Help with heavy weapons

[HeroForADay]

Hey,

 

As a new player coming into the hobby it's taken some time to fully understand the many complexities of the rules, weapons, vehicles and the like. However as i planning on what to buy, im fairly stuck on what heavy weapons to outfit a tactical unit with, so im hoping some of you may help me understand the pro's and cons of heavy weapons available for use. Whats best for tanks? Heavily armored infantry (Tau battle suits, Terminators), or just your average soilder.

 

Thanks guys, and if it makes a difference i play Blood angels, while my buddies who have played for some time now play Black Templar, Chaos Space Marines, Tau, and Dark Eldar.

 

:)

[Ntin]

Heavy Bolter

Has medium range that it goes past any default weaponry. Its strength is high enough that it can wound any basic unit with relative ease but not enough to outright kill important units. AP 4 is the odd duck as Tau and Eldar are the only two armies that use it for a majority of their armor saves. With three shots it is good enough to pepper units and maybe pop a light vehicle if it came down to it.

 

Lascannon

This is one of the most reliable anti-armor weapons available to the Space Marines. The strength is how enough to outright kill most things in the game except the Monstrous Creatures. The AP 2 also means denies any armor save. It is an automatic glance for most rear arc shots and good for destroying lightly armored vehicles such as Land Speeders or Trukks.

 

Missile Launcher

Slightly weaker than the Lascannon by a point of S and AP, it still has the outright killing power of the Lascannon coupled with a secondary round that is good for anti-personal. AP 3 will still beat the majority of armor saves in the game. Missile Launchers can harm any vehicle in the game but falls short of being able to destroy some with an AV 14.

 

Multi-Melta

Short range relative to other heavy weapons, falling into default weapon range. While it has the strength of the Missile Launcher it benefits from the melta rule but that also means you need to be within 12” of a vehicle for maximum benefit. With an AP of 1 you also roll one higher letting you score meaningful damage to a vehicle allowing you to destroy vehicles on a glancing hit.

 

Plasma Gun

Still a good range but the weapon is meant for killing infantry with a good armor save. The blast will let you catch about three or so bases depending on the spacing, the strength means wounds on a 2+ against most things, and beats any armor save. It cannot outright kill T4 like a Missile Launcher could but a Plasma also has the chance of killing the Space Marine holding it.

 

For what you will be facing Missile Launchers or Lascannons will be your best bet. The key of dealing with Tau Crisis or Broadside armor is out right kills since it has multiple wounds and some annoying tricks. Either can easily pop Dark Eldar vehicles, which is the army’s only threatening unit. Blood Angels and Black Templars are both assault armies so you will chain sword one another to death. Chaos Marines is somewhat open ended on the possibilities.

[juckto]

I don't like heavy weapons on infantry. Devastators are a points sink and don't fare well in fifth edition when compared to other units that'll do the same trick - they all either run, turbo boost, or can move and shoot. All in all, dev models are a bit of a dust collector for most people atm.

 

IMO putting heavy weapons on tactical squads just ensure you have your unit (or half a unit if you use combat squads) sitting around doing nothing for most of the game.

[Firedrake28]

IMO putting heavy weapons on tactical squads just ensure you have your unit (or half a unit if you use combat squads) sitting around doing nothing for most of the game.

 

Only if you choose to fire the heavy weapon every turn. ;)

 

For Blood Angels, your best bet is either a missile launcher or lascannon for Tactical Squads. Blood Angels have tons of other ways of dealing with infantry, like Assault Squads, Death Company and the like.

[Sternguard sergeant McColl]

I'm throwing my lot in with juckto. Infantry aren't the greatest carriers of heavy weapons. Devs are underpowered and hard to use. The best place for them I feel are on terminators, dreads, land speeders and objective squatters. But having the free heavy on your infantry can save you in the field. Don't forget that rhinos have the firing point.

[Giga]

The great thing about vanilla marines is that our tacticals get heavy weapons for free.

 

There is no reason not to take the free missile launcher. You don't need it most of the time, but on those occasions when you can use some additional AT, it'll be there for you. Same could be said about the multimelta.

 

 

 

 

Otherwise, I think the best heavy wep for a tactical squad is the plasma cannon. It's cheap, effective, and you're often gonna have at least one (combat) squad sitting on an objective, anyway. So why not give that squad a good heavy weapon to shoot?

[Grey Mage]

Hey,

 

As a new player coming into the hobby it's taken some time to fully understand the many complexities of the rules, weapons, vehicles and the like. However as i planning on what to buy, im fairly stuck on what heavy weapons to outfit a tactical unit with, so im hoping some of you may help me understand the pro's and cons of heavy weapons available for use. Whats best for tanks? Heavily armored infantry (Tau battle suits, Terminators), or just your average soilder.

 

Thanks guys, and if it makes a difference i play Blood angels, while my buddies who have played for some time now play Black Templar, Chaos Space Marines, Tau, and Dark Eldar.

 

:)

Depends... do you want them to use the weapons or kill them with the weapons?

 

For a Blood Angels player, Id keep it cheap on my tactical squads- take missile launchers for the most part. They are truly flexable weapons capable of taking out light and medium armor and fragging infantry on a regular basis. Back it up with a Meltagun for serious anti-tank duty or a plasmarifle for good fire-support and light tank duty.

 

*note* People who say that if you have a ML your squad sits around doing nothing are idiots. If you dont feel that sitting around doing nothing but firing the missile launcher is effective, dont do it- your squad isnt forced to be immobile because you selected the option, so do what is tactically correct.

 

Your VAS wouldnt go wrong with a couple of Meltaguns for tank hunting and going against enemy elites *most of whom are instakilled by AP 1 S 8 weaponry*.

 

For TDA, Id go tactical Terminators since you dont get 3++ storm shields, and since theyre more flexable. The Cyclone Missile Launcher is a wonderful weapon, and you should discuss with your local group what its profile is *IE 1 shot or 2*.

 

Landspeeders tend to do well with Typhoons or MM/HF tornados. The assaultcannon got alot of backlash from the last editions rules and so is a bit overpriced.

 

Multimelta Attack Bikes... always MM bikes, the HB ones are overpriced for BA, though that should be fixed with the soon-to-come update.

 

Devastators have three options in my eyes- go flexable with alot of missile launchers, go light tank/antiinfantry with plasmaguns, or hit like a ton of bricks against enemy elites and tanks with Lascannons. Whatever you do, I suggest 4 of each and hit them hard. If you have to mix squads, do so with MLs who are, as previously stated, cheap and flexable when you need a fill-in.

 

Landraider Crusaders are rarely seen in BA forces, I dont know why... you get a 10pt discount over codex marines, and its a wonderful assault delivery vehicle. While it doesnt have any heavy weapon options, I just want to suggest its use for you- if you want a LR, get a Crusader.

 

Tri-las predators are the same price for you as C:SM/C:SW, and are relatively effective if a bit static. Think of them as mobile artillery more than a true battle tank and youll use them well. Its also a bit cheaper than a 4 lascannon devastator squad, wich is nice.

 

Whirlwinds- you really should consider these. It means your enemy has nowhere to hide, nowhere to go. Huge range, str 5, and the ability to ignore cover means that C:SM scouts, anything in the Eldar or DE army, and certanily the tau should fear this more than anything in the SM arsenol- yet I find that more often than not most people overlook them, horribly. Just today my Whirlwind made around 375pts in kills, soaked up 3 brightlance shots from a flanking pair of waveserpents, and survived the game undamaged because of good placement. I truely believe there is no reason to ever leave this tank at home, save a DP force.