Immolators in 8th Edition.

[Rommel44]

Hey mates. I plan to get my SOB Army started here in a little bit and to keep things simple, the game plan to start out is to field 6x squads of 6-man regular Battle Sisters in Immolators. With that being said, what is the best Turret-Weapon option for them in this edition? Currently I'm leaning towards the Multi-Melta, but I am open to opinions or the other options available.

[ERJAK]

Immolation flamers, it's not even close. There's some niche uses for MM butA) MM are heavy so you have the -1 and B) immolation flamers are just crazy good.

They are:

 

Cheaper

Unaffected by the degradation chart

Complimentary to our melta heavy infantry

Assault so you can advance and fire

Auto-hitting

Surprisingly good against flyers.

12" range so no dodging overwatch.

[CaptainHelion]

The twin heavy bolters have a place, in my opinion. They're cheaper still than the Immolation Flamer, have a reasonable range, and enough shots that the -1 to hit for moving isn't nearly so big a deal. S5 and AP-1 makes for a great counter to medium infantry. But I do agree that the 1) the Immolation Flamer is the go-to option, and 2) the twin multimelta is quite a niche option. 

[Ficinus]

It depends on what guns your squads have. If each has two meltas and a combi-melta, then definitely go for flamers on the tanks. If the sisters have all flamers (heavy, regular, and Combi) or just bolt weapons, go for a mix of flamer and melta turrets (maybe half and half).

[dracpanzer]

I find the multi-melta too expensive, 24" range means they need to move which makes them far less effective than melta Doms. As far as heavy bolters, a squad of rets with four heavy bolters puts out twice as many shots, costs less, and with an AoF can put out four times as many shots a turn as a heavy bolter immolator.

 

I prefer the Immolation Flamer variety. Like other posts have said, the weapon doesn't degrade with damage, and doesn't suffer from having moved. Paired up with BSS like you intend (or anything besides Dominions) won't leave you wishing you had converted them into a repressor instead.

 

That being said, I always bring my six Repressors first and only put immolators in for non Dominion transports.

Edited November 25, 2017 by dracpanzer

[Montford]

After many games I default to the Immolation Flamers on my Immolators: 25-30 inch threat range with a very dangerous weapon, driven around a battlefield by intolerant, homicidal female pyromaniacs. It a win-win. :)

[Servant of Dante]

And especially since flamers don’t get taken often because of how great storm bolsters are this edition, it gives you some good flame weapons to complement the rest of your army since your squads probably don’t go flamers too often

[bkde]

Immolation flamers. The other weapons don't even come close.

 

Upside with the immolator kit all the guns are push fit (or easy to magnetize) onto the turret, so they're easy to swap out. You won't, because immo flamers are amazing, but it's an option.

[Atrus]

Not to mention that all the units out there that rely on and augment negatives to hit fall prey to the ato hitting wonderfulness of 2d6 immolation flamers that are not affected by degrading profiles (i hope this never changes).

 

Had a game against stealth tau the other week that went along the lines of:

 

Me: immolator targets the ghostkeel there.

TAU: -2 to hit with those drones there.

Me: immolation flamers mate. 2d6 autohits.

TAU: CRAP.

 

Me: immolator targets those stealthsuits.

TAU: its only got 1 wound left, what does it hit on?

Me: IMMOLATION FLAMERS BABEH!

TAU: *ministorum unsanctioned curse*

[CrusherJoe]

And with the space elves passing out -1/-2/-3 to hit like friggin' candy, flamers are a Sister's best friend.

[Withershadow]

And especially since flamers don’t get taken often because of how great storm bolsters are this edition, it gives you some good flame weapons to complement the rest of your army since your squads probably don’t go flamers too often

Are stormbolters actually great?  Considering the model in question usually has a bolter, you're paying 2 points for an extra boltgun.

 

I put two 5-man Sisters squads with 3 stormbolters each in a Repressor.  It was fun, but I was paying 12 points for 6 boltguns.  Not sure if worth it.  Now I'm trying a pair of old school Sisters Squads with flamer/H.flamer and a combi-flamer.  In a repressor that means I can fire 6 boltguns at range, or 4 flamers and 2 heavy flamers at close range.  Multi-meltas also haven't been terrible, but I like all the auto-hitting flamer dice.

Edited December 5, 2017 by Withershadow

[Beams]

Stormbolters aren't bad, they add a decent amount of mid range firepower in an army that isn't great at that.

 

Flamers are great at killing hordes, but pt for pt aren't as efficient as stormbolters. Where Flamers really shine is when the hordes decide to charge you.

 

Flamers also are great at hitting things with innate -1's to hit, but a lot of the chapter tactics give a -1 within X" instead of a flat -1. They can be super deadly against aircraft, though, as you can easily hit them.

[ERJAK]

 

And especially since flamers don’t get taken often because of how great storm bolsters are this edition, it gives you some good flame weapons to complement the rest of your army since your squads probably don’t go flamers too often

Are stormbolters actually great?  Considering the model in question usually has a bolter, you're paying 2 points for an extra boltgun.

 

I put two 5-man Sisters squads with 3 stormbolters each in a Repressor.  It was fun, but I was paying 12 points for 6 boltguns.  Not sure if worth it.  Now I'm trying a pair of old school Sisters Squads with flamer/H.flamer and a combi-flamer.  In a repressor that means I can fire 6 boltguns at range, or 4 flamers and 2 heavy flamers at close range.  Multi-meltas also haven't been terrible, but I like all the auto-hitting flamer dice.

 

You're thinking about it the wrong way. The big deal is that a SB costs 2pts and averages .444 damage at up to 12 inches and half that at 12-24. Flamers cost 9 points do .778 wounds at 8" which means point for point a SB does roughly 2X the amount of damage of a flamer at a longer range.

[CaptainHelion]

You can also think of it as paying 2pts in order to straight up double a Sister's firepower.