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Hi I was just about to glue my first death company squad today when I realized I had to decide between giving them bolt pistols, or bolters, and further I had no idea which to include. So what's dakka's opinion on this, bolters to take advantage of relentless and get some firepower in, or pistols to make them truly the ultimate close combat unit.

Oh, and by the way for my particular army I plan on deep striking them in by jump packs.

Pistols, go the whole hog and get as many attacks out of your unit as possible.

Interesting, I was actually thinking the other way, as bolters would give the equivalent of an extra attack on the charge.

Two pistols?

I'd go for the bolters, they're relentless so they won't be sacrificing the charge, and they'll get a wider threat range. Plus if they have to overwatch then they'll have twice as many shots.

 azreal13 wrote:
Two pistols?

Ummmm, I don't think they can take 2 pistols...

 Valkyrie wrote:
Pistols, go the whole hog and get as many attacks out of your unit as possible.

Aggreed!, pistols & chain swords!, considering that the Death Co. can take up to 30 figs in one squad. Pitty though they can'ty be combat squaded :/

Bolt Pistols with CCW/Power Weapon
Bolt Gun with Power Fist/Thunder Hammer

 Anpu42 wrote:
Bolt Pistols with CCW/Power Weapon
Bolt Gun with Power Fist/Thunder Hammer

Well I am definitely taking bolters with my PF and TH guys, as there is absolutely no gain in taking a pistol, and I'm not sure I plan on fielding any plain power weapons, but if I did I wud definitely take pistols to make the most out of their cc attacks, my real point of conflict in on the ordinary chainsword men.

rivers64 wrote:

 Anpu42 wrote:
Bolt Pistols with CCW/Power Weapon
Bolt Gun with Power Fist/Thunder Hammer

Well I am definitely taking bolters with my PF and TH guys, as there is absolutely no gain in taking a pistol, and I'm not sure I plan on fielding any plain power weapons, but if I did I wud definitely take pistols to make the most out of their cc attacks, my real point of conflict in on the ordinary chainsword men.

Well, they do have access to powerfists..

rivers64 wrote:

 azreal13 wrote:
Two pistols?

Ummmm, I don't think they can take 2 pistols...

Alas no, I checked after I posted. Wasn't sure hence the ? Was a nice thought while it lasted.

All my DC are currently of the foot variety. They assault out of a vehical with an assault ramp. If they hve a powerfist I give them a bolter. I do put 2 plasma pistols in and up to 3 power weapons. I am going to get more dc which will be jump variety with bolters, maybe one with a fist. If they are in a tank bolters won't be maximized. But I really like the idea of jump dc with bolters.

The BA Death Co. I have are just armed with jump packs, pistols, chain swords & about x5 powerfists

That's 125 points of powerfist! I used to have all powerfists and weapons on my dc but they were fitted like that from 2nd edition. I have about 6 painted black powerfist arms sitting waiting for new owners.

I planning on 10, going to magnetise the back packs and prolly go 4 regular 4 PW 2 Fist. Haven't decided just yet on whether to mix up the PWs or just go for straight swords. Like mauls or lances as well.

Going for pistols as on the charge it gives one more attack at increased S due to FC.

 TheLionOfTheForest wrote:
That's 125 points of powerfist! I used to have all powerfists and weapons on my dc but they were fitted like that from 2nd edition. I have about 6 painted black powerfist arms sitting waiting for new owners.

Sadly that is the extent of PF's in the squad I have :(

Use your tactical marine sets to build dc with bolters and dev. squads.
Use assault marine sets to build dc. and assault marine sets.

DC with bolters and inf. pistols then with other stuff is good given rhinos and drop pods mean you have turn to shoot.

Jump packs I would not deepstrike them so I would set them up purely for assault.
Also with jump packs they are expensive.
Not that I want to put you off.

Jump packs ARE expensive, but compare that to the cost of a vehicl with an assault ramp.

I am just thinking of 5 with Power Fist/Bolt Gun/Jump Pack in a Storm Raven and DC Dread as a Ally Force.
I am not sure of the HQ yet.

The exact squad I plan on using is 10 men with dante deep striking in with 1 pf, 1 th, 2 infernus pistols, and then 6 normal guys who i cant decide between pistols and bolters for

Has to be a Reclusiarch if you're taking them as allies, touch expensive but the combat effectiveness of the IC plus all the 're rolls you get just turn them into an infantry blender there are precious few units that could stand against a charge from that unit without sustaining substantial losses. But you MUST ensure you get the charge.

Well here's my two reasons for choosing Dante over a Reclusiarch: He has that super death mask thing which really helps in taking down the Warlord and is basically a giant middle finger to your opponent. And two, he has both that thing where you don't scatter, and hit and run, so that even if I do get charged, I can hit and run and charge back in next round, or at least make sure I don't get tarpitted.

For me it generally depends on the DCs roll. I run them as a semi-deathstar assault unit. Usually meant to charge right for the meanest thing on the table and take it down. With that said, I go for the bp/ccw. They can still get a shot with the pistol before the charge and that extra attack at the higher strength is pretty clutch. Granted with a small 5 man squad it is only 5 more attacks, but man can they count when needed.

Bearing in mind that the DC are really designed as a close combat unit - I always run them with CC weapons. I also always run them with a Chaplain, which goes a long way to making their heavy points back. I see the arguments for bolters, but unless you're foot-slogging them (ie, you're going to get a couple of long range shots on the way in), then it's not worth it. Remember that you don't get any rerolls on those bolter shots... but on the charge, your close combat attacks get rerolls to hit AND to wound.

Now that Tacticals can also fire a shot at 24" on the move, I'd argue that it's not worth paying the extra points for bolter DC for that role either...! Ok, so Tacs can't charge when rapid-firing, but if they're foot slogging and you don't have key enemy units in combat by Turn 3/4, as a BA player you're doing it wrong.