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So I recently made 10 Guards with shotguns but when I look up the stats for shotguns I feel I made a mistake. Is there a use for shotguns in the guard? They seem to have the same stats as lasguns so what is the point?

Shotguns are a hindrance. Just say they are firing slug rounds or something and play them like Las Guns.

Assault 2 18 inch range is not good when you have things like First rank fire orders (for las guns) and you dont want to assault anyway.

You can charge after shooting them!

Load up on shotguns and krak grenades, boys, we're monster hunting up close and personal!

(yes, you've made a terrible mistake )

Only use really is for units that want to assault.... that said there is no decent CC normal Guardman unit. I always though a laspistol and CC weapon swap for WS4 BS3 vets would be okay... but then again you wouldn't take shotguns in that case.....

Shotguns just don't really do much for guard really.... if for whatever reason you want an assaulting footslogger unit they can just about pass I suppose.

 Swastakowey wrote:
Shotguns are a hindrance. Just say they are firing slug rounds or something and play them like Las Guns.

Assault 2 18 inch range is not good when you have things like First rank fire orders (for las guns) and you dont want to assault anyway.

I thought their range was 12"?

I am pretty certain their range is 18"

So they get 2 shots at longer distance over the Lasgun, but less range overall and no access to volley fire order.

Im pretty certain anyway.

Perhaps that is spacemarine scout shotguns? I think IG ones are only 12 inches.

 Swastakowey wrote:
I am pretty certain their range is 18"

So they get 2 shots at longer distance over the Lasgun, but less range overall and no access to volley fire order.

Im pretty certain anyway.

Nope, its 12".

 Grimskul wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:
I am pretty certain their range is 18"

So they get 2 shots at longer distance over the Lasgun, but less range overall and no access to volley fire order.

Im pretty certain anyway.

Nope, its 12".

I have been playing shotguns wrong for a looooooong time then.

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Grimskul wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:
I am pretty certain their range is 18"

So they get 2 shots at longer distance over the Lasgun, but less range overall and no access to volley fire order.

Im pretty certain anyway.

Nope, its 12".

I have been playing shotguns wrong for a looooooong time then.

Hey, at least it was something as dinky as shotguns and not 18" meltaguns . As you said, they don't benefit from FRF SRF either so its not that big a deal.

But generally, yeah there is often little reason to take shotguns. Its only useful for melta vets with the demolitions upgrade since they can try and do some potential wounds on whatever target they're facing, they would technically be better with flamer vets but the problem is that flamer vets is hardly needed or taken given the existence of wyverns.

Tbh we all do it..... I'd been giving squads multiple, though different, orders until last weekend, mid game I realised that's not allowed.

That was slightly worse I would say *FRFSRF.... ohhh and they now get ignore cover*.....


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Grimskul wrote:
But generally, yeah there is often little reason to take shotguns. Its only useful for melta vets with the demolitions upgrade since they can try and do some potential wounds on whatever target they're facing, they would technically be better with flamer vets but the problem is that flamer vets is hardly needed or taken given the existence of wyverns.

I've been playing with the Idea of demo vet's for a while, I thought they threw the demo chrage in the shooting phase?

Flamer vet's are pretty much only useful against open topped vehicles now Wyverns are commonplace.... so pretty much just orks. Still wouldn't use shotguns because why would you want to charge afterwards anyway? I think the only unit you would ever want to charge as guardsmen are base cultists, conscripts, other guardsmen and grots?

 Baldeagle91 wrote:


I've been playing with the Idea of demo vet's for a while, I thought they threw the demo chrage in the shooting phase?

They do, but they also all have Melta Bombs. Hence why they could potentially shoot a T6 Monstrous Creature with shotguns/Demo Charge then charge in to finish it off with Melta Bombs.

Give them Carapace armour and some grenade launchers and you have yourself some Arbites

(Yes I realize carapace is a bad upgrade but hey if your going to be silly you mise well double down )

Shotguns are amazing if you run Renegades

 GoonBandito wrote:

 Baldeagle91 wrote:


I've been playing with the Idea of demo vet's for a while, I thought they threw the demo chrage in the shooting phase?

They do, but they also all have Melta Bombs. Hence why they could potentially shoot a T6 Monstrous Creature with shotguns/Demo Charge then charge in to finish it off with Melta Bombs.

Ahhh ok, would you say they're worth the points though?

My friend uses them as multi-purpose special weapons. For us who don't have enough money for 50 boxes for all of our special weapons, these guys can fill in the "close enough" proxy slot.

 Baldeagle91 wrote:

 GoonBandito wrote:

 Baldeagle91 wrote:


I've been playing with the Idea of demo vet's for a while, I thought they threw the demo chrage in the shooting phase?

They do, but they also all have Melta Bombs. Hence why they could potentially shoot a T6 Monstrous Creature with shotguns/Demo Charge then charge in to finish it off with Melta Bombs.

Ahhh ok, would you say they're worth the points though?

A unit all wielding melta bombs is no joke. Vehicles, including Super-Heavies, will gak themselves if they get charged - it's part of the reason why Ork Tankbustas are so good. Of course Orks get the tools to deliver them right where they need to be (ie Trukks). Veterans will have to stand around a turn after disembarking from a Chimera/Taurox, and that means they may not survive until the next turn when they can charge. The Demo Charge itself is a bit hit or miss - you stand a decent chance of hitting yourself with it and even though its AP2 alot of things you'll want to kill with it have Invulnerable or Cover saves. I think Veterans are much better served with stocking up on Melta/Plasma and/or Autocannon/Lascannon to make use of that BS4.

As for Shotguns or Lasguns? I honestly don't think it makes a huge difference either way on a Veteran squad. Sure, Lasguns are probably more effective since you can order FRFSRF, have a longer range and Veteran's don't really need Assault Weapons, but at the end of the day it'll make a bee's dick of SFA difference in a real game. I'd just use whatever you think looks cooler on your miniatures.

Actually, why not use them with a melta-squad. I mean those vets with melta bombs. They want to charge anywayz.

Edit. Oh, covered above. Well, they might be somewhat fine vs MC. And IK really don't care about none of your lasguns or shotguns. Anywayz, i think that there's not much difference for a vet squad. You're not taking them for lazguns, right.

These days, it doesn't really matter much. For all intents and purposes, Shotguns and Lasguns are equally crap.

As noted, it's only really useful if you plan on charging...and frankly you don't want to do that.

A veteran squad with shotguns and flamers is nasty....but then there's still an argument that not charging is better because if they charge you you get a burst of overwatch that'll probably do just as much damage as the charge bonus.

The only really good shotgun units are Death Korps engineers - BS4, WS4, carapace armoured shotgun-wielders, with the option of Carcass Shot in an assault brigade

It'd be nice if they were bumped to S4, especially in light of that scatter gun type laser the tau breachers have.

I had a squad of shotgun vets with flamers come round the corner of some ruins to find about 15 hormagaunts lurking on an objective. They all shat bricks and fired wildly, wiped the entire brood and grabbed the objective. Shotguns paid for themselves that day. I've loved em ever since, purely for fluff reasons.

So, on a hugely relevant note, I'm participating in a team tourney with a buddy with a strange rule: we are each others battle brother allies, meaning ridesharing, swappable ICs, all that.

it's gonna be an Ork/Guard mix. So, we're gonna try spamming a few vet + shotgun + melta units in trukks.