The Utility of the Humble Heavy Bolter

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**BoomWolf**

HB is a troublesome gun in my eyes.

It's benefits are relatively low investment, threat to wide verity of targets, and a decent balance of being with good range, yet still can take a shot while moving (unlike plasma cannons)

What does it make it?
Tactical squad gun. for that squad you have no plan for.
The objective huggers and the like.
And in a meta short in power armor, it thrives off targets (demons, tau, eldar of both types, orks, nids and to an extent necrons all find that gun irritating)
Anything that should be kept cheap, but you want to give it just a little umpp-that's your gun.

Alternativly, in units that get some extra benefits with heavy bolters.
For example you got scouts, how have that pioson blast, and if you have IF for one reason or another it had added accuracy, retributers can rend with it a bit, stuff like that.
And naturally the extra-cheap ones also work.

**PipeAlley**

generalchaos34 wrote:
Tannhauser42 wrote:
It wouldn't be so bad if all Space Marine Heavy Bolters had the option for Helfire rounds, but no, only scouts get that for some odd reason.

I always wondered about that, since that would make them amazing utility items! Ive always felt that HBs should have had an extra rule attached to them like pinning (or rending, but thats a little on the extreme side) to be a little more fluffy since its a hail of fire from an automatic grenade launcher!

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Nevelon wrote:
Tannhauser42 wrote:
It wouldn't be so bad if all Space Marine Heavy Bolters had the option for Helfire rounds, but no, only scouts get that for some odd reason.

It was criminal that sternguard didn't get them. Doubly bad since there is a cool looking HB on the new sternguard sprue, and you have to be a certain kind of crazy to pay the points to actually give the vets one.

Fingers crossed that if/when they release rules for tyrannic war vets they fix this oversight.

I ended up buying that sweet sweet HB bit so i could make a devastator with a HB/Bayonet

How about a rule like this for HB's:

Pinning, for each additional HB in the same squad or squadron shooting at a target -1 to the Pininng test.

So 4 HB Dev squad shoots at some Guard and their Pinning test is now -3 to Ld.

**Martel732**

That would be a welcome addition, but Eldar always ride and Daemons are immune to pinning. This only has utility against Tau. And meqs, but meqs can already kill meqs.

**Mr.Omega**

BoomWolf wrote:
HB is a troublesome gun in my eyes.

It's benefits are relatively low investment

Yet still a pointless investment that's costing you a meltagun or combi-weapon with actual purpose and effectiveness elsewhere

, threat to wide verity of targets,

*Solely GEQ effectively, which get wrecked by anything anyway

and a decent balance of being with good range

That's like saying that throwing a turd further than a hand grenade because the the turd is lighter makes it more worthwhile.

, yet still can take a shot while moving (unlike plasma cannons)

And when it does so it is half as effective as a rapid firing bolter.

What does it make it?
Tactical squad gun. for that squad you have no plan for.

If you don't have a plan for a unit don't take it, that's pretty much rule 1# of competitive list writing.

The objective huggers and the like.

Sniper Scouts are cheaper and have the same reach on every member of the squad, while also having access to camo cloaks. Plus, singular BS3 Heavy Bolters are so pathetic that I would genuinely laugh at someone were they to field them.

And in a meta short in power armor, it thrives off targets (demons, tau, eldar of both types, orks, nids and to an extent necrons all find that gun irritating)
Anything that should be kept cheap, but you want to give it just a little umpp-that's your gun.

No, Heavy Bolters don't have any oomph. If you want oomph you take a plasma cannon.

Alternativly, in units that get some extra benefits with heavy bolters.
For example you got scouts, how have that pioson blast, and if you have IF for one reason or another it had added accuracy, retributers can rend with it a bit, stuff like that.
And naturally the extra-cheap ones also work.

Another rule of list writing: You shouldn't polish a turd.

**pax_imperialis**

Heavy bolter marines are probably one of my fav models, however i reckon they need to be made salvo weapons to give them some versatility. That would make them useful to tac squads as they wouldnt impede mobility, plus you could make really mobile anti infantry dev squads for horde games

**koooaei**

I use exterminator with hull mounted hb and sponson hb-s...with Pask. He allows to reroll failed wounds and add +1 to armor penetration and brings awesome bs to a tank so that i can expect around 6-7 wounds from heavy bolters alone vs anything with t4 or less. Even vs MC it's doing well. Also capable of threatening flyers with rate of fire.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
So i find it not bad on med str-oriented tanks.