Devastators

[NKirkham24]

Brothers,

 

So today I picked up my first box of Devastators earlier today and was wondering if there is a specifc weapon or weapons I should prioritise that works particularly well with the Ultramarines a la Heavy Bolter and Imperial Fists. 

 

I have a some of the firstborn already, but I re-started collecting around the Gathering Storm, and then 8th hit so I have mainly Primaris stuff. I think I currently have 3 ML's and a Plasma Cannon in my collection, so i'm wondering if I need any more of these, or should I focus on the other options.

 

Do I go for Grav to take advantage of the Gravitic Amplification strategem? Or Heavy Bolter for the Hellfire Shells? Or the trusty lascannon for more mobile (in Tactical doctrine) anti-tank.

 

Let me know your thoughts

[StraightSilver]

I'd also be interested to hear thought on this from an Ultras perspective.

Currently I run a unit with 4 Las Cannon. Combined with the ammo cherub, banner and a lieutenant/captain I've had a lot of success with them but they are grossly expensive.

I also find that Las Cannons are the most CP effective weapon to use Martial Precision on.

My 2,000pt "old" marines list (I don't currently use Primaris) is very Las Cannon heavy though (13) and it would probably be a good idea for me to swap out the Devastators for either Grav or Heavy Bolters.

But I love Devastators, they are a lot more versatile than they used to be.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Grav Devs in a drop pod is pretty solid.

[Captain Idaho]

My position is - always add a Cherub. :)

 

Now, there are a few options available to us, none of which are bad really.

 

Additional support fire for the army means you'll likely want to have guns that are needed to bolster your force. Anti tank most probably since most Ultramarines have plenty of anti-infantry weapons in the form of Tactical Doctrine Bolters.

 

Lascannons are the usual big bad, but Missile Launchers are actually really dangerous under Devastator Doctrine (standard Lascannon performance against T7 and below) and can contribute against infantry. Not a terrible choice.

 

A little underused plot is to utilise a Drop Pod or transport then jump out a use 4 Multi-Meltas to slag a target in the Tactical Doctrine.

 

Works even better with Grav Cannons using the Strategum.

 

Heavy Bolters are nice and cheap but if you want fire support you'll probably want something bigger. I usually run my Heavy Bolters in my Tactical squads. However, there is something to be said for a 5 man unit with 3 Heavy Bolters clocking in at just 90pts, 2 Heavy Bolters at 80pts.

[emperorpants]

I like my devi squad to be versatile.  I go with 2 las cannons, a missle launcher, and a heavy bolter.  With a cherub of course.  Cherubs are auto takes for me.  The las cannons are self explanitory.  The missle launcher is good, as explained above, but there is another reason I take it.  The flakk burst missle strat.  The heavy bolter allows acces to the hellfire shells strat.  

 

This loadout allows you to be versatile (the missile launcher and heavy bolter can support chaff killing if needed, while this loadout allows for tank killing with the las cannons and missile launcher) and can be a surprisingly decent source of mortal wounds if you need it.  I think hellfire shells and flakk missile get slept on a bit, personally.  Never underestimate how useful mortal wounds can be, especially with this kind of range.  Especially especially when you can hit on 2's with them (a chaplain or the sarge bonus).  Also, remember as Ultramarines we have a strat that allows an auto hit.  So, are you fighting a unit that is -2 to hit and has only a 2 wounds left and you need it to die?  Pop hellfire shells and martial precision.  Boom.  Situational?  Yes.  Awesome when that situation comes up?  YES.

[Captain Idaho]

Yeah the auto hit is delicious against some armies.

 

And if up against things with extreme invulnerable saves it's nice to put a guaranteed batch of Mortal Wounds on the opponent.

[Aspecti]

Does using the Armorium Cherub and for example Hellfire shell allow us to fire Hellfire shell twice? I've seen people play it like that, but I'm not sure if it's right.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I think it’s been FAQd but not certain.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I really like the Grav pod coming down after first turn hitting on 3s and popping the Grav strat. It’s very effective anti armor. Two las, one missile and an HB seems good too.

[NKirkham24]

The cherub allows a second shot from a particular weapon right? And is it the Signum on the Sergeant that gives one of them a +1 to hit?

 

As I said above, i've never used Devastators before and I'm in work atm so not got my codex to hand.

 

 

 

Never underestimate how useful mortal wounds can be, especially with this kind of range.  Especially especially when you can hit on 2's with them (a chaplain or the sarge bonus).  Also, remember as Ultramarines we have a strat that allows an auto hit.  So, are you fighting a unit that is -2 to hit and has only a 2 wounds left and you need it to die?  Pop hellfire shells and martial precision.  Boom.  Situational?  Yes.  Awesome when that situation comes up?  YES.

 

I really like this, good mixture of anti-tank and anti-horde, and the possibility to utilise cheap strategems at key moments. Very nice.

[emperorpants]

Does using the Armorium Cherub and for example Hellfire shell allow us to fire Hellfire shell twice? I've seen people play it like that, but I'm not sure if it's right.

 

It used to do that, but Black Blow Fly is correct, that has been faqed away.  Now the best use for the cherub usually is to allow for another las cannon shot, which will of course be the las cannon that is buffed to hit on 2's from the sarge.

[9x19 Parabellum]

The only thing I would caution about diversifying your big guns is that the order of shooting sometimes means wasted opportunities. 

 

For example, let's say you have 2 squads of devastators, both of which 2 lascannons, a missile and a heavy bolter.

 

You have a Rhino or similar transport you want to pop open and kill the juicy stuff inside.

The first devastator team fires it's 2 lascannons and missile launcher at it, and the heavy bolter shoots at some troops in cover.

You wound but fail to destroy the Rhino with this (2 hits and wounds with, but only 9 damage).

 

Now your second Devastator team has to declare all it's shooting, and the Rhino hasn't been popped so you can't shoot at the Death Guard or whatever that were inside.

 

I understand there are also benefits to diversifying your guns so that "all your AT" doesn't get wiped if your opponent pours fire into your Lascannon squad, but I also wanted to mention the benefit of combining all your like guns into one squad.  The other benefit is that you also don't have any conflict with positioning due to variable gun ranges (Lascannons and missile launchers are ok, but putting Grav and Las/Missile together means there is a conflict of positioning, due either to deployment, or movement, or both).  The other thing to keep in mind is interaction with stratagems, ie, you want 4 Grav Cannons in the same unit if you have any intention of using Gravitic Amplification.