Effectiveness of Volkite weapons ?

[GreyCrow]

Hey guys !

 

I'm pretty interested in hearing your insights on the effectiveness of Volkite weapons against MEQ and TEQ :D

[Jolemai]

Effectiveness? Who needs effectiveness when you have CHOOM?

[Slips]

Effectiveness? Who needs effectiveness when you have CHOOM?

TEAM *CHOOOM!* REPRESENT~!

[depthcharge12]

I second the CHOOOOM

 

I've found them to be incredibly effective against terminators due to high strength and volume shooting. If you can slap misfortune in an enemy unit, I've seen a ten man squad of culverins kill a Spartan. No joke.

[GreyCrow]

Haha, very interesting indeed :D

 

I'm currently building a few POTL lists to decide which army I'll be going for, and some Soulshade gave me an idea with Volkite Calivers Support Squads, because they have reach and can be camping the objectives since they are Troops and can score.

 

What would a 5 men squad all armed with 5 Volkite Calivers hope to achieve in your opinion ? Except the CHOOM obviously :p

[depthcharge12]

Well I run a 7 man squad with a MoS and they do quite well. Not as shooty as Culverins mind you, but great at holding an objective. Use them to harass terminators or other valuable 2+ save units.

[GreyCrow]

Well I run a 7 man squad with a MoS and they do quite well. Not as shooty as Culverins mind you, but great at holding an objective. Use them to harass terminators or other valuable 2+ save units.

 

Interesting, I planned to have a Master of Signals with them as well :) !

 

In terms of rough guesstimate, how much do you think your squad kills in terms of Marines per turn, at full strength and when they get to shoot ?

[depthcharge12]

Well, on good days and with a MoS, I've been able to kill a squad of five terminators, but that's just because I prayed to RNGesus.

 

Theoretical:

12 shots at BS5 - 10 hits - 8.33 wounds - about two dead marines before deflagrate

 

Practical:

I've usually killed about 4 marines per turn with them in my experience. Sometimes that waxes and wanes with the power of the dice gods, but on a whole, they do quite well. Scoring is great too. Just stick em on an objective in cover and let them do their thing.

[Balthamal]

Generally they're very good, especially when you start getting culverins into the game as well, the high volume of fire combined with a high wound chance can make for a lethal combination.

 

From my own experiences running Terror Squads with them, they're on the wrong side of funny, I take pity on anyone who runs into them because 2 S5 shots with preferred enemy infantry and deflagrate hurts like you wouldn't believe

[GreyCrow]

I see, thanks ! 4 Marines a turn sounds about right considering the cost of the squad :) My main fear is because I'm planning a POTL army with Fulmentarus Terminators and a 5 man volkite support squad as infantry-based fire support, but because model count is very low each piece of dakka counts and while Volkite sounded cool, well, I had no clear idea on the impact of Volkite Weapons, the lack of AP felt a bit disturbing.

 

But I like the ability to put many wounds even on Infantry ! Rolling 8 3+ saves can go really either way :)

 

 

Generally they're very good, especially when you start getting culverins into the game as well, the high volume of fire combined with a high wound chance can make for a lethal combination.

 

From my own experiences running Terror Squads with them, they're on the wrong side of funny, I take pity on anyone who runs into them because 2 S5 shots with preferred enemy infantry and deflagrate hurts like you wouldn't believe

 

That is indeed terrifying :D My logic in an Ultramarines list was opening up with a Kheres Dreadnought to get rerolls to wound of 1s against that unit for the Volkite Support Squad. With Calivers being S6, wounding on 2+ rerolling 1s seemed nasty enough :D

[Olis]

In my opinion, when it comes to effectiveness against MEQs and TEQs, the main characteristics to rely on are strength and number of attacks (mainly because the AP is meaningless against MEQs and better, and the range is subpar compared to bolter weaponry). The strength of Volkite weaponry means a larger likelihood of hits being converted into wounds and the larger the number of attacks you can make, the more hits (and ergo, wounds) you can dish out per turn. Now, as we all know, Deflagrate is the gravy. It's the cherry on top. It's not something you can rely on to add extra casualties but it does make nice additions to the dead pile. 

 

Oh, and let us not forget the Glaive and it's extra special beam of choom-y death. Catch as many squads as you can with that thing, every time it fires and you'll reap swathes of an opponent's army, no problem. ^_^

 

 

Now that I've said my piece, I'll go back to scratching CHOOM on the wooden benches over there. :P

[RandomMarine]

Mos and heavy choom squad it a threat to anything not av14

[Slips]

Mos and heavy choom squad it a threat to anything not av14

Or, conversely, a Librarian with the Malediction Power for Rending.

 

You'd threaten anything that is affected by the Power through sheer weight of dice. Ask Depthcharge and Athrawes :p

[God-Potato of Mankind]

I have a choomverin on my lead Skyhunter Jetbike.

 

I will be chooming it at some Word Bearers - though is one choom worth it? Should I replace it with a Pcannon or mult-melta?

[Olis]

Depends on who you're facing. The volkite is eminently worthy against horde armies but against mechanised or MEQ based forces? It would be worth reviewing your can-opening abilities. Personally, I wouldn't. But not everyone is me. :D

[Gorgoff]

I have always a HSS with Volkites in my lists and I love them. They are awesome against GEQ and MEQ. I put them in a Bastion with an Ammo Dump, so that most of their 20 shots will hit. And kill. ;)

[TemujinZero]

I calculated the damage against various targets a long time ago.  I won't dig out the numbers, but basically my conclusion was that Volkite Culverins are awesome.

 

Against MEQ they put out devastating casualties, and are effectively ignore cover weapons since they can rip apart squads even though they get to take their armour saves.

 

Against TEQ they do inflict some damage through weight of fire, but because of the way deflagrate works out mathematically, they aren't an ideal target.

 

Against horde GEQ they are ridiculous overkill.  I'm going by memory, but I think a max heavy support squad with culverins did something like 40 kills against GEQ in open ground.

 

In general, volkite weapons do fairly good damage against a wide range of targets, but are best used against large rank and file units, where they will do crazy damage thanks to deflagrate.  As a unit gets tougher or better armoured, damage from volkite weapons drops off way faster than it would from other units, but the reverse is also true.  Any unit that sacrifices armour or toughness for extra bodies will find itself taking crazy casualties from volkite.  If there aren't any such targets then taking out whole squads of MEQ at 45" range through any cover is the next best thing.

 

They're also a great target for a variety of buffs, such as the Ammo Dump that Gorgoff mentioned, increased BS from a Master of Signals, Librarian buffs, or my favourite - Alpharius' preferred enemy (everything).  With volkite, these buffs generate more initial wounds, which then lead to more deflagrate wounds, so you get even more mileage from the buff.

[v6v77]

I calculated the damage against various targets a long time ago. I won't dig out the numbers, but basically my conclusion was that Volkite Culverins are awesome.

 

Against MEQ they put out devastating casualties, and are effectively ignore cover weapons since they can rip apart squads even though they get to take their armour saves.

 

Against TEQ they do inflict some damage through weight of fire, but because of the way deflagrate works out mathematically, they aren't an ideal target.

 

Against horde GEQ they are ridiculous overkill. I'm going by memory, but I think a max heavy support squad with culverins did something like 40 kills against GEQ in open ground.

 

In general, volkite weapons do fairly good damage against a wide range of targets, but are best used against large rank and file units, where they will do crazy damage thanks to deflagrate. As a unit gets tougher or better armoured, damage from volkite weapons drops off way faster than it would from other units, but the reverse is also true. Any unit that sacrifices armour or toughness for extra bodies will find itself taking crazy casualties from volkite. If there aren't any such targets then taking out whole squads of MEQ at 45" range through any cover is the next best thing.

 

They're also a great target for a variety of buffs, such as the Ammo Dump that Gorgoff mentioned, increased BS from a Master of Signals, Librarian buffs, or my favourite - Alpharius' preferred enemy (everything). With volkite, these buffs generate more initial wounds, which then lead to more deflagrate wounds, so you get even more mileage from the buff.

A Volkite moritat with Alpharius' preferred enemy.... Vs Orks, guard or nods.

 

Let the choom commence.

[Caillum]

A Volkite moritat with Alpharius' preferred enemy.... Vs Orks, guard or nods.

Let the choom commence.

Doesn't work - Moritat rules state they don't get buffs from anything.