=][= Unit(s) of the week: Heavy Weapons Squads =][=

[Galron]

I love my heavy weapon teams in my Elysian list. Its awesome to surround an opponent with mass heavy weapons forcing them to turn around and dig them out. In my standard 2250 list I field 1 heavy bolter squad, two missile squads, 4 mortar squads. I had 3 heavy bolter squads but my tarantula-look alikes with twin heavy bolters arrived and have been painted making two of the squads redundant. For my army Snipers count as heavy weapon teams in the elite slot so I also bring two squads of them at a stupidly cheap point cost.

 

Heavy weapon teams are just so good this edition for many tactical situations and mortars especially for holding the back field. Throw in an officer for orders to reroll ones. I always have two mortars within command distance for my artillery officer. 12d6 non-LOS shots cannot be ignored and an opponent has to send something after them. In my case I field units which extend the bubble so barring a smart Tau player ignoring everything else and using a stealth team to drop a beacon to get deep into my deployment zone, they will likely get at least two turns of firing and if someone shoots them, I can safely bet what he shot at them cost more than the mortar squad did.

[Halfpint100]

I run 1 autocannon squad and 2 mortar squads and they work very well! not serious damage, but consistent

[Withershadow]

Autocannons are not as impressive against vehicles as they used to be, much to my chagrin.  They will plink off wounds from transports, but it's never decisive damage unlike say lascannons, which can be swingy enough to erase them.

 

However, autocannons are quite good at blowing up elite infantry with multiple wounds (wish they were -2 rend, but oh well).  I use them as ablative wounds for my lascannon teams. 

 

Heavy bolters are cool too, but I think heavy stubbers may actually be super solid too.  Against marines, they are identical in performance.  Against weaker infantry, they are quite lethal.  Basically think of them as mortars that do need LOS, but always roll a 6 for number of attacks.  Only 3 more points than a mortar, too.

[Chaplain Gunzhard]

Just wanted to mention, at the Nova it seemed like every IG list that did well, and there were many, was running Mortar heavy weapon teams. Looks like I might need to grab some...

[CoffeeGrunt]

I've got a box of HWTs I'll be building into Heavy Bolters for cheap fire support, and using the spares to make some Mortar Teams as well.

[librisrouge]

I'm loving lascannons and heavy bolters, which is great since I've always wanted to field more of both of those. Autocannons are certainly not as good, which is fine by me because I've never liked them much. Mortars are a clear winner if you're looking for cheap bodies with solid damage output.

[Guardsman Bob]

I'm in the process of building extra Mortar teams to spread across the backfield. They're extremely cheap, they can fill gaps to prevent 'deep strike' and with them not needing LoS you can keep them stationary to keep hitting on a 4+ rather than 5+.

QFT. This truly is deserving for the first reply.

 

I've waiting twenty years for Mortars to make a comeback from second edition 40k. The move to a small templates was horrible. They were junk during matched play and thusly regulated to theoretical uses (the 3rd ED Catchen Codex jungle maps for example), IMO.

 

Don't know who was the first person in this subforum to point out mixing heavy weapons for damage-sokimg wounds. Regardless that man is a genius. He/she must be appointed Lord Solar now!

 

8th Edition has made me really happy for Infantry models. The changes and loss of so many stifling rules is a welcome breath of fresh air.

[Withershadow]

I accept your nomination and promise to rule with an uncompromising iron fist. Now take that high ground, trooper! *sips tea in safety*