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I'm in love with volkites/batrep results


depthcharge12

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So I played two games tonight against Athrawes at a really low points level to ease our way into heresy tactics and 7th ed, and suffice to say, I was surprised my squad of 6 volkite calivers killed more than just about any other unit other than my plasma cannons.

 

In game one (I won't go into the game for Athrawes dignity) I stood and shot a big standard squad of 6 guys at a squad of terminators. While I felt somewhat lucky, I was somewhere around statistical average. I did manage to kill 2 terminators and another for 3 with deflagrate. S6 rules despite being ap5! They put out a lot of high S shots, which is definitely needed to force saves on termies. They also killed more marines shortly thereafter (about 4?)

 

In the second game, Athrawes hid his units wisely away from them, forcing me to move and snapshot. I got 2-3 hits on average and managed to take out another handful of marines along the course of the game. They might have not wiped units off the board, but they did put large dents in them softening them up for assaults.

 

 

I'm hooked on the volkite train and there ain't no stoppin me now.

 

What are your experiences?

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Use Volkite Culverins for Heavy Support squad. Love them, even though I keep forgetting about the special rule, Deflagrate(sp?).  Even with the love(high?) AP they put out enough fire to get through a lot of things. I'll hopefully be having a campaign against Tyranids with my brother and I'm looking forward to see what they can do.

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I've only played one game with them and it was 3 Chargers in a Mor Deythan squad. 6 shots 4 Hits 4 Wounds all 4 saved unfortunately. Then I promptly charged those terminators and held them up for 3 or 4 turns killing the Warlord and all but one terminator.
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I've been using a 5-man Culverin squad with a Master of Signal to support them.  It performs well, but I get the idea that may be because my opponents don't give the squad the attention and respect that it deserves.  Between the HQ and the squad it's 1/5 of my usual army at 1500 points, and it's really just 5 T4 3+ wounds and 2 T4 2+ wounds.  If they focused the squad down on turn 1 or 2 instead of wasting their fire on tacticals, I think I wouldn't get quite as much value out of them.

 

Edit: 1/5th, not 1/3rd.

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I've been using a 5-man Culverin squad with a Master of Signal to support them.  It performs well, but I get the idea that may be because my opponents don't give the squad the attention and respect that it deserves.  Between the HQ and the squad it's 1/3 of my usual army at 1500 points, and it's really just 5 T4 3+ wounds and 2 T4 2+ wounds.  If they focused the squad down on turn 1 or 2 instead of wasting their fire on tacticals, I think I wouldn't get quite as much value out of them.

I agree.

 

We both underestimated the squad and they performed spectacularly (I killed most of his stuff the first game and he conceded, the second game I wiped him off the table and suffered no casualties...yeah...).

 

The S6 and deflagrate are fantastic and shouldn't be overlooked. In my 2000 point list I have 7 plus a master of signal. I love the culverins, but they aren't scoring and their shooting drops dramatically after each casualty.

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I've already bought the Culverins but I've been thinking of alternatives lately.  I'm sure my regular opponents are going to wise up soon and just start knocking my heavy support squad over, and then I'll have to start hiding them more and getting fewer good shots off with them.

 

The most immediate idea is replacing them with a support squad with Calivers, since it basically does the same thing but brings more wounds.  A little math:

 

Tac Support Squad

-10 Members, 10 Volkite Calivers

225

22.5 points per marine, 20 shots at 30 inches, 11.25 points per shot

 

Heavy Support Squad

-10 Members, 10 Volkite Culverins

335

33.5 points per marine, 40 shots @ 45 inches, 8.375 points per shot

 

Difference: 10 points per marine, 2.875 points per shot

 

So, basically what we already knew, that the tac support squad pays less per wound but doesn't bring as much firepower for the points.  However, comparing on parity with the most-efficient max size tac support squad with a near-equal points heavy support:

 

Heavy Support Squad

-6 Members, 6 Volkite Culverins

215

35.8 points per marine, 24 shots @ 45 inches, 8.958 points per shot

 

Difference: 10.3 points per marine, 2.292 points per shot

 

Things don't change much., but things get more favorable for the support squad as the price per body gets slightly more disparate and the price per shot gets slightly more similar.  So now a 5 man heavy squad vs equal points worth of tac support.

 

Tac Support Squad

-8 Members, 8 Volkite Calivers

185

23.125 points per marine, 16 shots at 30 inches, 11.562 points per shot

 

Heavy Support Squad

-5 Members, 5 Volkite Culverins

185

37 points per marine, 20 shots @ 45 inches, 9.2 points per shot

 

Difference: 13.875 points per marine, 2.362 points per shot

 

The difference in points per shot remains fairly steady, but there is a marked increase in the difference between the cost per body.  So I think when the choice is between a five man heavy support squad with culverins and an 8 man tactical support squad, the tac support squad might be preferable.  A little more difficult to draw conclusions on the other two comparisons.

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If you are considering running volkite Culvrin squads, consider running admech allies. Myrmidons with Culvrins cost more per body, but will cause more damage and be more resilient for the points on average. It'll cost you more points than a heavy support squad though, so it needs to fit into your list.

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