The Second leg of the Sisters Weapons! Melta!

[Da Taz]

We've covered the heavy flamers and now we go onto the Melta!

 

Meltas come in two sizes. The Meltagun and the Multi-Melta. Each one has Str 8 AP1 sats. However, the Meltagun is a special weapon and has a range of 12" and can move and fire. The Multi-Melta is a heavy weapon and has a range of 24" and if moved can only snap shoot! Both are great tank busters, but their full use as such is at close range. Half of their normal range is where they work the best! Their other problem, besides the short range is that they  only have a single shot each turn. So in a nut shell they are really good tank busters, especially at half range, but suffer due to short range and single shots.

 

Now any tread head that is worth their mud will never allow any melta to get into range if they can help it! So our problem is to get into range and then kill them. One of the best ways I have found is to put into each squad a Meltagun. You never know when you can get a shot off at a tank and you never want to miss taking out one. So including one in each squad works for me. Now putting them into a Dom. squad even with transport I think is a fail. If the treadhead knows about it, they will target them as soon as they can. Trust me, a big pie plate dropped onto a squad of Dom. will hurt. and you will get them if the other side can shoot at you! Doesn't matter which race, if you run a full four meltagun unit, you are going to see a lot of lead come your way! Tankers want to get rid of anything that can hurt them! So you will be a number one target for them! So you want to place your meltaguns around a little and maybe take flamers in your Dom. so that they can live longer. The same goes for the Multi-melta only worse! Since you have double the range, although it is still short they will target you even higher on the target list! So what to do. Well matter of fact IMHO, the Multi-Melta is one of the  worse weapons for sisters. While it is a longer ranged weapon then the Meltagun with the same sats! It costs the same or more, can not move and shoot well and stands out way to much! If you place them in a heavy support roll don't think you will get a lot of shoots off! Even Space Marines will stay away if they can and shoot you up from outside of your range! So think about, it costs the same or more then the Meltagun, mostly gets snap shots if you move a lot and gets moved up the target list if you take them. You can take a Rhino, with a heavy weapon squad of five along with taking two of them and then run around and make like a tank. Most of the infantry weapons bounce off your armor and you can move nicely and shot. However, an Immo with the twin linked Multi-melta does it better and costs less. But, it still doesn't change the fact of armor 11 on the front and sides, so even heavy bolters can get glances! So maybe not. Its range while more is still to short and just makes it go up on the target list.

[oreaper84]

The Doms are i different sort of bird in my lists taz. I use 2 squads max melta in a MM Immo that almost always outflank. When they come in they destroy 1 sometimes 2 things (i have hailers for the likely AoF). They do this so well that i hold back a tear when i play low point games and cant bring them. They are the best single choice in our book. There i said it, come at me bro's ill defend it with stats (not really but it sounded tough).

 

In seriousness my use of melta type has been limited to model availability. I only have enough meltas for my 2 dom squads, and as such have been trying Mmelats in my sister squads. They dont work, they suck :( They keep me from taking a heavy flamer. Make the squad static or less effective. I now despise them a little, they may see the table in a reel big game where i add a 2nd command squad for S&G's but not again in most games. Ill be going the good ole Hflamer, melta,combi from here on out. They one thing they do well is actually shoot down fliers, cuz i had 4 in squads with nothing better to shoot at, lol.

[WarriorFish]

I think you need a bit of formatting there Taz, I get a few sentences into the third paragraph tome and start daydreaming about burning heretics :P

 

Meltas are great, but that unfortunately doesn't extend to MMs quite so much. The extra range is great and makes a big difference but they're best as defensive weaponry which is something Sisters generally don't do. There is a place for them if you have a plan, such as area denial or some such but generally you're better off with a melta and keeping mobile.

 

MMs are better on Immos thanks to being able to move and shoot accurately, but don't expect it to truck about too long as no opponent worth his salt will let an AV11 vehicle zoom around popping all his armour :lol: Best use is as oreaper said; as part of an expanded melta delivery system. Attack hard and fast, it's the hallmark of a Sister victory :)

[march10k]

I, too, prefer to spread my meltas around. I don't believe in suicide melta units, even when they are effective (like IG meltavets, outflanking dominions, and drop-podding marine veterans)

[*Furyou Miko]

I'm one for specialised units, as you probably all know. I love my melta-minion squads, but that might be a product of my meta.

 

I rarely see armies with more than one or two targets for them. Maybe that's because I tend to play in the 1k-1500 range and almost everyone plays Marines. I dunno. I just don't see any other use for Dominions in their current incarnation. They're not significantly better than battle sisters if you give them flamers or meltas, and they come in smaller squads for a higher price.

 

The other melta I never leave home without is an Inferno Pistol for my Canoness.  This one item gives her the character-killing power that is otherwise lacking in our HQ choices, and in my opinion is far superior to a plasma pistol. Either she's with a MElta-minion squad and lends her firepower there, or she's with a plasma pistol command squad and gives them some tank-busting power and a chance to ID any enemy characters.

[march10k]

Ah, on the topic of IPs, I really love my "venerable twin sisters of the two tulips," my seraphim with TLIPs. They're overcosted by 5-10 points, and I don't use seraphim in this edition, but they sure used to be fun when spirit of the martyr kept them alive and the TLIPs couldn't be picked out with precision shots AND pretty much have to be the closest model to get the penetration bonus...plus, the cost of four extra IPs and the conversion work were both a huge challenge for me at the time.

[*Furyou Miko]

Oh, I love my Inferno Pistol Seraphim. Much simpler conversion than yours must be (I snipped the fuel tank and ignition bar off the hand flamer seraphim and did a couple of small modifications)... the number of games in 5th that basically boiled down to "Everything is dead except Sister Vita. How many turns can I keep her Invulnerable and alive, killing things?" still makes me grin.

[MomentoMori]

A sisters list with out melta isn't much of a sisters list. I really can't see how one can justify not toting meltaguns.

 

That being said I think how and where you use meltaguns really depends on your list. Personally I think meltaguns are perfect for dom squads and should be the priority place for them. 2-3squads of 4 meltguns in a dom squad outflanking should make any army think twice where they will put there units on the back line. Lots of synergy with the AOF which can make or break games against elder serpent spam. There almost a must against Lords of war, titans and gundem models and IG parking lot. You can screen your MSU squads with scouts. And yes they are suicide unit. But I can't think of any scouting/out flankers that aren't.

 

I've also held them back as a screen to my castle and a solid counter to heavy deep strikers like DW assault.

 

I like them as dedicated suicide MC hunters and tank/fortication busters.

 

Sure they aren't as great against long fangs and other troop based back field heavy support squads but they do ingnore cover and will produce casualties.

 

My biggest use though for melta doms. Is as a sacrificial unit that can almost always bring some pain. I don't want you to target my Min/maxed scoring units. Instead I want you to focus on the early threat. If you fail to deal with them in conjunction with the rest of my army I'm going to bring a turdstorm to your lines.

 

Fortunately for myself I have I have 13meltaguns but only 6flamers and exactly 10 heavy flamers so it works for me to have melta doms and flamers/heavy flamers in my troops. And lucked out this edition with 4 left over HF for my command squad. Now to figure out what to do with 12 heavy bolters

[march10k]

You think that's bad...I'm stuck with four stormbolters!

[CaptainHelion]

I've found stormbolters are the perfect base for converting into combi-melta, actually. Which is the standard load out I give my BSS Superiors. I don't have enough meltaguns just yet to put melta in my troop choices, but sometimes you need a little melta punch. While it's only one shot per squad, I find that a firesweep squad doesn't actually get that many opportunities to shoot melta.

[*Furyou Miko]

I field my storm bolters as heavy bolters and just do an army-wide counts as because my Order have access to special bolter ammunition.

[WarriorFish]

Is there going to be a Stormbolter version of these topics? I use mine to try out colour schemes :P

[Banjulhu]

I plonk a Storm Bolter into my 10 and 5 man back field units with heavy bolters because its an extra shot at long range

[march10k]

I just use mine as regular bolters.  It's not like they stand out or anything...

[Duke Danse Macabre]

To be honest, I can't even imagine having less than a Melta / Combi Melta Combo or a 4 Melta Dom Squad.

Yes it leaves me a bit flamer light but in the meta of marines everywhere it really does help.

 

Inferno Guns where as they are meltas I find far too expencive points wise and too short range, last thing i want is my sisters in combat.

 

Melta Guns are good here and there but if it comes to Retributor squads heavy bolters get preference, justs omething is needed to deal with hordes, yes its only 12 shots but its a damn sight better than 4 and longer range too.

 

The main problem i have with melta though is where as it is a great weapon, its very short range for tank popping, now with sisters being short range I find that exploding tanks can tend to hurt. :(

I assume a fair few of this have this problem?

[*Furyou Miko]

Not really. Power Armour is generally proof against exploding vehicles.

[WarriorFish]

Yeah, the dice gods would have to be pretty displeased for an exploding vehicle to take any wind from your sails. Rock up and pop those tanks like you mean it, if anyone dies then it was clearly her time to sit beside the Emperor :P

[Duke Danse Macabre]

The Tournament I went to on the weekend just gone, I lost 5 sisters to exploding vehicles over 3 games and in two of those this was a none issue due to long range and not having to fight vehicles. 

[Collective Consciousness]

Not really. Power Armour is generally proof against exploding vehicles.

That it is. You should see what happens to guardians.

[*Furyou Miko]

The Tournament I went to on the weekend just gone, I lost 5 sisters to exploding vehicles over 3 games and in two of those this was a none issue due to long range and not having to fight vehicles. 

 

The Tournament I went to on the weekend just gone, I lost 5 sisters to exploding vehicles over 3 games and in two of those this was a none issue due to long range and not having to fight vehicles. 

 

Exactly. You lost five Sisters to exploding vehicles that you had to be within 6" of to kill, meaning that most of the squad probably got hit by the explosion with a 50/50 chance of being wounded.

[Duke Danse Macabre]

That is correct, the problem is as I am popping multiple vehicals and sisters have low toughness they suffer a bit to this, power armour or not.

 

Still though I seem to be having trouble balencing weapons for my Immolators.

I always seem to take Multi Meltas, I feel that I am ignoring heavy flamers too much but am I right to do so?

[mince on toast]

That is correct, the problem is as I am popping multiple vehicals and sisters have low toughness they suffer a bit to this, power armour or not.

 

Still though I seem to be having trouble balencing weapons for my Immolators.

I always seem to take Multi Meltas, I feel that I am ignoring heavy flamers too much but am I right to do so?

 

with the immos having twin HF whats your local gaming crowd like?

it depends if you realistically have a chance of chasing a enemy squad then cooking them & finally hoping they fail saves.

 

with mine theres always some thing important & expensive hiding in the corner or a key squad that is waiting for a last turn objective grab

by at least neutralizing said units or their ride you force the opponent into coming to you ( yay you dont have to march across the board ! )or wiping you out.

[*Furyou Miko]

Generally, against Eldar and Orks, you want heavy flamers, against everything else you want multi-meltas, in my experience.

 

Some day, I'm sure, someone will come up with a real reason to use heavy bolters... but I haven't heard one yet.

[CaptainHelion]

The only time I've wished I had heavy bolters on my immolators was that time I went up against the Avatar of Khaine on a gloriously over-terrained field.

[march10k]

I use hull heavy bolters on my chimera swarm, but they're intended to stay as far away from the enemy as possible, pointing AV12 his way...I'd never take heavy bolters on an immo!