Devastator Squads

[exoduster18]

I was wondering, what is the general consensus on Devastator Squads? I've heard that they pretty much just suck with focus being on Melta and Vehicles, especially since (generally) Devastator Squads are played as a static force.

My thoughts are to just use 5 Marines (1 Sergeant and then the 4 Heavy Weapons Specialists) and possibly stick them with a Razorback or just leave them without a Transport. I don;t really know what to do, so I am asking for your thoughts.

I would like to do a Marine "Gun Line" list and I think that for the most part I have it utilizing what models I already have. These are kind of the final piece.

[SombreBrotherhood]

In rare instances, Devs can be pretty cool. I've found, however, that their armament should only very rarely be anything other than heavy bolters or missile launchers. I go with ML when I do field them (which is rarely). MM are too short-ranged to ever be useful. The other weapons are simply too expensive, and if you want them that badly, buy them in a 10-man tactical and combat squad them.

Although I've had at least one shining moment with my Devs, I rarely bring them anymore because of their cost and lack of mobility. Taking a 5-man squad in a Rback sounds good, but I think you'll notice some shortcomings right off.

a) no ablative wounds. We all know that the sergeant is going to die first, but even he has the nifty grant a re-roll ability, so he's valuable. And the heavy weapon guys are the reason for the squad, so they're valuable too. The 5-man squad can be reduced to marginal very very quickly.

b) Dawn of War kills their usefulness. I know it's only one of the three types of mission deployment, but in any game where they're bottled up inside their Rback, that's a turn lost. My local tourneys generally use all 3 deployments in their course, so it does come up... Any turn they disembark is another turn lost. So, at best, you'll get 3-4 turns of shooting from them, which just isn't enough to defray their high cost. If you take a Rhino instead, you can at least bunker up and get two shots when you're standing still, which still isn't a deal.

So, my consensus is leave them at home. If you've already got the models, though, give them a try. I simply think that you'll get more mileage out of an AC/2xHB Predator for the money - heck, you can buy 1 and a half for the cost of 5 Devs with their least expensive loadout.

[Denzark]

Reckon long fangs are a different matter - thinking about Logan G in big games to make them relentless for poos and giggles...

[BuFFo]

As an IG and DE player, static Heavy Squads, like Devs, scare the crap out of me. Stick them in a bunker for that 3+c save, and its a waste trying to root them out for 3 turns, while they turn my Raiders and Russes into piles of rubble.

More importantly, these units tell me "hey! You come within 48" of this spot, and your dead!" They can be used to funnel the enemy's deployment.

[redrio]

I painted up a 10 man sqd with 4x Lascannon and the Sgt has a Power Sword. It's an expensive unit at 325 pts but my local scene lets me get good mileage outta them as people tend to load out with CC heavy MCs etc. To date, I haven't failed to get my points back then some.

It really depends on yout local meta...

For tournaments, the Predators are a far better choice.

[DarkLink]

I had a good game where i proxied Space Wolves, and used a Long Fang squad with HB's. They did a pretty good job, and were mostly ignored next to my Land Raider full of Wolf Guard and squads of Grey Hunters.

[Brother Tibirius]

For my part ,i love them and i pretty much always put at least a 5 men dev squad of a sarg and 4 missile launchers , wich are good against troops or armor wich mean's versatility and if i upgrade to a 10 men ,split in combat squad it gives me another 5 marine to support my tac squad.

[exoduster18]

What I was thinking of running was a 5 man squad with 2 MLs and 2 HBs. They get put in some ruins or in the central part of the battlefield to be better utilized. To go with them, would be a Razorback with the twin linked HBs (I have anti-tank in spades elsewhere in the army). These guys would primarily be ant-infantry with the MLs providing anti-tank if need be.

I also thinking of running a full 10 man squad just for the extra 5 Marines as bullet shield to those with the heavy weapons.

The other option would be to combat squad, leave the heavy weapons all with one squad in the center and use the other as essentially another Tac Squad to back those up on the board. Both teams would be transported in Razorbacks with HBs (are two transports for one unit entry even allowed?)

I like the last option better, but the first one is good to.

[Chadmack]

10 man squads work well in 2000 point games or more. At Battle in the vines this year I ran 2 x 10 man devastator squads to back up 60 tactical marines. This worked because it added more bodies to the field. I won 3 out of 5 games. I ran one with 4 missile launchers and a second with 3 plasma cannons and a heavy bolter. They were capable of taking out entire squads and didn't take much fire because I had 30 marines in rhinos barreling down on my opponent

5 man squads work well in small games of 1250 or less. I play in a progressive league that over 10 weeks grows from 750 points to 2000. In earlier games I find that 2 squads are better than other options such as vindicators because you need to take out 5 guys instead of 1 tank/dread. In short they are more resilient.

The other thing is that they should improve your comp score because they are theoretically easier to kill and cost more points.

In short
- Great for fire supporting horde/large gun lines
- Great bang for buck in small games
- More shots = more wounds = more failed saves

[Just_Me]

I have had some sobering confrontations with them on the other side, they are tough and reliable (like all Marines) and can reach out and touch almost anyone on a small (re. normal) board. They will draw fire, but put them in cover and they are going to weather at least a turn or two of even the most concentrated fire, during which time not only do they get to return fire, but the rest of your army is unhindered.

Personally I recently reworked mine with mixed HBs and Plasma Cannon and a full ten guys. I haven't taken them out for a spin since then, but the theory is they can threaten heavy/elite infantry (PCs are tailor made for that, and HBs have respectable strength and force lots of saves) or obliterate small groups of basic infantry (HBs with a Marine's BS are going to put a lot of hurt on these dudes while PCs will just vaporize them) depending on what I need, all for the not exactly prohibitive cost of 230pts. It remains to be seen if they work like I hope, but I have a good feeling about them.