Everyone's favourite Russ

[Just Another Guard Player]

As I sit here waiting for the paint to dry on my artillery before I put on the next coat I like to fiddle with my next 1000 points on my lists (as I'm sure we all do).

 

Currently I'm thinking about ditching some grenadiers and buffing my tanks. I have 2 Leman Russ in my 2000 points list and after having a few a beers and some small, short "lets see what happens" skirmishes at my mates house I'm sold on buffing my tanks into an HQ tank commander choice and making one of them Pask (Well, upgrading him to using Pask's rules anyway....in my head he'll be some appropriately fluffy Kriegian name for some other guy - for now lets call him Baron Von Pask).

 

The conclusion I drew from our little mini test battles was that, with Von Pask at the wheel anyway, there is no such thing as a bad Leman Russ. All the variants were all pretty amazing at the punishment they were giving out.

 

So that has left me in a bit of a quandary...which to take? I love them all.

 

I'm thinking probably giving Von Pask a Vanquisher with plasma sponsons to give that unit a bit more blasty goodness and versatility. But the Punisher Gatling cannon is also sorely tempting. As is the Executioner.

 

So thoughts then...if you had to have two (or can have two) which would you pick / load them out?

 

[WarriorFish]

No, there isn't a bad Russ but I'd argue there is such a thing as a bad one for von Pask. What can be agreed I think is that there are Russes that Pask enhances more and ones he benefits less - everyone and their dog has surely heard of Pask in a Punisher mowing everything down like wheat before the scythe and the Paskquisher popping tanks with ease for a reason!

In the same way nobody has heard of Pask rocking up in a standard Russ or a Demolisher for example, with pie plates is the added accuracy going to make much difference? So I'd say they're bad choices, if only because it means you're not taking one of the objectively better rides for him. The three tanks you mention are the best ones to take him in because he gives them something special so you gain more. Pask is a few bob more than a normal tank commander so you'd better be making the most of his abilities or you're squandering points.

The Punisher is a great all rounder thanks to the volume of fire and rending so, unless you have a good reason not to, shove him in one and you won't go far wrong. The Vanquisher has a special place for me though, as it's a cool tank and powerful - Pask makes it a hell of a lot more reliable so that's a tempting choice as they're a bit rubbish otherwise. Also lets him skulk around in your lines more safely. Sponsons are something I usually prefer not to take, so when I do it's usually heavy bolters to match infantry killing guns.

As for his squad mate, I don't think it's too big a deal as most of the time you're giving the split fire order anyway but it's never a bad idea to complement them. An Exterminator complements both builds but an Eradicator with a Punisher is cheaper and will tear through entire squads There are many ways to run Pask and his squad, the trick is to create the build that works for your list. Truly, the Leman Russ is a great tank to give us so much choice!

[Just Another Guard Player]

I quite agree. We found much the same thing. Any variant that involved blast templates we found the extra inch less on the scatter dice to be largely inconsequential. Further, as much as I like the Executioner I'm not convinced that Von Pask's ability to turn 3 Blast into 1 Large Blast is that much of a boon. As a choice for his sidekick though... I think that might be the way to go.

[WarriorFish]

It's nice to have though, options are always good. It might mean the difference between hitting a couple of Terminators or the entire squad for example, or sneaking some hits in on another unit. It is very hard to argue against the Punisher though, versatility and power like that doesn't come often!

[librisrouge]

As a big advocate of the Executioner Pask (though the Punisher is also sexy) I have to say that the large blast fire mode is NOT the reason to take him. Unless you really want that Blind rule, you're always better off shooting the three small blasts. What really helps Executioner Pask is the Preferred Enemy rule helping him to not overheat himself (and squadron mates) into an early grave. Tank Hunters also helps a bit since Str 7 is already a good medium tank hunter.

[hendrik]

i've tried pask in a vanquisher with executioner buddy, and while he was good he was not great, since both shine against totally different targets. So nowadays i always put pask together with another vanquisher buddy. no more need to rely on orders too! they now reliable hunt armour. offcourse i tend to face monoliths quite often and often have trouble getting my meltaguns in range. I'm 100% convinced that in an allround list, pask in punisher will be more allrounder, but i just can not allow my tank commander to ride around in anything else than a lovely vanquisher!

[march10k]

I always pair my pasquisher with a stock russ or two...with lascannon hull mounts.  It seems daft, but it actually works quite well!  I end up choosing to fire the lascannon instead of the battle cannon more often than you would probably imagine, and against monstrous creatures, the battle cannon is quite often a fantastic complement to Pask's "just go ahead and deduct two wounds" shooting.  Large base means almost no chance of missing, preferred enemy means almost no chance of failing to wound, and there's usually some gratuitous splash damage on nearby infantry.

 

The main thing to look for in Pask's wingman is similar range.  Pairing a 72" range weapon with a 24" range weapon is daft.  Second, you want the weapons to complement Pask's somewhat, but also be optimized against a different target.  Battle cannons are for (especially heavy, but not TEQ) infantry, but they get the ordnance rule, so they're not useless against tanks and quite decent against MCs.   Similarly, the nova cannon brings something a little different in the form of ignoring cover, but it's basically a troop-remover like a punisher (although pask's special abilites make the punisher a tank-killer, too) cannon.