Heavy Weapon Squad

[SpongyNebula]

Ive recently got my hands on another Heavy Weapon Squad.

I already have one squad which Ive kitted out with 3 Autocannons.

 

AC is my heavy weapon of choice for the Guard.

 

If you were in my shoes, what heavy weapon would you equip your 2nd HWS? (not including AC) and why...?

 

Sponge

[CoffeeGrunt]

Lascannons. You need something that can threaten real tanks IMO, and Orders make them very powerful.

[SpongyNebula]

I thought about Lascannons but most Anti Tank for the Guard comes from Leman Russ

 

Alot of people dont reccomend using mortars but Ive seen mortars used well in my local GW. Whats your thoughts about mortars?

[WarriorFish]

Mortars have long been a feature for me, sadly they are eclipsed somewhat by Wyverns. However they can still be useful as they can hide easily and can secure objectives, as well as being part of a Platoon. The extra bonus is you can build them without using bits from the other HWT models so you can really spread the box across several models :)

 

Autocannons are a staple for good reason, but like Coffee I think Lascannons are a good alternative especially if you make use of orders. You can always put the HWTs in infantry squads too :)

[SpongyNebula]

Yeah I equip some of my regulars with Missile Launchers. Seems like LC wins

[WarriorFish]

The extra pip of Strength and AP makes a large difference, especially if you're only firing a single shot either way. Guard usually have the numbers such that we don't need to concern ourselves with flexibility as we can just grab another squad and have our cake and eat it. The Missile Rocket Launcher is a good "top up" weapon to support your main stars I think, but unless you go the whole hog can never be the main dish. Ideally we'd see it drop in points next update, or maybe get Flakk for free?

[gomericus]

I would also vote for arming them with lascannons. The extra punch is worth it.Also they would give you a secondary antitank/big scary thingy weapon and goes towards target saturation. If they target the hwt's it gives your tanks time to take stuff out,if they target your tanks,your hwt's can take theirs out.

 

sidenote while hwt's are rather squishy most people are not focused on killing basic troops but rather big flashy units/tanks thusly do not always react as they should in targetting hwts right away----(coming from someone who shelved my tanks years ago and has run all foot for 3codexs now) 

[Jolemai]

Surely a Guardsman's BS is a deterrent to taking lascannon teams? I find a single lascannon to be a poor choice on Marines so I find it odd that they are a good choice on Guard. I guess this is offset by the points cost?

[CoffeeGrunt]

Orders can offset the lack of effectiveness for Heavy Weapons Teams. If you're facing AV14 Bring It Down is excellent. If something's hiding behind cover, Fire On My Target should solve the issue. IMO the main problem with Heavy Weapons Squads is the erroneous 15pt tax they suffer for no discernible reason. However, Missile Launchers and Heavy Bolters just aren't worth going for, IMO. Mortars can be decent for hiding away near an Objective, Autocannons are decent all-rounders, and Lascannons are very useful against a lot of tough targets.

 

That said, Melta/Armourbane weapons are simply superior when dealing with tanks, so things like Medusas and Vanquishers are handy to take.

[morroccomole]

When I'm fighting MEQs, the mere existence of three lascannons can cause them to give them a tad more attention than the 6 squishy wounds are worth. And if they do ignore them, then they end up getting an average of one penetrating hit per round of shooting. I honestly never gave missile launchers a second thought, but the ability to spend a bit more points to get some AA out of them does make sense, if you want utility.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I'm going to vote for lascannons as well. Autocannons lacked the punch I needed to kill those darn necron vehicles.