet to see a tank escape my 1,2 punch: MM it from the raider then charge it with Lysander and co. which will ether cause it to be a new form of modern art or just some form of giant black crater. To me my anti-tank is the in your face kind normally but I can output ranged firepower and I can vouch that the lascannon is something I think mounted on tanks is just lethal, many a time my heart has skipped a beat when a lascannon fires at my raiders (remember, this normally means I'm not close to the enmy at all, I'm still in my DZ. If I get first turn this is eased but only a bit).

 

MMs and meltas are good but personally I feel they are over-rated.

[Captain Idaho]

I've taken a short break from my comprehensive tactica to clarify a specific point that often seems to be unclear or misunderstood. Meltas are, as many have pointed out, the most reliable anti-tank weapons that are easily available to an army. Unfortunately, many people, especially on the Internet, seem to have confused "most reliable" with "best," relying entirely on melta weapons for anti-tank purposes and disregarding other options. This doctrine is incorrect.

 

Two factors combine to make this flaw apparent. First, many or most enemy vehicles are transports; ideally, you should destroy enemy transports when they are far from your force rather than when they are close, thus inflicting the maximum possible disruption on the enemy battle plan and rendering the contents as useless as possible. Second, melta weapons require you to close with the enemy, and therefore impose tactical inflexibility on your troops. A meltagun kills from 12" away if the target is not heavily armored; a missile launcher does so from 48" away, and therefore incurs far less risk. A Cyclone launcher or Typhoon launcher is even better; such weapons are essentially autocannons with an extra point of strength and much better anti-horde capacity. Such weapons should make up one's primary anti-tank firepower; they are both more flexible and safer than meltaguns, and can destroy enemy transports and light vehicles before they close into dangerous distances. Even the much-maligned lascannon can be an effective weapon for this sort of long range anti-tank work.

 

Dude, you are so on the money here. How many times I've seen "advice" given that tells every player to take an army that relies purely on Melta weaponary I don't know, but it annoys me every time. I keep getting told to drop my lascannons in favour for more close ranged weaponary, and its almost as if players are deliberately trying to sabotage Space Marine players!

 

I like to take a mix in an army and anyone who doesn't do so runs the risk of cutting a limb off their army (so to speak), reducing their ability to deal with opponents. Sure you may like an opponent being able to get close to you in numbers (due to not being to stagger an advance from shooting up transports), but against an opponent with ranged firepower, you will be picked off and weakened on the way in without ability to retalitate.

[KhorneHunter57x]

I actually use the Melta as the sole ranged anti-tank in my army. I greatly prefer it over anything else due to it's stopping power. That said, you must note that my army is pure LRC-mounted Black Templars, and I realise that this is not the most common of lists. However, I do believe that using the Melta as your only anti-tank is suicidal (as my opponents have learned ). I always give my squads PFs and my characters ALL have at least one S6+ CC anti-vehicle attack. In addition, I use the mass of the LRCs as a weapon, by ramming/tank shocking when shaken or if I have lost the Melta. However, as I have said, these opinions only apply to my list, and I completly agree that you need long-range AT in a "standard" SM army.

 

My 0.02 USD.

[Koremu]

Vulkan is overrated only in the minds of those who constantly cry cheese against him. He's nowhere near as good as these people seem to believe.

 

Presumably, people who cry "cheese" think that Vulkan is in fact great, not overrated.

 

Personally, my main problem with Vulkan is that he's a bit skilless and easy mode.

 

Personally, I don't just use Meltaguns for Anti-Light vehicle. I also find Plasma Guns are entertainingly useful.

[Fetterkey]

Plasma guns are cool but expensive. I also flatly refuse to take weapons that can explode in my men's hands, though that's more of a fluff issue.

[Drudge Dreadnought]

I WANT most armies, even hordes, to get close & personal with me as soon as possible, so my flamers & melta can rip through their ranks fast. Many regulars at my LGS play Khorne chaos marines, tyranids, blood angels, green tide, and soon space wolves. In these fights they're always the beatdown and I'm always the control, but that doesn't mean I have to shun getting close-and-personal with them. In fact, I WANT them close to my board edge by turn 2 or 3, because that's when my speeders and attack bikes arrive from reserve to rain some 24" melta death into their side and rear armors (short of popping smoke, it's almost impossible for enemy vehicles to get proper cover saves against this).

 

Wait, so you are saying that meltas are good because you want your opponents close anyway, and the reason you want them close is so you can hit them with your meltas? Isn't that a bit circular?

[minigun762]

Plasma guns are cool but expensive. I also flatly refuse to take weapons that can explode in my men's hands, though that's more of a fluff issue.

 

I think they're pretty appropriate for Chaos, typical of the big risk, big reward mentality.

Or just cheat and use Plague Marines <_<

 

Plasmaguns might not seem like the optimal weapons for tank busting, but remember that 2 Plasmaguns is the same as 1 AutoCannon out to 24" and the AutoCannon is the best weapon for dealing with light armor like Rhinos.

[Captain Idaho]

Plasmaguns might not seem like the optimal weapons for tank busting, but remember that 2 Plasmaguns is the same as 1 AutoCannon out to 24" and the AutoCannon is the best weapon for dealing with light armor like Rhinos.

 

Good point! In fact, those 2 Plasma guns are the equivilent of 2 Autocannons within 12"! Well spotted sir!

 

Can't believed I missed that - duh!

[HERO]

When my Salamanders go to war, I use all the elements of the SM armory. My army frequently arms itself with meltaguns, multi-melta, and plasma cannons. Since my army is a mobile army that uses Drop Pods as well, I have very little use for Lascannons. The only time my army has Lascannons is when my LRR is used as a Godhammer design; which is almost never.

 

Melta weapons are great if you have a mobile army.. or an Drop Pod army that can close the distance really fast. Lascannons and Plasma Cannons are better for gunlines. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't neglect to use these weapons even if you have a mobile army. They can be great for taking out things that run from you.

[Giga]

Wait, so you are saying that meltas are good because you want your opponents close anyway, and the reason you want them close is so you can hit them with your meltas? Isn't that a bit circular?

(English isn't my main language, so I'm sorry if you're getting wrong ideas)

 

 

 

Nah, basically, the point is in the synergy of fast moving platforms, vulkan hestan, melta, flamer, and rapid fire, that enables me to go completely control the beatdown close-combat opponents by first blowing up their transports (with melta), then flaming & rapidfiring their units into inefficiency (or completely destroying them), and then finishing them off in the following turns. Basically, I use the synergy of all these weapons to surround and trap the assault-oriented opponent, and then go on to shoot them so much that I create a huge killgap that pretty much prevents my opponent from getting back into the game.