Unless going agaist hord armies, are the side weapons of LR and demos worth the point

[kenshin620]

most of the time you would be fireing your cannon anyway

[hairyyahoo]

personal choice really. some argue that the cannon is gonna get shot off sooner or later, so having sponson guns keeps the tank useful after the first ''weapon destroyed'' result. there are also times when you won't want to fire the battle cannon, like when the enemy are very close to your own troops (trust me, the 6'' scatter can be very unforgiving if you have, say, you command HQ within 6'' of the target. that wasn't a good day!)

on the other hand, maybe the battle cannon won't get shot off and the enemy will keep their distance, and you end up wasting the points.

for my money i always take heavy bolter sponsons, even on demos, just in case.

[Templar Mikeel]

It's the Guard. Strap on as many guns as possible!

Hairy pointed out the pros and cons already.

[experiment 626]

for what, 10/15 pts or so you add on 3 heavy bolters?!! go for it! that's 9 S5 ap4 shots you can move and shoot with...

also keep in mind that sometimes your opponent just won't have any really juicy infantry targets within line of sight of that cannon! it's no use trying to hit say, 3 bikers with the big cannon when those 9 heavy bolter shots can easily deal the same bloody death!

cheers!

[Timber-WoIf]

i definatly take sponsons, mostly because they seem more useful at killing multi-wound models. the main cannon can only inflict 1 wound at a time, but when dealing with monstrous creatures, the lascannon and bolters do nicely.

effective or not, russ look alot cooler with the sponsons anyway.

[lynxrpken]

I agree i usually take the bolters over he hvy flamer but you can take out entire units with the flamers if you possition the russ right. on the other hand bolters are generally more useful in everyday situations. just a oppinion but in mine they are worth it.

in mass though I have herd it said that the base russ with bolter instead of the lascannon is the best bet this is true i think if you are going to go with a leman russ contingent for the hvy support like 3 of them. stirp em down and let em go.

[Steellegioncpt]

YES!


For one you add the plasma cannons for the extended 12" Range!

Secondly 9 Heavy bolter shots are pretty nice to have on a Leman Russ when considering that your opponent would take that Battle Cannon right off when they can

[SSGBIGFOOT]

The sponsons are just more fire power and that is what teh guard is all about. Really it's pretty inexpensive too. If shooting at someone in cover, the BC won't do much and all teh bolter fire has a better chance of the enemy failing armor/cover save rolls.

[thebarnet]

one of the things i have found with my demolisher is with plasma cannon sponsons you can shoot at units that would normaly be out of range of the demolisher cannon

[Scoutmaster477]

I always take heavy bolters in the sponsons. the extra shots always help. But then I end up fighting Nids and orcs a lot. Now I need to magnatize so I can have hvy/bolter, flamer or lascannon in the hull to change out as needed.

[325504503]

3 Heavy Bolters that you can fire while moving, is too good to pass up for 15 points.

[all-lucky7777]

Thought I'd add to the pile...

I never thought about range on demos with the PC, or the fact that you can move with the three HB. Thats why Autocannon/Multilaser sentinels are actually useful in most generic situations (they can continually move to reposition and get a head start). Otherwise they're only good in stuff like steel legion for Scouts, among other specialist circumstances. I'll never forget about my HB's again...

I really though they were there for Weapon Destroyed, but I usually take the Lascannon in the hull in case i'm out of armor-punchy... I think I might fix that, not what russes are there for? What do you all think? Without the Lascannon the russ (unless its a demo) has no way of hurting a big tank, barring glancing with the battle cannon which is A. nigh impossible B. probably gone by now. On the other hand its a lot less useful when you could be pouring shots into the enemy.

Also, anyone forget about the Pintle Heavy Stubber? Its got three shots for 12 points. I always put them on my chimeras.

[Dragoon King]

Well, IMO, the main strength of the IG is their armour. Leaving a Russ without any defensive armament to fight off infantry is not a good ideal. If I seen a Russ without defensive guns, I'd send Bikes or Raptors with Meltaguns and Meltabombs straight for it.

[thebarnet]

although the range of the plasma cannons is only 12" more that the demo cannons range in most games you start 24" away from your oppennet so those range 36" plasma cannons can get killing stuff from the start of the game HB are probaley best on normal russes as they can be fired at stuff that can be to spred out fot the battle cannon to hit

[Timber-WoIf]

Originally Posted by all-lucky7777

Thought I'd add to the pile...


I really though they were there for Weapon Destroyed, but I usually take the Lascannon in the hull in case i'm out of armor-punchy... I think I might fix that, not what russes are there for? What do you all think? Without the Lascannon the russ (unless its a demo) has no way of hurting a big tank, barring glancing with the battle cannon which is A. nigh impossible B. probably gone by now. On the other hand its a lot less useful when you could be pouring shots into the enemy.

Also, anyone forget about the Pintle Heavy Stubber? Its got three shots for 12 points. I always put them on my chimeras.

i use lascanon on my regular russ. really not that much better anti-tank than BC imo, but useful agianst termies/monsterous creatures. as for the heavy stubber, heck yea. all my chimera and hellhound have em. i also give my exterminators heavy stubbers. on that note, exterminators and demos all have heavy bolters. teh demo i take for the demo cannon, by golly thats wtf its going to be shooting. and exterminators w/t hb are rediculus only downside is almost no anti-tank capibility.

[all-lucky7777]

I hear that... Kinda what i was thinking.

Hmm... 14 shots, 15 if you have an HK missile (probably not), coming out of an exterminator sound dead tasty... and they all are strong too (and ap 4) except maybe the stubber. Have to pick one up for apocalypse now, the vanquisher can wait. Or maybe not, the vanq looks so much cooler.

Also what about accuracy? a battle cannon misses half the time, but half of the 9 HB shots are going to hit. So maybe the HB's are more accurate, but less dangerous? I'd rather be hitting with a Str 8 Ap 3 marineswatter than 9 HB's in a lot of circumstances.

Another point is the Turret mounting, the HB can technically see behind because of the 180 degree ruling on sponsons, but only one will be able to see it half the time. That means you have to be dead on to see with all the shots. It also makes the stubber better because its in the turret. I guess you get a free swivel-on-the-spot when you shoot... thats what makes a basilisk work.