Weapon Options

Right so i see so many Army lists, battle reports and tactics ideas online and i have to ask whats the obsession with Lascannons? I mean everywhere i look people are fielding Land Raiders, Predator Annihilators, Devastator squads with 4 Lascannons etc. I mean don't get me wrong they can be very useful when trying to tear down enemy armour. But most of the time i find i'm against a small amount of armour and a much larger amount of infantry.

Lascannons only get one shot per turn, and even with a Space Marines BS of 4 thats just not enough to do any serious damage, you need to have the option of hitting for 2-3 kills per turn against infantry as well as being able to tear through the enemy armour. In other words Missile Launchers rock! They can bring down anything short of a Land Raider if you use enough of them and they can also use frag shells to absolutely desimate infantry squads. It also depends on your opponent. For example i play against my Dad more than anyone, and hes a keen Dark Eldar player. Lascannons are wasted against Dark Eldar, when you consider it's possible (albeit difficult) to bring down a Raider, Venom or Ravager with a Bolt Pistol and Heavy Bolters and Heavy Flamers are both capable of bringing down either of their flyers.

When you also consider the possibility of close combat equipment like Melta Bombs or Power Fists against vehicle armour Lascannons are completely unessacery against Dark Eldar, However due to there numbers your going to need template weapons and weapons with higher rates of fire like Heavy Bolters, Assault Cannons and even at a push Autocannons. I've found Baal Predators with Flamestorm Cannons, and Heavy Flamer side sponsons can be particularly effective against Dark Eldar.

Weapons like Lascannons, and Multi-Meltas however can be particularly effective against vehicles. Autocannons once again can be good against light armour and so can Assualt Cannons because of their Rending special rule. If your fighting against an Imperial Guard army with a large focus on Armour for example this is an ideal time to use these kinds of weapons. Plasma Cannons are a fantastic all round choice cos of their high strength and blast template as well.

The real thing to take from this is rather than just buying a kit and instantly building it with as many lascannons as possible think about what battles your likely to be facing in the near future. The other possibility is magnetise your models so you can switch between weapon variants for different battles. That can allow you to use your highest firing rate weapons against the likes of eldar and dark eldar whilst being able to get some real tank slayers against imperial guard and space marines.

Cheers