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Reading through the armoured formation list from FW. The Destroyer shoots a S10 Ap2 Ordnance shot, Its not blast, only hits 50% of the time and the unit is more expensive than a vanquisher.

Is there any point to this unit or is it one of Forge Worlds famous fluffy units? At least the conqueror and thunderer are cheaper than their LRBT counterparts.

Reasons it used to be good:
S10 ordnance used to be harder to find (IIRC AP 1 didn't add +1 to damage table rolls until 5th edition).
72" Range was at that point amazing for even semi-reliable anti-tank.
No turret --> low profile --> obscured almost all the time.
Most vehicles used to easily top 200 points back then, meaning that if you could score one kill, it was worth it (which you probably could, because the thing was a pain to get decent hits on if you positioned it right.

Reasons it could be made to be good again:
My gaming group has agreed that
1) they have a co-axial lascannon
2) that the Laser Destroyer is AP 1.
3) for an extra 30 points, you get titan-slayer rounds, which are S D, AP 2.

Low profile seems like it would still be good actually but for an armoured formation the vanquisher seems like a better buy because you can buy BS4 vanquisher tanks.

I actually don't mind the Destroyer as is, just give it Slick Loader. Then it is, what, 210, 220 points? Compared to a Leman Russ Executioner with Sponsons, I'd take the former. As said before, the Destroyer is almost always obscured, and I find 2 Large Blasts are more effective than 5 small.

bottom of page 58 in the rulebook says that all Ordinance weapons use the large blast unless specified in the entry. In the copy I've seen, it didn't, so wouldn't it use the large blast?

thats only for Ordinance blast weapons

Its just ordnance 1 like hellstrike missiles, slick loader however seems like a good buy as 2 shots have a good chance of doing some damage

The advantage is that it does not have the lumbering behemoth rule, so it can rapidly relocate with its higher movement speed. Give it a dozer blade and it can redeploy inside ruins to hopefully get a side shot. Slick loader hamstrings the tank slightly as it can no longer move, which is the biggest advantage, as it is meant to actually hunt tanks. Ace gunner would help to guarantee penetrating hits.

-edit: silly me said slick loader when i meant to say ace gunner...

Trickstick wrote:The advantage is that it does not have the lumbering behemoth rule, so it can rapidly relocate with its higher movement speed. Give it a dozer blade and it can redeploy inside ruins to hopefully get a side shot. Slick loader hamstrings the tank slightly as it can no longer move, which is the biggest advantage, as it is meant to actually hunt tanks. Slick loader would help to guarantee penetrating hits.

I suppose thats the advantage of the conqueror as well? As well as being cheaper.

So ace gunner for guaranteed pens when it hits then? I just don't like the BS3.

Well the conqueror has other differences to explain it's points cost. It has a smaller blast than a standard russ but is more accurate due to the co-axial gun.

BS 3 is a bit of a shame but i suppose that is why destroyers normally work in pairs. As it is a guard tank you should never take them singularly as it makes them too vulnerable. Every time I take just one of something good it always dies beforeit can do anything. Two or three copies of everything short of HQ units is the way to go.