Best plasma caddies?

[Calistarius]

Right. I get it now after some thought. I initially read it as if you’re disregarding the other shots made by that model during that phase. My blunder.

[Damon Nightman]

 

I've shot pistols in combat in almost every game I've had the option to and never once regretted it or had it shown by the course of the game to be the wrong decision. Last game I played my opponent specifically decided to stay in combat with me to try and deny the Red Thirst. I laughed out loud when I read the line 'combat will never draw out'

 

Falling back and shooting with Inceptors is absolutely the right choice of course. They are definitely the superior plasma bomb.

Then you play terrible opponents.

lol or he just actually plays the game against other people and not super advanced AI that makes the 100% best, most logical move in every situation?

 

Jeez you people act like trapping someone in combat or throwing your opponent off to make some bad decisions is impossible!

[Panzer]

Well mostly because it didn't happen even once in any of my 8th edition games that a unit stayed in melee to be honest.

[NTaW]

Well mostly because it didn't happen even once in any of my 8th edition games that a unit stayed in melee to be honest.

 

Does that mean it can't happen, or that if it does happen the people playing are 'terrible'? No one has argued that staying in combat and shooting pistols is the best option I merely laughed at seeing Charlo say 'combat will never draw out' when it so frequently has for me. Even added that I agreed (again) about Inceptors being the best choice for a plasma bomb, which is what this thread is about.

[shandwen]

 

 

Well mostly because it didn't happen even once in any of my 8th edition games that a unit stayed in melee to be honest.

Does that mean it can't happen, or that if it does happen the people playing are 'terrible'? No one has argued that staying in combat and shooting pistols is the best option I merely laughed at seeing Charlo say 'combat will never draw out' when it so frequently has for me. Even added that I agreed (again) about Inceptors being the best choice for a plasma bomb, which is what this thread is about.

From all my games i have yet to see pistols fire in cc. Perhaps if locally anyone played bids or orcs it could happen, but anyone else would not have a reason to try to tie up pistol packing squads (especially if they have fly) without the ability to destroy the unit in cc. I should have been more polite, but my point stands.

[Calistarius]

I used pistols in combat against Space Wolves on Friday. It worked out nicely for me.

 

I’ve really enjoyed Hellblasters as my main source of plasma, by the way.

[Karhedron]

I’ve really enjoyed Hellblasters as my main source of plasma, by the way.

My Space Wolf ones are working out well for me but I am becoming conscious that they need protecting from the alpha.

 

Inceptors are the alpha!

[Diagramdude]

I made a thread about this, but jump pack assault units are ideal for trapping enemy models.

 

I would even say that if you aren't trapping your opponents models to stay locked in, you're the terrible player not him.

[Kallas]

I would even say that if you aren't trapping your opponents models to stay locked in, you're the terrible player not him.

Kinda depends on the target. If they're likely to lose some guys to Morale, then you're going to have to trap a whole bunch; or if you roll a bit hot and kill the ones you were going to trap.

 

If you jump a Tactical Squad with Assault Marines then sure, because you're throwing damp noodles at wet noodles, so neither is really going to kill the other and neither are going to really suffer morale losses, so trapping them is much more likely.

Edited December 25, 2017 by Kallas

[NTaW]

 

 

Well mostly because it didn't happen even once in any of my 8th edition games that a unit stayed in melee to be honest.

Does that mean it can't happen, or that if it does happen the people playing are 'terrible'? No one has argued that staying in combat and shooting pistols is the best option I merely laughed at seeing Charlo say 'combat will never draw out' when it so frequently has for me. Even added that I agreed (again) about Inceptors being the best choice for a plasma bomb, which is what this thread is about.

From all my games i have yet to see pistols fire in cc. Perhaps if locally anyone played bids or orcs it could happen, but anyone else would not have a reason to try to tie up pistol packing squads (especially if they have fly) without the ability to destroy the unit in cc. I should have been more polite, but my point stands.

 

 

I'm up against Nids and Orks as much as I'm up against more elite armies like Death Guard or Eldar and have had pistols come up in combat in almost every game without specifically seeking it out, just taking the option when it's presented. Mostly it's been times where jumping away wouldn't have put me anywhere useful because of the size or placement of enemy units and/or terrain. Even then I'm not staying in a combat against super elites or when I have units waiting close by to shred my befuddled opponent. I'm staying in a combat against large (15+ model) or otherwise tar pit-ish (Plague Marines for example) units that I have a very good chance of killing off or maiming to the point where I'm not worried about the attacks back, using DC armed with bolt pistols and chainswords.

 

Again. I'm not saying that pistols in combat are the bee's knees or that it's always the better option. Just chiming in, as others are now also doing, saying that they aren't the total write-off that some people are saying they are.

Edited December 26, 2017 by NTaW

[Xerxus]

Here are the two scenarios that I know of which allow you to fire your pistols in melee:

 

1: The opponent wants his unit to be in melee with your unit, whether you charged him or he charged you. In this case you should be worried - assuming that your opponent is smart this means that the melee favors your opponent, whether you get to fire your pistols or not. Allowing your opponent to get into favorable melees is not conducive to winning as Blood Angels.

 

2: This scenario typically starts in your fight phase after charging an enemy unit. An enemy model without the ability to Fly or otherwise retreat freely has to be trapped through clever positioning on your part, typically by locking it between three of your models after your consolidation. In some cases the enemy model can dislodge itself when it or an allied unit gets to fight in that fight phase. Following this the enemy model needs to stay alive in the ensuing morale phase. Then on your opponent's turn your unit and the enemy unit has to survive the second round of melee and morale. Finally, assuming that you choose to stay in melee in your movement phase, your surviving models get to fire their pistols in melee.

[Brother_Mike]

My preferred plasma loadout is:

 

5 Sternguard Veterans with Combi-Plasmas

Sternguard Veteran Sergeant with Combi-Plasma & Power Sword

189 Points

 

Rhino Primaris

Hunter-Killer Missile

176

 

There's a couple synergies to this configuration I like:

• Since plasma became so good and relatively cheap this edition, anything with plasma has consequentially become a priority target. Having a box to put the plasma in until I need it ensures they don't get picked off before I need to hose a vehicle or monster in plasma
• The Rhino Primaris' Servo-skull Hub special rule can confer a +1 to hit to any unit within range in the shooting phase. So now your plasma hose will be hitting on 2s instead of 3s. This +1 to hit is also valuable because when overcharging, even if you roll a 1 to hit, the +1 from the servo skull hub will make the hit roll a 2. So while a roll of a 1 on the dice always fails, your marines won't be blowing themselves up in the process.
• The Rhino Primaris loadout is good in itself. A Rapid Fire 2 plasma gun and an Orbital Bombardment is pretty sweet. I like to throw a Hunter-Killer in the mix for some more high strength weaponry.

Overall, lots of plasma for ~350 points and it's a safe version of plasma to boot.

[Are Verlo]

My preferred plasma loadout is:

 

5 Sternguard Veterans with Combi-Plasmas

Sternguard Veteran Sergeant with Combi-Plasma & Power Sword

189 Points

 

Rhino Primaris

Hunter-Killer Missile

176

 

There's a couple synergies to this configuration I like:

• Since plasma became so good and relatively cheap this edition, anything with plasma has consequentially become a priority target. Having a box to put the plasma in until I need it ensures they don't get picked off before I need to hose a vehicle or monster in plasma
• The Rhino Primaris' Servo-skull Hub special rule can confer a +1 to hit to any unit within range in the shooting phase. So now your plasma hose will be hitting on 2s instead of 3s. This +1 to hit is also valuable because when overcharging, even if you roll a 1 to hit, the +1 from the servo skull hub will make the hit roll a 2. So while a roll of a 1 on the dice always fails, your marines won't be blowing themselves up in the process.
• The Rhino Primaris loadout is good in itself. A Rapid Fire 2 plasma gun and an Orbital Bombardment is pretty sweet. I like to throw a Hunter-Killer in the mix for some more high strength weaponry.

Overall, lots of plasma for ~350 points and it's a safe version of plasma to boot.

That is a great idea and you get to use some cool models too

[Karhedron]

Thanks everyone. Lots of good ideas in this thread and it is really interesting to see how many viable builds and synergies we seem to have in 8th edition.

 

After thinking it over, I have decided to go with 6 Inceptors as my plasma caddies (probably as a single squad but I may experiment with 2 x 3). I will drop them with Captain Smashypants for T1 overcharging. After that they will probably have to take their chances.

 

Thanks for all the input.

[Aothaine]

There will of course be moments when enemies stay locked in combat, I'm not saying that, but it feels like it will be rare!

 

Swarm lists and assault lists will want to stay in combat for sure. Saw a nurgle daemons list a few weeks ago that flooded the board with plague bearers. It wanted to be in melee 100% of the time.