Are chimeras woth it?

[Raven]

As the titles say are they?
your oppinons would be nice

[Woz]

I only use them in big games (1500+ pts.) With my armoured fist squads.

You need to threaten your opponent with a couple of Russes so he shoots them and not your chimeras.

I tried them a couple of times in smaller games but they get stunned or knocked out too easily if they are the only armour your opponent has to shoot at.

[Picklenose]

How many armoured fist sqauds may I have?
Are only one AFS a troop choice?

[Woz]

An AF squad is 1 troop choice. You can have a AF squad for each troop platoon so you could have 3 AF squads in each army

[Picklenose]

Okey, thanks that's not whort it hehe..

[Deleted]

Or you can get mechanised and have everyone in a chimera, but that'll make your army pretty small

[Picklenose]

No it's not going to be small it just gonna be so expensive so you and oyur family must move out in the forest...

[Woz]

Ogryns in a Chimera are good .

They can move quickly to where they are needed the most and they can survive if the Chimera goes up.

[Picklenose]

You have a point!
Both of them are good armoured.

[Deleted]

watch the side armour on them when ever you use them, I had one mugged by a couple of drones

[Turtleboy(AWOL)]

chimeras make good light tanks with a heavy stubber on top. I call mine the bugswatter II (the first one melted one summer day I forgot it in the car)

[Deleted]

Forget the Chimeras Ill take a butt load of sentinels over them anyday they rock and can fill just about any role you need them to i will never have a list without them =)

[Deleted]

I use my mine as a mech-bunker, three heavy bolters and a heavy stubber pours out a lot of shots. Only problem is that i forget to use it as a transport.

[Colonel Scipio]

Chimerae are invaluble; I stand by them as the best standard transport in the game by far (excluding the Land Raider and any other silly apocolypse units)

About the same points cost as a squad as a regular Infantry squad with no frills. A multi-laser, a heavy bolter, six lasguns and if you don't mind the open-topped bit then a heavy weapon as well. I do use them to get HVs into the fray, but to be honest the're better off as gunships, advancing at the pace of the infantry and acting like mobile heavy weapon support. If they do go up, it's hardly a great loss in points, and while the enemy is preoccupied with engaging Leman Russes and stopping them from blowing them to smithereens, your chimerae are left to zip out from the front line and sieze table quarters.

What more could you want?

Except more heavy support slots.

And an AP value for our weapons.

And free commissars.

Hope springs eternal...

[lordcastellenjon]

lol I once knocked out my opponets hammerhead gun ship with a HK missle lunched from my chimera ^^ now that made him wince

[Deleted]

Additionally, I believe Chimera's (as transports only attached to units) do not count towards VPs - I might be wrong here.

Also the multilaser IS a S6 weapon and is therefore more effective when battering away at 10-11 armoured vehicles (rhinos, warwalkers or landspeeders) than SMurfs for example. And with three shots, you CAN hit.

Additionally, moving on the tank idea. Try using a heavy flamer on the chimera, most times your opponent will only see a chimney and ignore the fact that you can move 12" AND fire. Hence you can drop a flamer template right across the unit about to charge! I utilise a HF/HB chimmie crammed with vets or a close combat command squad (depends if infiltration is allowed) and supported by two hellhounds. Charging on the field they pound up a flank and (if they make it) cause REAL problems.

The vets can provide an effective fire base with ML and GL in the "cover" of the chimmie while the chimmies lasguns, HF and HB provide an effective firebase. Plus the enemies too busy firing at your hellhounds (or Lemon rusks) to worry them.

Also the HK missile is a must and I usually have a vet popping the hatch for a his missile launcher - This lightly armoured, heavy weapon option is sooo cheap.

[Turtleboy(AWOL)]

years after starting down the IG path, I'm still unconvinced about the chimera's worth.

sure it kicks out a TON of firepower and actually has a dakka value in our armies compared to the hopeless rhino but you PAY for those guns. every chimera on the field is 10 pairs of boots that don't make it to the table and frankly, I have a hard enough time getting a healthy amount of infantry on the field as it is without the added lure of looking at the shelf that all my vehicles are parked on!

what is it, around 90pts for a stripped down chimera? anti-infantry light tank. transport capacity. can you make the vehicle pull it's weight with a combination of straight shooty goodness to recoup points and add a strategic value so you walk away feeling the vehicle was a winner?

I think woz had it as close to right as I've seen - put a squad of ogryn in 'dere so they don't get mashed by heavy weapon fire at range, then, when you see where the enemy assault is gonna land, roll the chimera over there and pile out behind it so you're ready with the counterassault. hey, if you get first turn you'll even get a round of dumping dakka downrange before you have to move the chimera to prep the counterassault. conversely, you could slow-roll the chimera over to the area of the lines that has an impending assault and dump full auto las/heavy bolter fire downrange as you move.

this sounds like a VERY worthwhile chimera to me. we'd be playing it to it's strengths. keeping it back so it would be far less likely to take flanking hits on it's paper side armor, utilizing the guns, utilizing the transport capacity to move some troops that would get shot by default if they werent in a transport, which might even throw a curveball at our opponent if he wasn't paying attention during deployment and didn't catch that the chimera was for ogryn... then we're also using the chimera to shield the unit from pre-assault softening fire, which we all know will target the ogryn >for sure< if our opponent is given half an opportunity to do so. beyond that, the chimera can still just throw it in reverse, guns merrily blazing as it fires over the melee that breaks out.

seems like a good way to go but a very specific way to employ the tank.

the problem with advancing them is that for their points, they have a REALLY weak side armor and it's painful to lose them to side hits from small arms fire :s for that reason I believe in the chimera as a long range fire support vehicle with capabilities to shuttle troops laterally across our deployment zone. the only time I really agree with advancing chimerae is when you've got some serious escorts (like demolishers and hellhounds) that'll soak all the fire.

[knight (M.I.A)]

Afaik you can't move 12" with a Chimera and fire any weapons, not even secondary. And you can't assault out ofa Chimera. That only works out of open topped vehicles and all Land Raider variants with assault ramps

[Turtleboy(AWOL)]

correct

[Deleted]

I have yet to use a chimera as I just started 40k and IG. I only have 1 but with all these comments it's made me change my mind about their effectiveness.

[knight (M.I.A)]

Chimeras are good tanks. Actually I'm even thinking to make my next IG army mechanized. Its just that they're hard to use. My CSM army for exmple is mechanized as well (and most of them still in a sad grey colour). It works perfectlyMy goal is it to drive max distant in the first turn, pop smoke, survive with as many Rhinos as possible. Then drive in rapid fire distance, let the CSM jump out and rapid fire on everything. The LRs crash in the enemy lines in the meantime before disembarking the terminators and chosen ones which are led by a terminator lord and a sorceror in power armour. The jump out shoot their assault weapons, pistols (chosen ones) or their heavy flamer, rapid fire weapons (terminators) before assaulting.

You can do nearly the same with IG, just that you won't assault at the end. Problem is just that you'll need many Chimeras (preferably a mechanized army) to get enough troops close enough for effective rapid fire...

[Deleted]

I would like to add one of the over looked flaws in the chimera's design. Entry and exit is in the back only. Meaning the best way to deploy out of it to get close to something is for the tail end to face the target. Theres lots of bad mojo in such an act. 1) it obviously exposes the weaker armor, 2) it puts the hull mounted weapon facing the other way, normal toward you're own lines. That said Chimeras are a good tank, but can not be taken 'en masse, like the rhino. A chimera cheapest load out + smoke is 83. If I'm correct one can get 2 rhinos for the same cost. A repectable one will cost apx 100 points, hardley a throw away. I agree with previous posters, there are two major ways to use this tank, LOTS and LOTS or none at all.

[knight (M.I.A)]

That's indeed a problem of the Chimera. Its no throw away article like a Chaos Rhino (which can repair itself...). A Rhino normally costs with weapons around 70pts, but comes with weaker armour but tougher load, and has side and rear exits...

The Chimera also often becomes a little fire magnet if fielded. So just one is fodder for your enemies AT-troops. So either take 3 Armoured Fists, none at all, or go Mechanized

[Commissar]

Indeed.
Which is why I have a fleet of four chimerae to drag my Spetsnaz across the field with speed.
Sure, one or two are sure to bite the dust, but they can give major fire support with good speed.

[Turtleboy(AWOL)]

knight said:

That's indeed a problem of the Chimera. Its no throw away article like a Chaos Rhino (which can repair itself...). A Rhino normally costs with weapons around 70pts, but comes with weaker armour but tougher load, and has side and rear exits...

my dark angel rhinos clock in at a whopping 35pts each. they are blitzkrieg fodder <3