Speeder Question

[Montuhotep]

Quick Query:

 

Has anyone ever just swapped out the heavy bolter on a Land Speeder for just a heavy flamer? If so, do you consider it useful or a waste?

 

My theory being that with just the one gun it can go at full whack, being a Fast vehicle, and yet still burn things. Might be useful to weaken the contents of an Ork Trukk or to toast an objective-holding rear squad before someone else comes in to grab it.

 

Thoughts?

[pyroknight]

As some general advice, Codex space marine finds greatest advantage in its flexibility. This is what makes most of the 2 weapon speeders so popular. Having weapons with different roles allows to engage a wider variety of targets. For example, missiles and heavy flamer lets you shoot tanks at range or infantry up close depending on what the battle calls for.

 

That being said, if you don’t need that versatility and know what role you need the unit to fill, then any unit can serve you well.

 

Thus the value of your speeder is going to depend on what else is in your army. If you have plenty of range anti-vehicle but not enough anti-infantry then a HF Landspeeder is likely a good choice.

[meatball]

A 50 points single speeder may be used very effectively as a road block. If you are planning to use your speeder in such a manner then you are already going in your enemy's face hence range is not an issue and, in the unlikely event that it survives your opponent's turn, you may be in range to use the speeder's heavy flamer.

 

Heavy bolter speeders tend to work well at range because they will likely be perceived as a very low threat by your opponent, hence, it will get to shoot 4-5 rounds. However, if you are planning to use your speeder at range, there are additional options that make the speeder more effective i.e typhoon ML.

 

Overall, in my oppinion, the Heavy Flamer speeder works better.

[DarkGuard]

Just because a Speeder has two guns doesn't mean it can't move 12" and fire to full effect. In fact, all Speeders should be assumed to be moving at 12" when designing them. The reason why the MM/HF Speeder and Typhoon are so popular and effective is that they assume they'll move 12", but have a different weapon for each occasion. The MM/HF Speeder will move 12" and then fire one of it's weapons at a unit. And the chances are it won't need to fire both at the same unit. That's why those weapons were chosen, because they have different targets, and so you'll never need to move 6".

 

The same is with the Typhoon, against vehicles you move 12" and fire the kraks. The heavy bolter is only very rarely helpful against vehicles. And against infantry you still move 12" but fire both the heavy bolter and frags, as the frags as S4 and therefore a defensive weapon.

 

Single weapon Speeders can be useful though. MM Speeders are basically MM/HF Speeders without versatility, and vice versa with heavy flamer Speeders. Heavy bolter Speeders have to be taken en masse to be useful though, as with all heavy bolter units, and I think I may prefer attack bikes for less points and the extra boltgun in this role.

[DominicJ]

i love flamers

not tried speeder flamers, but i did use sentinals with heavy flamers

[VoteForPedro]

I'd prefer to pay a few points extra and take the Multi Melta as well, it's worth it imo.

[Koremu]

They make a decent wingman to an Assault Cannon Land Speeder. Same as Heavy Bolter only Land Speeders do for Typhoon ones.