Death Company: Inferno vs Plasma Pistol.

[Lanorius]

I am just returning to the hobby, and got myself a box of firstborn DC. Love these models.
Most people seem to agree that they should all get Power Fists and Inferno Pistols, but some do say that the Plasma Pistol isn't far off, because of its superior range.

[Karhedron]

The plasma pistol does have superior range but if you are facing foes with more than one wound, you have to Overcharge it and take a Hazardous test. Inferno pistols are better at dealing multiple damage without the risk. Since Death Company are normally charging into melee with the enemy, the shorter range of Inferno pistols is less likely to be a drawback. Overall I favour Inferno Pistols but both options are valid.

[Chronotonic]

I would agree a good bit with Karhedron on this on.  To add to the logic with the table being a lot smaller then 7th and older editions it is far easier to get into hand to hand by turn one if not turn two at the latest which only helps the BA and Death Company overall.

 

If you are concerned I would mix it up for a game or two as you no longer have to pay for upgrades and see which one does your gaming area better for you.  Also remember taking a Hazardous Test is not a real issue as That is Horus right there and you NEED to put out as much damage as possible as YOUR FATHER is on his way and you do not die from a PISTOL BLOWING UP.

[Wormwoods]

I'm considering this myself for my current project. It's probably non-optimal, but I'm tempted to go with half of each?

 

Also, are we sure it's power fists rather than thunder hammers? Aesthetically, I'm more about ten raving lunatics with hammers rather than The Big Hand. 

[Lanorius]

I am considering doing 5 each as well.

 

In another forum someone brought up that with the Inferno Pistol one must wait a whole round to shoot after charging, while it the Plasma Pistol will be usable in almost any scenario that ends in close combat. 

Could someone elaborate? 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Lanorius

[Wormwoods]

Probably just assuming that the range on the Inferno Pistols means you're probably making your charge roll from further than 6 away, and thus won't get to shoot until the following turn. 

 

6 inch range is pretty dire. 

[Karhedron]

1 hour ago, Wormwoods said:

Also, are we sure it's power fists rather than thunder hammers? Aesthetically, I'm more about ten raving lunatics with hammers rather than The Big Hand. 

 

Hammers are now more of a sidegrade to Fists rather than an upgrade. They both deal the same damage. Fists hit on a 3+ while Hammers hit on a 4+ but on 6s they deal Mortal Wounds. This makes them better at dealing with targets with good saves and also 1 wound models as Mortal Wounds spill over. The difference is pretty marginal so if you have hammers, no need to go ripping them off.

 

The big difference is that models with Hammers cannot take pistols. Now that Inferno pistols are a free upgrade, the combo of Fist + IP is definitely stronger than just the Hammer.

 

Of course another question is whether all weapons will remain free in future. Is free upgrades just a temporary thing in the Indices? Will the full codex releases go back to paid upgrades? So overall my advice is not to sweat it too much and take the upgrades that you like.

 

10 minutes ago, Wormwoods said:

Probably just assuming that the range on the Inferno Pistols means you're probably making your charge roll from further than 6 away, and thus won't get to shoot until the following turn.

 

A Jump Pack target may well be in range to melt one target and then charge another, particularly by Turn 2.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Karhedron

[Wormwoods]

13 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

The big difference is that models with Hammers cannot take pistols. Now that Inferno pistols are a free upgrade, the combo of Fist + IP is definitely stronger than just the Hammer.

 

Y'know, I actually missed that? Shows you have much attention I pay to these PDFs.

 

14 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

A Jump Pack target may well be in range to melt one target and then charge another, particularly by Turn 2.

 

I don't disagree, just thought that may be where the idea was coming from. 

[Lanorius]

So after a Deep Strike you can shoot your Plasma Pistol and charge in the same round. With the Inferno Pistol you have to wait one round, or am I missing something? 

[Wormwoods]

1 hour ago, Lanorius said:

So after a Deep Strike you can shoot your Plasma Pistol and charge in the same round. With the Inferno Pistol you have to wait one round, or am I missing something? 

 

That's correct if you deep strike, yeah. Must be 9 away from enemy models. I was assuming just hoofing it. Or... Jump pack-ing it, I guess.

[Karhedron]

Given the difficulty of pulling off a 9" charge, I don't normally charge out of Deep Strike. I use DS for short-ranged firepower units like Inceptors. I prefer to hide my assault units if possible and move up on T1. That way you will definitely be in charge range on T2. Most units cannot Deep Strike before Turn 2 and only have a 28% chance of successfully pulling off a charge.

[Paladin777]

I used Rapid Ingress for my terminators in my game against grey knights last Thursday. It was tremendously powerful, and I can only imagine it being even more flexible on jump units!

It has the potential to make charging from deep strike a whole lot more viable, and should absolutely not be underestimated!

Edited July 15, 2023 by Paladin777

[Karhedron]

Using Rapid Ingress is a possibility but needs to be used with care. The enemy will still have their shooting and charge phases to deal with with the new arrivals.

[Paladin777]

Absolutely agree. I was fortunate to be able to hid behind fully LoS blocking terrain. That would be much easier with jump infantry.