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I recently found both of these tanks cheap and unassembled and am having trouble to decide which one would be better to buy.

I can only afford one and would like peoples opinions and experience, how would you use it in apoc and play around it with infantry guard.

your help would be appreciated

If you are playing infantry guard I think the Shadowsword is the best. Also considering the kit can be used to make 6 different super-heavys I think it is far superior to the Baneblade's two. In addition to that you can keep the Shadowsword pieces interchangeable so you can go between those 6 different tanks and try them all out to find out which one works best for your army. As a final note, I think 3 of the Shadowsword tank build can be used as troop transports which is awesome. I used the Stormlord version to great effect once. A 30 guardsman powerblob pouring out the front of your tank and then FRFSRF is nothing to scoff at.

WhiteWolf01 wrote:If you are playing infantry guard I think the Shadowsword is the best. Also considering the kit can be used to make 6 different super-heavys I think it is far superior to the Baneblade's two. In addition to that you can keep the Shadowsword pieces interchangeable so you can go between those 6 different tanks and try them all out to find out which one works best for your army. As a final note, I think 3 of the Shadowsword tank build can be used as troop transports which is awesome. I used the Stormlord version to great effect once. A 30 guardsman powerblob pouring out the front of your tank and then FRFSRF is nothing to scoff at.

While you can make 6, they all pale in comparison to the Shadowsword, IMHO. But I think the Shadowswoard is more of a specific role tank compared to the Baneblade.
It's kind of like asking 'which is better, a axe or gun?'. Are you chopping wood or shooting game. I'd say eventually get both, but I'd probably start with the Baneblade.

Shadowsword has a better gun, but the Baneblade is a more versatile tank. If you get the shadowsword, you'll want to buy the extra lascannon sponsons. Generally, when I run a baneblade, I take OFF the sponsons altogether.

daedalus wrote:Shadowsword has a better gun, but the Baneblade is a more versatile tank. If you get the shadowsword, you'll want to buy the extra lascannon sponsons. Generally, when I run a baneblade, I take OFF the sponsons altogether.

Really? I'd do the opposite. The Baneblade is so generalized, it behooves it to move forward and engage as many targets as possible. A Shadowsword doesn't need to spend 100 points on 2 extra lascannons. Really, the only thing that will do damage is the main gun, so I'd drop the sponsons for AV14 sides and keep that gun firing.

I like the extra guns because, god forbid, you lose the main cannon, then at least you're not driving around a 500 point piece of impassable terrain.

Oh, I've never played Guard in Apoc, but if I did I'd surround it in Techpriests. Same thing with any artillery batteries.

Techpriests aren't a bad idea, but the way we end up playing, anything that's on foot usually winds up dead quickly. It'd be worth a shot though, especially if you played with slightly tuned down D weapons.

Most certainly, but priests are cheap. Plus, unlike Techmarines, they make their repair after moving. Assuming the SD doesn't scatter into them, they should be fine.

For a good all around IG super heavy tank to anchor your line in big game, I like the Doomhammer (a shadowsword varient). You get a decent gun (7" blast s10 AP1) that can be fired twice if you don't move (All power to weapons) and a 25 man transport capacity that 10 models can fire out of. Throw some HWSs and a tech priest in there.

I personally like the Bane Blade with 4 sponsons. That's a ton of fire power every turn.