Fuss with Russ making me Cuss :)

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Yes WarriorFish has the right of it and the beauty of our codex is that it can accommodate so many different tastes and styles. There is no one list to rule them all and many different options can be effective.

[march10k]

Here's my view of the exterminator....It's like fielding an eradicator when you have access to griffons.  I'm actually building an eradicator...but only because I play in a lot of environments where FW is a no-no.  S6AP4 cover-ignoring pieplates are exceptionally valuable to me...but I'd definitely take them in a chimera chassis for cheap (and with the multiple barrage, rerolling scatter rules!) long before I'd pay for the AV14 variant.  So, too, with the exterminator, leaving aside the issue of it taking a heavy support FOC slot.  I can get the same offensive output cheaper.  I'm not comparing it to the demolisher cannon, executioner cannon, or whatever, and finding that it comes up short, I'm comparing it to the other sources of S7AP4 and finding that I'm not willing to pay for AV14.

 

/edit/

 

As for moving or stationary...A long-ranged russ, like LRBT or Vanquisher, that is properly deployed already has the best possible fields of fire and never needs to move.  I RARELY move those after they hit the table, and even then, it's usually 2-3" to deny the enemy a save or reestablish LOS that he just barely denied. Demolishers...they move, every turn. not just because of the short range of their guns, though.  They also move to push the enemy around.  If I want him to send a unit around the left side of an obstacle, I'll position the demolisher where they'd be walking into a pieplate by going to the right.  If he's setting up to charge one of my positions, I'll dangle a demolisher 15" away in another direction...move 6" towards me, and you need a 9 to sink the charge...so tantalizing, but the odds are in my favor.  I probably draw you away without any cost...but I'll only do it if the possible loss of the demolisher outweighs the benefit of relieving the pressure on the other unit (like, a chimeraload of troops on an objective on turn five).  I've found, by the way,  that if you need an 8" charge in that scenario, I'm too close, if a 10" charge, you won't risk it.

[captain sox]

Do you normally take them in units of 3, and if so do they all have the same role? ie if you take a command Vanquisher do you take 2 other long ranged tanks (like battle cannon or another Vanquisher) or do you mix and match? Or do you run units of 1 or 2 tanks?

 

I've built 2 now, one is with sponsons, one without. 

[PureFodder]

A couple of bits of advice for building Russes:

1. don't glue in the sponsons. they fit snugly into their slots and will stay there without need for magnetisation. You can then freely swap them our as needed.

2. Some the main turret weapons can also do this. The vanquisher/battle cannon can be swapped out easily if not glued in place as can the punisher/demolisher/executioner.

 

As for load out, try not to mix tanks with different roles in a single heavy support slot as they all have to shoot the same target. You can in the command squad as they can take the split-fire order.

 

Good load outs for the heavy support slots are:

demolishers with no upgrades for splatting terminators,

vanquishers with lascannon and multimeltas for anti-vehicle and anti MC duties,

Standard Russ with no upgrades for a great utility player.

[march10k]

Do you normally take them in units of 3, and if so do they all have the same role? ie if you take a command Vanquisher do you take 2 other long ranged tanks (like battle cannon or another Vanquisher) or do you mix and match? Or do you run units of 1 or 2 tanks?

 

I've built 2 now, one is with sponsons, one without. 

 

I tend to field Pasquisher with a LRBT wingman...perhaps 1/4 of the time, I elect to fire the wingman's lascannon (and not fire the battle cannon) at Pask's target instead of splitting their fire...like when I'm shooting at a wraithlord or a deffrolla.  That extra S9AP2 shot is sometimes worth more than a pieplate, as crazy as that sounds!  In heavy support, proper tanks are solo, wyverns or hydras are fielded in pairs.

 

 

 

Good load outs for the heavy support slots are:

demolishers with no upgrades for splatting terminators,

vanquishers with lascannon and multimeltas for anti-vehicle and anti MC duties,

Standard Russ with no upgrades for a great utility player.

 

I actually find that extra armor works well on demolishers, and if you have the points laying around, dozer blades.  I hate getting stunned on the top of turn one in a demolisher...losing my turn one shot is bad enough, but with XA I can at least get 6" closer for a better turn 2 shot!  I don't bother with multimeltas on vanquishers  Pasquisher (a BS3 vanquisher without preferred enemy is TERRIBLE).  The whole point is for the enemy to be at long range...hell, half the time, he's shooting something that's even out of lascannon range!  I toyed with the MMs and found them shooting maybe twice a game, and always late, when it's either cleanup or a lost cause.  They were never really helpful.  

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

I am ashamed to admit I've never fielded enough armour in a single battle for HS slots to be an issue so I've always fielded them solo (in my defence in the DKoK Asslt. Bde. Hydras are an elite choice as is the forward command tank which my Vanquisher always is for BS4).

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Probably not the most efficient, but has anyone done a squadron involving the relatively cheap Eradicator out front to "tank" for a tank with more effective weaponry behind it?

[WarriorFish]

No, sounds far too expensive!

[CoffeeGrunt]

Yeah, even at 120pts base. You're putting a big price tag on whatever tank it's protecting.

[captain sox]

Isn't that what Bullgryns are for?