SWS and HWS (not mortars) uses?

[Wassa]

I'd like to use SWS and HWS, but they're very vulnerable and so I tend not to bother using them and instead keeping to mortar HWS and hiding a plasma and/or a heavy weapon in Infantry Squads.

 

Does anyone use Special Weapons or Heavy Weapons Squads (that aren't mortars), and how do they fare on the tabletop?

 

[techsoldaten]

I'd like to use SWS and HWS, but they're very vulnerable and so I tend not to bother using them and instead keeping to mortar HWS and hiding a plasma and/or a heavy weapon in Infantry Squads.

 

Does anyone use Special Weapons or Heavy Weapons Squads (that aren't mortars), and how do they fare on the tabletop?

 

I agree they are squishy, but they are very cost effective. The Rule of Three really handicapped what Guard players can do with them.

 

I usually see HWTs with lascannons. It's always a race to nail them before they can do real damage. Sometimes I see them with Heavy Bolters, but that's usually in lists where someone had some points left over.

[WarriorFish]

A good trick with HWS is to spread the weapons around. A couple of cheap mortars with a lascannon makes it a bit less of a target and gives you some resilience through numbers, though this reduces the efficiency of Orders.

 

I do like my heavy bolter squad and they tend to do quite well, but unfortunately the other picks aren't the best currently. With the vulnerability of the squads spending too many points can be counter productive and for the return if you want some heavy hitting you may as well spring for a lascannon usually.

[mertbl]

Locally triple autocannons garner attention way beyond their capabilities. Local guys find them terrifying.

[micahwc]

I liked them at first, but found that the heavy weapon teams with direct fire weapons all die basically as soon as the enemy shoots. It's really easy to force enough wounds to make the unit combat ineffective through moral, even when protected by cover.

 

My idea to use them well is to use them as Elysian missile or plasma teams. Just drop them and two company commanders in a detachment. They can survive the first turn of fire as they won't be on the field, then drop them and shoot. Use orders to mitigate their penalty for moving and firing. A good thing about these is that they can drop in different parts of the board and force the enemy to split their focus. They can also do double duty by landing on objectives. 9 krak missiles (or 18 rapid fire plasma shots) suddenly showing up seems like it could be very nasty.

 

As far as converting 9 Elysian missile teams, Anvil Industries sells missile launcher kits that fit guardsmen. About $30 gets you enough missiles for the three teams. I would probably add some different helmets to Cadian bodies with the Anvil missile launchers, to show these are "Elysians". I'd probably say they are a special Cadian insertion force or something and just use the Elysian rules.

[Shamansky]

I totally confirm what Mr. Micahwc said. Elysians are the best for SWS and HWS. Yes, you lose first turn shooting phase for those guys. But you will have it 100% on second turn. And it's a matter of luck if they stay on the table from the start. Second turn might give even more targets and other opportunities as the enemy is usually not in that 'you don't shoot anything of mine' formation. Add orders and free reroll of morale. Elysian Sniper squads are nice too because they have BS 3+ and can be deployed so they can see enemy characters hidden behind LOS blockers.

[Phubar]

I use 2-3 teams, every team has 2 lascannons and 1 autocannon.

[MrZakalwe]

I use 2-3 teams, every team has 2 lascannons and 1 autocannon.

Don't you find they just get shot off the table turn 1? I've played against a few guys running them and I shot them off the table turn 1.

[Phubar]

Every game is different. I dont rely only on them for heavy firepower and i keep them in cover if possible and a little back yo take advantage from range. So enemy must use high range (and usually high power) weapons to kill them, leaving LRusses doing their job.

Btw every unit i IG if focussed by right weapons is vaporized in turn one. We just have to rely on target priorization.

I never tryed medics but could them be effective healing or bringin back a hws?

[Wassa]

I never tryed medics but could them be effective healing or bringin back a hws?

 

I don't think so.The medipack states:

 

 

On a roll of a 4+, one model in the unit recovers a wound it lost earlier in the battle (if the model has a Wounds characteristic of 1, one model slain earlier in the battle is returned to the unit instead)

 

HWS models have 2 wounds.

[Phubar]

Thanks, my fault!

[librisrouge]

I've enjoyed using heavy bolter HWSs before and enjoyed them. They pack enough punch to contribute but seem, to some, like not worth the cost of attacking. Deploy them in cover (duh, I know) and use Take Cover! strategem and you often get a determinedly dug in squad that puts enough dakka down ranged to be a real nuisance. All for less points than a nake Infantry Squad (especially after Chapter Approved.)

[Wassa]

Has something come out in the new Chapter Approved then?

[Tirak]

Has something come out in the new Chapter Approved then?

 

5pt guardsmen. Rumor is pretty reliable.

[Wassa]

Well they've announced 5 points for Cultists, but haven't said anything about Guardsmen yet, odd as Guardsmen are way more prevalent.

[mertbl]

Guardsmen (or conscripts) are the only troop choice in the guard book. Chaos has chaos marines, they just dont show up. One could argue that with chaos marks and other strats the cultists are way better than guardsmen.

 

You could single handedly stop people using cultists if you just said they cant use veterans of the long war.

[duz_]

There is a topic for 5pt guardsmen, lets not get distracted with that here.