Terminators as Tank Hunters

[Statto]

Hello All,

 

Im just pondering on using a squad of Deathwing, led by Belial, with a banner as a tank hunter squad

 

Belial with TH/SS

DW1 with TH/SS

DW2 with pair of LC

DW3 with pair of LC

DW4 with assault cannon & chain fist

DW5 with storm bolter, power fist and CML

 

My idea is to deep strike at the back of the enemy and take out any armoured guns he may have

 

My thinking behind the squad is

With the banner giving =1A

On charging I will have 9 S8 hits on rear armour from the Thunder hammers

Plus 4 hits on rear armour from the chain fist

Plus 4 hits on rear armour from the power fist

 

This should be plenty to destroy any armour the enemy might have

 

Then en-route to the next armoured target, I have the assault cannon, the storm bolter and the CML which can be used to pick off targets

 

The two lighning claws are there for some quick hitting close combat strikes incase I get charged

 

 

Id love to hear all your opinions on this squad, is it good to have such a diverse squad or would it be better as all ranged or all CC?

 

Cheers

Statto

[facmanpob]

The first issue is that you can't take a CML and an AC in the same squad, so you'd have to choose one or the other. In general though, I think 2 x LC, 1 x TH/SS and 2 x Fists is a reasonably common build for a DW squad. The good thing about DW is that they can pretty much take on most things without flinching. :)

[Haranin]

DW are limited to one heavy per squad

[WatchCaptainAzrael]

Be wary that you cannot deepstrike and assault in the same turn (unless someone's kind enough to tell me otherwise; it would've made a fair share of games go less terrible!). Also, assaulting things like transports will leave you open to a counter-charge by whatever's inside. All the worst if what's inside is a squad full of template weaponry.. Also, I wouldn't advise using the assault cannon for tank hunting, unless the enemy's using paper-thin armor.

[Raven of the Wing]

first: as far as tank hunters go, my preference is a sarge and 4 chainfists, not much armour can withstand a charge with 12 (s8 + 2d6 pen.) attacks. and chainfists are just cool!

 

second: as far as im aware an assault cannon granted is S6, but it also causes rending hits, so any 6's cause glancing hits.

[Komodo]

ML's are far superior as anti-tank weapon. Much more easier to glance even AV14 vehicle. If you manage to glance twice -- good job. only 2 HP left. And with much better range and anti-infantry option and at a cheaper price it's the best heavy choice for termies. And you can still give ML termie a chainfist!

[Isiah]

I think it's an expensive way to take out armour myself. Ok for a turn I guess but your termies with Belial and banner should be concentrating on other stuff -- leave the armour to your Preds/melta Typhoons/Mortis Dreads or anything else with multi or twin-linked lascannons or melta weapons.

 

Oh but if you play pure DW then yes it is obviously a viable option. Shame we don't have access to Tank Hunters any more, nor arm our DW sarges with combi-meltas -- then that would start getting fun :)

 

Cheers

I

[elphilo]

I think it's an expensive way to take out armour myself. Ok for a turn I guess but your termies with Belial and banner should be concentrating on other stuff -- leave the armour to your Preds/melta Typhoons/Mortis Dreads or anything else with multi or twin-linked lascannons or melta weapons.

 

This is probably the most sound advice. Your Belial squad is essentially a death star, it should be going after your opponents hardest thing. It is such a scary unit that it is a waste to designate it as just a tank hunter unit.

 

If you're going pure Deathwing your tank hunting unit should be a drop podding Multi-Melta Dreadnaught. I've always had good results and it's pretty cheap. If you don't care about pure Deathwing,a better tank hunter unit is probably a squad of Ravenwing with melta-guns and an attached attack bike with a multi-melta. That one is a tad bit more expensive, but you are getting 8 wounds with it at T5. Others might tell you a Ravenwing support squadron is better, and they might be right. I just don't see the value of land speeders since my group brings a lot of auto-cannons/anti-tank, so they don't live as long as I would like. I also hate the look of them, so I'm not 100% objective with regards to land speeders :)

 

Hope this helps.

[EPK]

I agree. Too expensive a unit to sacrifice like that (even without Belial in my opinion). It might sound good at first, but you can't assault so when you deep strike a unit away from support, your opponent simply swings on his guns in your direction.

 

I don't mind the cheap dread option above - it may be a quick way to get first blood. Of curse, if you are playing KPs you may be giving two right back to him.

[Brother Kovash]

If you're going pure Deathwing your tank hunting unit should be a drop podding Multi-Melta Dreadnaught. I've always had good results and it's pretty cheap. If you don't care about pure Deathwing,a better tank hunter unit is probably a squad of Ravenwing with melta-guns and an attached attack bike with a multi-melta. That one is a tad bit more expensive, but you are getting 8 wounds with it at T5.

 

I've used both options in the past, and have had great results as well. A lot of people who don't regularly play with Ravenwing units forget that they get a free scout move before the game starts. If you have first turn, then getting a free 12" of movement helps you get into range of taking out enemy armor much faster then you could possibly imagine.

 

I use a MM Venerable Dreadnought with a drop pod almost every game now. Sometimes it's hit or miss, but I've hit more often than not, so I'll take my chances. The best part is, whatever tank/transport you were able to pop probably doesn't have anything that can take out AV12 the next turn, letting your dread wade in and assault something to tie up another unit.

[Tamwulf]

Using a 215+ point unit that is the best assault unit for Dark Angels as a Tank Hunting unit is not a great use of the Deathwing. If you are running all Deathwing, then yes, you should make 1-2 squads as a dedicated anti-armor unit.

 

The Deathwing are the most unique Terminators in the game being able to mix and match equipment. They are the best close combat unit Dark Angels have, and they are very, very good at it. So much so, that you can very much benefit from taking an Assault Cannon or Cyclone Missile Launcher in every Deathwing Squad and not lose any effectiveness at all. For me, it doesn't matter what I'm using the Deathwing for, every squad always has an Assault Cannon. For pure fun factor and to just rub it into my opponent's face, I like to take one guy with a SS/TH+Cyclone. I call him Micky.

 

What this means is that in a way, every Deathwing squad is anti-armor. Just don't throw your unit away unless it's going to win you the game!

 

ML's are far superior as anti-tank weapon. Much more easier to glance even AV14 vehicle. If you manage to glance twice -- good job. only 2 HP left. And with much better range and anti-infantry option and at a cheaper price it's the best heavy choice for termies. And you can still give ML termie a chainfist!

Actually, the math shows the Assault Cannon is the superior anti-armor weapon.

 

Mathhammer: Assault Cannon vs. Cyclone

[Raven of the Wing]

A lot of people who don't regularly play with Ravenwing units forget that they get a free scout move before the game starts. If you have first turn, then getting a free 12" of movement helps you get into range of taking out enemy armor much faster then you could possibly imagine.

/face palm

Knew I was forgetting something...granted its been a while since I last played

[IndigoJack]

If this is a tank hunting unit, why the LCs? Nothing about those weapons scream anti-tank. I'm not even sure if you get the re-roll since you're rolling to pen and not rolling to wound. Also, replace the AC with a CML (as someone mentioned already). Keep the storm bolter on him and you can use it to try and glance rear armor. One thing to watch out for is when playing against deep strike lists a lot of players will castle up their tanks and push their rear armor to the back of the table. This makes deep striking very risky with minimal as a bad scatter will put you on top of a tank or off the board.

[Raven of the Wing]

Cough

 

Ravenwing teleport homers ftw!

[IndigoJack]

True, but if they've castled up against the back table edge you're not going to get there before turn one for an effective DWA In fact, I would say that it's not very likely that bikes would make it at all.