OK, I need to update this a bit for 6th, but I reckon the general gist of it is still roughly accurate:
Leman Russ Overview
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LRBT: The old standby, and the best all-rounder. Very hard to go wrong taking one of these if you want a Russ Hull in your List.
- The stripped down version, with just a Hull Heavy Bolter or Flamer, is very nice in the current Edition, but I still have a fondness for the classic Heavy Bolter Sponsons, with any of the Hull Mount options.
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Exterminator: In addition to the classic Role as an Infantry Killer, the Exterminator can also do considerable damage to Vehicles of AV12 or less.
- I always take Heavy Bolter Sponsons and a Stubber on these, and if I’m expecting to need it for Anti-Transport duties, I may add a Hull Lascannon and/or Hunter-Killer Missile.
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Vanquisher: One of the most specialized Russ Variants. When it hits, it kills Tanks dead, but the low Volume of Fire leaves it lacking in reliability. Pask can ameliorate this somewhat, but it’s still a rather feast or famine choice.
- Standard Build is just a Hull Lascannon, and possibly Hunter-Killer.
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Eradicator: Another highly specialized option. Against Infantry with a 4+ or worse Save, this thing is amazing, but against better-Armoured Troops, there are much better choices. Not recommended for Take All Comers Armies, but possibly worth having around for hte times when you know who you’ll face.
- As it’s a very focused Anti-Infantry platform, Heavy Bolter Sponsons and a Stubber are the obvious upgrades.
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Demolisher: The Brute Force Option. When you absolutely, positively got to kill every mother^%#*er in the room, accept no substitutes. Short-ranged, so it’s going to get Assaulted afterward, but the improved Rear Armour helps with that. The killing power of this thing is legendary, and combined with the fact that it’s short Range means that it can be avoided, many Players will choose to do so, making it an excellent Area Denial option.
- Again, there’s a split on how to equip this thing: Many Players like just a Hull Heavy Flamer, to keep it Mobile without wasting Firepower. I’m still a classicist, going for the Lascannon/Plasma Sponson option, so it can reach out and touch people past 24”, and also remains a serious source of Firepower after the Turret’s off.
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Punisher: The Tank that should not be. Interesting concept, but in practice, an Exterminator, Demolisher, or regular Russ can usually do anything this does better and/or cheaper.
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Executioner: Another of my favorites. Very few Infantry Units can stand up to this kind of Firepower. I particularly like using it in combination with a Transport Killer, hosing down the Squad inside with Plasma after they bail out. Even in Cover, if the Target is bunched up at all, the Executioner can easily account for a Marine Squad per Turn.
AP2 also means that it ignore FNP, making it an excellent choice againstmany of the common BA and Nid Builds. No longer
- Plasma Sponsons are the obvious choice here, matching the Turret Armament perfectly.
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Pask: Very expensive, but worth it in some places. As mentioned, he makes the Vanquisher somewhat more reliable. He turns the Exterminator into a very powerful Anti-Transport option, with Crack Shot making even the Heavy Bolters a serious threat to AV11. In a Punisher, Crack Shot lets him rack up a truly obscene number of Wounds against MCs, but it’s an even more expensive Vehicle then, and has to remain stationary at close range to pull it off, which basically any MC can make you pay for if you don’t manage to drop it. In an Executioner, you’ve got an ungodly expensive Tank, but if it remains stationary, you’re looking at a close to guaranteed Carnifex or Hive Tyrant kill per Turn, or some serious threat to any Vehicle up to AV12
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Squadrons: In general, the Squadron Rules hurt Russes more than the ability to cram extra Hulls into your list helps. MCs or Units with a decent number of PowerFist Attacks can take out whole Squadrons in one go,
and the fact that Immobilized results convert to Wrecked means that even Glancing Hits are dangerous. Having to fire the whole Squadron at a single Target often leads to inefficient distribution of Fire and overkill.
If you have to take Squadrons for some reason, try to keep them to pairs. This at least reduces the Concentration of Force issues.
It’s also best to keep your Squadrons Uniform. You have to fire them all at the same Target, so mixing a Vanquisher with an Eradicator pretty much guarantees that one of them is going to be wasted each Turn. Conversely, the best use of Russ Squadrons is probably pairing two Vanquishers, providing some volume of Fire to help even out the single shot nature of a single Vanq.There are a couple of mixes that I can see working, though:
-The Exterminator and Eradicator are both good Anti-Infantry choices that work best under 36” Range. Maybe add a Hunter-Killer to the Eradicator, so it can still contribute if you do need to hit Transports for a Turn.
- A Demolisher and Executioner might work together reasonably well, since the low AP is one of the big draws of both. The Las/Plas combo is the clear choice for the Demolisher here, allowing it to still contribute at range.
- A Vanquisher with Heavy Bolter Sponsons and a LRBT with Hull Lascannon is about the last worthwhile combo I can see, and that’s kind of stretching it.
Edited to fix a couple of the glaring 6th Edition changes.
