Purifiers, Special weps..?

[Nian]

Ok so I have a new lot of GKPA and am going to make them Purifiers.

 

The question is, if you want to take advantage of their assault capability,

is the math still in favour of using Incinerators/Psycannons?

 

How viable is a 10 man Purifier squad with the Knight of the Flame having a

Nemesis Daemon Hammer and the rest with just Nemesis Force Halberds?

 

If I had to choose a weapon I would go 4x Incinerators but I am unsure if

I should bother at all? Just throwing in the squad in a rhino and going Helter

Skelter towards my foe?

 

 

Also thinking of the cost efficiency of the Psybolt Ammo with 10x Storm Bolters

and having the Nemesis Daemon Hammer Master Crafted.

[Guest Drunk Guardian]

I try to use my Purifiers as a short-range shooting unit who can receive an assault (or deal one if I'm in the right spot).

 

I load my unit out with 4x Psycannons, a Daemon Hammer on a Purifier (not Knight of Flame), and the rest of the unit with Halberds.

 

The reason I don't put the hammer on the Knight of Flame is that the Knight of Flame will be the first Purifier to die in a Perils of the Warp situation. I don't want to lose my hammer to a Perils and being that the Purifiers have a veteran profile, it makes much more sense for a hammer to go on a regular Purifier.

 

If I need more points, then I'll drop 1... MAYBE 2 Psycannons for Incinerators... I always try to have at least 2 Psycannons though, to shoot out the top hatch of a Rhino.

[StormTAG]

The way I see it, it depends on how you're delivering them. If you're delivering them via something with an assault ramp, then you may want to ignore your Incinerator/Psycannon options and just go for something with a whole buncha attacks! Especially if you regularly face 2+ or 3+ saves, the Incinerators may not do as much as an equivalent number of FW attacks. Against hordes, however, a couple of Incinerators will substantially increase your kill potential.

 

If you're in a Rhino or a deep striking 'Raven, then I'd definitely include some heavy weapons. You will spend at least a turn where your best way to deal damage is to get out and shoot. Include a GM with counter attack and Blind Grenades and it's like you get the charge all the time anyway! 4 Psycannons pumps out 8 S7 Rending shots and 12 Stormbolter shots when you get out. Or 4 incinerator templates while will maim the loving hell out of any horde, particularly anything Armor 4 or less.

[Swordbrother]

On paper all those options you mentioned seems great to me. Not sure about the 4x incinerators though, those could work but i think it would be hard to utilize them, and often overkill (with cleansing flame, already good horde potential).

The option I have in mind for mine is 5 man double psycannon with psi-razorbacks, and repeat 4 times. So killy, ofc its just my preference, but its a good choice methinks.

[Inquisitor Apropos]

I think it has a lot to do with what your particular plan for the squad is. 4 Incenerators seems almost too killy to me, especially against big hordes with no saves, which would be your primary target. You'd have to get out to use them all, and if you toast that Ork mob or Guard blob so that it evaporates, or runs away, or even pulls all it's casualties from the front, you could be left standing out of assault range, with your hindquarters hanging out during the enemy shooting phase.

 

You're also giving up a huge number of Force Weapon attacks, 8 normally, 12 on the charge. I'd personally look to Purgation squads for my massed Incenerators. Or something else, like Dreadknights. Heavy Incenerators are shiny.

[Nian]

I think it has a lot to do with what your particular plan for the squad is. 4 Incenerators seems almost too killy to me, especially against big hordes with no saves, which would be your primary target. You'd have to get out to use them all, and if you toast that Ork mob or Guard blob so that it evaporates, or runs away, or even pulls all it's casualties from the front, you could be left standing out of assault range, with your hindquarters hanging out during the enemy shooting phase.

 

You're also giving up a huge number of Force Weapon attacks, 8 normally, 12 on the charge. I'd personally look to Purgation squads for my massed Incenerators. Or something else, like Dreadknights. Heavy Incenerators are shiny.

 

 

As I see it, Purgation Squads have Astral Aim that has no use with Incinerators... So Psycannon or Psilencer.

 

 

 

Has anyone noticed that the different squads get different special weapons for zero cost. Striker & Interceptor = Psilencer, Purgation = Incinerator, Purifier = Incenerator & Psilencer.

 

If the Purgation squad had Psilencers for free I would make a couple of razorback squads with 4x Psilencers in them. But Mr Ward knew we would like that so he made them cost for Purgation Squads, he is a complete sod. Matt Ward Ih8U!

 

The main issue I have is that if you take the Psybolt Ammo, you want the maximum benefit. If you have a 5 man squad and take 2x Special Weps you have a cost 6.66pt/man vs a 5 man squad with no specials at 4pts/man. Its naturally better for a 10 man squad but still 2pts/man vs 3.33pts/man. That is only .66pts from buying the Nemesis Force Halberds.

 

Grey Knights are already super expensive.

 

 

 

@Drunk Guardian, I understand your thinking with respect to the Knight of the Flame, but you forget that you can pay for a Master Crafted upgrade for the Knight of the Flame, and thats a damned nice thing to have on a Nemesis Daemon Hammer.

[Swordbrother]

Nian have you seen the cost of a 5 man 4 incinerator squad? its 100! Thats a great deal Astral Aim or not, the only problem is that you need those Heavy Support choices for long range weaponry, otherwise id spam them in razorbacks every game.

[Angelis Mortis]

As I see it, Purgation Squads have Astral Aim that has no use with Incinerators... So Psycannon or Psilencer.

 

Why is that? I can see a situation where you have impassible terrain(such as the corner of a building that you can't enter) between you and a squad only inches away and could work just fine.

[Gentlemanloser]

Sure, but realistically, when have you ever been in that sort of situation?

[Vutall]

Purifiers are two squads in one: Vanguard and Sternguard. You need to decide at list creation which role they will fill. Unless you take a 10 man squad and combat squad them, mixing assault troops and shooty troops isnt the best idea, unless you are using Strike or Interceptor squads.

[Wildfire]

You're also giving up a huge number of Force Weapon attacks, 8 normally, 12 on the charge.

 

How often do you find yourself needing 30 power weapon attacks on the charge? I actually think that it would likely be a benefit to lose some of those, otherwise you run a risk of killing the squad you assault instantly and sitting in the open on your opponent's shooting phase. There's only a few squads you really want that much assault power to deal with (hammernators, nob bikers, etc.), and most of them you shouldn't be trying to assault in the first place! A basic 10 man squad on the charge with hammerhand will deal about 10 wounds to T4. That'll wipe out a whole tac squad.

[Valerian]

@Drunk Guardian, I understand your thinking with respect to the Knight of the Flame, but you forget that you can pay for a Master Crafted upgrade for the Knight of the Flame, and thats a damned nice thing to have on a Nemesis Daemon Hammer.

 

For the price of Master-Crafting a Nemesis Daemon Hammer on the Knight of the Flame you could have just bought a second Hammer.

 

The Purifier squad that I'm planning on running looks like this:

 

Knight of the Flame with a Halberd

2x Knights with Hammers

2x Knights with Incinerators

5x Knights with Halberds

 

The Incinerators are free, so you might as well take a couple in the unit (better than paying 40 points for the same capability in a Strike Squad!). They are perfect for a unit that intends on getting up close and in assaults, and will reinforce your Cleansing Flame power (which might get cancelled by an enemy Hood). Incinerators will smoke horde units, but two overlapping templates will usually do some serious damage to a large MEQ unit, too. The Halberds clean-up the majority of opponents well before they'd ever have the opportunity to strike, and the 6 Daemon Hammer attacks on the charge take care of anything left.

 

Unless your taking Crowe and all Purifiers, I'd just leave the Psycannon on the Strike Squads, since they are the same price, and the Strike Squads don't mind hanging back and shooting for Heavy 4, full effect.

 

Came to the realization that I need to pop the Psycannon off of my old Grand Master model for a similar reason - sure, Ballistic Skill 6 and Relentless would make his Psycannon deadly, but not any more deadly than the 4 (and a half) Psycannon that I could put in Strike Squads for the same price as he has to pay.

 

Valerian