Hellblasters: Assault Plasma Incinerators

[9x19 Parabellum]

What do you guys think of running Hellblasters with Assault Plasma Incinerators for StfS maximization?  (ie, drop them 24" away from prime target(s))

 

Is the Assault 2 @ lower strength worth it to get your 2x shots right off the bat without having to worry about moving them around?

 

I'm building a 1k point Primaris only army for my escalation league and to take advantage of the upcoming ETL.

 

 

[smbarne]

I'm pretty curious about the practical application of this as well.

 

Pros:

 - 24" helps ensure not getting tied up in CC after shooting

 - If you need, you can advance and still fire twice with a -1 to hit

 

Cons:

 - Str 6/7 vs Str 7/8 puts them in a very different category.  You have to overcharge to wound most vehicle and monster toughness on a 4+, which stings.  Str 6/7 high ROF is great for clearing elite troops such as Custodes or bikes, but I feel like Space Marines have tons of options for that such as assault cannons, grav, etc.

 - They're more expensive.

[9x19 Parabellum]

The 2 points in and of itself I can work around.

 

The str gap....eeesh.  So...add the following complications to this exercise.

 

-I'm trying to build these guys out as part of a primaris only force for my escalation league.

-the first chunk is 500 points patrol detachment, and i'm considering them as part of this force:

 

-Captain

-7 intercessors

-3 aggressors with all dakka

-5 hellblasters

 

I was planning on StfS for both aggressors and hellblasters

[seriade]

The stock incinerator is better then the assault in almost every case.  I do believe there are a few math breakdowns of this in other places but the gist of it was unless this one case comes up just stick with the stock incinerator, its also cheaper. 

[Dracos]

I’ve put a lot of thought into Hellblasters and the assault version doesn’t play a role that I don’t find the rapid-fire version better at and cheaper ;) My problem is wanting a unit (or two) of the heavy version for hunting big monsters and tanks. I have same problem with my Intercessors.

 

Then I remember it seems Primaris have been designed to play best as specialist and go back to rapid-fire for both and build the rest of the army with that in mind ... And not that I really trust it but out there somewhere I saw the math that says rapid-fire is equal to or better than the heavy version at taking down biggies.

 

As Seriade mentions the assault version is suppose to be superior in a 9” bandwidth (15”-24”) but that’s a pretty narrow range in my opinion to depend on fighting in ... and you lose the 24”-30” range.

[seriade]

Actually the rapid fire does better against tanks then the heavy does due to how wounding works now.  If you are solely focused on shooting meq the assault guys are better then the rapid fire but rapid fire tends to be universally good.

 

here is someones rough wounding chart for the various weapons

 

 

[duz_]

Thats actually a super helpful graph seriade

 

 

I do like the concept of the Assault Blasters, especially if you wanna run around grab objectives and be a mobile threat

I think the biggest issue though is cost differential (or lack of...) :ermm:

[Dracos]

only thing I don't like about the graph is there should be no gradient in performances between weapon bandwidths. No slope between 15-24, 30-36  (blue), 24-30 (red). It should be straight up and down 90 degree performance drop off.

 

Still its a good visual of performance between weapon types

[GreyCrow]

Excellent graph !

 

The assault version seems to be better for mobile fire support kiting at range, or if you really want a shooting distraction from the Helblasters.

 

It’s an ultra niche role, and maybe it’s worth it for your play style for distractions and repositions while pumping shots over.

Seems to be exclusively designed as a counter MEQ frontline unit so you can push more DMG early on versus a very extrovert Marines/CSM squad.

 

While the RF version can be quite useful on a larger variety of ennemies.

[Aothaine]

If you're running Raven Guard just run rapid fire plas imho. Assault is decent but it will be filling a role you already have more than covered with the aggressors and the intercessors. You need some Anti-monster/vehicle imho.

[9x19 Parabellum]

If you're running Raven Guard just run rapid fire plas imho. Assault is decent but it will be filling a role you already have more than covered with the aggressors and the intercessors. You need some Anti-monster/vehicle imho.

 

I was convinced by you guys to the rapid fire ones, and that's what I've been using for our escalation league (see the other thread I just started) I must say i'm happy with their performance so far.