IG Russ Sponsons

[Surisan]

If you use Leman Russ tanks, do you buy sponsons, and if so which ones? I currently have 1 Punisher and 1 Battle Tank in my army. I am not sure the sponsons are worth their points. Thoughts?

[Dwarflord17404]

1) for sponsons I go for synergy . If its is designed in your list to take out infantry then heavy bolters If it is a heavy infrantry killer than multi melta (added bonus can kill tanks )

2) Also consider range try to match ranges as best you can


3) sometimes no sponsons are best especially on the basic russ because it means more stuff

4) builds comes and go try to magnetize the options both for sponson and barrels

5) remember reduncy is key 1=0 2=1 for vehicles

[plasticaddict]

When I run Tanks I usually forego to sponsons, in order to use them you need to remain stationary and that's almost never a good idea. If I do run sponsons on a Russ it's HB on a Punisher with a hull HB and a Stubber for max effect on infantry. Or I will sometimes run HF sponsons on a Demolisher or Eradicator to fit the fluff of my Engineering section. Also if you're going to run one Punisher I say run three, there's noting quite as satisfying as rolling ninety-six dice at one time (I use nine yellow, twenty-seven red and sixty white dice)

[Sam]

In my experience the punisher isn't worth the points unless you just want to throw a lot of dice, in which case it can be loads of fun. That said:

1. Punisher get heavy bolter sponsons.
2. Executioner gets plasma cannon sponsons.
3. Battle Tank gets a lascannon in the hull and heavy bolter sponsons.
4. Demolisher gets multi-melta sponsons.

And I don't use any of the other varients.

[Grenadier]

If you use Leman Russ tanks, do you buy sponsons, and if so which ones? I currently have 1 Punisher and 1 Battle Tank in my army. I am not sure the sponsons are worth their points. Thoughts?

All of my tanks have sponsons. Of course this means they can only ever fire at their full potential if the tank doesn't move at all. But I find this to be very advantageous for me. Especially when I am the defender. My enemy has to walk into a hail of pure death.

Sponson choices for my tanks are dictated by the tanks role on the battlefield. I can field full three squadrons. One is an anti-tank squadron. The other is an anti-infantry and assault squadron. The last squadron acts as support for my Baneblade or any other units.

Anti-tank:

Vanquisher and Two Leman Russ tanks. All get the hull lascannon. Combined with the Vanquisher cannon and battle cannons they have a good chance of popping enemy armor. However, this leaves them vulnerable to infantry. So one tank gets plasma cannons in its sponsons for hard units like Terminators. The other two get heavy bolters.

Anti-Infantry and Assault:

Demolisher, Executioner, and Leman Russ:

Their job is to kill infantry and spearhead an assault. So the Demolisher, being most powerful, is the only one armed with any anti-tank weapons. It gets multi-meltas in its sponsons. The Executioner gets plasma cannons. It's a pure plasma nightmare. The Leman Russ gets heavy bolters. In this formation the Demolisher is supported by the other two as it is the lead tank. They all get hull lascannons to deal with any vehicular threats.

Support Squadron:

Three Leman Russ tanks with heavy bolter sponsons and lascannons in the hull mounts.

All sponsons are anti-infantry: heavy bolters. They all have hull lascannons. This squadron generally does not move. Instead it provides a solid knot of fire support. They can help to cover the advance of my other two squadrons as well as support various units like my artillery or Baneblade. When assigned to the Baneblade the four of them combined make an impressive spearhead. If this is the case the other two squadrons act independent from the spear head. However, most of the time this support squadron supports my infantry and heavy weapons teams.

[AbusePuppy]

There are a ton of viewpoints on LR sponsons and it will depend a lot on what you need that tank to do as well as personal preference, but most of the sponson choices have at least some use and none are absurdly priced, so they are worth thinking about. In all cases you will need to be thinking about what your hull-mounted weapon is in addition to your turret, as both of these will direct your choice (if any) of other guns.

It's important to remember that sponsons will only really be able to fire when you sit the tank still, as Lumbering Behemoth gives you your 1+1 guns, leaving the sponsons mostly useless on a turn that you move. This isn't an argument against them, but is something that you should at least think about- if your Russes need to stay mobile, you may be better off running them naked.

On the basic Russ I am a big fan of Heavy Bolter sponsons to go with a hull HB mount; this gives you a tank that can put out a fairly ridiculous amount of dakka even after the turret gets blown off and aids it in being a sort of generalist tank, as HBs have similarly long range with the main turret and can at least glance most tanks.

I don't like the Punisher mechanically, as I feel it's just too expensive for too little output, but I think if you're going to use it you might as well go Heavy Bolters all the way to keep it to its main role.

Heavy Flamer sponsons are probably the least useful due to the inability to realistically fire both of them and the short range. Plasma Sponsons will really only be seen alongside the Executioner for that "I hate Marines" specialist tank. Multimeltas are a weird one, as they aren't guns you can get many places in an IG list, but I think they have some value on tanks where you want to be shooting at enemy armor reasonably often (Demolisher, Exterminator.)

[Garradh]

I buy heavy bolter sponsons for my regular Russes just to give them some flexibility. It is a very standard config for me, with a hull lascannon and sponson heavy bolters. Shooting at infantry? Check! Shooting at tanks? Check! Gives them some flexibility. It's not that points-efficient, but I also rule-of-cool them, it makes the models look so much better!

[newtoncain]

I magnetized my sponsons
When I do run them it is HB for most, PC for Demo and MM for Vanq.

[SolidGopher]

When I use sponsons, i usually use bolters. they are good on most any russ, and have a rate of fire that makes up for their low power compared to the other options. I take plasma on occasion usually in lower point games as a way to put a couple plasma cannons on the field just for some extra AP 2 power. I never run with melta, I've come to figure that if I'm close enough for the extra D6 for melta, then I'm too close. i should have popped any armor long before it gets that close to me and if I'm using it on infantry, then I'm doing something wrong, but it wont mater, the tanks going to be punched to death next turn anyway -_-

[Dorsai]

On my Executioners I almost always run with plasma sponsons. Having the same range as the main cannon puts the fear of the Emperor into my opponents. I'll leave the heavy bolter on the hull just to try and control the points of if.

As to other variants, haven't really done much with them, so I'm still not sure what to put on them. One thing I am always looking at though is synergy. I like to be able to to use as many weapons as possible if the tank doesn't move. this means I try to match ranges as much as possible. But in my experience, I can trust on a LR to draw a lot of fire away from my infantry if it has the plasma. Marine players really don't like that much AP2 fire coming at them.