How effective the Land Raider Spartan is?

[Cmdr Shepard]

Greetings fellow Legionaries,

 

I'd like to ask you your opinion on the Land Raider Spartan. Is it an effective choice for our HH armies?

I really like that vehicle and its fluff. Land Raiders are epic icons on 40K and the Spartan brings such concept to the next level ;)

 

The Spartan looks higly resiliant: 5 HP, armoured ceramite, flare shield and an array of lascannons and the option to take other upgrades with the capability to carry 25 models.

However once you buy a good number of upgrades ( armoured ceramite, flare shield, dozer blade and auxiliary drive) you spend a lot of points.

 

Is its cost worth of what it can actually achieve on the field?

I'd like to order a Spartan from FW but before spending 95£ I wish to know if it is the truly amazing "force to be reckoned with" it seems.

 

Thank you fro your assistance.

[Cobalt Scars]

I have no idea how the Spartan would work, BUT I can use the old adage of 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket' I'm sure the number of points being spent versus effectiveness depends on the size of the battles you field it in.

[Darog]

In HH almost no funds that can stop the Spartan, well, except for a set of rapiers (2-3 full units), this is a very good choice for his points!

[Cmdr Shepard]

I have no idea how the Spartan would work, BUT I can use the old adage of 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket' I'm sure the number of points being spent versus effectiveness depends on the size of the battles you field it in.

Well in any other army I would strongly agree but HH armies are often about death stars... in fact they seem to rely on death stars more than any other army. I think it's a way to keep the lists "fluffy" ;)...

In HH almost no funds that can stop the Spartan, well, except for a set of rapiers (2-3 full units), this is a very good choice for his points!

That's a good news.

With flare shield it is immune to ML fired on its front arc.

Perhaps Eldar lances, if playing against Xenos armies, could harm it. However they will still reduced at S7. It was just out of curiosity since I rarely fight against Eldar/DE.

So against HH or MEQ (namely with SM grade weaponry) armies it should a very good choice...

Currently I haven't a particular list in mind but I'd like to add the model to my collection. If it is as effective as it seem than I would not be disappointed...

[depthcharge12]

We meet again cmdr Shepard ;)

 

I bought the spartan assault tank and am quite glad with it despite its price and hassle to build.

 

As you are looking at using up around 300 something points with a flare shield and armored cerimite it is definitely worth the cost and has a staying power that makes land raiders jealous. Kheresnaughts can only get an extremely lucky glance, Autocannoners cannot harm it, and meltas have no power against the front arc and can only glance the sides on a lucky 6...and besides many people including yourself are turning to plasma squads instead.

 

The tank alone is a beast with 5 hull points, PotMS, quad Lascannons, and armoured cerimite. The additional benefit is that it can transport the nastiest CC deathstar you can imagine with 25 transport slots. Want a 10 man termie bulldozer? It can carry that. You want a 20 man WE or SoH despoiler/bum rush squad with an apothecary and a praetor? It can carry that. Nothing short of a huge lascannon squad or a battery of rapiers will destroy it XD

 

When I walked into my local GW store I was using for my flesh tearers before HH came out and asked the guys how they liked it and if they would let me use it. Some of them were green with envy (yes there were a couple of Ork players ;) ) and said they would love to play against it and it would be a shame not to play with it.

 

As assembly goes... Make sure you have a long weekend to do it. Some of the sprues were a pain in the butt especially the left and right side plates and the treads (be careful of what you cut and make sure to wear a mask if filing at all). I cried man tears sometimes when assembling and it takes patience but ultimately worth the effort and some days I take it out like a kid and go pew pew.

 

Definitely gets the depthcharge12 seal of approval with a beautiful model and great playing ability on the field. Do get it right meow.

 

Is it for your SoH or WE?

[Jim AMM realgenius]

Is it for your SoH or WE?

It had better be SoH.  WE don't deserve such a fine transport.  :)

[Pavel Araghast]

Planning to add Spartan to my SoH list for praetor and 10 justaerin termies.

depthcharge12, thanks, your review told me that I'm on the right course.

Cmdr Shepard, good lists, really awesome.

[depthcharge12]

No problem Polnor ;) that's why we have this forum

 

@jim

Oh why can't eater's of worlds ride to the fray in such a death beast that simply conquers all? Haha :)

 

Sorry for the slight thread jack but how do you brothers propose a flare shield would look like? Maybe a missile interception system or would it be extra armor?

 

@Cmdr Shepard

If you take a spartan I would definitely recommend take a vindi or two because there's a heavy chance that your enemy will be unlikely able to deal with all of them...I know I wouldn't have enough in my list to counter it

[Durfast Spiritwolf]

It's very much there in the DG fluff. So I guess I'll just have to force myself ;-)

[SillyDreadnought]

The Spartan is your spearhead tank. If you're taking one, you should use it the same manner you use a Land Raider, as an assault transport. Ontop of that though, due to how tough the bloody thing is, you can use it to literally spearhead an armoured thrust. In 'normal' Age of Darkness games, use Spartans with a mechanized list IMO. It's one of those models that needs a list built around it.

[Resized]

I used one in battle last night and it was untouchable, mainly because my opponents only really brought melta and Manicores to deal with tanks. It did its job wonderfully, delivered a  squad of 16 World Eaters right in to enemy lines unmolested, killed guardsmen, icarus lascannons, immobilized a Leman Russ executioner (leaving it out of range) and brought down a Storm Talon.

 

It does have weaknesses, even while upgraded all the way. It really doesn't like chainfists, monstrous creatures or railguns, just like normal landraiders. I think the threat of the flare shield played in its favor as my opponents didn't even bother tackling it, preferring to ignore it. This unfortunately meant my two Proteous' got hammered.... Maybe this means there is a case for two Spartans? :P

[poom]

It shuld be mentioned that Melta Bombs work quite well too. Even if they have "melta" in the name they don't have the special rule and are so not efected by the armoured ceramite.

[Cmdr Shepard]

We meet again cmdr Shepard

I bought the spartan assault tank and am quite glad with it despite its price and hassle to build.

As you are looking at using up around 300 something points with a flare shield and armored cerimite it is definitely worth the cost and has a staying power that makes land raiders jealous. Kheresnaughts can only get an extremely lucky glance, Autocannoners cannot harm it, and meltas have no power against the front arc and can only glance the sides on a lucky 6...and besides many people including yourself are turning to plasma squads instead.

That was exactly my point ;). I know plasma is the favoured weapon of 6th Edition. Personally I was just experimenting with the plasma support squad (it was a definitive decision ;) ) but I have yet to see a melta gun on the table, a part from some very rare circumstance.

The tank alone is a beast with 5 hull points, PotMS, quad Lascannons, and armoured cerimite. The additional benefit is that it can transport the nastiest CC deathstar you can imagine with 25 transport slots. Want a 10 man termie bulldozer? It can carry that. You want a 20 man WE or SoH despoiler/bum rush squad with an apothecary and a praetor? It can carry that. Nothing short of a huge lascannon squad or a battery of rapiers will destroy it XD

The reason I started to think about the Spartan was it's ability to carry such squads. I have noticed death start units (like for example those led by a primarch) require not only a "delivery system" but the ability to redeploy.After all you don't want your 400+ pts Primarch to remain away from where he can deliver death to the enemy, right?

The Land Raider Phobos forces us to field max 8 man units or less if you add an apothechary or other character or your Primarch is very Bully instead of just bulky ;)

When I walked into my local GW store I was using for my flesh tearers before HH came out and asked the guys how they liked it and if they would let me use it. Some of them were green with envy (yes there were a couple of Ork players ) and said they would love to play against it and it would be a shame not to play with it.

Good joke... the one about orks ;)

As assembly goes... Make sure you have a long weekend to do it. Some of the sprues were a pain in the butt especially the left and right side plates and the treads (be careful of what you cut and make sure to wear a mask if filing at all). I cried man tears sometimes when assembling and it takes patience but ultimately worth the effort and some days I take it out like a kid and go pew pew.

is it much more complicated than, for example, the Caestus ram? With some patience and green stuff it wasn't so terrible. I'll follow your suggestion for the assembly: a long weekend, the mask (which we should use for most resin models' assembly) and, most importantly, patience and, I'd add, green stuff ;)

Definitely gets the depthcharge12 seal of approval with a beautiful model and great playing ability on the field. Do get it right meow.

Understood, Brother

Is it for your SoH or WE?

I think it will be "multi-Legion" . I have great plans for such revered tank. It would be a good way to transport Angron and a 20 man tact squad with Apotechary and another character. Or it could trasnport SoH Terminators or despoiler tact squads...

Planning to add Spartan to my SoH list for praetor and 10 justaerin termies.

depthcharge12, thanks, your review told me that I'm on the right course.

Cmdr Shepard, good lists, really awesome.

Are you talking about the HH lists I put in my signature? Anyway, thanks.. I'm gald you like them.

No problem Polnor that's why we have this forum

@jim

Oh why can't eater's of worlds ride to the fray in such a death beast that simply conquers all? Haha

Sorry for the slight thread jack but how do you brothers propose a flare shield would look like? Maybe a missile interception system or would it be extra armor?

@Cmdr Shepard

If you take a spartan I would definitely recommend take a vindi or two because there's a heavy chance that your enemy will be unlikely able to deal with all of them...I know I wouldn't have enough in my list to counter it

Accroding to Betrayal book Flare shield is a " directional electromagnetic flux field generator" so it should be more similar to "energy field/shield" than armour. It's one of things I'm liking from current FW HH stuff: they are trying to make 40K more true sci-fi like ;)

Good suggestion about the vindis. They would be a quite scaring armoured speartip.

The Spartan is your spearhead tank. If you're taking one, you should use it the same manner you use a Land Raider, as an assault transport. Ontop of that though, due to how tough the bloody thing is, you can use it to literally spearhead an armoured thrust. In 'normal' Age of Darkness games, use Spartans with a mechanized list IMO. It's one of those models that needs a list built around it.

Any suggestion about the list to build around?

I used one in battle last night and it was untouchable, mainly because my opponents only really brought melta and Manicores to deal with tanks. It did its job wonderfully, delivered a squad of 16 World Eaters right in to enemy lines unmolested, killed guardsmen, icarus lascannons, immobilized a Leman Russ executioner (leaving it out of range) and brought down a Storm Talon.

It does have weaknesses, even while upgraded all the way. It really doesn't like chainfists, monstrous creatures or railguns, just like normal landraiders. I think the threat of the flare shield played in its favor as my opponents didn't even bother tackling it, preferring to ignore it. This unfortunately meant my two Proteous' got hammered.... Maybe this means there is a case for two Spartans?

Wonderful news! The two Land Raiders "rush" is another option for the armoured speartip. I don't know if I'll ever find the room for two Land Raiders but I would keep attentions away from the Spartan since it is nearly untouchable.

It shuld be mentioned that Melta Bombs work quite well too. Even if they have "melta" in the name they don't have the special rule and are so not efected by the armoured ceramite.

Indeed and it also doesn't like chainfists and MCs but such threats need to be in CC to har it and that means facing the death start CC unit transported inside its hull.

Consider my Angron killed the swarmlord once ;)

Anyway what do you think about adding a Forge Lord on the death star transported by the Spartan? He will add additional CC capabilities and he can also repair the Spartan in event of damage..

[Resized]

 

Wonderful news! The two Land Raiders "rush" is another option for the armoured speartip. I don't know if I'll ever find the room for two Land Raiders but I would keep attentions away from the Spartan since it is nearly untouchable.

There is always room for more than one Raider....I like fielding three....

 

I wouldn't worry about the Forge lord riding in it, the cost would increase hugely and it has an obscene amount of Hull points anyway. In my experience Land Raiders usually go pop spectacularly rather than being ground down via HP.

[Cmdr Shepard]

 

Wonderful news! The two Land Raiders "rush" is another option for the armoured speartip. I don't know if I'll ever find the room for two Land Raiders but I would keep attentions away from the Spartan since it is nearly untouchable.

There is always room for more than one Raider....I like fielding three....

 

I wouldn't worry about the Forge lord riding in it, the cost would increase hugely and it has an obscene amount of Hull points anyway. In my experience Land Raiders usually go pop spectacularly rather than being ground down via HP.

 

True but Forge Lord gives you access to rad granades which is not bad ;).... I was thinking about the lists when you field a Primarch, you still need a compulsory HQ so ;)

 

About the additional Land Raiders:

Have you are thought about adding an Achiless and create a speartip of "untouchable Land Raider"... the immune to melta and Lance rules is quite interesting. If you are playing against Eldar/DE you could put the Achiless in a posistion where it can absorb lance fire... just a thought ;)

[Resized]

It would be fun to try, sadly we never play high enough point games to test this out!