Best Fortifications?

[Lord Krungharr]

What are people liking in the ways of Fortifications these days? There are so many to choose from now.

I play Daemons and Chaos Marines, and we seem to lack anti-air power, so I was thinking that Firestorm Redoubt might be a good one in which to invest. Another one I have considered is the Fortress of Redemption, as it has the Icarus and the Krakstorm Missiles, plus heavy bolters for all around support.
Of course the Aquila Strongpoint of both sorts has its appeal for bigger games where anything goes. I haven't used buildings at all ever. Seems like they should die as easily as vehicles. I'll go read the rules again and see if I'm missing something?

The Skyshield Pad has proven useful as well, of course not vs Strength D.

[GravesDisease]

With firestorm you are paying a premium for that huge vision slit and capacity. If you don't run a gunline army then it may be a bit of a waste. If you just wanted the twin linked auto fire icarus lascannons dont forget that you can run the exact same weapons in a vengeance battery for less points (with the added benefit of not being able to be captured).

As boring as it is, however, a quad gun manned by someone with decent USRs I have found to be most effective and versatile. Don't forget you can take the quad guns with things other than the aegis (such as the wall of martyrs bunker).

[This Dave]

I don't do much with Fortifications but I'm becoming a fan of the Bunker or Bastion with a quad gun or Icarus on it. With the Stronghold Assault rules the weapons become emplaced so the thing will shoot even if my troops abandon it or get killed off the battlements. If I have the points adding a Void Shield can help keep my guys alive on the battlements or if there are too many cover ignoring things going on they can run inside it and still shoot out.

[Lord Krungharr]

Ah, I see. I haven't ordered the Stronghold book yet (next Saturday I'll take care of that).

Emplaced weapons can be fired if the building is occupied. But from my reading, that means models must be Embarked within the building. And from what I can tell, being on the battlements does not count as Occupying the building. So if both of those are correct, must someone be in base to base with the gun to fire it at a BS other than BS2?

[This Dave]

Ah, I see. I haven't ordered the Stronghold book yet (next Saturday I'll take care of that).

Emplaced weapons can be fired if the building is occupied. But from my reading, that means models must be Embarked within the building. And from what I can tell, being on the battlements does not count as Occupying the building. So if both of those are correct, must someone be in base to base with the gun to fire it at a BS other than BS2?

Right, the Emplaced weapons fire at BS of 2 unless someone is either embarked in the building or on the battlements for the quad-gun/Icarus. And in Stronghold Assault if you buy a building then it starts as yours wether or not you actually have anything in/on it.

With my Guard a Quad-gun firing at BS of 2 only hits 1 time less on average than if I have someone manning it. But also with my Guard I usually have more than enough guys to man the thing and still drown my enemy in bodies. :)

[GravesDisease]

Be warned, pesky enemy infiltrators however can deploy into your unmanned fortifications and take them over.