Leman Russ Sponsons

[march10k]

HBs are old and entrenched within the system so yeah, no chance of a change. It's not like they're terrible, just that the Guard isn't hurting for anti-infantry capabilities on our troops. Just make them cheaper than autocannons please, then we'll talk

So...5 points for a HB? That's reasonable.

[scatmandoo]

As said by others. HB and HS on exterminator or punisher.

 

Lascannon upgrade on the vanquisher.

 

Plasma on tge Executioner. Go all out or don't bother. 4+ save on a roll of a 1 is worth the risk. Even through in a HS too!

 

More shots = more chances to wound which = more chances of failed saves!

[Canadian_F_H]

Y'all gotta stop... Before I dump a bazillion dollars into my ig armory...

 

Not from much playing but the analysis adds up... Ordinance main gun yields diminishing returns on sponsors except in case of weapon destroyed results... But if you have a few spare points there is little real harm in a half dozen extra snap fire heavy bolter shots...

 

On non ordinance main gun tanks, match the appropriate sponson to the main gun. Anti infantry to anti infantry, anti tank to anti tank and plasma to the big plasma... All assuming you can afford it...

 

Equally of merit in games with many tanks, dropping them in favor of more tanks ie more main guns and hull points, is not a bad idea either.

[greycat]

My main guard army runs 5 leman russ variants and the only one I put sponsons on is the punisher. Apart from the punisher (with pask) I have two leman russes, an eradicator and a demolisher. The eradicator could use some heavy bolter sponsons but so far I havent really felt any pressure to put them on.

 

Sposons are definitely only useful on heavy weapon main guns. Weapon destroyed results are pretty rare and it'll lose all of its hullpoints before its worth worrying about weapon destroyed anyway. Snapfiring your sponsons is a waste as well as you'll want to be firing your main gun each turn. With guard, points are at a premium, even though everything is so cheap. You really need to consider what you put on your tanks is for maximum efficiency. The same is true for the rest of your army everything needs a job and they need to do that job at peak efficiency. There also needs to be redundancy for every task.

 

Pask in the punisher with the demolisher are the heavy hitting unit and push up the centre. The two leman russes just sit in each corner and provide long range support with their 72" cannons and the eradicator just plays around getting linebreaker or popping those scouts in cover.

[WarriorFish]

Y'all gotta stop... Before I dump a bazillion dollars into my ig armory...

So guys, let's talk about how awesome the Russ tank is... no particular reason I just felt like discussing it :P

[Shamansky]

The most awesome thing is that you can take 12 of them with HQ and Heavy support and add 12 more with The Steel Host formation. 24 awesome vehicles is awesomeness on awesome cutterpillar tracks! You get Hydra too and it's not that awesome. But anyway 24 awesome is more than 1 not really awesome. That's awesome. 

[CoffeeGrunt]

Oh boy, and let's not even start on those awesome Forge World tanks! The Macharius chassis is a personal favourite of mine, and the Ryza Vanquisher and Executioner are beautiful.

 

*Ahem.* 

 

It's worth noting that if you're Psykically inclined, that giving Invuln saves to your Executioner stacks with the Gets Hot "save." IIRC, there's nothing saying Invuln saves can't be taken against Glancing Hits from Gets Hot, and the 4+-to-not-take-a-glance isn't a save, so it wouldn't override the Gets Hot.

 

It's a good reason to throw that power which hands out a 4++ onto an Executioner, though you could give it Prescience instead. Durability vs Dakka.

[SW1]

This thread makes me want to start working on my tanks. Need to concentrate on grunts first ... Must resist!!!!!!!!!! :lol:

[elmo]

Just been looking at my paint queue... Still 5 russes to build :)

 

But I will be going down the magnets route anyway ;)

[Gothical]

I come across this dilemma all the time, and I tend to go by what I can fit into my army lists...which is never as much as I want. However, there are some builds I tend to prefer.

 

Leman Russ: Hull Heavy Bolter & Pintle Heavy Stubber. Cheap and looks awesome (old FW kit of Ryza turret and Mars-Alpha hull). 

 

Eradicator: Heavy Bolter/Flamer, Heavy Bolter sponsons, Heavy Stubber. Anti-infantry load-out, frontal Heavy Flamer can work well on terrain-heavy boards.

 

Exterminator: I don't know. 

 

Vanquisher: Lascannon & Plasma Cannon sponsons. A tank/monster killer, the Plasma Cannons open up utility against infantry (comparable in area coverage to a Battle Cannon) and have decent strength/AP to threaten Monstrous Creatures and vehicles, whilst also having decent range.

 

Demolisher: Hull Heavy Bolter/Flamer. I might add a pair of Heavy Flamer sponsons for more Weapon Destroyed protection and for when the enemy is too close to risk firing the Demolisher Cannon (very risky proposition if your tank is in a Squadron) or they're cowering in cover from it.

 

Executioner: Lascannon, Heavy Bolter sponsons, Heavy Stubber. The Lascannon and Executioner Cannon make this decent against heavy infantry and light vehicles, whilst the Executioner Cannon, Heavy Bolters and Heavy Stubber are murder against infantry. Minimal chance of hurting yourself too.

 

Punisher: 3x Heavy Bolters and a Heavy Stubber. Pure anti-infantry killing firepower.

 

Punisher with Pask: Lascannon, 2 Multi-Meltas. Kills a Land Raider in a single volley.

 

The Exterminator is the tank that I find the trickiest - with triple Heavy Bolters it is a nightmare to infantry, some recommend taking a hull Lascannon for better results against mid-ranged armour, others say to take Multi-Meltas for a nice and relatively cheap tank-killer, others still recommend the Plasma Cannons for a large number of Str7 shots.

 

Personally I don't favour the Eradicator because the same role can be fulfilled by Hellhounds, who are less survivable but much more mobile, leaving valuable Heavy Support slots open for other variants.

[Quneitra]

The best thing about the Russ? Oh, so many...

The fact that it manages to have the thickest front armor of any tank in-universe?

The fact that its vanilla version has a main gun that eats both infantry and tanks whole?

The fact that its so darn customizable, allowing you to adapt better than a 'Nid for each battle?

The fact that, in-fluff, it can run on literally any fuel source available and is easily reparable, which is a godsend for any army?

The fact that you can field so many and make your opponents cry bitter tears as they deal with pipeplate after pieplate?

The fact that they're comparatively cheap for what they do?

The fact that Vanquishers used to be (and maybe still are?) the best bottlers of Tau tears in-game?

Hmm... How about all the above?

[Phubar]

Usually i dont use sponsons on LR because they are a priority target for enemyes and i prefer to keep them cheap (lol) so i can take maybe another squad or give some upgrades to squads that didnt have. Spreading firepower accross squads prevent to loose too much of them with a single enemy attack.