Forgeworld Bulletin - new Astartes Heavy Weapons

[YorkNecromancer]

I think they're S4 AP6 18" Salvo 3/4, right? Basically miniguns, more a proto-Assault Cannon.

They're 30" S3 AP6 Salvo 3/4. So, lasguns with one more shot and much less range; they look cool as hell, but they're pretty much the worst gun in the whole of the Heresy - especially in those squads that can take them... Which can take Volkite weapons for the same price; weapons that actually stand a chance of killing things.

They're even worse when you consider that a standard Tactical marine in HH can make a 'Fury of The Legion' attack, and shoot twice with his boltgun (forgoing shooting the next turn), meaning that even a Marine with a boltgun is essentially equivalent to a Rotor Cannon (which may have 3" extra range, but remains only S3 AP6, which are, frankly, joke stats for Heresy-era gaming).

The only squad where they're relatively worthwhile is for Servitors, who get them for pennies, and can form a nice (relatively) cheap bodyguard for a Techmarine Covenant, or act as a fluffy little unit if you're doing stuff like the war for Mars.

But yeah, rules-wise they're complete turd. Just complete and utter turd. They're, like, Pyrovore-bad.

The one exception to this would be Imperial Fists and Blood Angels, who can take a Heavy Weapon squad, and swap out the Heavy Flamers for Iliastus-Pattern Assault Cannon (like 40K Assault Cannon, only they jam and become permanently unusable if you roll three or more 1's when rolling to hit). So you could then take these, and use them as Assault Cannon in Heavy Weapon squads, at which point they go from being turd to YES YES NOW NOW PLEASE ALL THE NOW

(As a side note, this means that Imperial Fists and Blood Angels can get Furioso Dreadnoughts with twin DCCW and two Assault Cannon for very few points indeed. Which is both bonkers and awesome, and hasn't been FAQ'd yet, to the best of my knowledge.)

As for the weapons here, the Rotor cannon looks ace (which just makes its horrible rules that much more galling) and the Space Crusade Missile Launcher is stunning.

Not overly sold on the other things.

I'd quite like to see a big sickle magazine on a heavy bolter rather than drum or belt, give it a different look

Yeah, those 2nd Ed shoulder-mounted Heavy Bolters look ace. Especially the original Scout ones...

[Kirsten]

I want a squad of world eaters with rotor cannons just because I like the idea of them blazing away, almost ork like. a big, noisy, brutal weapon.

noo, not shoulder mounted, properly carried

[YorkNecromancer]

noo, not shoulder mounted, properly carried

I love the shoulder mounted ones though.

So goofy, but so cool.

[Kirsten]

not a fan personally

[CoffeeGrunt]

They're 30" S3 AP6 Salvo 3/4. So, lasguns with one more shot and much less range; they look cool as hell, but they're pretty much the worst gun in the whole of the Heresy - especially in those squads that can take them... Which can take Volkite weapons for the same price; weapons that actually stand a chance of killing things.

Lasguns only have 24" range, so they outrange those, and AP6 is a nice bonus. Tbh, I'd actually like them as a man-portable Stubber platform for a special weapon on Guardsmen, if they were cheap.

Problem with Sickle Mags is that they don't store many bullets, so you'd be constantly reloading which would be a nuisance. Drum or belt make more sense for a machine gun with a high rate of fire.

That said, rule of cool...

[Fist of Dorn]

I love some of them (Rotor Cannon, Hvy Bolter) but some of them look a bit uninspiring
I think my problem is in how I see the weapons being used, Lascannons have always struck me as precision weapons that need to be sighted in like Sniper Rifles, as do Missile Launchers, though that probably has more to do with seeing green army men Bazooka teams than anything else.
Whilst Heavy Bolters etc, are more 'Pray and Spray' area suppression weapons. Incidentally I do know in 'real life' infantry support weapons are not used like that !
Slightly more seriously, I think having all the weapons underslung is a slight mistake, I do understand that the one of the main reasons for this is to get the most out of the Calth plastics, but I just think it leads to slightly blander units
I'm all for 'rule of cool' it's just in my opinion it works against it

[CoffeeGrunt]

There are other weapon options IIRC, so it's just a new line for those who like underslung, or just want special weapons compatible with the existing Calth plastics.

[grimmas]

Astartes armour is supposed to have auto senses that is linked to their weapons they should be able to see what the weapon "sees" so they don't have to aim them as an unaugmented human would. It does look better if they do though, rule of cool always wins . I believe It was the 2nd ed chaos marines who had the first rifle style heavy weapons.



They definitely had las cannons and auto cannons like it.

[YorkNecromancer]

I love some of them (Rotor Cannon, Hvy Bolter) but some of them look a bit uninspiring
I think my problem is in how I see the weapons being used, Lascannons have always struck me as precision weapons that need to be sighted in like Sniper Rifles, as do Missile Launchers

I think it's worth remembering that Marine power armour does a lot of the work for them. It's not like a regular human lifting a gun; there are going to be integrated smartgun links, as well as a variety of electrically motivated fibre-bundle systems that mean the armour aims a lot of the time: they're something closer to the way a mech or dreadnought works, rather than a man in a simple protective coat of ceramite. The Marine likely gets a targeting HUD in his helmet, drawing information from the weapon's integrated sights, his own armour, and feeds from his squad, as well as data being drawn from rest of the Marines around him; it is 30K after all, and so the Astartes technology is absolutely at its peak.

That would also explain why these particular models fell from favour in the 41st millenium; the systems necessary for hip-fire aiming that was as accurate as shoulder mounted simply didn't exist any more, having been lost in the anarchy of the post-heresy era.

[Kirsten]

you will have the option of shoulder carried or not shortly, so everybody will be able to use whichever they think is cooler