Arcus vs Laser Destroyer Vindicators?

[RoadRunna]

Hi All

 

I am looking for some guidance on what to pick in my final heavy slot.  I currently have a twin lascannon Mortis dread for shooting at flyers (and tanks) and was looking for something else to help out.

 

Both Arcus with lascannons or two laser destroyer vindicators come in at about the same points so was wondering what people's experiences or views are when comparing these matchups.

 

I guess that the Arcus has the advantage of being able add skyspear warheads to help hunt flyers so gets the edge in this department but then the Vindicators probably get the edge in tank killing ability due to the extra shots of higher strength combined with the fact that its two tanks instead of one

 

Anyway I would welcome your help in deciding which way to go

[Slips]

The Arcus is far and away the more versatile and generally useful unit especially because of its anti-mechbot missiles.

 

Also, dont underestimate its ability to shoot twice if it doesnt move. Making any Heavy 4 Missile options it has basically Heavy 8.

 

Pound for pound it will outperform the Las Vindicator.

[Lucien Eilam]

Vindicators are okay, but the Arcus is stupidly good for the points. The main point against it is how much fire it’ll attract from any player who’s faced one before.

[SkimaskMohawk]

I've honestly never been too keen on the arcus, as I find it needs to stay still to actually be worthwhile. That being said, so does the laser vindicator, so lets get to comparing.

The laser vindicator is 130 points and gets 3 ordnance twnilinked str 9 ap 1 shots when not moving.
 

The base Arcus is 205 and gets 8 heavy str 8 ap 2 shots when not moving, that always get multiple rolls on the damage chart and force cover/jink rolls.

 

I could go and break down the math, but it's easier to say that the arcus is better against targets with cover and in the open up to av 12. But it's also 75 more points. If you're comparing two laser vindis to one arcus like the OP suggested, then the laser vindicators are just straight up a better choice. I'll also note that the arcus can't squadron, so it's rather slot inefficient compared to the laser vindi. 

 

Talking about alternative rounds, sky spears are very useful against lightnings and xiphons, but will fail to kill something good like a fire raptor or dreadclaw with ripple fire; it certainly won't be able to get them with the intercept. The Neutron warheads are...a bit of a trap. You can blast a unit of vorax with it straight up, but on average will not kill a castellax on a full 8 shot volley; you get more successful wounds/killed models per round of shooting with the standard launcher. 

TLDR: two laser vindicators>sicaran arcus 

Edited November 8, 2021 by SkimaskMohawk

[MichaelCarmine]

Yeah, Arcus is a real beast.

Terminal Tracking is a big Deal here!

Skyspear are ap3 - so even those pesky flying monstrous creatures have to watch out, when 8 Missiles are locked on their butt.

And it can intercept with Skyspear in the opponents Movement-Phase and shoot normal with another munition in your following Shooting-Phase!

Also - Fast Vehicle, can be pretty handy.

...though i doubt, that i'd ever choose to not shoot twice... xD

 

EDIT: You could opt to loose the Lascannon Mortis, thanks to the skyspear, but as SkimaskMohawk already wrote, it'll be hard against AV 12/13 flyers...

And you also would concentrate more fire against the Arcus, thanks to the "double-threat"... 

Edited November 8, 2021 by MichaelCarmine

[SkimaskMohawk]

Yea the arcus can definitely create a lot of fear due to its high amount of marine instant deathing ap 2 shots. But as a dedicated anti armour vehicle, it's basically equivalent to one Vindicator once you target the heavier things.

 

Fast is kind of not as important, as if you're moving you lose out on the whole point of the tank. 245 for 4 STR 8 ap 2 and 1 str 9 ap 2 looks terrible; just ally in a Krios venator and some thralls and you'll have a some left over points.

[MegaVolt87]

I think Arcus would need some complementary targets to back it up. tooled spartan, levi(s) + Arcus etc. Make it a hard choice to fire at it, while dangerous closer armoured units are bearing down. I would grab the double laser vindi's though. I like more saturation + targets myself. 

[RoadRunna]

Thanks very much for your comments guys... I think the 2 Vindicators might be the best for pure Anti-armour.  There is not a strong flyer presence in my local meta so my lascannon Mortis will just have to keep itself alive

 

Just a pity its not half the price of the Arcus :-(

[Mogsam]

Arcus is always the optimal choice as it is so very versatile.

 

Lazer destroyers are better as rapiers. Much cheaper and can't be blown up by anti tank guns. They're T7!

[Trixie]

Love both units out of the two being discussed. But if I had to choose between them I would take the arcus over 2 las-vindies. The Arcus is just so damn versatile, whilst the vindies are laser focused (lol) on one task. 360 firing arc and the variety of ammo on the arcus are great things to have in a list. Edited November 20, 2021 by Trixie