So should I be building my rhinos with havoc launchers?

[Urauloth]

I'm pretty new to CSM and 40k in general and I'm curious as to what people make of havoc launchers. They seem like they'd be pretty effective against some armies, but adding to the cost of a transport vehicle makes me wince when I'm trying to keep the cost of my CSM squads down.

 

Do you use them, if so, do you recommend them? Is it worth the trouble of magnetizing them so I can try them out without being stuck with them?

[Something Wycked]

My C:CSM friend has a Havoc on every Rhino he has, but they don't perform very well for him. Against me, in particular. He often rolls up a handful of wounds against one of my squads and then I promptly make all the armor saves, or all the saves but one. The speed with which I kill his Rhinos also decreases their worth.

 

This isn't to say that they can't do well for you, though- they'll do great against anything not on the level of Astartes.

[Excessus]

they work pretty well for me, almost always makes up their points in kills. By buying the havoc launcher the rhino becomes a sort-of-razorback that can attack stuff at a very long range...and very accurately since they are TL. Even against mahreens they will do adequately due to the high str and possibility of hitting multiple models accurately. Heck, after destroying a squad's rhino they will be a bit bunched up anyway, the havoc launcher will hit several models, even with a 3+ save some will fail...due to the range the rhino can be halfway on the other side of the board and still have range to fire at something, and can fire at a different target or at a different time than the squad riding within it, because unlike real razorbacks our rhinos still have fire ports that can fire meltas...

 

 

...but I'll say, buy some magnets or pin them in place or something, and try for yourself and see how well/bad they do...

[Kristoff]

Havoc Launcher isn't Twin-Linked, only the Bolter is.

[Focke]

No, the havoc is twin linked. It's heavy one, blast, and twin linked.

 

As to the question, I would say they are nice, but not necessary. I think the best option would be to magnetize them so that you have the option of having them, or of having cheaper transports.

[Warsmith Aznable]

I stick a flat magnet somewhere on each of my Rhinos so I can take a Havoc launcher if I feel like it. I only ever have the one time, but I like knowing I can do it without fuss if I just happen to want to. Also I am magnet crazy.

[Commander S. Caesare]

Havocs are decent in their own way.

 

Against Termies, screwed. A bunch of IG: winner winner chicken dinner.

 

+it is TL. So expect to get a hit.

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

I keep it simple: throw a second twin-linked bolter on there to make Weapon Destroyed results really annoying to the enemy, while rolling around with Str 4 defensive weapons to keep throwing out shots. Havoc launchers scatter, and while the Str 5 is nice, it's got enough cons as a weapon system to dissuade me from using them.

 

Havoc launchers look meaner, though. Nothing like a rack of rockets to make those not in the know worried. :)

[RapatoR]

People tend to forget they are twin linked. That means it hits almost every time and if it kills just one marine it pays off.

 

Even if you are rushing forwad, you rhinos can shoot after unloading its angy cargo and do some serious harm to your enemy instead just standing there.

[minigun762]

You could go the route of MSU and use "Havocbacks" to add some long range firepower to your army.

Would work best with 5 man Plague Marine squads decked out with 2 specials.

 

In the end its something similar to what the SW can put out without having to actually use their codex.

[annabelle]

The havoc launcher has been my favorite weapon in all of 40k for several years now. I think it's amazing.

[MaliGn]

What I'd like to know is why you can't take Havoc Launchers on Dreadnoughts anymore, after all that was the unit that introduced the weapon in the first place!

[techsoldaten]

I stick a flat magnet somewhere on each of my Rhinos so I can take a Havoc launcher if I feel like it.

+1 to this idea. I have all my Rhinos magnetized and only bring them when I need the fire support. The situation usually dictates whether or not I am going to use them.

 

When I bring my Berzerkers, I never take havoc launchers. The rhinos are going to drive straight into combat at cruising speed, and will probably not survive long enough to use them. When I don't get to charge after disembarking, I try to use them for tank shocks and they tend to explode. I never miss them, and typically choose a combi-weapon with a flamer instead.

 

When I bring Havocs, I usually take 4 missile launchers and move the Rhinos up at combat speed. I will focus the Havoc unit's fire on other units, to have the Rhinos clean up anything left standing. This usually sets my troops up to disembark on the next turn and shoot at whatever is next. I took out a 20-gal SOB unit this way in one round of shooting, the Havocs got half of them and a pair of Rhinos got the rest.

 

When I bring Noise Marines, I usually have 1 Rhino stop and fire with a Blastmaster through the firing point. The AP5 Havoc launcher is NASTY when troops are forced to disembark from a destroyed vehicle, and it sets up a rotten situation on the next turn. Players will often move their troops behind the wreck in order to save them from additional fire, then bring them out for shooting the next turn. This puts them in the sites of the Launcher plus a bunch of disembarking Noise Marines who will proceed to lay out a lot of shots while closing in. There have been a couple games where I loaded the noise marines back in after the shooting and proceeded to do the same thing a second time.

[Excessus]

What I'd like to know is why you can't take Havoc Launchers on Dreadnoughts anymore, after all that was the unit that introduced the weapon in the first place!

This is very true! I have actually never thought about it before. The havoc launcher have a bit of lore behind it, being the forerunner of the Cyclone missile launcher and the Havoc missile rack of the Banelord titans and fitted exclusively on dreads to increase their cityfight/close quarters destructive capabilities...

 

Why have it disappeared??? :)

[the jeske]

because dreads are not ment to be good models in the gav dex.

 

as havocks goes. good or not . normaly they dont fit[points wise] in to an army . sometimes people put them in AC/plas builds , but generaly to make them effective you need 4-5 of them which means unless 2k+points is played its better to buy more oblits.

[Brother Nihm]

What I'd like to know is why you can't take Havoc Launchers on Dreadnoughts anymore, after all that was the unit that introduced the weapon in the first place!

I've wondered the same myself, it makes absolutely no sense for them NOT to have access to it.

[red_starrise]

Back when I played Iron Warriors I took a Havoc on each rhino because it turns it into a mobile weapon system that can't be immobilized & then ignored, it becomes a deadly weapon & w/ demonic possession it's also hard to slow down.

 

For me, the BS3 isn't a huge deal because, honestly, when I roll my storm bolters/TL bolter on ANY vehicles in ANY army, I tend to roll 1's & since it's a TL bolter at least that 1 or two 1's if I'm in rapid fire range can be re-rolled so the BS3 is of little consequence in those cases. Plus, it's only an additional 1" scatter which, again, based on how I roll isn't a big deal because I tend to either hit or scatter a mile away.

 

I'm going to be starting up an Iron Warriors army again soon after my birthday (in-laws are giving me $) & I've already made an army list that will include havoc launchers on all my rhinos.

[BlkTom]

I feel Havoc launchers are a must on Lash armies, as the more blast markers you can squeeze in on a lash list the better. But I am kinda a fan of setting up the rhino to do the job the squad inside is intended to do. If it is a assault list, I kinda like Comi-Meltas. Gunline gets havocs.

[KhorneWolf]

My Rhinos have them, and thus far they have always killed something worth more than 15 points. This past weekend they took out Dark Eldar vehicles (admittedly with a lucky roll on the pen table), and the resulting explosion fried about half the squad inside. Since the vehicle had lances and the squad inside had the nastier Dark Eldar man-portable weapons, I figured it saved a few of my guys too.

 

And a previous post was absolutely correct - visually, it's a freakin' rocket launcher on top of that vehicle. I've played at least one player who targeted my Rhino instead of my Land Raider because of the Havoc launcher, and his rolls would have easily hurt the Land Raider - which had one extra turn of shooty goodness against him with all weapons - including the LR's own Havoc launcher. :(