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I can tell by looking at the profile that Volkite Culverins are good for HS squads, and that Volkite pistols are a decent upgrade.

However, does anyone run Tac Support Squads with eithter Vokite Calivers or Chargers? The short range on the Charger makes me wonder if they're any good, and the Heavy rule on the Volkite Calivers does the same.

Does anyone have any experience with these weapons and care to comment if they're good or not?

the 'shorter range' is only by 6" and YOU always have more then 1 shot with the things. I don't personally run them on tac. support squads, but on auxilia veletaris they are killer. it generally wounds more often than bolter, and has the ability to cause even MORE wounds.

instead of comparing them to the max range of the bolter, compare them to the rapid fire range, where you get more shots at 6" longer then rapid fire.

Yeah, I suppose the Assault 2 on the Charger does mitigate its shorter range.

In a word, yes. More wounds means more armor saves, which means more failed armor saves. Try a Tactical Support Squad with all Volkite weapons and see how well they do. They will become a primary target for your opponent.

I'm just assuming you're recommending to try Volkite Chargers (instead of Calivers). Is this correct?

Calivers are excellent. S6 and the Deflagrate rule means that you end up forcing an awful lot of saves on things. Even Terminators buckle when under Caliver fire.

Also, their nice range means you pitch a tent on an objective and see who you can clobber. Giving the Sergeant an Augory Scanner means you can shoot up deep strikers as well. Always a bonus. Or you could stick a master of signal with them...

And that's before I've mentioned that you're using Martian death rays!

Do you (or anyone else) prefer the caliver, or the Charger? I'd think that the immobility caused by the Caliver being a Heavy Weapon would be a serious drawback.

Yes, I Use Night Lords and have two terror squads with Chargers in drop pods. If I am not using them as Terror Squads then they become two Tac Support Squads with the same weapon, typically in a drop pod using orbital assault. Neither use has ever failed me although at times I would have preferred to have either meltas or more flamers in my tactical support squad instead.

I run a support squad with calivers, and they always do well. Good range, good number of shots, and the S6 hurts light vehicles, too.

I have a support squad of Calivers for my Fists that works wonderfully when I stick em in ruins on objective guard duty. Especially with an apothecary.

 zedmeister wrote:
Calivers are excellent. S6 and the Deflagrate rule means that you end up forcing an awful lot of saves on things. Even Terminators buckle when under Caliver fire.

Also, their nice range means you pitch a tent on an objective and see who you can clobber. Giving the Sergeant an Augory Scanner means you can shoot up deep strikers as well. Always a bonus. Or you could stick a master of signal with them...

And that's before I've mentioned that you're using Martian death rays!

This prety much nails the hammer on the head. They make a much better objective camper then say the plasma squad who blow them selves up, are more expensive, and is a even bigger target then normal for the enemy to shoot at.

The only downside TBH is that you already have so much massed bolter fire from your required troop choices that unless you are playing larger games Calivers support squads can be fairly redundant and take up space in the list when you need anti-tank squads alot more at smaller points.

 Lockark wrote:

The only downside TBH is that you already have so much massed bolter fire from your required troop choices that unless you are playing larger games Calivers support squads can be fairly redundant and take up space in the list when you need anti-tank squads alot more at smaller points.

Honestly, I play against Ork hordes so frequently, I could use more massed fire, which is why I'm looking at doing a Volkite support squad.

 jasper76 wrote:


Honestly, I play against Ork hordes so frequently, I could use more massed fire, which is why I'm looking at doing a Volkite support squad.

Orks die in droves to Calliver fire. In fact, shooting a 10 man Caliver squad at small mobs is probably overkill.

 zedmeister wrote:

 jasper76 wrote:


Honestly, I play against Ork hordes so frequently, I could use more massed fire, which is why I'm looking at doing a Volkite support squad.

Orks die in droves to Calliver fire. In fact, shooting a 10 man Caliver squad at small mobs is probably overkill.

Well, I've been an Overkill fan since high school

 jasper76 wrote:
Do you (or anyone else) prefer the caliver, or the Charger? I'd think that the immobility caused by the Caliver being a Heavy Weapon would be a serious drawback.

I haven't played much games yet, but from the games I have watched, I prefer the Calivers. The immobility is not a drawback if you give them to a defensive squad that isn't going to move much anyway.

My experience with IH support squad with calivers has been amazing. They are scoring which is huge and can put out a disgusting amount of firepower at are 6 which I find lacking in legion armies. I'll attach an apothecary as well for an extra defensive buff and they become a serious problem to dig out.

That said because you aren't going to want to move them they can be a prime target for CC units so screen them well.

 jasper76 wrote:

 Lockark wrote:

The only downside TBH is that you already have so much massed bolter fire from your required troop choices that unless you are playing larger games Calivers support squads can be fairly redundant and take up space in the list when you need anti-tank squads alot more at smaller points.

Honestly, I play against Ork hordes so frequently, I could use more massed fire, which is why I'm looking at doing a Volkite support squad.

lol, then fair enough! For me the problem is usely killing Leeman russ and wave serpents in 1500 point games. lol

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
I run a support squad with calivers, and they always do well. Good range, good number of shots, and the S6 hurts light vehicles, too.

Never leave the base w/o them

I play Night Lords and the day I leave home without a sq2uad of Volkite Chargers is...........well actually that day has never came.

Love is Volkite, and Volkite is Love...

Moritats with twin volkite serpentas are great vs hordes.

I run a 10 man Support Squad with Calivers and have NEVER regretted the 20 bucks I spent on the weapons. They are amazing. Deflagrate is awesome against Infantry Blobs, and the high strength makes them good against bigger things.



Glad to help


Ember

How would you run the calivers?
Rhino, apothecary or just by themselves.

Drop Pod. Sometimes I split them up into two blobs and run them both with Drop Pods, one with Strik Captain Maun and one with a chaplain.

Chargers are brilliant at softening up the enemy before you charge, hence the name.. But Support Squads are a shooty unit. You pay through the nose for their shootyness. Any turn you're not shooting - either because you're out of range, running across the board to get in range or gotten yourself stuck in close combat because you had to get within charge range to shoot - you're wasting a portion of the extra points you spent buying a Support squad instead of a regular Tactical squad. Calivers lack mobility but their range means they don't need mobility: You just plonk them in your deployment zone and shoot. shoot. shoot.

Chargers weren't even an option in Betrayal, and I would not be surprised to learn FW only added them as an option for the benefit of the (not entirely uncommon) people who misread the entry and made Charger squads.

 zedmeister wrote:

 jasper76 wrote:


Honestly, I play against Ork hordes so frequently, I could use more massed fire, which is why I'm looking at doing a Volkite support squad.

Orks die in droves to Calliver fire. In fact, shooting a 10 man Caliver squad at small mobs is probably overkill.

Haha indeed. Seems BS4 caliver seems to kill in average one ork per shot so 10 strong squad in average drops 20 strong ork boyz squad stone dead.

If ork meta wouldn't be so much AWAY from boyz calver squads might be one of the nastiest hard counters to orks.

As I gear up to place a FW order, I was also debating the value of calvers/chargers. Seeing that support squads can take an extra CC weapon, it seemed there might be some fun times to be had with the assault version. Two shots, then pile in. Might be better for a more assault based chapter, but could still be fun for my Ultras.

If you ever find yourself facing a warp cult militia army, a squad with volkite chargers is worth its weight in gold. Paired with extra combat blades, wiping out a 50 man levy unit in a turn is no longer unreasonable...,.