Which is better?

[Dantay VI]

Okay 2 quick questions:

 

Which is better, the Voss Lightning or the Xiphon?

 

I have a Voss Lightning, which I painted up in a different scheme to my Wolves. I believe it is a very solid choice in a 30K army for anti-armour.

 

The reasin for the alternate scheme, is because my dad expressed an interest in learning to play 40K, and with Militarum, so I figured I can use it in 30K and he can use it in 4), plus I could use it as an allied unit if I borrowed back the Mailitarum stuff (I am buying the militarum army, so it will be mine, but it will be his army so to speak....He doesn't want to shell out a small fortune and I got a lot of models to trade/sell, seems a no-brainer)

 

Anyways he changed his mind and wantsT'au.

 

So I can use it in 30K but not 40K unless I make a squadron of 3 of the.

 

But the Xiphon I can use in both 30& 40K without aliies shenanigans.....

 

So do I sell the Lightning to get a Xiphon?

 

Which is better on the battlefield and which would I derive more enjoyment from? (my son love the Lightning and I often find him zooming it around the house :D )

 

Okay 3 questions..... I have been saving for a bit and want another Sicaran... Which is the better all-round choice, the Arcus or the Punisher??

 

Thanks in advance for your insights...

 

 

[Monkeychunks]

The Lightning and Xiphon are good at different things.

 

By far, the most common build for the Lightning is packing it with Kraken Penetrator Missiles. This is known affectionately as the 'Xerxes' pattern, because it kills Spartans. Its job is to arrive from reserves and one-round your opponents biggest tank. It is extremely good at its job and is likely the best anti-Spartan solution available to a Legion army. However once it has spent its payload, it is undergunned and essentially sacrificial.

 

Xiphons are very different in that they offer more consistent firepower across several turns. They are better served floating around your backlines, dropping High-S/Low-AP firepower into light vehicles and Terminators. They need multiple turns of firepower to catch up to the Lightning, but have more long-term firepower and better resilience options. It also makes a very respectable anti-air platform.

 

Most players go for a Lightning first because Spartans are more popular than aircraft. The Xiphon also competes very closely with the Arcus and Deredeo for anti-air duties. No other unit comes close to the Lightnings efficiency at its role (Outside of the Mechanicum).

My personal opinion is that the Xiphon would probably be more fun, both to use and to play against. The Lightning basically serves to remove the enemies flagship and then immediately die, so its nothing more than an efficient piece trade. The Xiphon has longer-term applications and needs a bit more work to get the most out of it.

However from a gameplay perspective, I would say the Lightning is stronger. Both are usable.

 

On the second issue, the Arcus is currently game-bustingly good and ludicrously overpowered. However these are only trial rules and Forge World have a history of overbalancing the release rules, so I wouldn't rush out to buy them just yet. The Punisher does not seem very impressive to me at all for now.

[m0nolith]

Lightning + Arcus when it comes to 30k.

Lightning for busting open enemy Spartans, Arcus for busting open enemy Lightnings.

 

It really depends on how often you'll be playing 30k vs 40k.

The Xiphon is a decent choice for 30k and a great choice for 40k, but I would always go for the Lightning in games of 30k.

The Arcus isn't all that great in 40k but on the other hand is pretty great in 30k.

[Dantay VI]

To be fair I hardly ever game, I have had 2 games of 40K since 8th came out and 1 game of HH total.

 

I am more of a collector than a gamer, but if I did decide to throw some dice, I would like to take something which will not get royally spanked.

 

I have a lot of models, hence selling off my 40K Wolves and designing the 30K Wolves to be cross-compatible where possible (Heavy support = long fangs, veterans = grey hunters, grey slayers = wolf guard etc...)

 

30K wise I have 5 flyers, 7 LoW, 10 tanks, 9 dreads (3 box, 3 contemptor and 3 levi's) 45 terminators, 140 infantry and 15 HQ Thats without adding deathsworn, Grey Slayers, Varagyr or destroyers :D

 

40K wise I have 11 tanks, 130 infantry, 27 bikes, 40 terminators 17 TWC, 10-15 individual PAWG, 18 HQ (most of which is going to go...)

Edited January 14, 2018 by Dantay VI

[Gorgoff]

To be fair I hardly ever game, I have had 2 games of 40K since 8th came out and 1 game of HH total.

 

I am more of a collector than a gamer, but if I did decide to throw some dice, I would like to take something which will not get royally spanked.

 

I have a lot of models, hence selling off my 40K Wolves and designing the 30K Wolves to be cross-compatible where possible (Heavy support = long fangs, veterans = grey hunters, grey slayers = wolf guard etc...)

 

30K wise I have 5 flyers, 7 LoW, 10 tanks, 9 dreads (3 box, 3 contemptor and 3 levi's) 45 terminators, 140 infantry and 15 HQ Thats without adding deathsworn, Grey Slayers, Varagyr or destroyers :D

 

40K wise I have 11 tanks, 130 infantry, 27 bikes, 40 terminators 17 TWC, 10-15 individual PAWG, 18 HQ (most of which is going to go...)

In a nutshell: you are totally bonkers. :)

I salute you, good sir.

[Dantay VI]

Yes, I am nuts..... 

[m0nolith]

If you’re going all the way 30k and are going to use that army in 40k as well, what I would do if I was in your position is sell all your 40k stuff (ebay is great for that but Facebook is the best when it comes to selling miniatures) and use that money to buy something big from FW, ie Fellblade, Thunderhawk, ect ect.

 

Over the last few months I sold about 15 years of 40k backlog on EBay and Facebook. It was surprisingly a lot easier than I thought it would be. Facebook has a ton of great buy/sell/trade pages.

[Dantay VI]

I'll definitely look into that thanks M0nolith.... I had debated a Thunderhawk, miht be nice to add to the air armada... Aready have the Mastodon & Fellblade :D

[Brother Captain Spud]

Well i have no lightening experience but i love my xiphon. Ive used it to smoke knights (specifically a lancer) multiple times by it coming in and hitting the flank or rear of the beast with lascannons and the xiphon missiles. Its good jet.