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Hi all,

At first glance this question may seem like a bit of a no-brainer (well, it probably is, to be fair), but I thought I might canvas opinions nonetheless having recently started with the Guard!

Putting Pask aside for a minute, what type of Leman Russ is best to take against MEQs?

Most people now seem to prefer the Eradicator to the LRBT on a point-for-point basis. Certainly, if the enemy infantry has an armour save of 4+ or less then the Eradicator wins hands down.

As I see it, the last bastion for the classic LRBT is when you have to go up against an army with lots of 3+ armour saves. Marines are the obvious example here. But I was also thinking about those Tau lists that spam crisis suits - hello instagibbing pie plates! You also have the bonus of being able to damage medium vehicles, which is nice, especially if the pie plate scatters a bit too far from its ideal target.

But then again, the Eradicator compensates for this to a degree with its cheapness and its ability to fire sponson- and pintle-mounted weapons at full ballistic skill. So even in situations where you can't ignore that 3+ save, you can at least force a few more saves.

What do you guys reckon?

Use forgeworld Medusa artill we Ryan carriages

Exterminator may serve you well, as 4x TL S7 hits + 9x S5 shots will force quite a few saves on Crisis Teams, but to be honest your best bet would probably be the standard LRBT. Demolishers would be the best call but if you're in range to blast them, they're within Fusion Blaster range as well.

I've been pondering this recently too. I'm new to running an AM army and have a 1,500pt list built around Pask in a Punisher with an Executioner and three Wyverns. For the extra 350pts to get me to the standard 1,850pts, I was thinking either another Executioner and a standard LRBT, or even bringing in FW Vulture with TL Punisher Cannons. Mostly facing MEQs, but come up against Daemons and Orks quite often so volume of fire is needed.

I find the following Russes are decent against MEQ's

Standard LRBT (dat s8 ap3 pie plate)

Executioner (s7 ap2 blasts are fun)

Exterminator (Decent for forcing wounds through)

Medusa artillery carriages in cover.

Failing that, a divination conclave with reserve'd 72" battle cannons can do work. You can also just hellhammer if you give no f***s.

The goal is to be out of range of/resistant to grav with ignores cover, s10, and a good AP value. Since S10 is hard to get at long range without going into super-heavy territory, you've got to settle for s8. It's a bummer since s10 is nice for ID/ignore FNP. Hence why the medusas are so good.

You need to be in reserve so you can avoid the alpha strike and keep them from DS-ing/turboboosting at you T1.

The correct answer is the Stormblade. For the same price as a squadron of 3x LRBTs you get immunity to the damage table and a choice of two 7" blasts at STR 8 AP 2 or a single 10" blast at STR 10 AP 2 for when you need to kill something tougher than MEQs.

I don't understand the advocacy for the exterminator tbh.

"Forcing wounds" in practical terms is ~2 wounds on Crisis Suits, including the sponson weapons. 150 points of shooting to kill a 30 point unit doesn't seem like a fair trade to me.

Of the Russ' chassis, I'd advocate the Executioner.

Natalya wrote:
"Forcing wounds" in practical terms is ~2 wounds on Crisis Suits, including the sponson weapons. 150 points of shooting to kill a 30 point unit doesn't seem like a fair trade to me.

The reason it's good (at least in a relative sense) is that the LRBT isn't much better. You're probably averaging 1-2 hits against those crisis suits, and then cover can reduce your damage even more. So the battle cannon has a small advantage, if any, in exchange for being much worse against everything else. The LR Exterminator isn't the perfect crisis suit killer, but it's good enough while also being good against a lot of other stuff.

Whats wrong with the one with all the plasma cannons? (annihilator?) Every time I play as tau it scares the crap out of my guys, High enough ROF to even threaten riptides. Blows crisis out, even hurts buffmander something fierce. It is by far my most feared guard tank.

When I look at guard army my kill order is

1. Wyverns
2. Plasma Russ.

 Fruzzle wrote:
Whats wrong with the one with all the plasma cannons? (annihilator?) Every time I play as tau it scares the crap out of my guys, High enough ROF to even threaten riptides. Blows crisis out, even hurts buffmander something fierce. It is by far my most feared guard tank.

When I look at guard army my kill order is

1. Wyverns
2. Plasma Russ.

I would only take the executioner (plasma Russ) as a second tank in a squadron led by Pask due to the "gets hot" rule (which Pask essentially nullifies). But in such a squadron, yes, it is awesome.

Conqueror Battle Tank. Shorter range than the LR-BT, but you have a co-axle storm bolter. If the storm bolter hits, then the battle cannon gets to re-roll. On top of that, it does not have ordnance rule. So the rest of the tanks weapons are not snap firing.

For all the good that Pask is, I'll still take a ARBG Company tank commander in a Vanquisher with Beast Hunter rounds any day.

Honestly this is the only time you want a standard LRBT. Crisis suits will get 4+ thanks to shields if they have them, and Marines will get cover saves if they have them, but honestly its probably the cheapest solution both point wise and money wise.

If money is no obstacle, grab some earthshaker cannon artillery carriages! Give them the ignores cover order and watch those 3+ save units disappear!

In renegades, we don't get pask, I have been having a blast with the executioner though. Sure there is a chance for gets hot, but 5 small blasts has been glorious!

I have also been using a Macharius Omega as my LoW. Plasma overload!

I would say LRBT. You can engage at extreme range (which is a great advantage as you can keep the deadly fusion weapons away), will instant kill and ignore the armour.

However if you have the points I would advise you to take a demolisher as you can then instagibb broadside battlesuits (which I think are t5) and ignore the armour of the special snowflake tau commander who decides to take the iridium suit. But watch those fusion blasters!

I play as MEQ black templars and as Tau for the last 4 years. IG have always been a very tricky nut to crack.

the Best tank for MEQ and suits in MHO is just the plain russ with laz 2xhb, squad of 2 and pask with the plasma russ. 2 pie plates vs any squads that come around and the plasma for the rest. the only other one id go for is the auto cannon one, High St to get wounds on most things and twin linked for possible AA.

The only problem with a base 'Russ is the one roll. Make one bad roll and it does nothing this turn. The executioner is five rolls. ( Also, think of terminators)