Grav or Plasma!?

[Stemplar]

Building my first squad of destroyers and I was so set on putting heavy grab on them. But after a lot of trial rolls it seems like the Plas is more effective against both Marines and A T7 vehicle.

 

Thoughts? Advice? Experience either way? Help!

Edited December 11, 2017 by Stemplar

[DeStinyFiSh]

I have not played my Destroyers a lot in 8th yet, but I would go Plasma as well. The option to overcharge (best with reroll 1s of course) makes them realy powerfull if needed.

 

I once killed my own unit of 3 with overcharging them, but I realy had to get rid of a Terminator squad in my deployment zone. I guess Grav with more shots but less S and random D would not have done the job as good.

Edited December 11, 2017 by DeStinyFiSh

[Charlo]

Aye Plasma is the one it seems. They're a little fragile so don't expect too many volleys from them - so make what you manage to shoot work.

[Vel'Cona]

Will you be giving them a support character?  If so, which one?  On a broader scope, which Dogma were you favouring?

[Stemplar]

I'll be trying to keep them with the Dominus. But they have to get into range too.

 

As far as Forge World, I like Lucius or Stygies. I've not played a games with Ad Mech yet so its gonna be all about trying stuff to see what works.

[Vel'Cona]

I suppose you could go with either in that case.  The big issue with Grav in general this edition is the piddly Strength; while it can murder MEQ/TEQ, it fails completely versus Toughness 6 and up.  The Plasma can engage literally anything you need; if you want to murder MEQ you've got the standard profile, and you can Supercharge to strip Wounds from harder targets.  That being said, losing expensive models to Supercharge is very bad and re-rolling 1s won't necessarily help you (since modifiers to hit are applied after re-rolls).  Therefore, Plasma Destroyers are often best paired with Cawl/Mars for the pure re-rolls, especially when facing down slippery opponents (Raven Guard, Alaitoc, etc.).

 

This is why many players are testing/considering Breachers/Torsion Cannons instead for their Infantry-based anti-armour/monster needs.

[Tyriks]

Grav does not look very good to me in 8th.  It's not garbage, but plasma is super versatile and 3d6 plasma shots is pretty nice.  Kataphrons are in a weird spot since getting hot is way more painful for them than for something like an IG command squad, so I agree with trying to get a reroll, but without one you can still do a ton of damage to enemy elites without overcharging, and you still have the option of overcharging if needed.

[Marshlands]

I think grav becomes more appealing as more and more -1 to hit penalties appear in the game. With to hit penalties overcharging becomes much more risky and then grav can be more effective (at least against 3+ armour).

[Tyriks]

Or just don't overcharge the plasma.  In a squad of 3 kataphrons, Grav on average fires 4 more shots at 2 less strength, same ap and damage as normal plasma, but you have the option of overcharging still.  If grav was a little cheaper than plasma, it would be much more appealing.

[Ishagu]

Grav imo. With large number of dice it's very effective

[Marshlands]

I believe grav is D3 damage against 3+ armour or better (codex not to hand).

 

IMO this makes grav better (and safer) against multi wound targets.

 

For a few more points per model it's an extra 1.5 shots that's likely only wounding on one worse number (5s instead of 4s against toughness 7 targets, the same vs toughness 8) and does twice as much damage (against 3+)

 

Standard plasma is far better vs toughness 6 (3s instead of 5) and things with a 4+ same or worse.

 

Unless you play Ryza in which case with the +1 wnd and Damage strategem plasma becomes much better!