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Best power weapon?


KhorneFlakes

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I use all three pretty evenly.  For characters I usually go power sword.  For honor guard I try to mix it up pretty evenly between maces, swords, and axes so they can deal with any threat effectively. 

 

If I had to only use one forever it would be power maces.  The only armor it is not better at than power swords is 3+.  The only armor it is not better at than axes is 2+ and even then only if your opponent doesn't kill you before init 1.  In my opinion it is the best one for dealing with everything 4+ and worse and the second best at dealing with 3+ and 2+.  Best all rounder easily.

 

Lances are just pretty meh.  Not only is there a dearth of models for it, but it also is pretty lackluster in the rules department.  If it has an additional +1 S on the charge when used by a bike or cavalry unit then it would have a clear purpose at least.  S+2 AP3 on the charge is pretty attractive.

I'm reticent to take Unwieldy weapons on power armored models.  The chances of dying to swords or claws before you get to swing just seems too steep to risk paying points for the weapons in the first place.  That being said, that all have moments when they are fantastic, and a lot of what's better to have depends heavily on your local metagame.

Hmmm, all good points. You see, I've just finished painting a 10 man chosen squad with 2x power fist, 2x pair of lightning claws and a power axe for the champ, the squad all have mark of slaanesh and icon of excess and a rhino transport with a havoc launcher. Personally I like the fist and claw combo, kind of on opposite ends of the scale so good versitility (I have the axe becaus I cut two up to make one great axe and it just looks so badass!). This is a very pricy squad but once it's in nothing else comes out... Alive...

I forgot to mention that this is a Chaos Space Marines squad

Thank goodness :P It really is a shame chaos can't take a drop pod equivalent, what did you plan on using as an HQ? If you run Huron Blackheart you can guarantee they can infiltrate which can save you points on the rhino just some food for thought

I'm reticent to take Unwieldy weapons on power armored models.  The chances of dying to swords or claws before you get to swing just seems too steep to risk paying points for the weapons in the first place.  That being said, that all have moments when they are fantastic, and a lot of what's better to have depends heavily on your local metagame.

That's why I like the lc/pfist combo.

 

Now with gorgon's chain it's perfectly viable to get a terminator captain with lc/pfist (or chainfist). He ends up being 10 pts cheaper than the equivalently geared artificer armor captain, making up for the lack of sweeping advance, which I think is great, especially if you're running him with assault terminators so he wouldn't get sweeping advances anyway. 

Nope.  Chaos is, in fact, the absolute worst possible Codex for Unwieldy weapons because their characters must issue and accept challenges.  Your 'zerker squad runs pell-mell into a Hive Tyrant?  Or a Chapter Master?  Too bad your axe-wielding maniacs won't benefit from the Mark of Khorne because the only person who gets to fight is your Champ, and he's going to get eaten by the Queen Bee without ever having the chance to strike back.

Overall, I think that the power sword is the single best weapon. 3+ Armor saves are far too common (2+ is not that common), it strikes at initiative and you can get an extra attack by also having a pistol. So if I had to choose ONE weapon, it would be the power sword.

 

If I have a unit that has greater access to these weapons (Command Squad, Vanguard Vets for example), then a mix of weapons will be the better choice.

 

But if I had to pick just one: power sword.

Gotta agree with Bannus.

 

If your sergeant runs into another, one of you has a Sword and one has a Mace, the Mace wielders will likely back out of the challenge leaving the Sword to kill a few of his buds.

 

Its nice having some AP3, initiative.

 

Ofc if you don't play against power armour much, the Mace might be alot better.

I agree as well with you Bannus, a 3+ save can now be found in almost every book now, I look at power swords as guaranteed kills. Most people will say that your power sword I4 sergeants will get killed before they can swing by I5 killers, but honestly in most lists I write I have one I5 character two tops. As long as you can dictate the terms in which you engage in combat you'll find you can control a key part of the game, some armys (orks, tryanids, daemons etc) have at least part of their army close combat focused. You don't have to beat them at close combat outright but you do need to be able to hold your own againest them.

I don't agree with Bannus.

 

The power sword is simply not good at anything for its price. It can't reliably wound tougher models, and it isn't even particularly reliable when it comes to wounding MEQ. In most cases, it can only glance vehicles. 

 

The power axe, although not great either, at least has the benefit of wounding most infantry on 2+ or 3+ and ignoring all armor, while also wounding most MCs on 4+. It's also far more effective against vehicles. 

 

The power mace, while worse than the axe or the sword, at least has the benefit of being awesome against the likes of guard, tau, and eldar, making it decent in the current metagame. 

 

The lance is possibly the worst power weapon in the game. 

 

 

 

All of this, of course, is a pretty pointless discussion, since it's an overall bad idea to give sergeants power weapon upgrades in 6th ed. They'll just get singled out in challenges by superior combatants and either killed before they can swing, or forced to spend their expensive power weapon attacks on something like a cultist or guardsman sergeant.

 

As for actual choppy HQs, you aren't really gonna give them mediocre power weapons. You'll equip those guys with relic blades, or thunder hammers, or lc/pfist combo, or with some artifact weapons, or whatever else will actually benefit the most from their superior stats. 

I'd say lighting claw, tho it's not in options from OP...

Say, 2 attacks on charge, 4+ to hit, 1 hit, rerollable to wound, one wound. A dead power armored guy!

 

If I HAVE to pick one from OP, yeah, why not power sword.

But for a unit that carry multiple power weapons, say honor guard, I wouldn't mind hiding some axes.

I'd say lighting claw, tho it's not in options from OP...

Say, 2 attacks on charge, 4+ to hit, 1 hit, rerollable to wound, one wound. A dead power armored guy!

 

If I HAVE to pick one from OP, yeah, why not power sword.

But for a unit that carry multiple power weapons, say honor guard, I wouldn't mind hiding some axes.

 

I remember seeing the math on this before, but I believe in order for a 15 point Lightning Claw to beat a 15 point power maul/sword is if you are WS4 and have at least 2 attacks before the charge. So a non-veteran sergeant is better off with a sword or maul than a LC, and that's even if the LC is the same price. Usually it costs more doesn't it?

Oh sorry, I thought you were talking about infantry.

 

But I stand by my statement, the math shows that on average, if your base attack is too low (like say, 1 attack only) then it's not worth giving up an extra attack to get the re-roll. Of course gameplay never matches math perfectly.

 

Also does Hammer of Wrath matter for power weapon formulas? Because isn't the attack always AP- for Hammer of Wrath? If Hammer of Wrath shared AP values with the model's weapon, that would change things dramatically.

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