Is a Defence Line & Quad Gun almost necessary in an army

[DrLove42]

Fliers.

Fliers suck balls if you've got none and rock out hardcore if you've got some

So my question is this...for its points cost and the protection and offensive power it provides is a defence line (or a bastion!) with a quad gun (or Cannon if you want) a Necessary buy for most armies out there until air defences are more wide spread and available?

As a bit of backstory, i came 3rd in a 1500 point tournie yesterday. The winner used a defence line and 4 Necron fliers. 2nd place had a defence line. 4th place had 3 Storm Ravens. 5th had 5 flying Monstrous creatures. 7th had 4 flying MC's

Even if you do have fliers to defend you, is a Quad gun going to be one of the first things put down on an army list?

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Not necessarily, I find that I can easily hit Flyers if I just shoot at them.
The aim of the game here is; don't be a wimp, sure it's 6's to hit but you can still hit them. Everything except the Stormraven is still fragile so just point your gun at the sky and fire.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Weight of fire does for fliers. If you can hit them (and lots of dice will) they're generally pretty flimsy - the Stormtalon, for one, is AV11 and has two hullpoints, so it doesn't last long if it's targeted by moderately serious firepower. If the owner wants a save against some nasty fire they have to be firing snapshots themselves the next turn. Stuff like Autocannon/Heavy Bolter Guard heavy weapon teams using Bring It Down will do a decent job, as will anything with a twinlinked weapon that puts out a good number of S5/6+ shots.

Ork jets are vulnerable to bolter fire, even!

The quad gun is an obvious good choice, but I don't think it's essential.

[Diagnosis Ninja]

Have the points spare? Sure.

As others have said, you can kill them with weight of fire, which really isn't difficult with some armies, but if you're using a smaller army you may as well take it so that you can shoot other stuff too.

[Neelam]

Psybolt Riflemen do the job for me 4 shots at strength 8 with Twin-linked - you're going to cause SOME damage on average.

[Bellumvinco]

In my opp, the quad gun (and weapons like it) with it's Intercept ability is there to protect your flyers from enemy flyers entering play from reserve after yours. So, if you're playing with flyers, and they are a big part of your offense, a Intercept weapon is nice to have. It can help your flyer not need to leave the table because a enemy flyer is on your 6.

[thelion]

well one thing to consider is that the quad gun is a insurance policy against allot of flyers. and since it has decent range a good amount of punch and DOSE NOT HAVE TO BE USED ONLY AGAINST FLYERS it is a pretty useful against horde assault armys to take a little of the sting out of your opposer's assault phase so as far as i can see it is a prity good investment.

[Mr Mystery]

I'd say overall the defence line is the most subjectively useful of the fortifications, whether you take the Quadgun or not.

Fliers seem a tad overstated at the moment. As above, weight of fire does for them, and they are almost universally pretty flimsy once you actually hit them. Add in that their speed tends to see them isolated, and it's entirely possible portions of your army will have little else to fire at anyway.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

They're really quite tricky to keep on the board and pointed in the right direction to actually shoot things (this is why bombers are quite good, they can just buzz over things and hurt them). They're new and exciting and people are getting to grips with them at the moment - pretty soon they'll just be treated as another element of people's armies, with their advantages and disadvantages.

The Aegis Line/Quad Gun (although honestly the Lascannon is no slouch) seems a really worthwhile investment however you cut it (if you have the points and the inclination). It's not essential but it's certainly useful. There's some filthy things you can use it with, too: Techmarine bolster defences, or a Master of the Forge to do the same plus man the gun with BS5, or (if you're feeling like a little off-the-wall fun) Lysander with Sternguard behind a bolstered line. Try shifting that!

...actually that last one is a beautifully fluffy Imperial Fists idea, hmmm...

[redeyesez8]

I am still waiting for the new FAQ, hopefully my long fang can have some anti-air power :(

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

The Aegis Line/Quad Gun (although honestly the Lascannon is no slouch) seems a really worthwhile investment however you cut it (if you have the points and the inclination). It's not essential but it's certainly useful. There's some filthy things you can use it with, too: Techmarine bolster defences, or a Master of the Forge to do the same plus man the gun with BS5, or (if you're feeling like a little off-the-wall fun) Lysander with Sternguard behind a bolstered line. Try shifting that!

...actually that last one is a beautifully fluffy Imperial Fists idea, hmmm...

That's a tasty idea. *strokes chin*

[Yarlen Fireblade]

You can´t do that... Aegis Line is not a "Ruin" so can´t be fortified by either Lysander or a Techmarine.
Aegis defense lines and the gun emplacement come under "battlefield rubble" or something like that, same category as the shrine, shield generator, etc...

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Does it have to be a ruin to be fortified? Balls.

I like Lysander as a character anyway, I won a tournament with him at the weekend.

[Yarlen Fireblade]

Though cheap ***** with a lot of abilities to bolster your army while he just whacks things to the ground...

Just my type... :)

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

True that!

He beat the Swarmlord, Ghazghkull Thraka, Shrike, Celestine, and a couple of Warbosses.

[Yarlen Fireblade]

and if we continue to kiss his arse, he will come after us XDXD

Seriously, Aegis line come in "battlefield debris", way ahead a a different section from "ruins".

Aegis defence line and the quad gun are sooo much bang for your buck. 50 points on a gun that probably autokills all non av12 flyers the moment they come into play is way broken, AND also fires on land, AND is easy to man and defend, AND takes advantage of the firer´s abilities... The quad gun should at least have been an overwatch type of weapon, sacrifice firing for interceptor or something like that. I´m sure they´ll FAQ it to ground because if everyone takes the gun as standard everytime, most flyers will never be seen on table. And we´re getting this BEFORE GW even gave us a good AA faq to get armies and flyers to really make sense.

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Ah, interesting.
May invest in one for my Imperials.

[Kyban]

Huh, they FAQed bolster defenses differently for each army, GKs now affects any piece of terrain except the one you buy.

[Skandar]

Guardsman Marbo loves Aegis Quadgun lines.