Heavy Bolters vs. Missile Launchers vs. Plasma Cannons vs. Autocannons
I just watched the Heavy Bolter video from BeastsofWar and it got me thinking about a weapon I very, very rarely take, the Heavy Bolter. But is it as good as they claim.
They favor the HB because it puts out three S5 shots a round with an AP of 4. At BS 4, 2 should hit a round. Range 36". Not shabby and fairly good at killing anything but MEQ. Capable of Overwatch. As they point out, it can glance light vehicles (and the number of shots makes it an option vs. flyers) which in 6th Ed. can kill them. The primary thrust of their argument relies on weight of fire (AKA if you shoot it enough times, it will die) over other considerations. This has much validity, of course. While three shots should, statistically guaranty a miss, it should also tend to reduce the instances of a totally effectless round of shooting. (The more you roll, the closer to average your results should become.)
If your meta is like mine, then transports are way down. In fact, light vehicles are generally way down. If you see them, you see a LOT of them. How does this play out? Well if there are a lot of vehicles, you may have a problem because this strategy relies upon a lot of shots to kill a vehicle, meaning you have to concentrate a lot of UNITS on one victim and that will let the others come at you. Moreover, the things you want to shoot most are probably going to be in things you can't even glance (Necron barges, Land Raiders, etc.). By contrast, the other three weapons I mentioned in the title can all glance a barge and the Missile Launcher can glance a Land Raider if it is really lucky.
Against a transportless army, the heavy bolter is still quite effective. It gets three S5 shots, though at the weakest strength and 12" less range than the other weapons i'm talking about here. It shines the most on overwatch and in motion though because it has the best chance of rolling at least one six.
The missile launcher has versatility of shots that the others lack. It can, if it hits kill as many or more than the heavy bolter, but it will, 1/3 of the time miss outright and then, at least 1/6 of the time, fail to wound. The missile launcher can instant death T4 multi-wound enemies like Screamers though, and that is a significant advantage. However, it scatters if you go for blast (though in a dense enough infantry army, it should still hit someone). It has fewer shots than the autocannon or the heavy bolter as well. The launcher is also able to be AP3 and do so at 12" more range than the heavy bolter or the plasma cannon.
Plasma Cannons beat TEQ and MEQ armor and are blast weapons. This means scatter as discussed above plus they cannot overwatch or shoot on the move. They have the same range as the heavy bolter as well. It does have two more strength though so it will wound most things on a 2+. It can, however, come back and bite you in the butt if you roll poorly; the only weapon that has to potential to do that in this list.
Autocannons are only available to CSM. However, they offer a lot of the same benefits as the heavy bolter and 12" more range. They give two shots to three, but have two more strength making them better at killing when they hit and better at destroying light and even medium vehicles. However, a total miss is more likely. They can overwatch and shoot on the move (though the fewer shots really starts to matter if you do this). MEQ and TEQ get their armor saves here too so if you can hit more often, you have a better chance of killing one. As compared to the heavy bolter, this comes down to whether or not you are better wounding 1/6 more often or making them make an additional save occasionally that they will fail 1/6 more often. I suspect you are better with the S7, especially when the toughness climbs above four as discussed below.
Then there are the monstrous creatures, artillery, etc. S5 really isn't doing it against these T7 guys, whereas the other three weapons discussed here do much better in this contest. Granted, monstrous creatures also often have invulnerable saves and that makes the three shots nice, but it would seem to even out if the chance of wounding is the same as the chance of missing a save. Personally, against a monstrous creature, I like the autocannon best, then probably the plasma cannon.
So, after thinking about it, I still think of these four heavy weapons, the heavy bolter is still he weakest. And it cannot claim to be the most versatile. If you play Chaos, the autocannon is usually better. For everyone the missile launcher is still probably the most versatile in terms of the targets it is capable of dealing with (though it has the most chance of missing outright). Against MEQ and TEQ, the plasma cannon is best, but against almost anything else it isn't. Why pay for plasma when the missile launcher kills tau just as well? The heavy bolter should produce the most average (consistent) results, however.
I will probably still play with the heavy bolters, to see if I am right. They are cheap, after all (though for vanilla marines the missile launcher is free, another point in its favor). I think I may well prefer the heavy bolter on my Land Speeder Typhoon even. For starters, it is compared to a multi-melta which wasn't even discussed here, but it has more to do with the engagement range from which the Land Speeder fights. The Typhoon floats around my back field making long range shots until the enemy gets round to seriously shooting at it. Often, the multi-melta is out of range for a good half the turns and does nothing. The extra 12" offered by the heavy bolter (and at reduced cost) may be more effective because it gets to shoot that much more often.
Anyway, those are my thoughts; what are yours?
They favor the HB because it puts out three S5 shots a round with an AP of 4. At BS 4, 2 should hit a round. Range 36". Not shabby and fairly good at killing anything but MEQ. Capable of Overwatch. As they point out, it can glance light vehicles (and the number of shots makes it an option vs. flyers) which in 6th Ed. can kill them. The primary thrust of their argument relies on weight of fire (AKA if you shoot it enough times, it will die) over other considerations. This has much validity, of course. While three shots should, statistically guaranty a miss, it should also tend to reduce the instances of a totally effectless round of shooting. (The more you roll, the closer to average your results should become.)
If your meta is like mine, then transports are way down. In fact, light vehicles are generally way down. If you see them, you see a LOT of them. How does this play out? Well if there are a lot of vehicles, you may have a problem because this strategy relies upon a lot of shots to kill a vehicle, meaning you have to concentrate a lot of UNITS on one victim and that will let the others come at you. Moreover, the things you want to shoot most are probably going to be in things you can't even glance (Necron barges, Land Raiders, etc.). By contrast, the other three weapons I mentioned in the title can all glance a barge and the Missile Launcher can glance a Land Raider if it is really lucky.
Against a transportless army, the heavy bolter is still quite effective. It gets three S5 shots, though at the weakest strength and 12" less range than the other weapons i'm talking about here. It shines the most on overwatch and in motion though because it has the best chance of rolling at least one six.
The missile launcher has versatility of shots that the others lack. It can, if it hits kill as many or more than the heavy bolter, but it will, 1/3 of the time miss outright and then, at least 1/6 of the time, fail to wound. The missile launcher can instant death T4 multi-wound enemies like Screamers though, and that is a significant advantage. However, it scatters if you go for blast (though in a dense enough infantry army, it should still hit someone). It has fewer shots than the autocannon or the heavy bolter as well. The launcher is also able to be AP3 and do so at 12" more range than the heavy bolter or the plasma cannon.
Plasma Cannons beat TEQ and MEQ armor and are blast weapons. This means scatter as discussed above plus they cannot overwatch or shoot on the move. They have the same range as the heavy bolter as well. It does have two more strength though so it will wound most things on a 2+. It can, however, come back and bite you in the butt if you roll poorly; the only weapon that has to potential to do that in this list.
Autocannons are only available to CSM. However, they offer a lot of the same benefits as the heavy bolter and 12" more range. They give two shots to three, but have two more strength making them better at killing when they hit and better at destroying light and even medium vehicles. However, a total miss is more likely. They can overwatch and shoot on the move (though the fewer shots really starts to matter if you do this). MEQ and TEQ get their armor saves here too so if you can hit more often, you have a better chance of killing one. As compared to the heavy bolter, this comes down to whether or not you are better wounding 1/6 more often or making them make an additional save occasionally that they will fail 1/6 more often. I suspect you are better with the S7, especially when the toughness climbs above four as discussed below.
Then there are the monstrous creatures, artillery, etc. S5 really isn't doing it against these T7 guys, whereas the other three weapons discussed here do much better in this contest. Granted, monstrous creatures also often have invulnerable saves and that makes the three shots nice, but it would seem to even out if the chance of wounding is the same as the chance of missing a save. Personally, against a monstrous creature, I like the autocannon best, then probably the plasma cannon.
So, after thinking about it, I still think of these four heavy weapons, the heavy bolter is still he weakest. And it cannot claim to be the most versatile. If you play Chaos, the autocannon is usually better. For everyone the missile launcher is still probably the most versatile in terms of the targets it is capable of dealing with (though it has the most chance of missing outright). Against MEQ and TEQ, the plasma cannon is best, but against almost anything else it isn't. Why pay for plasma when the missile launcher kills tau just as well? The heavy bolter should produce the most average (consistent) results, however.
I will probably still play with the heavy bolters, to see if I am right. They are cheap, after all (though for vanilla marines the missile launcher is free, another point in its favor). I think I may well prefer the heavy bolter on my Land Speeder Typhoon even. For starters, it is compared to a multi-melta which wasn't even discussed here, but it has more to do with the engagement range from which the Land Speeder fights. The Typhoon floats around my back field making long range shots until the enemy gets round to seriously shooting at it. Often, the multi-melta is out of range for a good half the turns and does nothing. The extra 12" offered by the heavy bolter (and at reduced cost) may be more effective because it gets to shoot that much more often.
Anyway, those are my thoughts; what are yours?
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