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To bolter or not to bolter?


stormsson

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I'm trialling out 7x Death Company in my list but I'm not sure whether to go with bolters or bolt pistols so thought I'd ask your advice here. They'll be jumping out a Raven, by the way.

 

The unit is 7x Death Company, 2x power swords, 1x powerfist.

 

Obviously, the powerfist gets a bolter as it won't get the extra attack anyway, so might as well have the extra shot. I'm thinking the power weapons will get bolt pistols as I prefer the idea of an extra str5 ap3 attack on the charge will be better than an extra str4 ap5 shot before they go in.

 

It's what to equip the other guys with? The extra shots on the way in could help thin out the enemy unit first, reducing overwatch or attacks from a unit with a higher initiative, however, it obviously reduces the amount of attacks it throws out, especially on the charge as the extra shot won't benefit from FC. Although, if they get charged, the extra overwatch shots could be nice!

 

Arghhhh!

 

What to go with!?!

 

Stormsson

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I've tried out 10 man Death Company with 3 axes, the other 7 with bolters. Puts out a decent amount of shooting, and I like the axes over fists because they're cheaper and you get an extra attack. Five weapon skill 5, strength 6 attacks on the charge for 35 points is pretty obscene. I've been deploying my DC out of a pod though, so I'd say that has some bearing. If they're in a Raider or a Storm Raven where they can disembark and charge, then pistols have a bit more appeal. However I'd also point out that that counteracts the one real drawback to bolters, which is that killing too many enemy models might decrease your odds of getting the charge. With extra distance from the vehicle, that's much less likely.

 

Bolters might not get a bonus from Furious Charge, but you're trading that one strength 5 attack at initiative 4 for a strength 4 attack with an AP 5 that effectively occurs at "initiative 11."

Axes just dont have the bite for me.

S6 limits you to glancing dreads and being butchered by defilers.

S9 and your better than evens to wound wraithlords and can just about pen raiders.

 

Not to mention instant death.

Someone might throw a couple of axes on his captains Halo or Storm Shield, probably wont take fists on it if he can avoid it

Probably with bolters is killing off the enemy too much, if you run them big you have a lot of shots from them and will overkill most things in one round even more so if you are shooting them with rapid fire bolters first, if you run them small then the extra attack can make the difference. I do have a few powerfist guys I usually run, as they cannot be challengend out but make sure I have enough ablative wounds to let them attack. Against a Mawloc last week I had 5 DC left, one with PF and chappie with PF, the 3 normal guys put two or three wounds on it, lost one or two in return, the PF guys overkilled it somewhat!. On DC I dont see the point in power axes other then slightly cheaper, but my DC never work out as cheap!

I like having a few bolters in the squad to rapid fire before a charge and for a few shoot at the 24" range so they arnt just doing nothing when nothing is close by anymore, or if someone it running from them. Just have to play them more to really see how they work out.

 

I'm currently working on a 8 man squad with 4 bolters/chainswords and 4 bolt pistols 2 with chainswords and 2 axes out of a storm raven. Only used them once so far but they destroyed the unit i charged(10DE bikers with a eldar farseer on a bike) won combat that turn and the next turn on foot they just got shot down to a few models they don't have the movement to do much after that but just them being there made the other player take notice of them. A big whoa factor. I'll try this for a few games and then change them up if need to.

 

I also don't see the powerfist as necessary anymore with crag grenades and power axes in the mix.

Well first, pistols are good cuz you get an extra S5 attack on the charge. Bolters are good because you get an extra S4 shot the rest of the time - overwatch, mobile shooting, whatever. Bolters make them more tactical, pistols make them more assaulty. Decide :)

 

DC shouldn't really be going against heavy armor, but its nice to have at least 1 fist (i like 1 for every 5) in case you do. Axes get you an extra attack, and against (most) infantry are just as effective (and cheaper too), but then what if you do run into wraithlords? Dreads? 2 PFs vs 3 axes the PFs do better here. Significantly.

 

PFs are more tactical... :P

Axes just dont have the bite for me.

S6 limits you to glancing dreads and being butchered by defilers.

S9 and your better than evens to wound wraithlords and can just about pen raiders.

 

Not to mention instant death.

Someone might throw a couple of axes on his captains Halo or Storm Shield, probably wont take fists on it if he can avoid it

 

If you're having to kill Land Raiders with Death Company, you're doing it wrong. If your opponent is still running Defilers, they're doing it wrong. :) I semi-jest. In my lists I've got other tools for dealing with vehicles, that's what Mephiston, meltaguns, the Storm Raven, and even plasmagun-toting Grey Hunters are for. At least for the nastier stuff that would bog down DC. For Rhinos and similarly low (10-11) AV vehicles, the DC are perfectly capable of punching them to death. Dreadnoughts can be a problem, but its one more easily avoided now that Rage is a plus rather than a drawback.

 

I think you've got a point though about instant death, though in some cases that doesn't really matter when you're piling 8+ AP 2 wounds on a model. 1 fist and 2 axes is probably a bit better for pure versatility, its something I imagine I'll dabble with more as I get more DC playtime in.

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