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Hey, I'm fighting a nid player tomorrow, and I have 2 russes avaliable.

I'm thinking:
Leman Russ Battle Tank
-Heavy Bolter
-Plasma Cannon Sponsons
210 pts

Leman Russ Battle Tank
-Heavy Bolter
-Plasma Cannon Sponsons
210 pts

What would you guys run against nids w/ 2 russes?

Would a Leman Russ punisher work? I thought that there is heaps of them and the punisher has heaps of shots.

i think your points are wrong. they should only run you 190 per tank.
if you got the points then i'd say go for the plasma. i built mine with bolters, so i'm stuck!
if you can, make yours to where you can switch them out if needed.

gaurdsmantom wrote:Would a Leman Russ punisher work? I thought that there is heaps of them and the punisher has heaps of shots.

That's what I was thinking. If I gave it heavy bolter sponsons, that would be 29 S5 shots. However, at BS3, that's not very fun, so I would want to load up Pask.

After the mathhammer, against normal nids (6+ save)

29 shots @ BS4: 19 hits
19 rolls to wound @ S5 v. T3 (Gaunts and Gargoyles) = 2+ to wound, so 16 wounds
16wounds, 6+, so 14 die?

Someone check the math, I'm new to the mathhammer.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

alarmingrick wrote:i think your points are wrong. they should only run you 190 per tank.
if you got the points then i'd say go for the plasma. i built mine with bolters, so i'm stuck!
if you can, make yours to where you can switch them out if needed.

Ok, cool. Normal Tank, or something else? I'm happy w/ large + 2 small blasts that intagib. I'm fighting a guy who has about 60 gargoyles, plus 3 mawlocs and 20 gaunts and a Hive Tyrant.
I play casual games, my friends don't care what the sponsons are. We usually proxy stuff in a pinch, as long as it looks kind of the same.

190 for normal Russ (battle cannon), Hull HB and plasma sponsons.
using a proxy is a really good way to find out what works and not without spending alot at first.
i haven't used a Punisher before, but most people say the suck badly. i will eventually get around to using mine some day...
i would think causing someone to make 29 saving throws will cause them to eventually miss some.

I'd stick with the normal russes, and forget the punisher. A lot of T4 units lost the eternal warrior rule, so those S8 AP3 blasts suddenly are a lot more deadly to warriors and their ilk. Demolishers are even better if you can get them.

I would recommend you swap the Heavy Bolters for Heavy Flamers. A Heavy Bolter adds very little actual damage, while a Heavy Flamer can roast a significant amount of poorly-armoured foes, and make people think twice about getting too close.

I would take any russ with a close combat chassis. The AV 11 rear armor removes a lot of the threat of close combat nid swarms.

Eradicator? Hate to point out the obvious here, but if you anticipate large numbers S6 AP4 no cover is a great weapon. A vanilla russ is solid for warriors and raveners, but eradicators will get you more mileage against hordes.

If you can, take the one with the 3-shot plasma cannon main turret, with plasma cannon sponsons. I cannot remember its name, but as a footslogging Ork player, whenever my friend puts that guy on the table I grit my teeth and reach for my storage tray. The experience should be the same for horde Tyranids.

BeRzErKeR wrote:If you can, take the one with the 3-shot plasma cannon main turret, with plasma cannon sponsons. I cannot remember its name, but as a footslogging Ork player, whenever my friend puts that guy on the table I grit my teeth and reach for my storage tray. The experience should be the same for horde Tyranids.

Nope. S7 is not quite enough for the nids. It is far too easy for the nid player to take a small horde of warriors and completely cover the board with target saturation. You need the higher-S templates that only the russ variants and ordinance batteries have access to. The Executioner is way too expensive to be worth it against this kind of enemy. Sure, it might be able to man-handle a hive tyrant, trygon, or other high T and low save monster, but usually the plates scatter too far to be worth it against single targets.

Let you're chimeras handle anti-horde. Invest in 10-point heavy stubber upgrades, and let them lay the fire down. Your lasguns also can be, dare I say it, lethal (when used in conjunction with orders) to hordes.

Russes and ordinance batteries have the best access to insta-gib plates. I would save the anti-horde to other units that have less access to better weaponry.

Leman Russ Battle Tanks with no sponsons and hull las (anti-horde) or Leman Russ Eradicators with no sponsons and hull HF (anti-T4). I have also heard reports of Basilisks being extremely effective against Tyranids, what with 2+ kill ID templates ignoring intervening units.

No Russes. If you know your facing a horde, take Manticores. D3 Strength 10 AP4 large blasts thins out hordes faster then any of the Russes that shoot a single large blast. The high strength also insta kills things like Warriors and Zoanthropes that have multiple wounds. Plasma sponsons makes your tank pretty expensive and you can only shoot one if moving which you want move to not fall prey to outflanking Genestealers.

If you have Fast Attack slots available, consider Hellhounds. You can almost get three of them for the cost of those two Leman Russ tanks. Nids HATE! Hellhounds.

don_mondo wrote:If you have Fast Attack slots available, consider Hellhounds. You can almost get three of them for the cost of those two Leman Russ tanks. Nids HATE! Hellhounds.

Oh, I do have slots open. I've been trying to scrap together cash for them, though, because at $37 a pop they're not too affordable. Is 1 worth it, or would a pair be better?