Twin linked lascannon OR twin linked plasma gun and lascannon? Which is the best load out for your Razorbacks and why.Razorwolves spam has been and gone, then come back again. To be honest, ever since the Space Wolves codex was released everyone and his wolf has been buying Razorback transports for their Long Fangs.
At the Space Wolves blog we swear by them. Not only for lending much needed fire support, but also to get your Long Fangs into position as quickly as possible.
Now I've seen all kinds of Razorback load outs, but for the Space Wolves only 2 really matter and that's Twin Linked Lascannon and Twin Linked Plasma Gun & Lascannon.
You can keep your twin linked heavy flamers and your twin linked assault cannons. What this army needs is more long ranged, high strength firepower with a low AP.
I'm even looking to squeeze some points out of my existing 1500pts army list to upgrade my 5 man Grey Hunter squad's Razorback to carry twin linked lascannons. The free twin linked heavy bolters simply aren't cutting the mustard -and I need MORE lascannons!
But with every tourney player harping on about las/plas Razorbacks, is the old skool 2nd edition Razorback really much better than the twin lascannon Razorback?
Time for some mathammer and real life reasoning!
TWIN LINKED LASCANNON
For 75 points the twin linked lascannon Razorback isn't a bad investment for your points.
Range 48", Ballistic Skill 4 and should you miss, you can reroll to hit.
It's the reroll that's really saved my bacon on numerous occasions and in the Space Wolves army you need all the lascannons you can get to take out anything with Armour 13 or above. Krak missiles simply don't hit hard enough when it comes to heavily armoured targets or even Space Marine Terminators for that matter.
TWIN LINKED PLASMA GUN & LASCANNON
Alternatively you can get a single lascannon and a twin linked plasma gun for the same points.
You've got the range, high strength and reliable Ballistic Skill for the lascannon.
Then you've got a second weapon in the form of the twin linked plasma gun. This is a weapon that's also rare in the Space Wolves army -and if it isn't, your Grey Hunters need to take more melta guns!
Stationary your Razorback can fire both weapons at light armoured tanks or heavily armoured infantry. On the move, the Razorback can fire a single weapon: the lascannon for tanks and the twin linked plasma gun for infantry or rapid firing lightly armoured vehicles up close.
CONCLUSION
Due to its versatility the Razorback with the twin linked plasma gun and single lascannon is superior for its points. It's also more survivable as it requires 2 Weapon Destroyed results before it becomes useless.
But on a personal note, my Razorbacks are always moving, so I'm only ever going to be firing 1 weapon and it's going to be the lascannon. I also need the reroll to hit quite often, although this could just be my poor luck.
However, with Grey Knights and other close combat Space Marine knocking on my door, 3 Razorbacks with las/plas is very appealing to help hold a point.
Preferably, the enemy will come within rapid fire range (the fools) and be on the receiving end of 3 twin linked plasma guns and 3 lascannons. That's 9 high strength, AP2 shots that's going to mess up monstrous creatures and Space Marines alike while providing the Space Wolves with some much needed AP2 firepower.
But as always, we leave the decision of what to take entirely up to you. We appreciate that no two players are ever the same and that their Space Wolves lists rarely are.
So what feels right for you? What do you field and why?
20 comments:
June 27, 2011 at 2:16 PM
The las/plas is superior. you get 2 weapons, you have BS 4 so dont miss that often.
It is ok that if you move you can fire only 1 weapon, but we outshoot nearly every army out there, which forces them to come toweards us, and if you need to, drive 1 round, and you suddenly have range over the whole of midfield with the plasmas as well. And who wouldn't like the potential for 1 str 9 and 2 str 7 ap 2 shots from a 75 point tank?
I swear by the las/plas, as long as I play space wolves, that is ;)
June 27, 2011 at 2:22 PM
As a Blood angels player, LasPlas is the only way to go. With our Fast Chassis, we can move 6" and fire both, or 12" and still fire one. The fact that we essentially get them for 55 points isn't bad either.
You just have to add a little more lascannons in to account for the less accurate fire.
June 27, 2011 at 2:36 PM
Only way to go as a BA player? I beg to differ. Both the tw.l. assault cannon and tw.l. heavy flamer are really viable. If I were to use las plas razorbacks I would use another codex :p
June 27, 2011 at 3:04 PM
I field my two Long Fang packs' razorbacks with twin-linked lascannons. They SHOULDN'T be that close to the enemy (they typically are, but, hey, I can hope). My small Grey Hunter pack I have a las/plas since someone is going to try to shake 'em off the objective I've got them on. The extra firepower is nice then.
June 27, 2011 at 3:06 PM
As a BA player, I've been using 3xTL Assault Cannon Razorbacks alongside my 3 Tl Assault cannon baal predators. Lately, though, I've been considering switching the Razorbacks to LasPlas and TlLascannons, for more reliable transport popping.
My friend plays Space Wolves and he generally runs TLLascannons on his Longfang's razorbacks mostly because he can't roll a 3+ to save his life. His LasPlas misses that lascannon almost every time he fires. Our Local metagame has turned to massive 2+ armor save though, so I've been pushing him to go with 2-3 LasPlas razorbacks with Plasmagun grey hunters inside to help with the waves of 2+ saves.
June 27, 2011 at 4:29 PM
I'm always playing a small Greyhunter pack with a Plasma Gun an a LasPlas Razorback. Thery job is to proteckt my Longfangs from shocking troops an grap a missionmarker at the end of the game. They've never let me down =)
June 27, 2011 at 6:27 PM
I'm a bit unusual in that I actually run small packs of hunters with WG in razors. So when I get a chance to start playing again, i'm going to take one each of TLAss cannon, TLLas and LasPlas. Maybe even a TL heavy flamer 'GASP!'. This way the razor load out will synergise with the squad load out. Oh... I don't melta spam either 'GAAAASP!!'.
But my LF's will always have TLLas. Because I simply NEED that las to hit EVERY TIME!
June 27, 2011 at 9:10 PM
I only run lasplas in my lists. Its extremely effective. It does mean my razorbacks basically find cover and sit still for most games, or have to constantly weigh the benefits of moving vs. the need to pour out fire, BUT:
1) Stuff will always come into range of your plasma guns. I've never played a game where I didn't fire all of my las/plas guns at least once, and usually they are firing throughout the late stages.
2) Plasma guns are really effective. I have a nasty tendency of missing with my lascannons. I can't count the number of times I've destroyed important targets with the plasma gun. They especially excel against armies that like to outflank or need to be in CC--and they make other armies think twice about getting close.
3) Drop-pod armies. Blood Angels. IG with Vendettas. All of these things dislike LasPlas. (I remember a game where I completely tore up 3 IG Vendettas, two of which were killed by plasma shots).
4) 4 LasPlas a day keep the grey knights away (unless they have psi-bolting riflemen dreads).
5) Extra weapons are great. It keeps the razorbacks sticking around, and a working razorback is always useful.
6) If you can't destroy a target with multiple single lascannon shots, its time to blame the dice. Or add some more longfangs.
June 27, 2011 at 10:30 PM
with the new rules coming out that you mentioned before. I agree lasPlas is the way to go for most jobs.
But the fact that it will be harder to his moving targets in the new rules. it has to be twin las
June 28, 2011 at 3:00 AM
I find that single las cannon to be very inaccurate when in reality I know that the previous roll has no impact on the next one. I keep thinking about swapping it out but I can't let myself be swayed by superstition.
June 28, 2011 at 3:28 AM
I run LasPlas, but I only field Razorbacks for my Grey Huntes, not my Long Fangs. They get placed at the start of the game, and they don't move.
June 28, 2011 at 3:29 AM
Okay, we all like the firepower of the las/plas. But consider what it takes to fire 3 shots at a target or a unit. You can't move, and you're in charge range of whatever brassed-off target you'd better have just killed. At the end of that charge? A fistload of automatic hits. A one-weapon loadout loses none of its effectiveness after a 6" move. Me,I dropped the razorplas a while ago and haven't regretted it once.
June 28, 2011 at 5:43 AM
My choices are limited by the fact I have the old model Razorbacks with three turrets, lasplas, twin-las and twin-bolter.
The twin-bolter houses a five man hunter unit for objective sitting. The other two run around with Long Fang packs to add to the unit firepower.
June 28, 2011 at 12:57 PM
LasPlas is nicer, much so, yet I still prefer the twin lascannons. I do play footsloggers, but I see the twin lascannon as a great tank killer. My GH have the plasma-death-kill, so for me, AT Razors are king.
June 28, 2011 at 7:57 PM
LasPlas
Plasmagun
Plasma Pistol
Combiplasma
Equals 7 high strength ap 2 shots at rapid fire range, enough to reduce most enemies to more manageable sizes.
June 29, 2011 at 1:17 PM
I've tried the las/plas but cant seem to make it work as by the time Im within plas range Its only netting me 2 shots that will MAYBE do something & 1 las shot isnt nearly enough to rely on. TL'ed Las is the way to go.
June 29, 2011 at 7:04 PM
Honestly, I don't think you can really go wrong with either build. However, I prefer a mix as noted by others. I have my troop choices with the Las/Plas option an the Long Fangs with TLLs. These along with 2-3 speeders gives you excellent tank hunting ability while giving your enemy too many things to shoot at (particularly when you factor in 2-3 squads of LFs).
June 30, 2011 at 12:48 PM
Good article.... it's a good debate that I don't think will ever get settled.
The short and sweet of it for me:
Personally I swear by the Twin-Las variant. It simply frees up my options with Long Fang weapons, and I find I play in a meta lately that sees a fair amount of Landraiders!
That settles the debate for me.
-Prot
July 1, 2011 at 5:03 AM
I just recently begun looking at the Razorback choice.
I run a Drop POd SW Army and are now adding two units of Plamsa Cannon fagns with a Razorback with Twin-Heavy Flamer each.
I usualy find my hunter squads a bit too slow, so the Razorbacks are there to move up midfield and act as fast transports for th epodding units. How it will turn out, I don't know =)
April 16, 2012 at 10:18 AM
Got to agree twin linked Las is the way forward, I've been using a Las/plas for the past few months and I think I only used the plasma guns once, the twin linked lascannons are so much more useful given the high frequency of mech armys out there, except Tryanids obviously, but still I'd take twin las unless against deathwing or some terminator based army
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