In defence of the power maul

[DominicJ]

The power maul has stirred up a pretty serious amount of dislike on these boards.

I think its pretty unfair.

 

The maul is a fantastic weapon.

Its only weakness is against T4 3+ Saves.

 

Guard and Eldar get Instant Deathed, dreadnaughts and defilers can be glanced, T9 can be hurt.

All swords have in their favour, is that they punch through power armour.

 

Now I know, 75% of the armies we face will be power armour, but they are likely to have serious amounts of +2, and only more as time goes on.

[sp4rky]

I love power mauls. Wounding most monstrous creatures on a 4+, glancing most transports on a 4+, and as you mentioned they instagib guard, eldar, tau, and anything else toughness 3.

 

Yes, it's only AP4 but when you're wounding marines on a 2+ that helps towards letting them fail a save -_-

[Knaru]

And on a wounded Lemartes, it's even better! 8 WS5 S8 re-roll to-hit/to-wound attacks at I6 on the charge? That has a very good possibility of killing a T4 2+ save character outright, probably before he even takes a swing.

[CitadelArmyGuy]

Math is why the Maul gets no love.

 

Furious Charge with rerolls (ie Chaplain) versus a WS4, 3+ Sv, T6: WS4 Power Sword deals 1.00 wounds. WS5 Maul deals 0.79 wounds.

 

Of course WS5 Power Fist deals 2.22 wounds so there's your winner really. If you truly have your heart set on taking a Chaplain your gonna want that fist.

 

Which is also the crux of argument against the Maul. If you need high Str, take a fist. If you need to kill MEQ, sword wins. Mauls are really only great versus Xenos, so if you don't mind tailoring a list then they can be good I suppose.

 

 

EDIT: NO Furious Charge, Ordinary charge with rerolls (ie Chaplain) versus a WS4, 3+ Sv, T6: WS4 Power Sword deals 0.5 wounds. WS5 Maul deals 0.59 wounds.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Nothing good ever came of mathematics.

[Axira]

Can a Regular sergant take a Power Maul?

[Warsmith IV]

Can a Regular sergant take a Power Maul?

 

Any model that can take a power weapon can choose for it to be a power maul (if modelled appropriately) - so yes.

[Emperors Immortals]

Nothing good ever came of mathematics.

 

 

Lies, damn lies and statistics.

 

 

Take anything, theyll all smash face on DC.

[Lysere]

Are mauls the best option of all the power weapons? No. Are they bad? Most certainly not.

 

With a power maul and a combi-flamer, (and a power axe but he never swung it) my BT MoS killed 3 squads and a tank (that had rear armor 11) without any help what so ever. With Suffer not and swinging at S7 he single-handedly killed 2 Killa Kans in CC. He's beaten a Triarch Stalker in CC before.

 

The best part about it is this is free for a chaplain or possibly a librarian. This is part of their basic wargear. If you have to spend points to get something like a maul your probably gonna be netter off with a fist unless you don't have the few points, but people who come with it really don't need anything else except maybe something for terminators.

[Morollan]

The maul is a fantastic weapon.

Its only weakness is against 75% of the armies we face

 

Forgive the poetic license in the editing of your original post but I think that sums up the argument against mauls for me.

[DominicJ]

Oh don't get me wrong, they are not fist replacements, but they aren't bad, and personal, i think they are the best powerweapon, a class which does suck.

 

If i buy a pw, its a fist, but I'm happy with free mails over axes or swords.

[DominicJ]

Reclusiarch plus furious charge plus power mail equals dead dread.

To be fair, a krak rocket had already immobed it, but still, whack.

[SnorriSnorrison]

After playing Lemartes in my first two games in this edition, I can say the maul isn't that bad, especially not against armies like Dark Eldar! Against marines, Lemartes has that edge over normal chaplains thanks to the Black Rage. His own special rule is even better yet, after taking that wound you have 8 S8 attacks that re-roll to hit and wound on the charge. AP4, but hey, no-ones going to challenge you(maybe terminator capn's, and if that happens you have made a mistake) that knows about his strength. You either pop the character in a challenge or mow down half the squad. You're almost guaranteed to get 6-8 wounds on the charge.

 

Now, to get more to the power maul: In an edition where powerweapons can't pierce TDA and only the wolves get a strength bonus with their PWs, the maul is a nice alternative with that +2 Strenght. And for the time you're not fighting marines, you get a serious advantage, maybe even instant death against the foul xenos!

 

 

 

Snorri

[Jimmy Carmine]

The maul is a fantastic weapon.

Its only weakness is against 75% of the armies we face

 

Forgive the poetic license in the editing of your original post but I think that sums up the argument against mauls for me.

 

It'll all depend on your local metagame, I face enough Orks and Eldar to make it a viable choice for some of my sergeants, your mileage may of course vary.

[Morollan]

After playing Lemartes in my first two games in this edition, I can say the maul isn't that bad, especially not against armies like Dark Eldar! Against marines, Lemartes has that edge over normal chaplains thanks to the Black Rage. His own special rule is even better yet, after taking that wound you have 8 S8 attacks that re-roll to hit and wound on the charge. AP4, but hey, no-ones going to challenge you(maybe terminator capn's, and if that happens you have made a mistake) that knows about his strength. You either pop the character in a challenge or mow down half the squad. You're almost guaranteed to get 6-8 wounds on the charge.

 

The counter to that is that you would still have got the same number of wounds in 5e but they would all have been unsaved wounds!

[Drunken Angel]

After playing Lemartes in my first two games in this edition, I can say the maul isn't that bad, especially not against armies like Dark Eldar! Against marines, Lemartes has that edge over normal chaplains thanks to the Black Rage. His own special rule is even better yet, after taking that wound you have 8 S8 attacks that re-roll to hit and wound on the charge. AP4, but hey, no-ones going to challenge you(maybe terminator capn's, and if that happens you have made a mistake) that knows about his strength. You either pop the character in a challenge or mow down half the squad. You're almost guaranteed to get 6-8 wounds on the charge.

 

Now, to get more to the power maul: In an edition where powerweapons can't pierce TDA and only the wolves get a strength bonus with their PWs, the maul is a nice alternative with that +2 Strenght. And for the time you're not fighting marines, you get a serious advantage, maybe even instant death against the foul xenos!

 

 

 

Snorri

 

I hope you are right Snorri I so want to continue running Lemartes in 6th, I think that chaplains were nerfed badly you either have a crozius thats AP4 I model or a powerfist.

 

To me if I need a fist its on a line model, there is only really one chaplain that can make a maul work and it is Lemartes, everything else is so-so. You might as well take a libby with some nasty CC or shooting powers at least he gets to choose his weapon unlike the whimpy chaplain stuck with his own rod of office or a power fist. Dont get me wrong PF are not bad but to have an IC weapon selection gimped like this makes his use less than optimal in so many situations.

 

I am pretty much resigned to taking either Lemartes or Astorath and thats it, I am not unhappy with this either. Libbys are so much better now and compete aggressively for that HQ slot inhead of chaplains. If Lemartes with a maul is good Astoraths axe is now better and unlocks DC options.

[SevenExxes]

Don't forget the power maul is also a concussive weapon.

My TDA Reclusiarch challenged a Demon Prince and beat him down, only taking one wound. In subsequent turns he then glanced a chaos dread to death and blew up a traitor Leman Russ all whilst leading a five man bolter DC.

Unfortunately my tacticals were overrun by Plague Marines and I lost the game.

[Pascalnz]

another thing, power mauls are far better against terminator armour than power swords:P

[SamaNagol]

Power Axe is king

[Lysere]

Power Axe is king

 

That's why I run both.

[knife&fork]

Power Axe is king

 

But fists are better... B)

[dswanick]

Power Axe is king

 

But fists are better... B)

And more expensive. And the "better"ness is debateable when you get to a model with a Pistol.

[DominicJ]

Dont forget to take into account invulnerable saves

Wounding on 2+/4+ and saving on 3+/4+

A reclusiarch/captain fight last night.

My relusiarch lost 1 "point" on his save, but gained two points on his to wound roles.

Rec still loses math hammer due to Weapon skill, but a Captain sword is going to lose to a captain maul

[Arthanor]

Power Axe is king

But fists are better... B)

And more expensive. And the "better"ness is debateable when you get to a model with a Pistol.

(Assuming no other S bonus)

Against T4, 4+ saves (and worse T and/or saves), the maul + pistol will be better than a fist since both wound on 2s and ignore armor saves. However, the fist will cause ID on T4 which the maul won't.

Against 3+ saves or better, the fist wins. It is slower but it kills for every wound instead of a third or sixth of the wounds.

Against T5+ the fist will be superior too, it is better to wound on 2s with one less attack than to wound on 5s with one more.

Any AV, the fist is better (ap2, more glances/pens)

 

The maul is an excellent weapon against xenos of all forms and as such makes a wonderful crozius. If a model comes with a power weapon (or a maul specifically), it may not be worth it to invest in a fist, depending on the armies you face. If you can chose the weapon, the fist offers enough to be worth the extra points over any one power weapon. However, neither the fist or any given kind of power weapon is a no brainer.

 

Dont forget to take into account invulnerable saves

Wounding on 2+/4+ and saving on 3+/4+

A reclusiarch/captain fight last night.

My relusiarch lost 1 "point" on his save, but gained two points on his to wound roles.

Rec still loses math hammer due to Weapon skill, but a Captain sword is going to lose to a captain maul

Good point! And especially given the concussive rule, which makes the captain with maul strike first on any round following one in which a wound went through. It is even more unfair if captains take something for 2+ or 3++. Maul still is S6, sword is.. just a normal ccw! A maul is not a bad power weapon, by far!

 

As Lysere was pointing above, the maul also works especially well in conjunction with another weapon, axe, sword or fist, to cover weaknesses.

[dswanick]

Power Axe is king

But fists are better... :cuss

And more expensive. And the "better"ness is debateable when you get to a model with a Pistol.

(Assuming no other S bonus)

Against T4, 4+ saves (and worse T and/or saves), the maul + pistol

Axe, not Maul - both are AP2.