A Replacement for Melta

[Duke Danse Macabre]

I've been wondering looking at the new mechanicus stuff coming out so far about all their rapid fire haywire weapons.

a 5 man squad of rangers would only cost 85 points and put out 4 haywie shots.

 

So the question is if these could be drop podded in via the Flesh Tearers formation or even just using BA or SW pods as allies would they be better than melta.

 

They have longe range, same BS and where as melta can get 2D6 pen inside 6 inches they need a 3 to pen the back of most things where as our rangers can be 12 inches away from the front of a lanraider and glance it to death on 2's

 

 

Just looking at this it makes me wonder if this insane range haywie weapons of the mechan icus means the end of armour?

[Zembar]

Of course they're not the end of armour. It already ended with gauss.

[Duke Danse Macabre]

Of course they're not the end of armour. It already ended with gauss.

 

Gauss was not so big a threat as haywire shots are, a 6+ glance does not hold a canndle to 2+ glance and 6+ Pens.

Besides Mechanicus have a much larger Battle Forge Ally pool that what necrons do.

[Vel'Cona]

 

Just looking at this it makes me wonder if this insane range haywie weapons of the mechan icus means the end of armour?

 

There's certainly an argument to be made for Skitarii with Arc Rifles vs. Space Marines (Assault Marines, etc.) with Meltas.  For the Skitarii vs. BA:

 

5 Skitarii Vanguard w/ 2 Arc Rifles, Drop Pod (from C:BA or C:SW): 120

5 Assault Marines w/ 2 Meltaguns, Combi-Melta Sergeant, Drop Pod:  115

 

The Skitarii have 4 Haywire shots @ 12", hitting 3 times on average and scoring 3 glancing hits (with a 50/50 chance that one of those hits will be a pen).

The Assault Marines have 3 Melta shots @ 6", hitting 2 times on average and scoring 2 penetrating hits against anything AV <14 (a pen and a glance on AV 14, generally).

 

So what you're looking at is pretty much effective range vs. more chance of penning.  The Skitarii can still throw two Haywire shots @ 24", whereas the BA are hosed past 12" (and aren't too great past 6" even then), while the Meltagun gets the AP1 bonus to its damage rolls and is thus more likely to outright destroy a vehicle.  So, with that in mind, I'd say Skitarii are better for dealing with HP 2-3 vehicles (transports espcially), while Meltagun equipped Space Marines/Imperial Guard Veterans are better for taking out heavily armored foes, especially superheavy vehicles.

[CommodusXIII]

Of course they're not the end of armour. It already ended with gauss.

As one of the rare/insane Imperial Knight players, Gauss is annoying but Haywire keeps me up at night. I welcome the challenge!

[librisrouge]

 

Of course they're not the end of armour. It already ended with gauss.

As one of the rare/insane Imperial Knight players, Gauss is annoying but Haywire keeps me up at night. I welcome the challenge!

 

Preach it brethren. We have a couple of necron players here and I don't fear them near as much as what will happen when these guys take the field.

[Dom_]

Don't forget you can also add an arc pistol to the alpha for 5 haywire shots at 12". I'm thinking 2 squads of 5 vanguard with this set up + an omnispex.

[Aethernitas]

The problem may be getting them into 12" of the target vehicle because apart from maybe Land Raider I don't see them generously driving into rapid fire range. I haven't done the math but even though 4 shots haywire in 12" sounds amazing (and it is) I dunno if it is that much better (if at all) than 3 melter for the same price and potentially on a unit that has less problems closing the range-gap.

[Vel'Cona]

That's what allied Drop Pods are for, IMO.  It's a little beardy, but it makes for an extremely nasty unit that can easily DP in and throw 7 haywire shots on turn 1 (x3 Arc Rifles and an Arc Pistol).

[Aethernitas]

Gosh those SW and BA economy-class drop pods are such an aweful oversight by GeeDub that I guess I try to deny their existence most of the time...

[Dom_]

I'm going to try and avoid the drop pods, although it's most likely the best choice. Instead I'm looking at taurox primes from allied Mikitarum Tempestus. They aren't the toughest, but since they are fast vehicles and have plenty of fire points, I think they can threaten with haywire as they move up, then get out if the taurox goes the way of the dodo and unload at a target. I also think the taurox has quite a good look for skitarii. Needs some legs though.

[Aethernitas]

I'm going to try and avoid the drop pods, although it's most likely the best choice. Instead I'm looking at taurox primes from allied Mikitarum Tempestus. They aren't the toughest, but since they are fast vehicles and have plenty of fire points, I think they can threaten with haywire as they move up, then get out if the taurox goes the way of the dodo and unload at a target. I also think the taurox has quite a good look for skitarii. Needs some legs though.

 

Now I REALLY wanna try putting 6 Onager Crawler legs on that Taurox...

[CommodusXIII]

It can't possibly look worse than the mini-tracks...

[Aethernitas]

It can't possibly look worse than the mini-tracks...

 

Challenge accepted

[Vel'Cona]

Hey, I'm not in love with the loaner pods (or Rhinos, or Razorbacks) either, but it's a reality of the edition that can be very helpful for mobility stressed armies.  Skitarii in particular gain a lot from being able to dump 3 Arc Rifles/Plasma Calivers within prime range and unloading on their chosen unit; if they have to walk up the field, they lose quite a bit of time and will take a lot of damage, so this is a solid option for pure competitive play.

 

For the background-oriented players, though, I can see where this would be a stretch to far.  It's especially galling given the BA have great synergy with the AdMech, and yet their relationship in-universe is strained, at best!