Grav VS Plasma Destroyers

[Charlo]

Fairly simple topic title...

 

Plasma obviously brings the coveted S8 2D with good AP, but the random shots and necessary CP to avoid blowing up, and further weakness against negative "to hit" modifiers... Is Grav the superior and logical choice based upon reliability?

 

Ryza not part of the discussion as obviously Plasma wins for them!

 

I ask because in my bits box it seems I have 6 Grav Cannons but only 3 Plasma... Would a mixed squad ever be viable?!

[brother_b]

I love the grav. They have so many shots it mitigates the poor shooting of the destroyers. Against higher tough vehicles they struggle a little but weight of fire a -3 AP and a healthy D3 damage against 3+ save targets is a win. I love them and wish I had 3 more for 6 total. Thirty (30!) str 5 shots sounds good to me.

 

Also no overcharge blues.

 

While playing Lucius they are a perfect candidate for the teleportarium stratagem. They get no penalty to moving and firing and can drop in and threaten anybody.

 

Just don’t expect them to be reliable versus anti-tank, but they can help finish off what your neutron onagers damage.

[KhorneHunter57x]

I have 9 Destroyers, all Grav. For a while, I tried some of each (before gluing on the weapons), but I decided to go with Grav because of its reliability and because it doesn't take all day to resolve their shooting.

 

With Plasma, I need to grab a few dice, roll them, and then make a separate roll for each guy (due to overcharging) before pooling them back together - with my 9 Destroyers, that is 11 times that I need to roll dice for one unit's shooting, in addition to counting the pips and adding more dice. With Grav, I just need to grab one big group of dice and roll them twice.

 

 

Additionally, I prefer the look of the Grav Cannon to the Plasma, and because Grav weapons aren't as common in 40k as Plasma, it feels more appropriate for the Mechanicus to use.

[Charlo]

Nice one, thanks for the input guys. While I'm making a list that doesn't have anything that can overtly ruin T8+ vehicles, 6 Grav Cannons and 4 Heavy Arc Rifles are probably ample for what I'd need by the sounds of it. 

 

30 Grav shots with some Accuracy buffs is more than enough methinks.

[Emicus]

I like plasma destroyers. But then again I play Ryza and have enough dakka in Kastellans

[Link2edition]

I use grav, they are an anti-everything gun.

I use them against heavy infantry when I can, but if no ground pounders are in range I will fire them last, I will target a vehicle I need just a few more wounds on so I can reliably bring it down.

They wont reliably KILL tanks, but they will reliably put damage on them.

The plasma on the other hand is just too finicky for me, I want to know how many shots I have up front so I can pick targets accordingly.

[Vel'Cona]

The plasma on the other hand is just too finicky for me, I want to know how many shots I have up front so I can pick targets accordingly.

 

Agreed, I'm not a fan of anything with random shots.

[Link2edition]

 

The plasma on the other hand is just too finicky for me, I want to know how many shots I have up front so I can pick targets accordingly.

 

Agreed, I'm not a fan of anything with random shots.

 

I tolerate the random shots on my crusader's thermal cannon, but only because I can't put gats on both arms.

[DeStinyFiSh]

I lean more towards Plasma since it can threat everything from elite infantry to big tanksand even Knights, but Grav is good as well. Either option, if you get to shoot the right target the Destroyers will hurt a lot, especially with rerolls and hit modifiers.

[KhorneHunter57x]

I lean more towards Plasma since it can threat everything from elite infantry to big tanksand even Knights, but Grav is good as well.

Math time! The two aren't actually that far apart (assuming my math is right...):

3x Plasma Destroyers average 3.5 damage per volley against a typical Knight (T8, 5++),

Hidden Content

Average (3d6) = 10.5 shots

BS4+ = 5.25 Hits

S8 vs T8 = 2.625 Wounds

5++ Sv = 1.75 Unsaved

2 Damage/ea = 3.5 Total Damage

and 3x Grav Destroyers average 3.33 damage per volley against the same target.

Hidden Content

15 Shots

BS4+ = 7.5 Hits

S5 vs T8 = 2.5 Wounds

5++ Sv = 1.6667 Unsaved

d3 Damage/ea (average=2) = 3.33 Total Damage

 

Of course, the Plasma can spike even higher than Grav if it gets better rolls on the number of shots, but Grav won't kill your own guys (though if you're getting positive To Hit modifiers, the latter part doesn't matter).

 

EDIT: Where the Plasma really shines when compared to Grav is vs. T6 and T7 targets, and against multi-wound targets with a 4+ or worse Sv.

[Clingy]

Thanks Khorne, maths for the maths god

[SydonianDragoon404]

Plasma also has longer range.

[DeStinyFiSh]

Thanks for the math Khorne, never thought the two weapons would be that close to each other when shooting at Knights.

[Charlo]

I used a mixed squad at the weekend, 3 Grav/ Phospher & 3 Plas/ Flamer.

 

Worked surprisingly well as you can splitfire in 8th and with Elimination Volley I could overcharge when I needed to. They didn't really come under fire however (people shooting at Robots and Breachers) but I think having a mixed squad means you can remove what is less useful as the game goes on too.