Sentinel loadouts

[steellegionnaire85]

Hey guys,

 

I was wondering what you all think of the different loadouts on sentinels. I plan on stripping my 6 sentinels and rebuilding them. I have currently 6 lascannon armored sentinels. I want to keep them armored. But I don't know if lascannons are the best load out. I usually use my infantry equipped with autocannons and plasma guns. Do you guys like plasma cannons better lascannons or autocannons. I play against alot of armor. I like lascannons for mobile anti tank.

[Lukash_]

Multilaser: can't really go wrong with this. It's a decent if unexciting weapon.

 

Autocannon: my personal favorite, and a measly 1-guardsman upgrade cost.

 

Plasma cannons: never tried these on Sentinels. If your opponent has a bunch of Terminators?

 

Lascannons: 1 BS3 shot isn't worth it for me.

 

Heavy flamer: you better have a damn good plan or be facing a horde of Gaunts, otherwise this is pretty useless.

[lionofjudah]

autocannons ftw!! lc is nice if fielding the apocalypse armageddon titan hunters and u have 9+ on the table....

[Sviar]

I have Autoconnons on my Scout Sentinels.

[WarriorFish]

Sentinels are better kept cheap, as mentioned the multilaser is reliable and quite flexible so you can't go wrong with that. Otherwise the autocannon hits that sweet spot of strength and number of shots so is popular for a reason. Lascannons are good but niche, they won't be good use of points in most lists and you'll not need 6 of them.

 

If you're not magnetising them why not split them into squads of 2 weapon types for more options?

[greycat]

Autocannons or multilasers are the way to go. Cheap and putting out lots of high str shots.

[Gothical]

I like Scout Sentinels with 2 Autocannons, 1 Heavy Flamer and Hunter-Killer Missiles. Either Scout or Outflank work well with them, and I switched to a single HF for the times when you only have infantry targets to deal with (either because you killed the armour, they brought none, or it is AV13/14).

 

Armoured Sentinels can be good with either Plasma Cannons or Lascannons. They draw a lot of fire, particularly with Plasma Cannons, which can be a boon if your army features either a lot of Heavy Weapon Squads or Chimeras. Being AV12 Walkers means they can hold up units in combat for a surprisingly long time too.

 

Although it is far too expensive, I also really like the idea of Scout Sentinels with Lascannons and Camo Netting - Move Through Cover, +1 Cover Save and long-ranged anti-tank weapons makes them interesting snipers.

[WarriorFish]

That sounds like quite a good Scout Sentinel set up, a bit more expensive but if you can afford it the extra versatility could pay dividends.

[spafe]

I field 3 scouts with multi lasers and then 2 armoured with autocannons. Kinda boring, but decent utility set up that support a large amount of chrimeras and always perform reasonably well

[Gothical]

That sounds like quite a good Scout Sentinel set up, a bit more expensive but if you can afford it the extra versatility could pay dividends.

 

Yeah, I can't always squeeze in the Hunter-Killer missiles. They can be incredibly useful though, particularly coming in from an Outflank position, giving each Autocannon sentinel 3 shots at side-armour. When I don't have the points I then have to think really hard about whether to go with 3 Autocannons or keep the 2-1 mix.

[elmo]

If you can't decide then try a few games with each weapon option to see how they perform and how you feel about using them.

 

Of course I have to recommend magnetisation ;)

[Knight of the Raven]

I'm torn between plasma cannons and lascannons myself, but this is for my Adepta Sororitas so the considerations aren't the same. I just know long-range low AP besides exorcists is good for them.

Yes, I'll commandeer all the things for my sisters of battle.

[Inso]

So not many people would put a H.Flamer on an armoured sentinel then?

 

Hmmm... re-think time :)

[Kontakt]

So not many people would put a H.Flamer on an armoured sentinel then?

Hmmm... re-think time

It depends on the meta. If you face hordes on a regular basis, Heavy flamer sentinels are excellent. Personally, I would not spend too much on sentinels, it seems like a dirty tarp. I see sentinels as an aggressive way to draw fire - force them to shoot their AT at your cheap walkers instead of your expensive Leman Russ tanks.

[Zectz]

I quite like Plasma cannon. It's only 5 more points than the autocannon.. And (I think..) it's 1 of only 2 units in the codex that can field the weapon. BS3 isn't a big deal with the blast marker and it adds a lot more versatility than the autocannon. A lot of people don't want to spend the extra points on sentinels because they are squishy and they think it won't last long enough to make an impact on your games. But I doubt that would be the case when your opponent has so many other higher priorities to target first... Command squads, Wyverns, Leman Russ, Pask etc... If he's targeting the sentinel first over these then great!

[scatmandoo]

I love having plasma cannons on my armoured sentinels.

 

Have 2 plus a fulky plasma'd russ giving 7 pies of death to the enemy. (NNormally face marines so great, though still effective against any other infantry too.

 

I like Autocannon but always find it underwhelming due to not having enough shots/S/AP value.

[Gothical]

So not many people would put a H.Flamer on an armoured sentinel then?

Hmmm... re-think time

Depends on your opponents really.

Against other Guard, Orks and Tyranids AV12 Heavy Flamers are excellent, able to deplete whole units in a volley. Against Marine armies they can work well by forcing them to take a lot of armour saves and then tying them up in close-combat for a few turns.

However, at the same time you may need mobile heavy weapons (particularly Autocannons) to take out transports like Rhinos and skimmers like Wave Serpents; you may need Plasma Cannons for anti-Terminator fire power and to make the Sentinels threatening enough to draw attention from other units. You may need to use the Fast Attack slot for something else, like Vendettas or Hellhounds to give the army some decent mobility for Maelstrom missions.

If you find you have Fast Attack slots free, that you often find combat units (without Power Fists) an issue, or you fight armies where 3 Heavy Flamer templates are going to be devastating, they are certainly worth it.

[spafe]

I would consider heavy flamers on the scouts more, as they can outflank, run through hthe cover and tackle units that are likely to be wanting to use that cover to keep themselves alive (marine scouts, ork lootas, guard heavy weapon teams etc etc). for going in and clensing those buggers I would go with scouts sentinels to be able to get the drop on them, wheras my armoured ones are advancing with a plattoon support giving them mobile heavy weapons (and the platoon provides the flamer defence using regular flamers). Just my take on it

[Phubar]

I have 2 squadrons of 3 Scout Sentinels each with Autocannon and HK missile. I play them in outflank and generally each squadron pop a vehicle in a single volley hitting it on rear armour. They are very good against 4+ armour infantry too and have some chance to hurt MEQ squads. So i think that they are the best option considering their veratility.

[morroccomole]

I have two armored sentinels which I equipped with heavy flamers, since I built them after a particularly embarrassing loss to a 'green tide.' It also suits how I play them: a vanguard assault force, tarpitting in front of my gun line. Until I get some Ogryns/Bullgryns, they are the best CC option I have, so I play to that strength. Not to mention, if you choose your melee wisely, a lot of troops won't be able to reliably damage that AV12, especially if they were the troops that were going after your gun line of T3 guardsmen.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I have two Plasma Cannon Armored Sentinels, and they do pretty well for me. They are one of my few sources of templates given that my guard are a Light Regiment (Air Assault). With autocannons they'd be pretty good, but I'd be tempted to stick with template weapons or multilasers given the lower BS rather than onesy-twosy weapons like lascannons or autocannons.

[steellegionnaire85]

I understand the logic, but I am a true fluff nut. Steel legion have always mounted lascannons on sentinels. I could bend and go autocannons but the multi laser is not the heavy hitter I want and need. I do have a valid question though. Looking at the missile launchers option makes me think and wonder. It says in the sentinels profile they can have a missile launchers, right. When you look at the weapon profile it shows that the missile launchers fire krak frag and flakk missiles. Now does that mean my sentinels have flakk missiles?

[Emicus]

Multilasers for cheap and multiple shots since their BS is awful. In addition sentinels are good tarpits, so giving them better guns can be a bit of a waste if you only fire them once.

 

Plasmacannons since template doesn't care as much about BS. And its delicious plasma albeit on a 'weak platform'. Whether it works or not depends a lot on your army/opposition I think. (s)he isn't going to waste anti-tank on sentinels when there's a bunch of russes on the board! And if that happens, it's still a win since the russes are alive.

 

I like to mix 2 plasma 1 multilaser to have a 'bullet sponge' but its only 10 points when it's all said and done.

 

Flamers could work on scout sentinels to wreck backfield objective camping units I suppose, but there's lots of other options for that.

 

I really think they help with AV saturation as well as being a distraction. Not to mention screening since they're big enough to reliably obscure russes:)

[jgfield79]

I only use them one way -- Outflanking with autocannons... more shots with the poor BS.. you can pop transports on side/rear armor... I wouldn't take them otherwise.  After they run out of targets -- charge them into some infantry and tie them up for a bit.

[CoffeeGrunt]

I'm currently running a trio with two Multi-Lasers and a Plasma Cannon. General unit I use to shore up a flank with a bit of suppressing fire, mainly for tackling squads of Marines or light vehicles. They're handy as they can typically try a charge afterwards and finish off a weakened squad or damaged vehicle by kicking it in the rear AV.

 

When playing against Tyranids, the Plasma Cannon gets traded out for a Missile Launcher, as the Multi-Lasers can help the Frag template mop up Infantry, or add Wounds onto an MC after the Krak missile hits.