Life without Melta?

[sirrouga]

I been going through some army concepts and looking into Space Marines and Imperial Guard and looking into having little to none melta in my armies. Partly due to all the spam going around and to fit my army concepts more (Brotherhood of Nod Imperial Guard and Fire Lords Space Marines are the two I'm looking into right now).

So are there ways to do no melta lists with these armies or are meltas just too good to pass up?

[crazyredpraetorian]

I have had good luck with limited(atleast for IG) melta. I run the typical triple melta in one vet squad, one melta in the 2nd vet squad, along with 2x plasma, and one ten man squad with a melta. My command, platoon command and other 2 squads use sniper rifles and hvy weapons. The snipers work pretty well against MCs and any troops that aren't Stubborn or Fearless, and they pop light armor occasionally.

[Shadoq]

Personally....


For the SMs it is hard not to take melta. It compliments them very very well. SMs usually want to get in close and potentially want to assault in addition to having good BS. Melta compliments this well because it is an assault weapon and can be used on the Attack Bikes which are absolutely devastating in my experience. Additionally, it can be mounted on the Land Raiders. Besides all of this, take Vulkan and all your meltas are twin linked and the dice gods roar their displeasure.

For IG, the standard seems to be mech vets with 3X Melta. I understand the power/appeal of it popping tanks and infantry in the face but at the same time, I think and seen it be a one-trick pony. If you're mounted in Chims, you have to be close, and even closer to get your extra D6 and you're talking Av12 on the front and AV10 on the sides and rear which is bleh... . If you're in Valks, Vendettas and drop off close, it gets you close to the target but makes the bird generally very vulnerable and throwing 100+ pts down the tube is not my version of a good idea.

The problem for guard is then what to take if not melta. Flamers while 3 together would make me giggle are too short range. Plasma guns are not worth it for me. The opportunity to kill myself, cost, and the fact they're rapid fire is off putting to me. Melta would do their job better. Personally I run my vets with grenade launchers. They are assault weapons which match very nicely with my Primaris Psykers. S6 krak shots can damage light vehicles, and wound nasty creatures. Their Achilles heal most of the time is that they're only AP4 and guess which armor save is used most by WH40K players? 3+.

Can you do without melta? Absolutely. It all depends on your play style. I tell a good friend of mine who is getting into the hobby this: An army list might work for me, but be an epic failure for him. Example: I hate bolters and usually take none in my BT army, but the same army usually makes a mess at my local game. store. If you're going fluffy and you don't want melta, stick to your guns, you might enjoy the challenge it presents...


Sorry for the long winded ramble

[SandWyrm]

So are there ways to do no melta lists with these armies or are meltas just too good to pass up?

It could be done, but you're gonna have a hard time popping AV14 without it.

Speaking as an IG player... Medusas, Manticores, Demolishers, and Vanquishers could get the job done, but each of those is only a single shot. Even if you hit and penetrate, you're only getting a single die roll on the vehicle damage table. Which limits their effectiveness compared to a Chimelta Vet unit that only costs 155 points. Efficiency-wise, it's no-contest.

[BuFFo]

I been going through some army concepts and looking into Space Marines and Imperial Guard and looking into having little to none melta in my armies. Partly due to all the spam going around and to fit my army concepts more (Brotherhood of Nod Imperial Guard and Fire Lords Space Marines are the two I'm looking into right now).

So are there ways to do no melta lists with these armies or are meltas just too good to pass up?

My IG have been using Lascannons since the new book came out, and I am perfectly happy with non meltas in my IG army.

Then again, I only take Veterans, so I hitting on a wonderful BS instead of the regular infantry guardsman.

[Aldramelech]

Ive got two Meltas in my whole army, One in each Platoon Cmd. Squad, and neither has ever fired a shot in anger so far.
I'm considering ditching them altogether.

[Cryl]

For marines it's possible to take no meltas just be prepared for the cost of lascannons instead. I played melta when 5th came out, I bought into the "melta is great" theme, I recently went back to my old lascannon based marine list and enjoyed playing it more. I'm sure there are plenty of people who will explain why this isn't the optimal tactical use of marines but it works for me.

[BuFFo]

As an IG player, I am not a fan of 'going to the enemy' so for me, Vets in a Chimera with meltas is not appealing at all.

I like to hang back with Lascannons, and use Creed to twin link the cannons against vehicles. Its so awesome!

[Chumbalaya]

Without melta marines have big problems with heavy armor, lascannons can only do so much. To nail AV14, you'll need either S10 ordance, Dreads in HtH, or lascannons en masse (something to the tune of 27 shots to get a destroyed result).

[Cryl]

Without melta marines have big problems with heavy armor, lascannons can only do so much. To nail AV14, you'll need either S10 ordance, Dreads in HtH, or lascannons en masse (something to the tune of 27 shots to get a destroyed result).

That's the arguement that made me buy in to the 'melta is great' theme in 5th ed. What I've found (and this is personal experience so I accept it'll vary by gaming group) is that there's not really all that much AV14 around and lascannons give me that much more range that I can get extra shots off that balance against the AP1 and 2D6 pen of a melta.