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Just a quick question, which is the best anti-armour/tank hunter, can you guys help me weigh up the pros and cons as i am new to 40k? I am running a Death Korps of Kreig army and was wondering which variant to go for, Annihilator or Vanquisher?

Between the two? The Annihilator is more reliable (remember, two shots per attack at strength 9 ap-3 D6 damage). However, with the recent point increases, the Vanquisher is far cheaper, as the Annihilator didn't get the same points cut as the other Codex Russes.

Honestly, in my experience, Tank Commanders with either the Hammer of Sunderance from the Vigilus Emperor's Fist Tank Company or Demolisher Cannon are far better anti-vehicle (really, anti almost everything) for the points than the Annihilator. I'd even argue an Executioner commander would be better.

For regular Russes, most people go for the basic all-rounder battle cannon. Decent strength, decent damage, good in numbers (now that they're cheaper)

Kriegsman_ wrote:
Just a quick question, which is the best anti-armour/tank hunter, can you guys help me weigh up the pros and cons as i am new to 40k? I am running a Death Korps of Kreig army and was wondering which variant to go for, Annihilator or Vanquisher?

To answer your question specifically, annihilator, although it didn't get it's price dropped so it's as expensive as a Tank Commander with a Demolisher cannon, which basically gets 2d6 S10 lascannons at half the range.

Best AT, in descending order

1. Hammer of Sunderance tank commander from the vigilus tank detachment. It is feared for good reason, flat 3 damage with that many shots will kill almost anything, and actually feel like a vanquisher.

2. Demolisher Tank commander, as stated earlier, they can put out even higher damage than a Hammer of Sunderance, they just have short range. With the price drops to regular tanks I'd almost just run them as regular Russe's and save your commanders for things like executioners or Punishers, which reminds me

3. Tank commander Executioner. 36" range, Ap3, flat 2 damage, and you can take additional plasma cannons to essentially fire the turret a 3rd time. Good all rounder, especially with the uptick in marines. Work best as tank commanders so they reroll themselves.

With all these the hull lascannon is a good choice now, as it's essentially a 7pt upgrade on a Russ. Never hurts to have at that price.

Other thanks can fill the role in a pinch, but are nowhere near as consistent. Regular Russe's find D3 damage extremely unreliable and ap2 s8 can have a hard time dropping vehicles. Exterminators are way worse than just an executioner, and stuff like the eradicator and punisher are anti infantry. So yeah I'd let your tank commanders hunt tanks whereas regular tanks can be more generic and Jack of all trades setups.

Ive been looking at the eradicator since it ignores cover, S6 and ap -2. Great for taking out pesky Sneaky Iron hands armies.

While "ignores cover" is nice, it falls a bit short compared to the Demolisher. Due to the -1 AP of the Demolisher the Eradicator only has a better chance to get through the save, if the target gets more than +1 save for being in cover (like some snipers). And since the Demolisher has so much higher S and D that is quite situational.