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Looking over the landspeeder it struck me that the asault cannon must be far superior to the heavy flamer.

Heavy Flamer: Range 12, 1d6 auto hits, S5 AP1.
Assualt Cannon: Range 24, Heavy 6, S6 AP1.

I mean, they come out pretty even against most things. But S6 is better vs T5 and T3. Heavy 6 = 4 hits with BS3+. Flamer = 3 hits on averadge. To make things 'worse' the flamer is very swingy. 1d6 can be very good or very bad. 6 shots however will often be more consistent.

Only in a big squad vs overwtach do the heavy flamer come out good. Am I the only one reading it this way?

Isn't the Assault Cannon absurdly expensive for such a cheap platform though?

I wouldn't ever use a single Assault Cannon on any model for that reason. TL Assault Cannon is a different story since even though that's almost 50 points it never breaks the bank with the whole points worth of the model.

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Isn't the Assault Cannon absurdly expensive for such a cheap platform though?

I wouldn't ever use a single Assault Cannon on any model for that reason. TL Assault Cannon is a different story since even though that's almost 50 points it never breaks the bank with the whole points worth of the model.

It's only 5 more points on a 75 point model.
The Assault Cannon represents a 6.67% cost increase.

Assuming a Heavy Bolter Tornado (the only one that can take an Assault Cannon), ignoring armor (since the AP is all the same), and assuming 1W:
Against T3, HB+HF will do 3.67 wounds, and HB+AC will do 4.67 wounds. A 27.27% damage increase (9.80% increase for Salamanders)
Against T4, HB+HF still does 3.67 wounds, HB+AC does 4 wounds. A 9.09% damage increase (a 5.89% decrease for Salamanders)

If we compare against Marines and Gravis (and including armor this time):
Against 2 wound marines, HB+HF will kill 1.25, HB+AC will kill 1.33. A 6.67% damage increase (a 10.45% decrease for Salamanders)
Against 3 wound Gravis, HB+HF will kill 0.54, HB+AC will kill 0.69. A 28.2% damage increase (8.70% increase for Salamanders)

So the Assault Cannon does seem to be a point efficient upgrade over the Heavy Flamer. The exception being Salamanders against T4 targets while in the Tactical doctrine.

Wow. Thanks for the math.

I also see I made a mistace. I assumed they where the same point, witch they are not. Most units in the SM codex start with the cheapnoptiin and gets more exspensive as you change into better weapons. The landspeeder starts with an assault cannon and gets cheaper when you buy a flamer.

Salamanders prefer the Heavy Flamer.

I thought the HFs were 2d6? Maybe I am just thinking of the Baneblade ones?

I'll take an assault cannon whenever I can, probably my favorite 40k weapon.

HF is still bad even with the range increase. They just need to make it flat 6 shots vs any infantry target or reroll wounds against infantry or something. Give it ignore cover too.

How many ACs can you fit into a max squad of terminators?

FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
How many ACs can you fit into a max squad of terminators?

Just 2.

FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
How many ACs can you fit into a max squad of terminators?

2. Depends on the terminators. SW can take cheaper once and put AC on their 2 heavy weapons. A group of longfangs can take an terminator with heavy weapon.

@BullyBoy can you elaberate on how good the asault cannon is? I have never used it, except maiby on a dreadnought in 5th editio. When I was 12 it had special dice that would jam it up. So I never used them. :p