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Out of curiosity, the Predator with triple Lascannons seem to be overpriced or just generally not taken. Do people think its worthless or what? I just played a game and by sticking it behind an ADL with a Quad Gun and a Libby with a PFG, I had a lot of 48" threat with only about 400 points. I see a lot of people saying to take only the TL Las alone and use it to snipe. Is this because the Predator doesn't have Power of the Machine Spirit?

Can the sponson guns actually draw LOS over the ADL? I wouldn't have thought so.

It's worth considering now, with the drop in points. Offset somewhat by the overly generous cover saves in the current edition. I think I'd still prefer an autolas for flexibility, unless I knew I was facing a lot of heavy armour.

I'm skeptical, simply because of the drop in vehicle durability. The point in the Dakkapred's favour is that it's hilariously inexpensive, once you've started jacking up the price by taping more guns to it you risk dumping too many eggs in one 11 side/10 rear basket.

 jreilly89 wrote:
Out of curiosity, the Predator with triple Lascannons seem to be overpriced or just generally not taken. Do people think its worthless or what? I just played a game and by sticking it behind an ADL with a Quad Gun and a Libby with a PFG, I had a lot of 48" threat with only about 400 points. I see a lot of people saying to take only the TL Las alone and use it to snipe. Is this because the Predator doesn't have Power of the Machine Spirit?

I stopped taking mine because invariable one of the sponsons would never be able to draw los to the target. Often that was by choice, mostly to keep high strength stuff in the front arc, the jump from 13 to 11 is pretty nasty. I'd rather have two av11 razorbacks with lascannon and twin-linked plasma for the points.

The TriLas Pred seems to be a favorite of a lot of BA lists. I am going to run one with my BA Army. An Overcharged Engines TriLas Predator is a pretty hefty investment though. The Dakka Pred is out of favor for the BA because the Baal Predator does its job better.

 insaniak wrote:
Can the sponson guns actually draw LOS over the ADL? I wouldn't have thought so.

Ehhh. I mean, I would say yes, but I also think marines can see over/through the ADL. Me and my opponents agreed it could. Plus, you could angle the side sponsons up above the ADL, or move it further back


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 Crablezworth wrote:

 jreilly89 wrote:
Out of curiosity, the Predator with triple Lascannons seem to be overpriced or just generally not taken. Do people think its worthless or what? I just played a game and by sticking it behind an ADL with a Quad Gun and a Libby with a PFG, I had a lot of 48" threat with only about 400 points. I see a lot of people saying to take only the TL Las alone and use it to snipe. Is this because the Predator doesn't have Power of the Machine Spirit?

I stopped taking mine because invariable one of the sponsons would never be able to draw los to the target. Often that was by choice, mostly to keep high strength stuff in the front arc, the jump from 13 to 11 is pretty nasty. I'd rather have two av11 razorbacks with lascannon and twin-linked plasma for the points.

Do you mean in front of or to the side? Because I just got schooled on the angle of fire of vehicles where they have a "magic point" 9-12" out where both sponsons can shoot in front of the vehicle.

 AnomanderRake wrote:
1 side/10 rear basket.

I like how it sounds. A bucket with av.

 koooaei wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:
1 side/10 rear basket.

I like how it sounds. A bucket with av.

Spoiler:

hey i like the gorkanaut; i think that if you made some statline changes it could be a fun little machine

Some of the hate might be holdover from the last edition when the TLLC turret was comically overpriced. These days I like them.

 Nevelon wrote:
Some of the hate might be holdover from the last edition when the TLLC turret was comically overpriced. These days I like them.

It isn't exactly cheap as of yet. And the Sponsons are at a premium as well. It costs what, 140 pts or so for a TLLC/LC Sponson Predator. That can buy you a full squad of LC Devastators, and they aren't going to have as much of an issue hitting stuff like the sponsons will AND their sarge can use the backpack thing to give one of them BS5.

Devs and preds take fire in different ways. Splash some plasma across that dev squad and you are going to need to recruit some more marines, while the pred might not even need a fresh paintjob. On the flip side, you shoot a MM at the boys on foot, you kill one, while the tank is slag. There are pros and cons to each.
The tri-las pred is more competitive then it has been in the past. Back when you were paying 45 points to remove the perfectly servicable AC from the turret, I never even considered it. For 5 points more I could have a MM attack bike rolling around.

 Nevelon wrote:
Devs and preds take fire in different ways. Splash some plasma across that dev squad and you are going to need to recruit some more marines, while the pred might not even need a fresh paintjob. On the flip side, you shoot a MM at the boys on foot, you kill one, while the tank is slag. There are pros and cons to each.
The tri-las pred is more competitive then it has been in the past. Back when you were paying 45 points to remove the perfectly servicable AC from the turret, I never even considered it. For 5 points more I could have a MM attack bike rolling around.

That is certainly true. I am a big fan of the TriLas Pred with Lucifer Pattern Engines. Put that sucker wherever it needs to be fast.

I would rather have a dev squad. They can be put in ruins for a 4+ cover. 1 lucky dice roll and that tank is blown up.

Is it perhaps the same problem DE have with Dark Lances?

Lascannons are expensive weapons that tend to rely on destroying a vehicle outright, since they don't have enough shots to reliably or efficiently strip hull points.

However, with the changes in 7th, AP2 can no longer reliably explode vehicles. Now, if you want a reasonable shot at destroying a vehicle outright, you want meltas or multi-meltas for the AP1.

I don't think it's a terrible choice, but with drop pods and easy access to multiple meltas in a squad, marines generally have more reliable anti-tank available.

 Toofast wrote:
I would rather have a dev squad. They can be put in ruins for a 4+ cover. 1 lucky dice roll and that tank is blown up.

Not all tables have ruins available. Dev squads are easily removed from play in my experience.


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 vipoid wrote:
Is it perhaps the same problem DE have with Dark Lances?

Lascannons are expensive weapons that tend to rely on destroying a vehicle outright, since they don't have enough shots to reliably or efficiently strip hull points.

However, with the changes in 7th, AP2 can no longer reliably explode vehicles. Now, if you want a reasonable shot at destroying a vehicle outright, you want meltas or multi-meltas for the AP1.

I don't think it's a terrible choice, but with drop pods and easy access to multiple meltas in a squad, marines generally have more reliable anti-tank available.

Drop pod melta squads end up running into bubblewrap problems and don't live long. And still aren't very reliable.

 Toofast wrote:
I would rather have a dev squad. They can be put in ruins for a 4+ cover. 1 lucky dice roll and that tank is blown up.

One failed morale test and the devs fall off the board....

Lets not get into the pred vs dev debate again, it's been done to death. Preds win every time. AV13 > T4 3+ save, and by a large enough factor that it's worth the reduction in firepower.

Why are they not taken? Because other stuff is better, not because Tri-las is bad.

Need to splatter massed infantry? Get a Thunderfire cannon
Need a flexible unit good against medium to heavy infantry and MCs and passable against vehicles? Centurions
Need to smash a lot of vehicles? Get melta and get it in a different slot than heavy support.

You've also got your Vindicators, Storm Ravens and Land Raiders in the slot to compete against, which are all passable in their own way.

Blood Angels are a little different, mainly because they don't have centurions and thunderfire cannons, and their predators are fast. That said, they also have to compete with fast vindicators and Baal predators instead.

Basically, a triple las predator brings mediocre anti-tank. Get your anti-tank via melta weapons on other platforms in my opinion.

Fast Vindis and fast Baals aren't much competition, imo.

I'm still waiting for my Pred to come in the mail, but I plan on running it TriLas for my BA army. Keep it in the back and snipe stuff is my plan.

Tri las Preds are not overpriced since they cannot fire all weapons when moving.
The BA variant with overcharged engines are well priced and a decent tank to field.

I used to run 1 or 2 b4 the newest SM Codex came out. Since I play Fists the Tankhunters CT puts LC Devs ahead by a good margin.

I think its a good unit for long range firepower and AV 13 is pretty durable when you have 48 inch weapons and don't have to get too close. I think some sort of cover save is a must these days, whether you can put it in cover or take a ADL like someone mentioned, its like giving it a jink save.

I like my triple las Predator; it's my lil' tankhunter/warlord sniper. First blast away the nearest guys in the warlord's squad, leaving the warlord free for triple lascannon penetration. My only problems are MCs and invulnerable saves.