leman russ weapon combinations

[The Refined Gentleman (M.I.A)]

i got my first leeman russ battle tank recently can u guys rate it out of 5 and tell me if this combination would help:
heavy bolter side sponsons
lascannon hull weapon
pintle mounted stormbolter

[Woz]

It all depends on how you're going to use it. I have my LR's the same (exepct I have pintle mounted heavy stubber).

[Deleted]

I generally leavy out the lascannon on the front, firing one lascannon at other tanks when you could be firing all other guns at infantry just isn't worth it. Personally I'd give it another heavy bolter on the front. Heavy stubber rule too.

[Deleted]

With me, it's the total opposite, i really like having the lascannon on the front.

for one my tactic relys alot on my tanks surviving for as long as possible, and if a tank roles out with massive anti tank power (like fire prisms, land raiders, predators, vipers with bright lances, hammerheads you name it!) i want a good, solid high strength, good ap, dosen't scatter off the target too easily weapon to take it out. Yes, the battle cannon could take it out, but it has a lower strength than a lascannon and i've had bad luck with it scattering off my targets too easily where a lascannon on a russ has a far chance of hitting.

second, i like a high strength/ap weapon if my enemy takes out the battle cannon.

[Commissar]

I would suggest changing the stormbolter to a stubber, for a point more you end up getting more fire power.

[Deleted]

I generally leave my anti-tank firepower to a lascannon team and/or Chimera-based meltas. One BS3 lascannon is not enough, especially when the tank has many, better shots to fire otherwise.

[Turtleboy(AWOL)]

I don't know squat about regular leman russes so I'll restrain from offering a theoryhammer answer to the main question but (!!) the heavy stubber you should definately go for. also get rough terrain mods (on every vehicle except stuff like the basilisk), & smoke launchers at least (extra armor is good too to prevent you from sitting and smoking while stunned/shaken only to be meltabombed with autohits since you didn't move). the extras on vehicles are often overlooked because we want to keep the tanks cheap, but they really arent that expensive - a few points here, a handful there - they're really worth it. do you want to spend a couple points to make sure you don't immobilize yourself as you crest a hill and rumble down the other side to take the objective to win the game or do you want to leave it to chance and possibly throw away a win for a single digit point investment? just a thought, but I love it when my enemies uber expensive land raider immobilizes itself on turn 1 because he was too cheap to spend a couple points on his huge point investment uber tank of assaulty doom

[Deleted]

Well on a land raider yeah, but on a 150pt tank 30pts of wargear is a big deal. Good point though, and I put pretty much the same stuff on my tanks as turtleboy. He makes a good point, for a measly xpts (a few), why NOT have smoke launchers? Heavy stubbers rock, but when I think about the word I always get an image of some little fat kid with stubby fingers...

***
edited your post to take out the point cost just to be on the safe side - I tried to term it in a better way thus the parenthasis - TB

[Deleted]

i've got one right now, planning to buy another one. and the one i've got has got a lasconnon in the hull and no sponsons.

i'd like to get three heavy bolters on the next to get a real anti-personel tank and that is what your tank really looks like as well. just think of the amount of fire you can lay down (originally an ork-player) you've got to hit sometime

[Deleted]

Oh yeah whoops no stats...

[Turtleboy(AWOL)]

I have a leman russ with the triple heavy bolters - it's decent, but I'd recommend a heavy stubber to make it good. 12 shots and you're pumping out some serious lead now.

[Deleted]

Yes, I love the idea of pumping out 12 shots, but doesn't that seem like a waste of the battlecannon? I am new to the game, so I am seriously asking what the philosophy is on using this combination. I mean, the battlecannon is anti-personel, so why make your secondary weapons anti-personel if you can't even fire them when you fire the battlecannon? Am I missing something here?

[Deleted]

I've not been playing that long, less than a year, so I'm sure that some of the game's nuances have passed me by, however I adapt my LRBT depending on who I'm going to be playing, (I've magnetized my sponsons and hull mounted weapons)

My standard fit out is 3 Heavy Bolters and a Heavy Stubber (extra distance, extra dice roll over Stormbolter) with extra armour, and smoke grenades.

I don't often add terrain modifications, although I have done if I know I'm going to be playing recon, cleanse, take and hold scenarios I tend to look on them as gun emplacements.

You asked a good question about secondary weapons over Battle Cannon, the problem is the scatter, which IMHO scatters more than it hits, if you don't move then it's 1 dice if you do move, then it's two. I think I'm right in saying that you can only get about 15 models under the template and that's as long as they aren't spaced out with the 2" unit coherency, as I find that when you field a LRBT your opponents tend to do so, (I know I do it with my guard if there's a Whirlwind on the table or a Chaos Basilisk on the table, unless they are in a building and then I at least get the cover save)

IMHO if I win dice roll off for starting and then opt to go first I will probably use my BC for this one turn, as the distance generally is too far out for anything else, once my enemy has closed on me, I tend to revert to the 12 dice rolls given by the 3 Heavy Bolters and Heavy Stubber, this game is all about pushing the dice and both weapons wound on a 2 or 3 depending, with no scatter. If the dice gods are favouring me and things are going my way, in turn 4, 5 and 6, I might revert back to using the BC, although most people seem to remove the BC if they get a weapon destroyed, can't think way as the heavy Bolters, Lascannons and Heavy Stubber always prove to be more effective, if it were me I'd take away the Lascannon and then the Bolters before the BC, especially if I was fearless as one of the BC's advantages is pinning and being fearless this wouldn't have an effect on me.

With regards to Lascannon versus Heavy Bolter in the hull, again I find with a BS of 3, I've found that a single Lascannon quite often has a limited effect in the game, although if I'm facing a large amoured opponent then I would look to take the extra Lascannon.

My normal 1500 point army has two LRBT both with 3 Heavy Bolters and a Heavy Stubber.

[Mabus]

If you want that much anti-personnel fire power it's better to field a Malcador.

[Deleted]

I find that yes, a Malacador does help.

But as to the Russ, I usually take the 3 heavy bolters and heayy stubber trick. Then, if I face a horde army, the I fore the BC, knowing that basically wherever it scatters, it'll hit something. Then, once my infantry guns get into rage, I complement tham with a hail of lead from the ack-acks.

To deal with big things I usually take at least one Hunter-Killer per army, and use it to snipe vehicles and big nasty tyranid things. Talking of big nasty tyranid things, other than infantry weapons and the H-K, not much can take 'em down other than direct hits with a BC, and those are damned hard to get.

[Deleted]

I'm a bit confused. "one of the BC's advantages is pinning" is it really? I've not played anyone saying I can do pinning with ordnance and that includes other guard players. The rulebook says about ordnance barrages but the 3 ordnance weapons in the codex are blast weapons. Am I missing something here?

oh and more on topic. I have a LR with hull lascannon and optional heavy bolter sponsons. That was more set up for the old hull down tank so if a weapon destroyed came my way I would still have a tank capable of antitank.
Ialso have a LR demolisher with lascannon in the hull and odd side sponsons. odd because I got it from a mate who made it with one side plasma and the other heavy bolter. Still need to fix that. Anyone got a suggestion on what the demolisher should have? All heavy bolters aswell?

[Deleted]

Battle cannons DON'T pin, ordnance barrage(ie: indirect fire earthshaker) does, normal ordnance does not.

And on topic I'd agree that lascannons on LR's are a total waste, stick to heavy bolters and heavy stubber :]

[Commissar]

If you truly are the fanciest of pants then you would know that a las cannon may be useful, keep open options, a demolisher should be infantry smashing, specially when it comes to urban, a normal leman russ can be a tank hunting hell raiser with his las and such, I guess it really comes down to personal preference.
I like to give my leman russ' a mix.

[Deleted]

The fancyness of my pants have nothing to do with my skill(or lack of xD) with the guard ^_^ Really what would I know.. I don't even use russes