Tactics confession - I don't 'get' Plasma Cannons...

[Denzark]

A small one thought from me - I simply don't understand the worth of Plasma cannons, and in the face of the impending ability for DA terminators to use them, I thought I would ask for help.

My problem is this. With the exception of deepstrike, I rarely see an MEQ player of any competence cluster his troops up - to stop blast templates. Now I believe you are compelled to place the template with the hole of the template over the target miniature. Therefore, if accurate, and if my experience of competent players holds true, the plasma cannon will kill 1 MEQ in a turn it hits.

If it misses however, there is absolutely no way to guarantee which way it will scatter. So you can't rely on the 2/3 chance of a scatter to get more hits.

So, 1 shot, gets hot, not Instant Death as S7 vs MEQ T4; what actually is there to like compared to any other HW out there?

[Wolfshade]

If we consider what the alternatives are you have the

* Heavy Flamer - Short Ranged, Tempalte so if ranged correctly you can hit a bunch of guys but high AP and relatively low S means that it is good vs. hordes but not so reliable against MEQ

* Assault Cannon - Multiple shots and the possibility of rending, but still suffers from having a high AP and only slightly stronger S than Heavy Flamer so again is good vs hordes and some of the less tough elites/big bugs. Good range

* Plasma Cannon - The blast & Gets Hot rule are a bit of a downer and as you say will rarely hit more than one minature at a time and won't cause instant death, but it is AP2 so is very good. But a good range.

* Cyclone Missile Launcher - Good range and choice between Frag/Krak means that it is versatile horde & elite (even light vehicles), it doesn't get hot and can cause instant death.

Hmm, I started this comparison with the thought of coming down in favour of the Plasma Cannon, however, from my run down I think the the Cyclone missile launcher is the better option and you still get your storm bolter shots.

Actually, I think I might convert my heavy weapons to Cyclone missile launchers.

I agree with you, the only thing I can think of is that it helps with a unified plasma astethic across the whole DA range and it gives them something unique which gives them a niche...

[Psychosplodge]

I doubt I'd take them Individually, Plasma cannons work in fours...where you're bound to get some overlap, also I found them handy for taking out clusters of daemons as they spawned(not sure if thats still how daemons appear)

[Mr Mystery]

It's disuassion.

Anything capable of reliably dropping Terminators is likely to be terrified of Plasma. Terrain can often see your troops bunched up, whether you want to or not (assuming you're using enough on the board). These coupled together, and you're onto a win with Plasma.

[Majorcrash]

For those of us who dont play just space marines in their many flavors ( yea all 5 of us). Plasma is great for keeping things like termies away. i hope for a scatter as i can usually get 2 with one shot. In 5th ed my favorite tank was the exterminator, even for the price, a 3 shot plasma turret and then 1 each from the sponsons. On a good day could take out 3-4 termies even with shields. And against pwr armor the kills were better. Now days I just rely on mass las guns and pray a little.

[ElectricPaladin]

To second Wolfshade and add my own thoughts:

Plasma is S7, AP2, which is pretty powerful.

Plasma cannons let you deliver that up to 36'' away.

And, if that wasn't enough, I have often found that I can place the blast template to hit at least two models. Perhaps not when I'm shooting at large-base opponents, like terminators, but it's very effective against smaller targets.

[bfmusashi]

Once upon a time, an Inquisitor Lord with two mystics next to a Leman Russ Executioner was a holy terror for deep striking assault troops. If I ever get a chance to play using the Grey Knights codex I'll certainly have plasma cannon servitors with Coteaz.

[Denzark]

Interesting stuff. As qualified, beyond the deepstrike, I rarely see MEQ (or anyone beyond ork masses for that matter) blobbed together so that the 1 1/2" radius template can be placed legally and get more than one. Coteaz would be an interesting dynamic for sure, as is the executioner.

[Aegwymourn]

Mr. Mystery has it spot on. Typically one or two plasma cannons are not scary enough for this. But having a team of 4 can seriously change how your opponent deploys and approaches that whole 36" range. In a close game putting your opponent off balance like this can have a huge impact on how the game turns out.

[Martel732]

A small one thought from me - I simply don't understand the worth of Plasma cannons, and in the face of the impending ability for DA terminators to use them, I thought I would ask for help.

My problem is this. With the exception of deepstrike, I rarely see an MEQ player of any competence cluster his troops up - to stop blast templates. Now I believe you are compelled to place the template with the hole of the template over the target miniature. Therefore, if accurate, and if my experience of competent players holds true, the plasma cannon will kill 1 MEQ in a turn it hits.

If it misses however, there is absolutely no way to guarantee which way it will scatter. So you can't rely on the 2/3 chance of a scatter to get more hits.

So, 1 shot, gets hot, not Instant Death as S7 vs MEQ T4; what actually is there to like compared to any other HW out there?

I believe you can put the blast over any part of any base. So you often can get 3 targets. If you hit. Basically, it's a huge risk vs reward weapon. When it works, its devastating. In the hands of a BS 4 marines, its almost BS 3 in terms of hitting where you want. The primary downfall is that it allows cover saves, which hurts its killing ability significantly. But units caught out in the open can outright be eliminated with these things.