Tangamarine Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 The master of the forge with conversion beamer just got an upgrade. He can now access the relic wargear, with either the 2+ armour which gives relentless, or the shield with 3++ invun (good on bike) and a selection of the chapter tactics enhancing his survivability (white scars if he is on a bike conferring 4+ jink save or iron hands with it will not die and 6+ FNP) What are peoples thoughts on the viability of using him as a long range fire support, taking these new bonus into account? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Father Ferrum Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 As always, the bike is the best choice for him. And also as always, the problem becomes, "Who does he travel with?" An IC all by his lonesome is going to get pasted with long-range anti-tank guns; he needs a squad to travel with for ablative wounds to ameliorate this threat. Leg infantry is no good, they can't keep up if he has to relocate to achieve proper range for the beamer. That leaves bike units, but which one? Scout Bikes are cheapest, but the lower armor save reduces their survivability -- a big part of the equation for being a bodyguard unit -- but regular Bike Squads and Command Squads, because they can load up on special weapons, really want to be closer to the enemy. The only happy medium I can think of is a five man Bike Squad with your other HQ being a Captain or Master on a bike as well. This way, that bodyguard squad is also a scoring unit, and thus can be used to snag backfield objectives when the enemy is coming to a close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucien Eilam Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 I don't think the Armour Indomitus is a good choice. He already has Artificer Armour and you really need him on a bike with the conversion beamer, so he's already Relentless. 50 points for the shield on a 130 point model that will be as far away from the enemy as possible doesn't strike me as great value either. For the value he brings and the points he costs, I think he's plenty survivable as he is. The conversion beamer is cool, but it only really shines at maximum range, and 42" is often a very long way on a 40k battlefield. 130+ points and an HQ slot is very expensive if most turns all you're getting is one S8 AP4 blast. In my experience he's much more useful on a big table Apocalypse game than in 6' x 4' 40k. Multiple useful, table-spanning S10 blasts are much harder to contrive than you'd hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarriorFish Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 Agreed, he's already got a 2+ save so the Armour Indomitus is a big premium on relentless and a one-off 2++ - a bike is much better giving him T5 and twin-linked bolters as Deus Ex Ferrum said. The shield is worth considering for a good invulnerable save but is he really going to need it? Even if he was equipped with a servo-harness the accursed change in use makes combat less desirable for him so I'd keep him cheap. Scooting around on his bike blasting things with the beamer is good enough and he can still effectively combat weaker units with 2+/T5 and his biker squad should you need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stercus Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 I'd go with a small unit of scout bikers to suck up stray wounds. Nice and cheap, and if I remember right, they also come with cluster mines to make some terrain nasty for enemy troops. Pick a terrain piece a long way from the enemy lines and hide near it with a decent line of sight. Makes it harder for any enemies to charge your MOTF shoud they survive the barrage of Beamer shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giga Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Just give him a conversion beamer and put him on high terrain (preferably a bolstered ruin) with a combat squad keeping him company. Keep him cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montuhotep Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Just give him a conversion beamer and put him on high terrain (preferably a bolstered ruin) with a combat squad keeping him company. Keep him cheap. Agreed - I've always had a static conversion beamer and it's always been good to me - especially set up in corner (preferably in a ruin or other such cover) and plink away with diagonal shots across the board. Best use was when I one-shotted a Vindicare who was giving my ground pounders fits. Managing to out-snipe the master sniper was just too glorious for words! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SillyDreadnought Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I've always parked my MoTF in the corner of the board, on foot, with some chaff servitors infront of him. He's pulled off some fantastic snipes with the conversion beamer and since he's always far off in the corner, not many people have paid much attention to him on his lonesome. But usually this is because I have tanks and infantry bearing down on them in the middle of the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Father Ferrum Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 In that situation, I wouldn't think too badly of you to take a pair of plasma cannons. If targeting priority demands that you shift fire to something in the 8/4 range band, the plasma cannons at least provide some AP2 to cover the gap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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