Versatile or specialized vehicles and squandrons?

[Lord Scytha]

Is it better to optimize vehicles like tanks and skimmers so that they are specialized at killing a a specific type of target (commonly anti-tank or anti-infantry) or is it better to go for more versatile armament that can kill most types of threats it might face allowing it to adapt to any situation?

 

Then what about vehicle squadrons?

 

Should you fill a squadron with only vehicles specialized to kill a specific type of target or is it better to fill a squadron with versatile vehicles allowing weight of numbers make up for any efficiency loss at killing certain targets their more all-around makeup lead too?

 

And what about mixing different types of specialist vehicles in the same squadron so that you might have some anti-tank specialists together with anti-infantry specialists?

 

How does the new 6th ed. rules that states that all members of a squadron should shoot at a single unit (which I've at least interpreted as meaning that all vehicles in a squadron have to shoot at the same target) effect mixed units?

 

(For the sake of the argument let's assume we don't know what type of army we will face.)

[maturin]

Is it better to optimize vehicles like tanks and skimmers so that they are specialized at killing a a specific type of target (commonly anti-tank or anti-infantry) or is it better to go for more versatile armament that can kill most types of threats it might face allowing it to adapt to any situation?

 

Both are viable; neither is better. Each has its pros and cons. What will work better for you depends on your playstyle, and the rest of your armylist. You need to have redundancy of capabilities in your list and as long as that requirement is met, it doesn't really matter how you go about it. In other words, it'd be bad to have all your army's anti-tank capabilities concentrated solely in a squadron of tri-las predators, for instance.

 

Then what about vehicle squadrons?

 

Should you fill a squadron with only vehicles specialized to kill a specific type of target or is it better to fill a squadron with versatile vehicles allowing weight of numbers make up for any efficiency loss at killing certain targets their more all-around makeup lead too?

 

And what about mixing different types of specialist vehicles in the same squadron so that you might have some anti-tank specialists together with anti-infantry specialists?

 

How does the new 6th ed. rules that states that all members of a squadron should shoot at a single unit (which I've at least interpreted as meaning that all vehicles in a squadron have to shoot at the same target) effect mixed units?

 

Since vehicle squadrons can only target one unit (and it was this way in 5th as well), it makes sense to have your individual vehicles identical in capabilities, so you're not wasting a model's firepower while you're shooting. In general, if your vehicles have different targets it's better to have them as individual units for targeting flexibility. Whether or not they're specialist vehicles or multi-capable vehicles doesn't matter as much (see the first half of my reply).

[DarkGuard]

In regards to the specialized vs generalized, I prefer specialized. But that could be my list philosophy. You see, I prefer to specialize my units first to be good at something before adding a divergent element. For example giving a Tactical squad a combi-flamer and flamer to make them great against infantry, and then a MM (which they won't fire so much) to make them OK against tanks. This extends to my vehicles. For example, I always run two Typhoons. For me, the missiles is all that counts, so they're aimed towards anti-tank. But they also have some anti-infantry capabilities that I can use.

 

Combi preds are another example. They're aimed for anti-tank, but 4 shots isn't bad against infantry. And dakka preds are aimed for anti-infantry, but their RoF means they're OK glancing light tanks to death. If you need something in your list, specialize the unit first. If you don't, then you may be get away with generalist.

 

Ming's right about vehicle squadrons, equip them all the same so you don't waste firepower etc. I know some people do like taking a standard heavy bolter Speeder with two Typhoons to soak up hits though.