Heavy Bolter Infantry

[The Yncarne]

Greetings.

 

I've been painting a lot over the holidays and have nearly completed two guys with heavy bolters. I'm ready to paint on the squad icons, but don't know if it is better to paint them as tacticals where I can swap them out with the current multi-melta and rocket launcher, or start a devastator squad with three or four heavy bolters as an option.

 

Is there a consensus as to what squad is the best to place them? I'm not seeking advice on whether heavy bolters are "worth it"; I'm looking for suggestions on where to place guys I have painted in the force organization chart.

 

A little background about my army.

 

I usually play an army with all infantry being in jump packs. I tend to run two Baals with heavy bolters and perhaps a typhoon speeder. Both tactical squads have a Rhino transport ready to use. These guys usually hold objectives, but like I said, I tend to run more jump infantry, although I have enough vehicles to run a traditional mechanized army.

 

From what I see most Blood Angels players don't use Devastators. It seems most people prefer to purchase rocket launchers when they do use Devastators. I have a pair of las cannons and plasma cannons painted up as Devastators. I have a third instance of each of the cannons and heavy bolters to be painted.

 

Thanks for reading and your consideration.

[Demoulius]

devastators are somewhat misplaced in our army. the baal does a better job at carrying them then marines do (can move and fire for starters) and devastators are overall pretty expansive to take. if your army lacks anti-horde (doesent seem that you do but ok) theyre a great spot to place them. otherwise theyre nice to put in tacticals that sit on a home objective :) they wont be moving after all and the 36 inches range means that most of the times they dont have to :sweat:

 

also means you can put the ehavy weapon down in a mission when you play dawn of war deployment. having to move a few turns with heavy weapons can be a REAL pain ;)

[Parcival]

Well,

 

I would add them to a Devastators' Squad. Marines with Heavy Bolters are supposed to cover firing lanes where enemy infantry advances, e.g. a Mob of Orkz. Therefore they are rather static and defensive so I'd put them into a Devastators' Squad. Tactical Squads are more versatile, especially since you put them into a Rhino, so I'd let them have the Missile Launcher so they can fire away when they're sitting on a mission objective. When they are moving away that one Missile Launcher won't be missed that much, but the three shots from a Heavy Bolter may be missed desperately.

 

No matter what you do, however, never mix anti-infantry with anti-tank weapons (e.g. Heavy Bolters with Las Canons) in your Devastators' Squad. Well, it's ok to do so if you form combat squads where one has the anti-tank weapons and one the anti-infantry.

[I am Legion]

I actually played a game with 3 baal preds w/ HB and 3 dev squads 2 of which had 4 HB each. the rest of my army was RAS and other JP infantry. Fun game, lots of dakka, HB are great against everything except MEQ armies. So if you want a fun gunline, use them. Strategically in this game......that's a whole other matter. Don't get me wrong if you know you're facing tyranids then yeah, you'll have an awesome game

[The Yncarne]

I concur with Parcival that one doesn't mix anti-infantry and anti-vehicle weapons in a single squad. With only three responses, there doesn't seem to be consensus just yet.

 

@Demoulius: I agree that devastators isn't a common sight in Blood Angel armies. I'm wondering when I do take heavy bolters, the best option is to combat squad the unit with the heavy bolter on an objective.

 

@Iam Legion: Interesting mix of devastators and jump infantry. In my group I usually face Necrons, Orks, Guard, Codex Marines, and Eldar. Heavy bolters would do fairly well against most of those opponents.

[I am Legion]

Keep in mind that itwas at 2000 points.

[The Yncarne]

No worries. That is something I may want to try in a 2,000 point game though I'd have to proxy a few heavy bolters.

 

While I usually play 1850 friendlies, the group wants to play Apocalypse so I've been a painting fool this month. I've wrapped up a pair of dreads, a tactical squad and a Sanguinary Guard squad. Should be able to finish off another speeder, librarian and Baal this month.

[Citizen _Of_BAAL]

I have run a 5 man Dev squad with 4 heave bolters in a few larger games and I will say it is fun to fire 12 S5 AP4 shots with one unit. The only thing I didn't like was because they can't move and shoot I fond that my opponent was able to avoid their fire lanes making them unable to fire at what I wanted them to a few times.

 

You will defenitly get more out of the Heavy bolter if you have more then one in the squad. One in a Tac unit will not do much. But having said that having a Rhino stop for a turn to allow the Heavy bolter to fire basically turns the Rhino into a Razerback.

 

So as was mentioned Preds (Baals and regular) carry Heavy Bolters better then marines. And for the same points there are (arguably) better options for the Tac and Dev squads. I think this is why you don't see them a lot.

 

*** a bit off topic***

This got me thinking and one that might be fun is for 60 points you can run a Land speeder with 2 heavy bolters on it

180 gives you 6 fast heavy bolters (120 for 4)

VS

130 points to get you 4 heavy bolters in a 5 man Dev squad

[AngelOfDeathXIII]

I would take them as members of seperate Tactical squads. This way they can hold objectives and keep at bay most enemy infantry. If you then add a melta or powerfist you'll even be able to tackle vehicles and heavier infantry. If you spread them over the squads you can also give support fire when needed and you don't have the risk of losing all of them in one go (as with Devestators).

[Demoulius]

to add some weight to the tactical versus devastator debate:

 

tactical marines are scoring and can buy them cheaper...BUT you need 10 models to be able to buy it AND can only buy one.

 

devastators are heavy support (so contending with vehicles and stormraven and the like) the heavy bolters cost more to upgrade, but you dont need 10 models in order to buy the heavy weapons ^_^

 

since theyre heavy though it serves absolutely no purpose to put them on an objective. they dont capture it....at most they will contest it if an enemy gets close enough (at which point theyre most likely dead soon btw)

 

so all in all the debate resolves around this: what do you want to use them for? if you want them purely for the firepower, put them in a devatator squad, its cheaper and their placement wont be tied to objectives anyway. if you want your static tac squads to have something to do whilst the majority of the squad is picking its nose. put them in the tactical squads instead :)

 

3 BS4 S5 shots can do more then most people give it credit for ;) land speeders, rhino, DE transports etc can be harmed by them. sometimes shaking or stunning a vehicle is enough to get it out of your hair for a turn ;)

 

other things theyre good at is adding weight to the squad. bolters on their own arent really a scary detergent against most units. some S5 hits that wound easier (and have a higher AP) make it a (somewhat...not to much) scarier unit to stand infront of :lol:

[TheMouth]

I love running heavy bolters in tac squads...but only if the tac squad is going to be geared up for anti-troop, or supporting an assault squad geared up with flamers/power weapon ...ie anti-troop. I dont think I could recommend putting them in a dev squad simply because they should be used for taking out armour, 2+, and MCs. Buuut thats just my opinion.

[Red Fury]

Tac squads +1.

 

Devastators need to crack open the transports so that your troops can shoot up the guys inside. Devs are better with ML, and still have the frag missile option when needed.

 

HBolters work in great unison with bolters, so no need to worry about wasting the squads shooting to fire that 1 missile at something.

The Rhino can take a HK missile, giving the TAC squad the ability to take a HB and a missile shot for when really needed.

 

Others that have run Devs with HBolters seem to like them, but it sounds more suitable for really big games or if you are custom tailoring your list depending on the opponent you are about to play.

[Judaz]

I consider putting a HB in a combat squadded dev squad. 3ML (or 3lascannons) and 2 bolters in one squad, and the Sergeant, 3 bolters and the HB in the other squad. The ML's take out armour and the Sarg's squad take out infantry that comes too close. Haven't tried it yet but I will proxy it soon.

[TheMouth]

the biggest thing it remember about a heavy bolter...its good at pushing armour saves on MCs, and 2+ models...thats about it. So take that into account when decideding where and how to use them. The heavy bolter is personally my fav model of all the guns since 2nd...next to the flamer...

[The Yncarne]

... The heavy bolter is personally my fav model of all the guns since 2nd...next to the flamer...

 

Mine too which is one reason I started this thread. ;)

 

I just added the icons for my two tactical squads. I don't expect to play them much given the heavy bolters on my Baals and speeders, but they are nice models to paint.

[TheMouth]

... The heavy bolter is personally my fav model of all the guns since 2nd...next to the flamer...

 

Mine too which is one reason I started this thread. :cuss

 

I just added the icons for my two tactical squads. I don't expect to play them much given the heavy bolters on my Baals and speeders, but they are nice models to paint.

 

 

Awesome to hear!

-_-