Landspeeder

[pryor]

I'm working on putting 2 landspeeders with the multi-melta/heavy flamer loadout in my army and my question is should I put them in a squadron or leave them as solo machines?

As far as I can tell the difference is that squadrons ignore crew stunned results but are destroyed when immobilised so is it worth it?

[Trozen]

I would personally suggest running them in a squadron, but it depends on how many kill points are in your army. Separate, they become a low priority target but an easy killpoint. A squadron can still be surprisingly survivable even with armor 10. I remember a game where 3 speeders took about 3 times firepower my LRC did and survived where as the LRC died.

[Titan87]

I have been wondering the same thing. As I see it the biggest difference is between survivability and offensive capability. With a squad you get a more survivable with more fire power directed at one target. While operating one as a single model unit makes each unit less survivable, but you can target two different things and can move each single unit more easily to take advantage of cover.

 

I personally tend to use my MM speeders to hunt tanks, and with the multi melta within 12 inches even AV 14 dies more often then not with one shot (at least for me). So I tend to use them solo as tank hunters with the MM so I can get multiple targets if need be.

 

As always your experience may vary.

[Jamumools]

I don't know about everyone else but I find one multi melta on it's own will always fail to do anything! If you speed up close enough to nuke whatever it is you want to take out you need to make sure it's going to work which is why I take 2. I remember one time when I only had the one I'd moved my speeder up the board flat out, parked it in front of a land raider, the land raider fired everything at me, I passed all my cover saves, grinned, picked up the die, rolled to hit... drum roll please... bye bye Mr Land Raider... and rolled a 1! From that day forth I've always taken a pair, in a squadron!

[Giga]

I myself prefer squadrons.

 

From my own experience, I've found that a single speeder can't really do much. Even when they're not squadroned, I end up committing 2 or 3 of them to any single task anyway. Also, those 3 speeders are worth a single kill point, which is huge in kill point games.

 

There is also one big problem with MM/HF speeders. If they're not squadroned it largely undermines the efficiency of their heavy flamers. If not squadroned, they shoot one by one, so the opponent gets to remove casualties after each flaming, so they can remove casualties in such a way to make the other speeders get fewer models into the heavy flamer templates. With a squadron, the whole squadron shoots first and then the models are removed, allowing you to kill a lot more before the opponent starts removing models.

[White Hunter]

being in the minority here, I like the fielding them in single (so long as you have the fast attack slots) because as Titan said for the same number of points you can target two different enemies on one turn, while preserving the ability to bring both speeders against the same target.

[gravmania]

the problem with this is that you don't fire at the same time. This makes the flamers less effective.

 

Another advantage to squadrons is "wound" allocation.

 

Got 2 pens and a glance tro assign? -> 2 pens on the left, 1 glance on the right.

Got a shaken speeder and someone penned/glanced you? assign it on the shaken one leaving the other able to fire.

 

The downside of wrecking when immobilized is small compared to being able to move when stunned, an immobilized HF/MM speeder isn't exactly a prime asset.

[waaanial00]

I find the issue of imobilised = death on landspeeders to be rather mute.

 

Most of the time you are speeding along at the rate that imobilised = death anyway. That and an imobilised landspeeder is next to useless anyway.

 

The only factors are waste of shots and kill points.

 

If you can accept the fact you may waste a few shots then the kill points issue is an easy one. If you cant bare to think of the potential loss of effectiveness then you have to consider whether or not you can deal with multiple kill points.

 

Wan

[ShinyRhino]

I find the issue of imobilised = death on landspeeders to be rather mute.

 

Same here, especially on a MM/HF landspeeder. A grounded (immobilized) speeder can no longer rotate in place, so it's stuck firing at anything directly in its front arc. It's a simple matter to keep your vehicles out of the fire arc, or just pop the speeder with bolter shots, or a quick assault with frag grenades.

 

I'm paranoid about killpoints, since it's my weakest game format. I don't think I've won a killpoint mission since the switch to Fifth Edition.

[StratoKhan]

I've always been interested in Landspeeders as a unit. I seem to understand from this that most people use them as tank-killers. I'd like to field a squadron myself, I've always liked the idea of focusing large amounts of firepower on a unit.

 

Has anyone had any luck using basic Landspeeders simply armed with a Heavy Bolter? I suppose you'd be limited in what you can do with one, but they sound nice and cheap.