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I love me some plasma guns, especially on Plague Marines/MEQs, since it doesn't kill them often. I also have a model built almost identically to the one in that picture a few posts back.

He makes me laugh.

Yes. True I do play Tau, but...
If they work they work well if you're facing something like horde orks shoot your other weapon instead (your pistol) or shoot it at a tank. Many people forget that against vehicles it's effectively an autocannon if your race uses the get's hot version.

I run plasma ALL the time

My sergeants have pistols, squads have guns and cannons

Plasma is particularly effective on assault squads. you can have 3 pistols potentially, and with a movement of 12" you can get around to where the MEQs and vulnerable Side armor of vehicles is. you can then assault with either a PF or PW to finish off survivers.


I do ocassionally have gets hot problems, but its just a 3+ save and i can take the wound on a guy without the weapon if i fail.

And honestly what are the chances of failing? for MEQs its 1/6 chance to "gets hot" and 1/3 chance to lose a model. so a 1/18 chance for a MEQ to die from plasma overload

Grey Templar wrote:Plasma is particularly effective on assault squads. you can have 3 pistols potentially, and with a movement of 12" you can get around to where the MEQs and vulnerable Side armor of vehicles is. you can then assault with either a PF or PW to finish off survivers.

4 with the Chaplin

I love to run plasma in my guard squads. If you ever have the chance to have 3 or 4 plasma guns in a squad its a huge advantage over what is coming into you.

Example..... "Here they come!!" the company commander screamed over the top of the continuous artillery fire. A trygon had just erupted out of the earth into the chimera fire line they had formed and was about to rip them to shreds. "You four, Fire!!!!!"

Eight rapid fire shots at str7 ap2 from inside your chimera or getting out to recieve an order of take it down. If guardsmen are in rapid fire range, its either kill or be killed. Nothing better and I love it.

I have alway used Plasma, I once on the advice that PP were bad for Assualt Squads and I tried Flamers.
It was a Disaster for the next few games, I went back to the PP after that.

I find plasma guns to work very well against armies like space marines, necrons, and tau, not so much against swarm armies like Orks and I.G though. The ability to ignore heavy armor and have a slight chance to bring down tanks is nearly pricless. Melta guns work nearly as well if you are playing offencive.

As a DA player I used Sammael's jetbike for a while, with its plasma cannon. That thing was a beast. If you really want plasma weapons, go with cannons. They are far more efficient for the risk. I'd stay away from plasma pistols, since they're hard to get in range with and you might as well just use a bolt pistol. I'd also stay away from plasma guns, unless you are going to camp and single fire with them, or you are not afraid to rapid-fire and have roughly a 50% chance of overheating.

Grey Templar wrote: i can take the wound on a guy without the weapon if i fail.

Actually I don't think you can do that. In the BRB it says "the firing model suffers a wound", not the unit. So one of the plasma gunners has to die. (unless I'm horribly wrong about something).

The firing model suffers the wound

Xca|iber wrote:

Grey Templar wrote: i can take the wound on a guy without the weapon if i fail.

Actually I don't think you can do that. In the BRB it says "the firing model suffers a wound", not the unit. So one of the plasma gunners has to die. (unless I'm horribly wrong about something).

^^ I was just about to say that. The firing model has to take the save, and so you loose the plasma model if it gets hot. In 4th, you could take it on another model.

I still say it's worth the risk. I just wouldn't put a plasma pistol on a Sarge with any other equipment. Loosing him plus a 15 point pistol is bad, loosing the model, the pistol, and a 25 point powerfist is just criminal.

Plasma Cannons for Tactical Squads are the best investment in the Space Marine Codex, in my humble opinion.

^ I believe you are right (dang two people beat me to it)

On topic plasma is a flexible but situational weapon. It was designed with a specific idea in mind, which is I point it at something and that something dies. As far as that goes it is rather successful. The advent of easy cover saves and a lot of invulns has made that task a bit harder but it is still possible to easily butcher a squad when put in the right place.

as to the argument of plasma pistols they are emergancy plasma. You take them with the hope of another weapon being used but if necessary you will use the pistol. Pistols are known as secondary weapons for a reason, their nor your primary choice. most units with plasma pistols are assault based and as such you main incentive is to get to the unit in question and butcher it. Now say terminators sneak up behind you in the melee but don't charge yet. You have your emergency plasma to make the inevitable charge less painful. Now I don't use them because I'm a guard player and cc is not interesting to me, but to an assault squad they are a good backup safe guard.

I run with plasma. My IG are expendible in the extreme so losing one for a chance to bring down a termie is fair game imo.

My Plague marines have no problem with them, a what? Str 4 hit on a t5 space marine with FNP? I'll gamble.

I'd kinda be a hypocrite to go against taking a chance since I field Nurgle dreadys too.

The biggest kick in the face for using a Plasma Pistol is that many of the same squads who have access to it also have access to a Combi-Melta.
The Combi-Melta is cheaper, safer, and more deadly then the PP and if that unit has a Power Fist or Relic Blade (which is common) the loss of an attack isn't an issue.

To be honest, I see PP being kinda useful for IG PCS or CCS. They are BS4 and only 10 points so its a little bit more reasonable.

only Honor guard, Vanguard, and Captains can take relic blades.

I mainly stick to taking plasma on my plague marines. Fits perfectly well with their job description and their special rules. I don't see the point in taking it anywhere else. The benefit of killing another unit easier is only barely outweighed by the risk of losing that weapon and the marine holding it to a poor roll. The CSM codex has a lot of options that give you a great reward for a lot of risk but I like to be able to control that risk as much as possible. Just like taking a dread and not putting multi-meltas on it (or at least not putting a multi-melta dread next to my LR).

Yorick_of_Tau wrote: or you are not afraid to rapid-fire and have roughly a 50% chance of overheating.

Its actually a 1/3 chance of overheating.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

minigun762 wrote:The biggest kick in the face for using a Plasma Pistol is that many of the same squads who have access to it also have access to a Combi-Melta.
The Combi-Melta is cheaper, safer, and more deadly then the PP and if that unit has a Power Fist or Relic Blade (which is common) the loss of an attack isn't an issue.

To be honest, I see PP being kinda useful for IG PCS or CCS. They are BS4 and only 10 points so its a little bit more reasonable.

Ya, but only champs get combi weapons.
Maybe chosen too.
But nothing for the zerkers

Never have had a problem with plasma. I play a CSM player a lot and he runs Termies in his Land Raider and rushes them up to me, and I have 3 plasma guns in my vet squads and a plasma pistol on the sargeant along with First rank fire, Second rank fire I get 9+2 shots from plasma and I usually destroy his Termies before they can do any real hurt to my army, and they are also very effective in general against marines especially as a guard players whoes lasguns really dont have much of a punch on marines, wound on fives and than they get there god damn 3+ save :\

Kazerkinelite wrote:, and I have 3 plasma guns in my vet squads and a plasma pistol on the sargeant along with First rank fire, Second rank fire I get 9+2 shots from plasma and I usually destroy his Termies before they can do any real hurt to my army\

What? I thought First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire was only for lasguns.

a good question is, if a model has BS5, rapid fires a plasma gun and rolls a 2 to hit does he have to take a armor save?

It would depend on the rules for FRFSRF, if it says models with rapid fire weapons add +1 to the number of shots it would affect Plasma guns

Grey Templar wrote:a good question is, if a model has BS5, rapid fires a plasma gun and rolls a 2 to hit does he have to take a armor save?
guns

Sorry, but that's not a good question.
Get's hot only makes you take a wound if you rolled a 1 to hit (or in the case of plasma cannons, you roll a D6 before you fire because it's a blast weapon)

And I'm pretty sure frfsrf only applies to las guns.

ReRead the Gets Hot rule.

it states that if a weapon with the rule rapid fires it must take gets hot rolls on 1s and 2s

FRFSRF is only lasguns, yes.

Also, chance not to overheat is 5/6 * 5/6 = .6944444
So, you'll only overheat about 30.5% of the time with rapid fire.

If FRFSRF did affect plasma guns, I would be all over them...

There is actually one use of plasma guns that I'm fond of though. Take them in a Veteran squad with Harker, infiltrate 18" away from your target. Combine movement and the Callidus Assassin's A Word in Your Ear and you get a rapid-fire fusilade off on turn one. That'll be 3.3 dead MEQs, thank you. Factor in lasguns and the Heavy Bolter from Harker it's a total of 4.7 dead MEQs - you stand a reasonable chance of wiping a combat squad.

EDIT: Several people beat me to the punch about FRFSRF

@Grey Templar: That is not in the 5th Edition rulebook anywhere. (At least, not under the Gets Hot! rules)

Grey Templar wrote:ReRead the Gets Hot rule.

it states that if a weapon with the rule rapid fires it must take gets hot rolls on 1s and 2s

WHAT?!?!
I'm running to get my BRB now!

Never mind

My mistake in the 4ed Gets hot it was like that, not any more

I just went and looked and i see nothing under gets hot that says on rapid fire 1s and 2s are gets hot. Page number? I also looked under rapid fire and found nothing either.

Edit:

Ha, i knew it, just a little late.

Grey Templar wrote:Never mind

My mistake in the 4ed Gets hot it was like that, not any more

Ohh, thank the gods.

I use plasma when I can take it sometimes, it really depends. I will almost always take melta guns, and if I need a group with a bit more range I might take one or two plasma guns.

an advantage Melta-guns have is that they are assault weapons

I wish Assault marines could take Melta-guns. they would become awsome tank killers