Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So. The Leman Russ. Arguably one of the best tanks in the game, if not the best. Many variants for this tank. From the lead-spewin' Punisher to the bane of armor, the Vanquisher. Very good tank. High frontal armor, but quite weak in the side and rear.

Part I:
First, I would like to you guys to tell me which of these variants are actually useful. I will not include the standard Leman Russ, as this is about the variants.
In order of appearance:
▪ Leman Russ Annihilator
▪ Leman Russ Conqueror
▪ Leman Russ Demolisher
▪ Leman Russ Eradicator
▪ Leman Russ Executioner
▪ Leman Russ Exterminator
▪ Leman Russ Punisher
▪ Leman Russ Vanquisher

-Annihilator:
The Annihilator seems like a good choice against armor. With a possible 3 lascannons, it seems like this would be awesome against most armor that you will meet.

-Conqueror
Sporting a shorter battle-cannon, it has improved mobility, accuracy while on the move, and ROF. However, I will need your help, as I do not know if this is actually useful in any way.

-Demolisher
Instead of the normal battle-cannon, it is equipped with a demolisher cannon. This is a solid choice, from what I can tell. Good for supporting infantry.

-Eradicator
Based on what is on Lexicanum, this seems like a tank that would be good for clearing objectives because the Nova cannon is has ignores cover.

-Executioner
My favorite of the variants. Equipped with a powerful plasma destroyer, in place of the normal battle cannon. It is the bane of armoured infantry, especially when equipped with plasma cannons on the sponsons.

-Exterminator
This seems like a good vehicle to combat orks, or any list that is heavy on light vehicles, and/or horde armies, as it has 2 auto-cannons. Though the Hydra gets more shots, as it has double the weapons, it is based on the Chimera chassis, and as such is not as survivability of the Exterminator.

-Punisher
Probably the best anti-horde Leman Russ variant. Having a squadron of 3 of these, each equipped with the gatling cannon, and a hull- and sponson-mounted heavy bolters, it is the bane of tyranids or orks.

-Vanquisher
Armed with the potent vanquisher cannon, it is designed as a tank hunter, and competes with the Annihilator.

So, now that that is done, I would like to get your take on that. Now, on to Part II.

Part II:
This is about squadron composition. My idea is just to put in whatever works well together. For instance, Conquerors and Demolishers would do well together. 2 Demolishers and 1 Conqueror seems like it would work best. The Vanquisher would work best, IMO, with 2 normal Leman Russ tanks. A squadron of 3 Punishers equipped as above seems like it would work, though to give it more versatility switching out one Punisher for an Annihilator seems like a better option, equipped the same as the Punisher in terms of hull- and sponson-mounted heavy bolters. Executioners seem like they would be best working in a group of three, as the only thing that might go good with them is the Conqueror, because of the range.

So, please discus what you think is viable.

I only really know about the variants in the Codex but there are some things I disagree with here. Apart from these I more or less agree with your points on the Codex tanks.

forruner_mercy wrote:High frontal armor, but quite weak in the side and rear.

I wouldn't call side armor 13 "quite weak".

forruner_mercy wrote:-Punisher
Probably the best anti-horde Leman Russ variant. Having a squadron of 3 of these, each equipped with the gatling cannon, and a hull- and sponson-mounted heavy bolters, it is the bane of tyranids or orks.

The Punisher really isn't all that good at killing infantry. A fully kitted Punisher will only kill around 8 Orks out of cover. If it were about 30 points cheaper I'd consider it but not at its current cost.

forruner_mercy wrote:-Vanquisher
Armed with the potent vanquisher cannon, it is designed as a tank hunter, and competes with the Annihilator.

I really wouldn't say it competes with the Annihilator as "competes" implies that there is there is actual competition. If the Vanquisher were BS4 and AP1 or had the old coax rules with AP1 it might be worth it but as it is it's pretty terrible. Don't get me wrong, I've used it because I like it thematically but it's pretty much garbage for the points.

tuebor wrote:I only really know about the variants in the Codex but there are some things I disagree with here. Apart from these I more or less agree with your points on the Codex tanks.

forruner_mercy wrote:High frontal armor, but quite weak in the side and rear.

I wouldn't call side armor 13 "quite weak".

forruner_mercy wrote:-Punisher
Probably the best anti-horde Leman Russ variant. Having a squadron of 3 of these, each equipped with the gatling cannon, and a hull- and sponson-mounted heavy bolters, it is the bane of tyranids or orks.

The Punisher really isn't all that good at killing infantry. A fully kitted Punisher will only kill around 8 Orks out of cover. If it were about 30 points cheaper I'd consider it but not at its current cost.

forruner_mercy wrote:-Vanquisher
Armed with the potent vanquisher cannon, it is designed as a tank hunter, and competes with the Annihilator.

I really wouldn't say it competes with the Annihilator as "competes" implies that there is there is actual competition. If the Vanquisher were BS4 and AP1 or had the old coax rules with AP1 it might be worth it but as it is it's pretty terrible. Don't get me wrong, I've used it because I like it thematically but it's pretty much garbage for the points.

About the armor...yeah, I was thinking of the Chimera
If I recall correctly, the Chimera, when compared to the Rhino, has greater front armor, and less side armor.

About the Punisher, I do not have the Codex, so I do not know about the points. And that is just pitiful, that the Punisher can do only that. But, what if there are a squadron of 3? All equipped with HB? I have a friend that had a squadron of 3 of them equipped like that, and he had good results.

About the Vanquisher...so the Annihilator is better?

forruner_mercy wrote:About the Punisher, I do not have the Codex, so I do not know about the points. And that is just pitiful, that the Punisher can do only that. But, what if there are a squadron of 3? All equipped with HB? I have a friend that had a squadron of 3 of them equipped like that, and he had good results.

Punishers with heavy bolters throw out 29 S5 shots each. Times 3 for three tanks, divided by 2 for BS3 and mutliplied by 2/3 for S5 vs T4, you end up with 29 wounds before saves. Almost but not quite enough to wipe out a 30 boy mob or 10 man space marine squad, and you only spent 600 points to do it.

forruner_mercy wrote:About the armor...yeah, I was thinking of the Chimera
If I recall correctly, the Chimera, when compared to the Rhino, has greater front armor, and less side armor.

That's correct. The Russ has higher AV on its front than its side but it's side armor is still pretty robust.

forruner_mercy wrote:About the Punisher, I do not have the Codex, so I do not know about the points. And that is just pitiful, that the Punisher can do only that. But, what if there are a squadron of 3? All equipped with HB? I have a friend that had a squadron of 3 of them equipped like that, and he had good results.

A squadron like that costs 600 points and there's a lot of things I could do with those that would kill infantry better. Also, a 600 point squadron with 24" range is a pretty easy and tasty target even if they do have the Demolisher AV11 on the rear.

forruner_mercy wrote:About the Vanquisher...so the Annihilator is better?

It's 25 points cheaper and hits twice as often due to being twin linked. It doesn't hit as hard but at least it does hit fairly reliably, which is really my biggest gripe with the Vanquisher. If we didn't have better AT options I'd probably like it better but there's lots in the Guard book that kills tanks more reliably.

tuebor wrote:

forruner_mercy wrote:About the armor...yeah, I was thinking of the Chimera
If I recall correctly, the Chimera, when compared to the Rhino, has greater front armor, and less side armor.

That's correct. The Russ has higher AV on its front than its side but it's side armor is still pretty robust.

forruner_mercy wrote:About the Punisher, I do not have the Codex, so I do not know about the points. And that is just pitiful, that the Punisher can do only that. But, what if there are a squadron of 3? All equipped with HB? I have a friend that had a squadron of 3 of them equipped like that, and he had good results.

A squadron like that costs 600 points and there's a lot of things I could do with those that would kill infantry better. Also, a 600 point squadron with 24" range is a pretty easy and tasty target even if they do have the Demolisher AV11 on the rear.

forruner_mercy wrote:About the Vanquisher...so the Annihilator is better?

It's 25 points cheaper and hits twice as often due to being twin linked. It doesn't hit as hard but at least it does hit fairly reliably, which is really my biggest gripe with the Vanquisher. If we didn't have better AT options I'd probably like it better but there's lots in the Guard book that kills tanks more reliably.

I am assuming that you are refering to the Vanquisher?
And that sucks because it seems so awesome in the fluff

the only easy way to answer this thread is as follows:
each variant has a specific role. some variants offer more flexibility than others.

my personal preference is the demolisher, the exterminator, and the executioner.

to me the punisher is only really effective against weak infantry like orks or nids. the eradicator is meh.

forruner_mercy wrote:I am assuming that you are refering to the Vanquisher?
And that sucks because it seems so awesome in the fluff

I'm referring to the Annihilator being cheaper and hitting more often.

tuebor wrote:

forruner_mercy wrote:I am assuming that you are refering to the Vanquisher?
And that sucks because it seems so awesome in the fluff

I'm referring to the Annihilator being cheaper and hitting more often.

Ok. Just needed some clarification there.

I have used IG tanks a lot and can tell you the only one truly worth it is the Executioner with plasma sponsons. More specifics:

MBT is unimpressive - there are cheaper ways to get a S8 AP3 large blast and the AT capability is low, even with reroll. If you do not know what you will be facing, an argument can be made that one with LC and HB sponsons is a balanced choice, but in reality it is wasteful and inefficient, as it will underperform against all targets.

The Punisher is a joke. IG has much better and cheaper ways to deal with infantry and light vehicles, including ones that compete for the same HS slot. Artillery is better for the former and hydras are better for the latter. For the price of a decked out Punisher, I can pay just a bit more and get 3 Hydras in one slot! At BS3, TL is very important. So, no more talk about the Punisher.

The Eradicator is too short range. If you want something that ignores cover saves and has good AP, take a colossus for comparable points and great range.

The Annihilator is not a legal version because it is not in the codex. There are cheaper ways to get AT, e.g. Vendettas.

The Vanquisher only makes sense with Pask, a LC upgrade, and no sponsons. But now you have a tank with just 2 good shots (S9+2d6 and S10+d6), and at BS4, but still no rerolls. It desperately needs a coaxial AC option, which is not in the official codex. I see them from time to time, and I have fielded them a few times, but always with disappointing results. There are better ways to get AT.

The Executioner is where it is at with LR. Those plasma templates mean whatever you hit will die screaming, so long as it is not a tank. I usually field plasma sponsons and am always happy with the results, even if one of the sponsons cannot shoot sometimes due to poor arcs. I am too decent to field more than one Executioner per army, but one of these days GK and terminator armies will annoy me enough to drop 3 Executioners on them and watch them burn.

So, to recap, only the Executioner is worth the trouble, but it more than compensates for the other deadbeats.

Necrontyr40k wrote:I have used IG tanks a lot and can tell you the only one truly worth it is the Executioner with plasma sponsons. More specifics:

MBT is unimpressive - there are cheaper ways to get a S8 AP3 large blast and the AT capability is low, even with reroll. If you do not know what you will be facing, an argument can be made that one with LC and HB sponsons is a balanced choice, but in reality it is wasteful and inefficient, as it will underperform against all targets.

The Punisher is a joke. IG has much better and cheaper ways to deal with infantry and light vehicles, including ones that compete for the same HS slot. Artillery is better for the former and hydras are better for the latter. For the price of a decked out Punisher, I can pay just a bit more and get 3 Hydras in one slot! At BS3, TL is very important. So, no more talk about the Punisher.

The Eradicator is too short range. If you want something that ignores cover saves and has good AP, take a colossus for comparable points and great range.

The Annihilator is not a legal version because it is not in the codex. There are cheaper ways to get AT, e.g. Vendettas.

The Vanquisher only makes sense with Pask, a LC upgrade, and no sponsons. But now you have a tank with just 2 good shots (S9+2d6 and S10+d6), and at BS4, but still no rerolls. It desperately needs a coaxial AC option, which is not in the official codex. I see them from time to time, and I have fielded them a few times, but always with disappointing results. There are better ways to get AT.

The Executioner is where it is at with LR. Those plasma templates mean whatever you hit will die screaming, so long as it is not a tank. I usually field plasma sponsons and am always happy with the results, even if one of the sponsons cannot shoot sometimes due to poor arcs. I am too decent to field more than one Executioner per army, but one of these days GK and terminator armies will annoy me enough to drop 3 Executioners on them and watch them burn.

So, to recap, only the Executioner is worth the trouble, but it more than compensates for the other deadbeats.

So, out of all the LR variants, including the standard, the only one worth it is the Executioner? Or only out of the variants?

I think the general consensus is that Vanilla, Demolisher, and Executioner are usually the better options. Exterminator is ok if you want a better armored, mobile hydra. If you want to go cheaper then I suppose there are the FW variants, although you get more lascannons with the vendetta while the conqueror cant use hull weapons all that much. Eradicator is very useful vs armies out in the open such as tau gunline or KFF orks but against MEQs or Mech it suffers. It has been repeated over and over that punishers are overpriced and vanquishers are unreliable

forruner_mercy wrote:So. The Leman Russ. Arguably one of the best tanks in the game, if not the best. Many variants for this tank. From the lead-spewin' Punisher to the bane of armor, the Vanquisher. Very good tank. High frontal armor, but quite weak in the side and rear.

Part I:
First, I would like to you guys to tell me which of these variants are actually useful. I will not include the standard Leman

Weak side armor? AV13 ain't weak. Even 12 ain't week- play with rhino's and you start to feel jealous. And why not include the standard leman? "Standard" does not always mean bad, and there is a good mother in' reason that tank-which-is-the-bane-of-my-MEQ-armies is "standard".

Necrontyr40k wrote:
MBT is unimpressive - there are cheaper ways to get a S8 AP3 large blast and the AT capability is low, even with reroll. If you do not know what you will be facing, an argument can be made that one with LC and HB sponsons is a balanced choice, but in reality it is wasteful and inefficient, as it will underperform against all targets.

Tell that to my plague marines, who die just like a 6 point ork boy (wounded on 2+, no saves, no FNP!). Tell that to any MEQ, when you pay 15p minimum per model and they die like a 6p boy. or even a 3p grot. They die like grots. 23ppm!


For 150p you get a damn nice tank that is flexible and tough.

Jihallah wrote:

forruner_mercy wrote:So. The Leman Russ. Arguably one of the best tanks in the game, if not the best. Many variants for this tank. From the lead-spewin' Punisher to the bane of armor, the Vanquisher. Very good tank. High frontal armor, but quite weak in the side and rear.

Part I:
First, I would like to you guys to tell me which of these variants are actually useful. I will not include the standard Leman

Weak side armor? AV13 ain't weak. Even 12 ain't week- play with rhino's and you start to feel jealous. And why not include the standard leman? "Standard" does not always mean bad, and there is a good mother in' reason that tank-which-is-the-bane-of-my-MEQ-armies is "standard".

Necrontyr40k wrote:
MBT is unimpressive - there are cheaper ways to get a S8 AP3 large blast and the AT capability is low, even with reroll. If you do not know what you will be facing, an argument can be made that one with LC and HB sponsons is a balanced choice, but in reality it is wasteful and inefficient, as it will underperform against all targets.

Tell that to my plague marines, who die just like a 6 point ork boy (wounded on 2+, no saves, no FNP!). Tell that to any MEQ, when you pay 15p minimum per model and they die like a 6p boy. or even a 3p grot. They die like grots. 23ppm!


For 150p you get a damn nice tank that is flexible and tough.

As I said above, I had been thinking about the Chimera compared to the Rhino when I said that.
The MBT would of course be the mainstay of the force. Vehicles? Battle-cannon and las-cannon. Infantry? Battle-cannon and HB.

Oddly enough I am not a big fan of the executioner. Of course it's AP2, and I suppose that is useful against termies, but against most armies, the highest Sv is going to be 3+ which is what the Vanilla Russ is great at. For the same amount of points as an Executioner you can take a MBT with plasma sponsons, which fits the roll of MEQ killer with a dash of TEQ death on the side (literally). An executioner kitted the same way is 40pts more. Perhaps the 3 small blasts are nice, but at BS 3, are you really going to hit a great deal more of your targets than with a basic large blast? Possibly, I suppose, but I'd like to see the math on it first if anyone is up to that challenge. Also, the added bonus is that MBT is also ordinance, which helps against armor, unlike the Executioner. IMHO, the MBT with plasma sponsons is not only the cheaper choice, but by far the best choice compared to the Executioner with Plasma Sponsons.

Anyway, if you are going to squad up tanks, I would take tanks with similar tasks with similar range and AP value. There isn't much you can do in this case than squad up MBTs with MBTs, Demos with Demos, etc., etc.

Executioner is better though going against multi wound MC plus can fire more plasma when on the move

Although I admit that vendettas are even better though with S9

Yes, but I like armor

kenshin620 wrote:Executioner is better though going against multi wound MC plus can fire more plasma when on the move

Although I admit that vendettas are even better though with S9

Honesty though you have the same chance to hit MCs and wound with the Exterminator though. Granted you don't deny armor saves I suppose.

Tell that to my plague marines, who die just like a 6 point ork boy (wounded on 2+, no saves, no FNP!). Tell that to any MEQ, when you pay 15p minimum per model and they die like a 6p boy. or even a 3p grot. They die like grots. 23ppm!


For 150p you get a damn nice tank that is flexible and tough.

The large blast with S8 AP3 range 72" is not bad, but like I said, there are better options. I'd rather have a colossus, which I can hide someplace and fire indirect and ignore cover with the same AP3 and plentiful S6. So, for that application, the colossus is better. If you like direct fire, take a medusa (S10, AP2), which is MUCH better than the battle cannon. If you like AT, take vendettas. If you like flexibility between large blast and AT, take medusa with bastion breacher shells (just 5 pts). The BB shells do not replace the standard ammo, so you can choose on the fly what you want to fire every turn. In all these roles, including flexibility, Medusa is better.

Regarding PM dying to MBT, yes, that is the point of AP3, but they should still get FNP, because PM are T5, right? On the other hand, Medusas will ignore FNP, because of S10. Also, if you put your PM in cover, the battle cannon will still be subject to 4+ cover saves which are almost as good as the power armor save, and besides, the PM can go to ground and essentially ignore the AP3. That is how the colossus is so much better ignoring AP3 and cover saves.

Finally, MBT cannon is just one template - scatter badly on a single roll and most of the usefulness of the tank is gone for that turn. By comparison, an Executioner with plasma sponsons gets 5 templates, of which 3 usually hit causing 10-15 S7 AP2 hits. That wipes out a squad ON AVERAGE!

So, like I said, MBT is unimpressive compared to other options.

But it is a good starting point for armor in your army. Helps you learn how to blast templates, and how to use armor in your army.

So, out of all the LR variants, including the standard, the only one worth it is the Executioner? Or only out of the variants?

Yes. That is on average, and against any comer. Obviously, if you know whom you will be facing and would take the time to customize, there may be a more efficient build. For example, if you know you face an Ork player that is into the green tide build, a battery of 3 griffons will be much better than an Executioner, but these are specific cases.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

forruner_mercy wrote:But it is a good starting point for armor in your army. Helps you learn how to blast templates, and how to use armor in your army.

Magnetize your weapon mounts. That way, you can swap things around and experiment with different builds until you figure out what you really like. I did not and regret it.

Truth be told, my first IG tank assembled and painted was the garden-variety MBT with BT, LC, and HB sponsons in Afrika Korps colors. I love the model and it is very fluff-compliant, but experience relegated it to permanent exile in my army box. My second one was an Executioner with plasma sponsons - my pride and joy. The third one was a Vanquisher with lascannon and two plasma sponsons - another stab at versatility, which proved disappointing. Now I am working on a fourth LR, which I bought second hand for cheap at my local game pit; it has no sponsons but the executioner turret. I plan to swap turrets between the Vanquisher and this fourth one, so I get a sponsonless Vanquisher with LC, and a second fully decked out executioner. Bad news for the termies in my pit.

Nectontyr is clearly a fan of guard artillery, which point for point will pretty much always outdamage the LR variants. When you don't need survivability or mobility, these will often be the correct choice. However, there are plenty of builds where the armor of the Russes is worth the points premium.

Biophysical wrote:Nectontyr is clearly a fan of guard artillery, which point for point will pretty much always outdamage the LR variants. When you don't need survivability or mobility, these will often be the correct choice. However, there are plenty of builds where the armor of the Russes is worth the points premium.

Could you please provide examples? As an avid tread-head, I am hungry for ideas. But my experience has been very disappointing with any LR other than Executioners.

The reason why I like artillery is because it is cheaper, deadlier, longer range, and can fire indirect. So, I stick my colossi or griffons in a corner behind a building out of LoS and they survive quite well. LR need to see to shoot, and many variants have relatively short range. So, they have to show themselves and get closer. The minute that happens, they get shot and lose the main weapon or simply get shaken/stunned and so cannot shoot. Then in a couple of turns, they get assaulted with even worse consequences.

The killer of LR is in the main rules - the stupid idea that CC always hit the back armor. So some GK charge my Vanquisher along a bee-line so only 2 of them are in contact, but the others are 2" away form them. Suddenly the entire detachment gets all its attacks (30-40) on the back armor, although they are in front and most are not even in contact. That is the most ridiculous rule ever.

Some people argue that historically tanks were vulnerable to infantry gotten close. That is true. But, what the infantry had to do was use grenades, not their CC attacks with knives and bayonets. And the grenades normally went on the tracks or on the engine gridiron on the back. But, you actually had to get there, not just toss it from the front. Or you could place shaped charges on vulnerable sides, but that was usually done on already immobilized tanks.

So, from historical perspective, the rules should be each troop gets a single grenade attack on the side they are facing. I don't care how good you are in CC with knife or bayonet, you should not get extra grenade attacks because of it. Neither should you be so strong that you can open tank armor like a can of sardines, unless you are a greater daemon or a carnifex. These uber MEQs with TH and PF make my tanks look like a joke.

The rules being as they are, you want to stay hidden and out of CC range. That is why tanks must be hidden and use long range. Ergo, artillery.

The biggest advantage I see of the LRBT and its variants is that it's the IG only access to AV 14. Any armament is purely a secondary consideration.

If I were to run them, I'd grab three LRBTs sans upgrades and put them in front of my Mech Vets to provide cover. If they buy time for my Mech Vets to do their job, then they've paid for themselves, even if they don't deal huge amounts of damage by themselves.

They might be made of tissue paper in close combat, but just about everything in the IG codex is too. As long as you keep them cheap, you can afford to loose a few and still kick the enemies teeth in.

forruner_mercy wrote:I am assuming that you are refering to the Vanquisher?
And that sucks because it seems so awesome in the fluff

It used to be really good when forgeworld was running it, then GW got their greasy hands on the rules and decided it couldn't fire HE-Ammunition anymore...
Not bitter about that at all...

I'm really a demolisher kind of person. It can be absolutely devastating but you need to maneuver a bit to get in range, but the AP2 Str 10 blast works on most stuff that can come in your way and the RA 11 is a nice upgrade too.
I really want to like my 4 executioners, but they are very niched against heavy infantry for the huge price you are paying. I'd much rather get a pair of Demo's and a couple of vanilla russ to deal with all comers rather than specialize too much.

Unless I'm squeezing points, I normally bring one to two LRs to help keep my artillery alive. The only three I ever trouble myself with are the Main Battle Tank, the Demolisher, and occasionally, the Executioner. The main is awesome, because it's a swiss army knife. MEQ? AP3. Horde? Large Blast. Vehicles? S8 Ordinance. FNP? No problem. There's very little that it does BAD, and it's relatively cheap.

The demolisher is in a similar boat, but slightly less utility, as it's a close range tank. The AV11 rear is nice for those pesky assaults, but a powerfist will ruin everything. I'm a fan of one of these, just in case you see a terminator heavy army or need something extra to pop a tank. Again, you'll want to keep it cheap, though last year at 'ard boyz, I ran one with multimelta sponsons to surprising effect.

Finally we get to the Executioner. I want to love this tank. I really do. It's prohibitively expensive for a vehicle that loses 3/5ths of it's killing power the moment it get's a weapon destroyed. That's assuming you bought the sponsons, but let's be honest, you did. If you bring one of these, you need something else equally as scary to balance out target priority. To do otherwise is to throw a massive amount of points away.

Has anybody put an exterminator to good use?

I'm naturally suspicious about any LRMBT that does not sport a huge barrel.

What I'm trying to figure out is somehow more versatile than a hydra, however the only thing it seems to have going is the greater armor (which is a huge plus) and the ability yo fire 4 shots while moving. On the other hand it only has 66% range of the hydra and comes at double the point cost.
Back when the hydra cost 200 points i would use 2 or 3 exterminators when going up against orcs (usually in a squadron with a conqueror for fluffiness) and the like but now i'm struggling to find a reason to put it in my list...

Generally hydras are better especially since they can ignore skimmer/biker flat outs but if you want a mobile force then a exterminator isnt too bad, just not the most competitive choice

Pretty much the only variants that are worth considering are the Demolisher and the Executioner.

Demolishers are nice for the Strength 10 ordinance AP2 large blast but are short ranged but are effective against both vehicles and infantry but it has only one shot if it scatters off makes me want a Manticore with its d3 shots and better range. Demolishers in squadrons can be fun to outflank with Creed.

Executioner with its plasma cannons are best at killing Marines that had their transport wrecked or assaulted one of your tanks so are all bunched up. They are somewhat expensive and even more so with sponsons and I moved away from them because most marine armies run small units of 5 but if there are large units of marines or plague marines in your metagame this is your tank.

I generally don't like squadrons as immobilized = destroyed higher chance of losing your expensive tank.

The Main Battle Tank is borderline its not all that good vs vehicles at strength 8 and can't penetrate terminator armor with only ap 3. It is strength 8 so can insta kill multi wound t4 and it does have good range.

Other variants are just not worth it.

Vanquisher just costs too much for 2 shots and even more if you want Pask.

Eradicator at strength 6 is nearly useless vs vehicles and doesn't have the AP to penetrate marine armor so why are we taking this?

Punisher is pretty poor. Strength 5 ap - makes it worthless vs vehicles and the short range of 24 is pretty bad when you want to stay away from fast moving multimeltas. 20 shots sounds good until you realize you are bs3 and only hit with 10 and then have to wound and they get their armor save/cover.

Exterminator - buy a hydra. costs half as much just isn't av 14

Annihilator and Conqueror are not in the IG codex. If the Conqueror was available for the cheaper cost but with the shorter range battle cannon it might be worth taking. Annihilator as some of the same issues as the Vanquisher low shots high cost. Although tl las cannon has better shot of hitting.

Yes, with hydras you get more bang for your buck, but putting pask in an exterminator can be equally fun albeit more expensive. Being able to lay down 4 TL str8 (assuming you don't move) shots at BS4 first and second turn will eat anything of AV12 or less alive. Without Pask though it makes for a decent AV14 light infantry killer at best so throw on the HB sponsons in that case. Either way, I have had good success with the Paskinator.