Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi all,

I am strongly considering getting the Stormsword variant of the Baneblade for some strength D shenenigans. My question is to all those Astra Militarum players out there that have used it, is it better to have the lascannons on top of the sponsons or the targeters for the +1 to its BS?

I can see the advantage of both. The lascannons add additional high strength firepower, especially useful if the main volcano cannon gets lost. Plus, both combined with the volcano cannon and heavy bolter filled sponsons make it have some evil firepower. Aesthetically, the two lascannons look really cool on the model.

Of course, with only BS3, there is a bit more scatter with that big nasty cannon as opposed to the BS4 you get with the targeters replacing the two lascannons. I am leaning more towards having the lascannons over the targeters as I'm hoping the main cannon's template should be big enough to catch most things with any luck.

However, I would still like to get some opinions as I mainly play as marines so haven't got much experience of playing with or against guard to draw upon.


Many thanks in advance

No stormsword specific experience, but in general I've found more shooting to be more useful than reducing scatter on any blasts 5" and above.

Thanks, that is pretty much my thinking too.

If you're talking about the sD one that would be the shadow sword. I don't believe any others have D weapons. From my experience the bs3 lascannons almost never seem to do much so the targeters might not be a bad idea. But I wish I magnetized mine so I could swap them out but I haven't play tested the targeters. I've always run the lascannons but as I said bs3 just doesn't do anything for them.

 tankboy145 wrote:
If you're talking about the sD one that would be the shadow sword. I don't believe any others have D weapons. From my experience the bs3 lascannons almost never seem to do much so the targeters might not be a bad idea. But I wish I magnetized mine so I could swap them out but I haven't play tested the targeters. I've always run the lascannons but as I said bs3 just doesn't do anything for them.

Ah, that is a good idea. If I magnetize them then I can try both versions out

Honestly, I'd rather have BS3 Lascannons than an extra 1" of scatter reduction on the main gun, which is already a 5" Blast so unless you roll horribly for scatter, that 1" isn't going to make much difference.

I have tested out both options and here has been my findings:

Targeters: Negligible change to the scattering of the large blast. Big bonus was that I didn't miss a single heavy bolter round all game. If you are facing orks or tyranids, this might be a good option.

Lascannons: With 2 lascannons I always hit with one and an extra lascannon hit is a useful thing. I would say this is the better option for the majority of armies out there.

Though with everything 40k, your millage may very and the best option is to Magnetize and try for yourself.

And also consider taking Hellhammer/Stormsword for their INSANE Ignores Cover pie-plates. I like my Shadowsword for it's fluff and appearance but if you don't roll a 6 your targets will have their cover saves and it greatly reduces shooting efficiency. That's why I now have two superheavies: one to look at and another one to win with .

Agreed.

A shadowsword fires a 5" large blast marker.
As a rule, it's firing at something big - a land raider or bigger.

Missing, even at BS3, takes quite a bit of effort. Go for the lascannons.

You can't get the main gun blown off due to the superheavy vehicle rules

I'm strongly in the targeter camp, because it makes your investment in sponsons (if you're using them at all) worthwhile.

BS Guardsman is still BS guardsman even if you're twin linked, and i'd suggest if you *need* the extra lascannons for your anti-tank on top of the big D you've got other much more serious problems.

A Non-sponson Shadow Sword is actually pretty worthwhile at the points mark, but an 85~% chance to hit with 15 heavy bolter shots (4x sponson, 1 x hull) means the superheavy investment can threaten two separate target classes quite effectively, with the las cannons as gravy.

Besides, Lascannons belong on Vendettas!

malamis wrote:
15 heavy bolter shots (4x sponson, 1 x hull)

Are you going to buy 2 sets of sponsons? Did you count how much it will cost?

By the way, Heavy Bolters don't worth a dime.

Lascannons can strip void shields so the volcano Cannon can get to the delicious gooey centre. You'd get better value out of the 50 Points spent on targeters to buy the shadow sword its own personal divination Psyker to cast prescience every turn while hiding behind it.

 Drasius wrote:
Lascannons can strip void shields so the volcano Cannon can get to the delicious gooey centre.

Are you really going to risk wasting your volcano cannon shot at a target that still has void shields on the hope that your lascannons will manage to take down the last void shield? Only as an act of desperation. If you have any other units available you're going to use them first, and only take a volcano cannon shot at a target that is guaranteed to take the hit on its hull instead of a void shield.