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Which is better: A power fist or a lightning claw?

Both are power weapons.

Claw rerolls to-wound

Fist is good for anti armor? Not sure about the fist's applications.

Discuss.

(I think this is the right forum... If not, would a mod kindly move this thread?)

Rico.

It depends what you want it to do. If you want to run off and kill tanks/MCs/characters then take the fist, otherwise a LC is the better choice.

Power fists are ALWAYS better! if you have Lightning Claws and you are strength 4, you might need a 5 or 6 to wound something nasty, re-roll or no re-roll, a 5 or 6 is a slim chance. With a PF, you are usually Stregth 8, no re-roll, but you are usually always wounding on 2+. better chance to roll a a 2+ than to have 2 chances to roll a 5+.

Couple with the already mentioned tank hunting, instant death dealing, walker defense...Power Fists are a no brainer. also PF's let you take a ranged weapon in the other hand, lightning claws(should never be used not in pairs) let you take zero shooting usually.

Now, having said that...if you like Lightning Claws...us them! I run Khorne Terminators with all Claws...it looks awesome!

Best answer is to mix them together if you can. ex- 5 chaos termies- 3 power fists(with combi weapons), 2 lightening claws.

I think lightning claws are far nastier. For tank hunting, if you have power fists available, you have far nastier tools available to kill tanks than trying to run a squad up to it to try plinking on it with 4s or 6s to hit.

As for melee combat and having to need 5s or 6s to kill stuff....an intelligent player is going to choose their battles. A powerfist might be STR8, but its striking at I1, and you need it to survive to get any hits. Its really about choosing your battles.

If you're fighting a unit of Ork burnas...your powerfist isn't going to live to attack. If you're using lightning claws, you're going to go first and annihilate half the burna boyz before they get to turn those burnas on you.

If you're fighting a unit of terminators...you're going to eat each other at I1. Better to get your hits in first, especially with rerolls.

If you're fighting a carnifex...its going to go at I2 and still get to hit before your powerfists, and you're going to take it in the rear before you get to attack. Your I4 lightning claws might need 6s to wound, but you *do* get rerolls, and this is one of those "pick your battle" things.

You can work this out against pretty much anything you would fight; I think that lightning claws is your best bet.

Here's my thought:
I4 or less are perfect to give PF's to. You aren't sacrificing much in the way of Initiative but you gain a lot in strength. Power Fists keep units like CSM squads safe from Wraithlords and the like. I'd say to include a couple of power fists where possible.
They have:
1)High Strength
2)No saves

Lightning Claws are a must for anything with high Initiative. They allow:
1) An extra attack
2) More reliable wounding than a power weapon
3) No saves
4) HIGH INITIATIVE
Lightning Claws are better to outfit a whole unit with than Power Fists. They're far, far more effective against hordes and they don't sacrifice survivability.
Remember, Str8 Power fists will cause more wounds against T4 creatures than Str4 LC's. But the LC's get more attacks.

I run a monstrous Chaos Lord with LC's and he regularly decimates units before they can hit him. High I really helps lone characters.

I think Mad Rabbit speaks much truth! If you've got a low I score to begin with, you're not really giving much up with the 'fist. I give 'em to all of my I3 Plaguemarine aspiring champions, because they're usually gonna be hitting last (and a 3+ save and FNP usually makes hitting last not such a terrible thing, anyway!)