Heavy Weapons in Squads?

[Deleted]

Newbie question time. If a squad has a heavy weapon and any figure in the squad moves, then the heavy weapon can't fire, correct?

Do you put a heavy weapon in each squad, or do you keep some squads free of heavy weapons to improve mobility?

[boo]

The first question is correct....they cannot fire the heavy weapon if they have moved.

When i was playing guard i had a heavy weapon in each of my squads. And as of late, i may have learnt a way to use that in my favour. Say you have 4 squads (4 heavy weapons) only move 2 of them in the first turn then the other 2 can shoot, and next turn, reverse the rolls, the one that fired moved and the other fires. They move up together and keep each other supported.

hope that helps

[fatuous]

If you have the points it is prob worth adding 1 to every unit, as they can take em and are cheap. U still get ur lasguns too, so u can move and fire normally using the flash lights. So unless u plan to never be stationary with a squad or intend to assault with it, then adding 1 to every squad is deffo worth it. Just remembe that cos u have a h weapon doesn't mean u should never move

[Deleted]

Are the troopers manning the heavy weapon considered to have lasguns also? So if you move, they can at least fire those. Or do you just loose the shots from those two troopers?

[Cadian 117]

the troops count as only having the heavy weapon. Basicly this is how it goes

Commissar:drop the flashlights and mount that gun.

trooper:OK.

[Rolling Thunder]

Actually, this has been addressed elsewhere in the forum, and TB called the rulesboys, who ruled that the IG troopers carrying the heavy weapons still count as having lasguns.

Rule no. 375960/407, paragraph 44 subclause 5:DON'T DIG UP OLD THREADS.

[Cadian 117]

oh sorry. Guys around here said they ddnt....

[Colonel Grammissar Azalar]

vulture said:

Rule no. 375960/407, paragraph 44 subclause 5:DON'T DIG UP OLD THREADS.

Taking my Job already, and im not even dead!

[Deleted]

The only real reason not to put a heavy weapon in all standard infantry squads is the models required, as heavy weapon kits are pricey. But with a little ingenuity (and some green stuff) one HW sprue goes a long way.

[Colonel Grammissar Azalar]

To be honest, My standard Squad is
10 Guardsmen
- 1 Flamer [maybe a G. Launcher if im unlucky]
- 1 HW
- 1 Vox

Always works =]

[Deleted]

joebob22 said:

The only real reason not to put a heavy weapon in all standard infantry squads is the models required, as heavy weapon kits are pricey. But with a little ingenuity (and some green stuff) one HW sprue goes a long way.

Alas, if your IG force is Vostroyan, there are no spruces and heavy bolters don't come in blister packs. (And autocannon and missle launchers don't exist at all.)

I wonder if the Lasgun rule made it into a FAQ. The logic makes sense. Just like fantasy where everyone always has a hand weapon in addition to anything else.

Thanks for the help.

[Commissar]

Thats why you convert em!
Thats the beauty of this hobby you can modify and change stuff to your hearts content.

[Deleted]

yeah. while i dont usually count the man firing the heavy weapon as having a lasgun i always count the loader as having a lasgun and sometimes they have come in quite handy killing something the lascannon failed to kill.

they are especially usefull as last ditch efforts. i once shot 3 autocannons and 6 sniper rifles at a genestealer squad and got all but one down. if that one hit my line it would have been deadly as all get out. so im looking for a new unit to fire on it and nothing has los or range. im panicking and i realize that my army list says that the heavy weapon squad has 3 lasguns. well da da da the genestealer dies. thanks to those 3 lasguns.

[Commissar]

Yep, alot of people underestimate our flashlights...but they come in handy in tight spots!

[Deleted]

the way I run mine. all squads have either a HB, ML, or AC. I then run HW platoons to carry extra ML and LC.

reason being is to many times when I hade Lascannons in line squads (for meat sheilds really) every turn I had 9 guys standing there picking hteir noses while I guy was taking pot shots at the tanks.

so I figure let the line squads take care of infantry so anything that can take out infantry in one unit and the big guns set out to kill big things

[Deleted]

I always include HW in my squads. Thet is because i almost never move them. I keep them in cover and cant see the reason why i should run around with them. I have other kinds of units to do that job.

About the lasguns on HW dudes discussion: If you read the codex it clearly says that they have lasguns so it doesn't really need a FAQ clarification. And there is a reason why there is two lasguns included in the HW package...

[Commissar]

yeah, I mean hell, you can just choose to have em fire their lasguns instead if ya wanted to!

[ssgtdude (M.I.A)]

You still need to have units that are mobile enough to move around the field so that you can complete objectives. Giving every unit a HW might cost less, but that in itself can cost the game when you are not able to take the objective.

I normally field my HW's off the HQ in teams so that they can remain stationary. My squads usually go with the assault weapons instead.

[Deleted]

boo said:

The first question is correct....they cannot fire the heavy weapon if they have moved.

When i was playing guard i had a heavy weapon in each of my squads. And as of late, i may have learnt a way to use that in my favour. Say you have 4 squads (4 heavy weapons) only move 2 of them in the first turn then the other 2 can shoot, and next turn, reverse the rolls, the one that fired moved and the other fires. They move up together and keep each other supported.

hope that helps

That my friend is what we call "BOUNDING OVERWATCH" and is the only way to go!

[Mabus]

Guard infantry squads are not intended to be mobile. They are there to draw and supress firepower. They do this well. My advice is too have a few platoons with each squad equipped with a heavy weapon. I would also ensure I had enough mobile units to grab objectives and table quarters. I.g Rough riders, Sentinels, Armoured fist squads, Storm troopers.

[Rolling Thunder]

A squad with a heavy weaponis as mobile as a squad without one. Since the guardsmen keep their lasguns you can use them as objective grabbers with equal effectiveness as without heavy weapons.

Plus, dedicated heavy weapons teams are hideously vulnerable to enemy fire. only three models have to die before you remove the heavy goodness. Plus at that point if your men fail their Ld check you'll lose all their shooting for the entire game.

[Mabus]

Uh? You have to kill both the gunner and loader to disable a heavy weapon team. So, you would actualy have to kill all six troopers to stop the squad. It's true, it was in F.A.Q. article.

[Deleted]

yes that is true, but after the 3rd casualty u have to remove the first HW. It is harder to kill the HW when they are in infantry squads. It is not very hard to kill 6 guardsmen...

[ssgtdude (M.I.A)]

minus, you put that team in cover. Get that cover save to make it harder to kill.

a nice 4+ save or even a 3+ if you manage to score a bunker make up for the lack of models in the squad quite well.

[Rolling Thunder]

True.. its a matter of concentration over resilience. Though infantry HW's can shift targets, whereas a 6-man team, if the first shot destroys the target, the rest are wasted. If you use them with infantry, then you can shift targets anyway.