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Hi guys, I'm new here, but I was wondering what the best load out is for a devastator squad. I face a lot of Orks, but I fear that if I go all heavy bolter, then I will have wasted them if I face anyone different. Also, any tips on how to magnetize would help a lot.

Really they depend on the rest of your army. I usually see them with lascanons, or sometimes plasmacannons. Stay away from flakk missiles, they are awful.

Personally I wouldn't use devs without a fortification. At 35ish points for a model with 1W and a 3+ save, they are very vulnerable for their points. Putting them in a building, particularly one with a good field of fire, really helps.

Agreed. Perhaps if you posted your typical list we could better help you fill your armies weaknesses with the proper loadout? There are many right answers.

Don't go heavy bolter. You may not be aware or afraid but look at eBay for Heavy bolter guys. I've found heavy bolter Marines before for very cheap. Even down to $3 a model.

It depends largely on your list.

Heavy bolters are good if you don't have much else for anti-infantry, usually most effective against orks and eldar I'd say. I'm against tau often, so I always take a squad with two to chew up fire warriors.

Las are my personal preference, as I play against a lot of tanks and riptides, but if they don't have anything big they're useless.

Missiles are mediocre in all areas. Can work against tanks, will kill any monstrous creature that isn't 2+. Frag missiles are good against blobs of orks or guard. Flak is overpriced.

Plasma Cannons I don't use too often, as no one in my meta runs terminators. That's right, these wreck deep-striking units. Good for the AP2, but less effective against single targets than las.

Multimelta I've never really tried. For tanks, obviously. Maybe someone else has better advice.

Heavy flamers I haven't really used much either. Good against hordes, throw 2 in a rhino and have some fun.

Overall, I'd say heavy bolters and las are my personal favorites. They fit very specific roles, meaning that while they might not be very good sometimes, they will be excellent just as often. Depending on points level run either 2 or 4 of each. Just make sure you utilize your range by staying back and staying in cover.


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I haven't tried to magnetize mine, the biggest issue is that it's not just the gun, the pack they carry is different depending on the weapon (heavy bolter has ammo boxes, las has a power pack of sorts). Sorry that I can't be of more help.

I've had some luck magnetizing the backpack and shoulder joint.. what I do is glue together the weapon, arm and backpack, then added magnets in the shoulder joint and backpack :-) real easy to do and to use.. takes 2 magnets pr marine and 2 pr each weapon set

If you can afford it, buy a box of tactical marines and put your heavy weapons on them. Magnetizing is fun and all, but what if you feel like fielding three different units of devastators with different weapons simultaneously?
The tac box also gives you more bodies/guns for other modeling projects. you can never have enough of those, I've found

I've magnetised mine, with a pair in the shoulders, and the backpack. I went mad and did the heads too, for the fluffy option to swap out the Dev heads for Vets or normal squaddies. Info on the magnets used is in the pic's comments.



There's a 2nd pic, with the locations marked:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/675078-Magnet%2C%20Space%20Marines%2C%20Work%20In%20Progress.html

The thing with backpack magnets lets you use them as an assault squad if you get jump packs. These bodies are devs, assault, sergeants, or just squaddies, with the right arms and packs.

My dev arms are glued at the weapon, so the shoulders are set in place. The backpacks are not attached, so the hoses don't always meet the weapon, but that's usually out of sight.

Oh, and I always mention the Wall of Martyrs bunker in these threads. It's an AV14 building with fire ports for 8 people, for the price of an ADL.

First, Welcome to Dakka.

On magnetizing: I’ve never bothered to do my Devs. It’s simpler to pick up a few more PA bodies and just build them all. IMHO there are too many things that need to line up for the mini to look right, both arms and the backpack.

As for what weapons, there are a lot of ways to go. What does the rest of your list look like, and what CT are you using? These days, I’d go 4xLC if anti-tank is needed. 4xHB is good for shredding infantry, but most of my lists are OK on that, so I don’t feel the need for more. YMMV. The important thing is that if you do mix weaponry, make sure they have some synergy. You don’t want one or two guys spanging bolter rounds off tanks while the LCs do the work. Conversely, the AV dev doesn’t want to be wasting his time shooting grots.

Don't listen to the people telling you Heavy Bolters are good anti-infantry; they really aren't.
Lascannons, Missile Launchers, and Multi-Meltas in VERY specific lists are the only weapons to care about. The former two being the best options, with Lascannons being the best because of range and actual hitting power on targets you need dead. MSU, Monstrous Creatures, and Vehicles obviously.

I never bothered to magnetize devs. To me, its much easier to just get some cheapy marines or a rac squad and use those bodies for the extra heavy weapons. Same for special weapons.