Battle tank and demolisher

[iggy666]

I really want to deck my battle tank and demolisher out with sponsons and stuff.

Is it worth it, or would it be better to spend those points on more vehicles?

I love the idea of my leman russ shooting its battle cannon and hailing a unit with 3 heavy bolters.

I'm afraid if I give my vehicles heavy bolters it'll be a waste if they spend the game shooting at other vehicles and if i give them lascannons... thats way too expensive to not shoot vehicles/termies.

Any thoughts?

[emptyhat]

I have my two LRBT's with a hull Lasconnon and HB sponsons. They are pricier for it and it shows, that said if you are only using one or two tanks then they have that extra flexiblity and 6th just made sponsons better.

Judgement call I'd say. Will you resent the loss of the points? Is the rest of your army trim or fat?

[iggy666]

I was thinking exactly that. Lascannon and 2 Heavy Bolters. I don't have anything except troops now, so I won't notice the extra points as much.

I think I'll model them like that and use them like that until I find a reason to remove them, the model will simply look cooler and more devastating.

They're already tough and expensive tanks, aren't they? Now weapon destroyed results wont matter.

[stovrose]

HB sponsons are GREAT now with snap shots.

[iggy666]

Move and snap shot... chill and unload!

Heavy Bolters seem to be the same points no matter where your buy them.

[WestRider]

You definitely want the Sponsons. Even if only for their role in cutting down the odds of Weapon Destroyed results taking out the Turret.

Heavy Bolters are probably the best bet, between Cost and their decent performance while Snap-Firing.

The Hull Mount looks to be fairly balanced in 6th. The Russ is a better Anti-Vehicle Platform in general, so it's more likely to want to shoot Vehicles at some point. So a Lascannon is certainly more worthwhile. It's still best at taking on Lighter Armour, tho, and in many of those cases, the Heavy Bolters can pitch in, too. So taking a Heavy Bolter doesn't gimp the thing either. Heavy Flamer is a niche option, might be worth taking one occasionally, but I wouldn't use it as a standard thing.

[dragoon6]

I have several modeled differently, and select them based on how I intend to use that specific tank. I have a domlisher decked out to the max with las/plas because this is my elite killer. I want to throw enormous amounts of deadly fire all at once, and because it wants to be in your face, the extra cost goes a long way to making sure nothing lives to kill me back.
I also have a Leman Russ Battle Tank with Three Heavy Bolters. This is my midrange tank for dealing with bigger units of infantry and popping lighter vehicles (AV11 or less). It wants to be 24-36 inches away from its' target, be stationary, and rain support fire.
My last one is a long range medium Tank Killer (AV 12-13). It's just a battle cannon and Las mount and nothing else. It wants to be no closer than 30 inches away, up to 48, but the further the better. When I use it, it tends to park in a corner that has dominating LOS on a large swath of battlerfield, or toddles around at the fringe of the battle looking for side shots. It want nothing to do with the main battle and contributes by being a harrasment.

So in short, are sponsons worth it? Absolutely, but only if you intend to use them. Also, I try to mono task my tanks. Las-cannon goes with plasma or multi-melta, heavy bolter with more heavy bolters. I can get away with this because I generally run three tanks, and can get the targets I want for each of them on a given turn. This may not work for you if you are planning to run artillery in your heavy slots though. Experiment! There will be an optimal configuration you discover based on what else you bring to the table and how you actually wield your tanks.

Dragoon6

[Colonel Scipio]

I tend to go for the full 3x HB combo on my Vanquisher. Even in 5th it was still a decent enough loadout; you could conceivably shred a squad even at the preference of firing the cannon, causing it enough casualties to think about backing off. Demolishers have HB + 2x HF, since they'll be the ones getting up close and personal.

With the advent of 6th these chaps now have an added utility - 9x HB shots means even snap shooting, you can expect 1.5 hits that'll normally wound on better than 4+ for most infantry - meaning you're probably odds on for a kill.