Predator Lascannon prices

[ImperialReaper]

Bretheren!

 

Simple question to the bretheren of the adeptus mechanicus - why are the synchrinised lascannons fro predators 45pts?

 

For a the same on a razorback i pay 35 pts. AND i only replace some synchronised heavy bolters for them - on a predtor I replace a already pretty stong autocannon.

 

Then again - the side mounted 2 lascannons cost me 65 pts. This is 32,5 per lascannon. On a Devastorsquad i pay 25 and replace a heavy bolter - ok with me. But on a tactical squad I pay lousy 10 pts for a lascannon...

 

Does anyone see any reasons for this?

[Rider-75]

predator has extra front armour by comparison to razorback - better surivability of weapon = more expensive. though i guess some of that is subsumed into the base cost of the basic predator.

 

compared to the squad lascannons, or sponson lascannons - you have the reroll for twin linking to factor in, as well as the fact it is on a tank and not infantry. again this would bump the price.

[Gunslinger87]

The first poster got it. You are paying for the fact that this lascannon has a much larger chance of surviving, plus it can move and shoot. If you bought devastators with 3 las cannons and filled up the squad so they might (and thats a big might) survive as long as a tank, you're getting to 250-270 points. Predator Annihilator is 165.

 

Its all about functionality. If you park your predator right, its great bang for the buck.

 

You can't compare the cost to the 10 points in a tactical squad, since that is just a premium for the "bonus" heavy weapon. Keep in mind that the tactical squad with 10 men is already quite expensive for what it does compared to other SME, so that is just to even it out a bit.

 

The only thing I struggle with is that a Predator with extra armour, Las sponsons and cannon, plus some goodies is already cca 200 points... 50 pts shy of a mighty land raider... much more tough, massive firepower, transport capacity...

 

Predators in my lists are used to fill up long range firepower spots when I can't fit (another) land raider in.

 

They can be wicked for their basic cost, just as moving targets and shields.

 

The first poster got it. You are paying for the fact that this lascannon has a much larger chance of surviving, plus it can move and shoot. If you bought devastators with 3 las cannons and filled up the squad so they might (and thats a big might) survive as long as a tank, you're getting to 250-270 points. Predator Annihilator is 165.

 

Its all about functionality. If you park your predator right, its great bang for the buck.

 

You can't compare the cost to the 10 points in a tactical squad, since that is just a premium for the "bonus" heavy weapon. Keep in mind that the tactical squad with 10 men is already quite expensive for what it does compared to other SME, so that is just to even it out a bit.

 

The only thing I struggle with is that a Predator with extra armour, Las sponsons and cannon, plus some goodies is already cca 200 points... 50 pts shy of a mighty land raider... much more tough, massive firepower, transport capacity...

 

Predators in my lists are used to fill up long range firepower spots when I can't fit (another) land raider in.

 

They can be wicked for their basic cost, just as moving targets and shields.

[spartan249]

I have no idea why lascannons are this expensive. Lascannons should be standardized in price to the Dreadnought price IMO. 30 points for a TL lascannon, 20 for non twinlinked. Have the cost of the durability of the platform be on the freaking platform, not the guns.

[Vaktathi]

I have no idea why lascannons are this expensive. Lascannons should be standardized in price to the Dreadnought price IMO. 30 points for a TL lascannon, 20 for non twinlinked. Have the cost of the durability of the platform be on the freaking platform, not the guns.

The problem is that the platforms value varies depending on the guns it bears. An AV13/11/10 platform with just an autocannon isn't worth a whole lot. Give it a weapon that misses only about 11% of the time, that can penetrate the toughest tanks and harm the strongest foes, inflict Instant Death on 90% of multiwound models, and ignore any infantry based armor and wound the vast majority of non-vehicle models on a 2+, and that platform as a whole suddenly becomes very valuable. Then there's also a question of redundancy and durability. If you are simply swapping another weapon for a more powerful one, that's one thing, *adding* weapons not only gives you more shots, but makes it so that not only can the vehicle lose weapons and keep doing its job, but makes it harder to destroy through pinging it to death as well. That's why I don't think the pricing is too far off for the Predator. I think the turret option is about 10pts too much, but the sponsons I think are about right, and downright underpriced on the BA Predator.

[Wildfire]

You cannot cost a unit based on totaling up imagined point values of individual components and expect to have a balanced system. It simply doesn't work that way, synergy is a very real factor. GW doesn't really understand that very well either, the pred (or rather, the lascannon) is one of the few exceptions.

 

I do think the pred sponsons are overcosted, but basic pred is pretty good with it's cost. Maybe 5 points off the turret las would be ok, but not much more.

[Grey Mage]

The turret is pretty fairly priced- but since the made the predator a single entry they had to increase the cost of the sponsons due to interactions with the autocannon it appears- wich means the annihilator pattern ends up overcosted for what it can do.

 

Devastators are also a bit overpriced for what they can do. They did however show progression in fixing this, mostly, when they redid C:BA.