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Ok so I've begun my Eldar apocalypse army with a long-saved budget and after making a base infantry force I added a Revenant Titan with pulsars, and intend to buy a Lynx or possibly a Cobra (maybe even both). For those who aren't aware, the Lynx is a fast super-heavy with less armour than a Scorpion or Cobra and a single primary weapon; either a pulsar or sonic lance. Now don't get me wrong, although I haven't battle-tested the titan yet the statline on pulsars is certainly yummy, however is it a bad idea to equip the Lynx with a sonic lance? I mean for a fast super heavy with the option to become a flyer on a turn it doesn't shoot, an ap2 hellstorm template that can fire 18" around corners seems like a nasty plot! I know that it always wounds on 3+ which isn't comparable to the baddassery of a destroyer weapon, but it still doesn't look like a bad option. Except everywhere I go people say things like 'Why do GW even make sonic lances anymore - it's not like anyone uses them', when to me they look like a pretty deadly weapon.

So can someone explain why nobody likes sonic lances? Maybe a bit of math-hammer will put me straight, but it seems as though everyone sees that heavy 2 5" destroyer and feels pulsar is the best thing ever, without considering scatter etc and the niche potential role a sonic lance could play.

I'll be going off of memory, so I may get facts wrong:


It's because destroyer weapons automatically wound, ignore cover saves, and are AP 2 so you never get armor saves against them (I think the destroyer special rule ignores armor saves anyway but not sure). They also have a great range (60" I think).

Sonic lances have a shorter range (I think 18" but definitely no more than 36") and are only S7, AP 3, and ignore cover. So you still have to wound and worry about 2+ saves.

I would guess that 4 5" blast templates also has a larger area than two hellstorm templates but I don't know for sure since I don't know how to figure out areas without integration (which is impossible since we don't have representative functions for it as far as I know). And more area increases the maximum amount of models that can be hit.

Destroyer doesn't ignore armor saves, but I don't think there are any Destroyer weapons that arn't AP2 or better. It just autowounds/penetrates, ignores cover, and gets +1 on the damage chart.


Now the Hellstorm template does have some advantages. Namely that it never misses.

So if the enemy is hiding behind a building you can position the Hellstorm template so that you get the most possable, unlike a Destroyer weapon which will be scattering(unless its a Destroyer Hellstorm weapon)

So its good against anything without an Armor Value.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Now the Hellstorm template does have some advantages. Namely that it never misses.

So if the enemy is hiding behind a building you can position the Hellstorm template so that you get the most possable, unlike a Destroyer weapon which will be scattering(unless its a Destroyer Hellstorm weapon)

So its good against anything without an Armor Value.

Sounds good to me, a scorpion with twin-linked pulsars makes up for the scatter with re-rolls, however for a single gun on a Lynx I think I would rather have the precise sonic lance. I just love the uniqueness of it I guess and with a hellstorm you can literally choose exactly which models you want to make suffer

I second Grey Templar. Sonic Lances are just plain brutal in close quarters city fights or battles with heavy terrain.

I've seen them in action. That Str 7 can score a lot of wounds on Marines, which they don't get to save against. Before I stopped playing Space Marines, I lost 30 tacticals over the course of 2-3 turns to a Lynx!

I would say, though, they the weapon seems better suited to Revenants. Since sonic lances only really come into their own in dense terrain, the titan's special mobility may mean that you can get them to where they need to be much easier.

Tigrinus wrote:
I second Grey Templar. Sonic Lances are just plain brutal in close quarters city fights or battles with heavy terrain.

I've seen them in action. That Str 7 can score a lot of wounds on Marines, which they don't get to save against. Before I stopped playing Space Marines, I lost 30 tacticals over the course of 2-3 turns to a Lynx!

I would say, though, they the weapon seems better suited to Revenants. Since sonic lances only really come into their own in dense terrain, the titan's special mobility may mean that you can get them to where they need to be much easier.

Thanks those dead marines served their part in easing my decision Since I already field a revenant with pulsars I probably wont get another with lances although I may see about purchasing some separately so I can choose which to use. For the Lynx though I believe lance is way better than pulsar now, mainly because it gets close quick and never misses Not to mention template weapons burn everything up down around and inside heavy cover!

Good hunting then! Burn those...wait....you wouldn't technically be burning them, would you?

Anyway, you're going to scare the beejeezus out of any PA player you go up against! We're so used to getting saves that we almost take them for granted.

Nothing says you better than a giant hellstorm template killing marines as if they were gaunts or guardsmen!

Tigrinus wrote:
Good hunting then! Burn those...wait....you wouldn't technically be burning them, would you?

Anyway, you're going to scare the beejeezus out of any PA player you go up against! We're so used to getting saves that we almost take them for granted.

Nothing says you better than a giant hellstorm template killing marines as if they were gaunts or guardsmen!

Haha my thoughts exactly! It's going to be oh so fun taking on my usual Space Wolf and Grey Knight opponents with some new hardware

I like the sonic lance on the lynx but not the titans. The lance requires getting closer than I prefer for the titans and aren't nearly as good in the anti-titan role. the lynx however is more of a support vehicle so the lance is ok.

steinerp wrote:
I like the sonic lance on the lynx but not the titans. The lance requires getting closer than I prefer for the titans and aren't nearly as good in the anti-titan role. the lynx however is more of a support vehicle so the lance is ok.

Thanks and agreed My updated army list plans to include a cobra super heavy, so with that 10" Destroyer and a Titan packing 4 5" destroyer blasts, I think a supportive hellstorm from a speeding Lynx will compliment perfectly rather than another 5 inches of inaccurate destruction.

Looked up the rules for the Lances in Imperial Armor 11.

They have an 18" maximum range, which is where the narrow end of the hellstorm template is placed, but like IG hellhounds, the template can face any direction so long as the wide end is no closer to the firer than the narrow. It always wounds on a 3+ regardless of toughness, with an AP of 3.

So the joe who smoked my tacticals wasn't using it right. He was placing the template in contact with the Lynx itself. The rules make the weapon even crazier!

18 inces?!?!? Hellstorm?!?!? AP 3?!?

Where can I get one?

Tigrinus wrote:
Looked up the rules for the Lances in Imperial Armor 11.

They have an 18" maximum range, which is where the narrow end of the hellstorm template is placed, but like IG hellhounds, the template can face any direction so long as the wide end is no closer to the firer than the narrow. It always wounds on a 3+ regardless of toughness, with an AP of 3.

So the joe who smoked my tacticals wasn't using it right. He was placing the template in contact with the Lynx itself. The rules make the weapon even crazier!

18 inces?!?!? Hellstorm?!?!? AP 3?!?

Where can I get one?

Haha consider yourself lucky! Sounds like you got off lightly