Horus Heresy Sicarian Venator and cerebus heavy tank destroyer.

[Mandragola]

1 hour ago, Xenith said:

So the question is, with these tanks, and indeed any in the HH line where Force Org Slots are at a premium, is it better to get one or two?!

I think the sensible thing is to try out one and get a second if you like how the first performs. I think Venators have a function, which is to shut down super-heavies. Two will do that more reliably, but you risk sinking more points into them if they aren't required by taking two.

 

That said, they're never going to be useless. S10 is an important break in heresy. You instant kill stuff like land speeders, Gal Vorbak and Custodians. They aren't crazily expensive.

 

I've been running a predator with a melta turret and lascannon sponsons. It's quite good. One of these would do a pretty comparable job most of the time but cost 50-60 points more. It's actually less good against terminators but I can see that S10 coming into its own quite often, while shutting down dreadnought firing could be excellent.

 

I don't know if it makes sense to hold off for now and get one of the other versions when they're released instead. The Arcus in particular looks great to me but it's no good against things like Spartans and super-heavies. The Venator isn't the killiest, but it's kind of versatile due to the fact that S10 AP1 works against any target - albeit not always hyper-efficiently.

[Xenith]

Ordnance is just really crippling on the Venator, it can't move at full speed, and the lascannons and bolters can only snap fire since it lost the fast rule. A cerberus thusly has more firepower than the pair of sicarans. I have one already for my BA and it's underperformed in every game. I might go for the cerberus over another venator at this stage, despite it being maybe the most gorgeous tank. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Xenith

[Mandragola]

On 4/12/2023 at 3:44 PM, Xenith said:

Ordnance is just really crippling on the Venator, it can't move at full speed, and the lascannons and bolters can only snap fire since it lost the fast rule. A cerberus thusly has more firepower than the pair of sicarans. I have one already for my BA and it's underperformed in every game. I might go for the cerberus over another venator at this stage, despite it being maybe the most gorgeous tank. 

That's a really good point, and terrible for the Venator. It can pivot on the spot at least.

 

I'm not sure if it writes the vehicle off completely. Pivoting (essential, as the gun is centreline-mounted) doesn't count as movement. And sponsons are cheap. There's an argument (though probably not a strong one) for keeping heavy bolters on there and firing them at infantry.

 

But 36" range isn't actually all that far. I've been able to out-range lascannon squads with my warhound as many deployment maps are end to end or corner to corner. Venators will need to move and they really don't want to.

 

Maybe I'll just build the lascannon squad I've got on sprues and leave these on a shelf for now unless/until I play Death Guard.

Edited April 17, 2023 by Xenith
my typos

[Marshal Mittens]

Venator isn't the best tank hunter for its points, but it looks cool and it's not so bad it will make you lose. If you like the look, use them and most games they will likely do alright, despite its drawbacks. 

[Cadmus Tyro]

I have a venator for my Alpha legion, it continually underperformed in 1.0 (albeit with style). I found the low number of shots quite crippling, especially when your target was in cover. I often boosted its BS with a MoS, increasing the probability of at least hitting the target. 

I tended to include it to shut down enemy super heavies.

 

In 2.0 I’m a little torn, it has a wider array of targets particularly with reinforced being abundant and the existence of flare shielded tanks like the Kratos which will remain at range (it’s a different prospect to hitting a Spartan rushing your line). There’s slot efficiency now, I think with a venator I would always take it in pairs to maximise the probability of penetrating the target. 
 

Im considering supporting it as well with a siege breaker, passing sunder to the unit will increase its reliability, especially with ordnance. But it’s a lot of point investment to make the unit work….

 

Cadmus 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by Cadmus Tyro

[Xenith]

I pulled the trigger and went for a Cerberus. I love both models, the Cerberus is a 3 headed greek mythical beast which will go well with another legion that likes greek mythical multi headed beasts, and in-game, the Cerberus is faster (!) and better armoured with better firepower than a pair of venators (assuming you rank 2 BS4 lascannons higher than 4 snap firing ones).

 

It's also not a HS slot which is limited in a Leviathal list. 

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Late to this party. I haven't made a game time decision yet, though I feel like the Cerberus is probably the play.

 

I love the parody of 30k, and the hard decisions on how the CAD works. I may just get some cerbs.