Devastator Squad Composition

[jedihobbit]

Since the Dev Sergeant has that funky gear that Ups the BS of a single model, is it wise to have a single Lascannon a a Dev Squad? So instead of 4 Missile Launchers, it is 1 Lascannon and 3 Missile Launchers?

I'm Planning on doining Combat Squads with my Devs, so it wouldn't waste all the Missile Launchers if the Lascannon shot at a Land Raider.

[August]

The Devastator squads can have four heavy weapons spread out across two groups of five soldiers. Also, one of them (placed with the sergeant) can have his BS increased. I'll set out a general strategy for composing this unit here, and then offer up a specific suggestion or two for you.

Heavy Weapon Choices Include

Lascannon
Multi-Melta
Plasma Cannon
Heavy Bolter
Missile Launcher

Now, you can have a five-man devastator squad with a sergeant and four gunners (per se), but then wounds hurt you right away (if the sergeant has the upgrade then he's valuable too) where it hurts, and all of your heavy weapons have to (even though I think it's silly) shoot at the same target.

With two groups of five then each has anywhere from 1-3 heavy weapons (technically 0-4, but there's other ways to get 5 bolters in one unit obviously) in it. This gives you the flexibility to build two different types of shooting units...

First let's talk about the sergeant's bonus. I'm not sure what it does, but I'd wager that he improves BS by 1 or allows a re-roll (or something comparable). If that's the case, then he's probably best off helping out a weapon that doesn't use a blast marker. He should be helping out a Lascannon or a Multi-Melta, depending on what your army needs (based on its other strengths, weaknesses, and resources). Missile Launchers are flexible enough that they won't as consistently benefit from the increase as I've assumed it works.

The weapon that isn't getting helped out could very well be a Plasma Cannon (remember that any blast weapon has a 1/3 chance of ignoring the shooter's BS, no matter how good it is. Then, if it scatters the average distance of 7" will be reduced to 3", which isn't too bad.

Heavy Bolters also depend on BS, but I feel that a single Lascannon or Multi-Melta shot is more important that a given trio of Heavy Bolter shots. Shooting a nasty weapon against a tank is probably more pivotal than putting multiple shots into a unit of infantry.

This leaves another 1-3 weapons in the other combat squad of this devastator squad that can do something else. A few Heavy Bolters is fun to put in a group like this because their nice BS and 36" range gives them a lot of options to bring hurt on a few areas of the table.

Missile Launchers are also a viable option for this group, as their iterative attacks (when grouped in multiples) will be sure to hit and make their presence felt against lighter armored vehicles.

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Examples Using the Above-Mentioned Principles

Devastator Squad One

Combat Group Alpha
Sergeant with targeter & Bolter
Lascannon
Plasma Cannon
2 x Bolters

Combat Group Beta
2 x Heavy Bolter
3 x Bolters

This squad is effective against anything your opponent can throw at you. Against heavy armor and TEQ units, combat group alpha is wonderful. Against regular infantry or even horde armies, combat group beta will shine.

Devastator Squad Two

Combat Squad Alpha
Sergeant with targeter
Multi-Melta
3 x Bolters

Combat Squad Beta
3 x Missile Launchers
2 x Bolters

This squad is also effective against many things that you could encounter on the battlefield. Combat squad alpha, can threaten light armor with their 24" range, and heavy armor with their 12" range. This group has some extra wounds to protect it from casualties before it gets to pop a tank, and then it's still very relevant as a threat to enemy infantry (especially if it can get into cover). Combat squad beta is awesome from range. Against vehicles it will average exactly two hits, and against enemy infantry (especially horde) the fragmentation missiles will work wonders. It's also fun against MEQ independent characters where it will average two hits with an instant kill if it gets through armor.

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Conclusion

There is a lot of flexibility that can be gained by putting your Devastator Squads into two very distinct combat groups with very different weaponry. The sergeant's targeter (I'm assuming) is very well-used with specific heavy weapons off of the list. Hopefully the two examples above are helpful in illustrating this idea and providing some ideas to use.

[LanceWarrior]

I've never really thought of it like this.

With combat squad i'd tend to take 2 Heavy Bolters/Plasma Cannons and 2 Lascannons. Then put the Serge with the Lascannons (although he would help Heavy Bolters).

[jj]

How I play my Devastators is 3 ML and a Lascannon. But in general how I gear my Devastators is that with the 4 heavy weapons its either anti-infantry or anti-tank. Yes, you can now have a mixture of both in the one sqd since combat sqds has come about, if you want to mix heavies in a Dev sqd I would do it in lower point games and have 2 of each AI and AT. Keep the sergeant with the more expensive one shot heavy weapons.

EDIT: I also see plasma cannons as a (heavy) anti-infantry weapon.

[jedihobbit]

I wasn't planning on mixing Anti-Infantry with Anti-Armor at this time. In a higher point game i might grab a third squad armed with Heavy Bolters/Plasma Cannons, but at the 1850pt level my Devs main focus is Armor. If i do end up facing a Green Tide, Frag Missiles do denies them their save.

This also means I only have to buy 4 extra Missile Launchers instead of 6.

[Smrgol]

hehe, i never thought of doing this, would be a great way of winding people up, even if you took 4 missiles and broke them into 2 teams, that would still give you horde and light armour shots from different angles without risking a pieplate on their heads lol

Also, a slightly related question, if i have a squad of 4 missiles do they get to target different points within the same unit?

I.e. Missile 1 hits genestealer 1, missile 2 hits genestealer 2 etc etc, or do all 4 shots have to land on the same model?

[jj]

Also, a slightly related question, if i have a squad of 4 missiles do they get to target different points within the same unit?

I.e. Missile 1 hits genestealer 1, missile 2 hits genestealer 2 etc etc, or do all 4 shots have to land on the same model?

Yes, you can allocate each blast marker to a seperate place in the unit. Generally you try to place them centrally of the unit - due to scatter - or on the most amount of models you can cover.

[scythes]

I generally run two dev squads, one with 4 HB's and one with 4 ML's. I guess I'm still stuck in the 4th edition mindset without combat squads, but this still works well with combat squads. You just split it up for 2 heavy weapons split about 4 seperate squads. I persoanlly like my 4 HB squad of doom though, they pay for themselves almost every game a couple times over and have been the last squad standing more than once at the end of a game.

[August]

hehe, i never thought of doing this, would be a great way of winding people up, even if you took 4 missiles and broke them into 2 teams, that would still give you horde and light armour shots from different angles without risking a pieplate on their heads lol

Also, a slightly related question, if i have a squad of 4 missiles do they get to target different points within the same unit?

I.e. Missile 1 hits genestealer 1, missile 2 hits genestealer 2 etc etc, or do all 4 shots have to land on the same model?

You're welcome to put the marker wherever you want to, but you should just put it where it'll score the most hits on the target unit. The specific models under the blast marker are not important. After hits are converted into wounds then the wounds are assigned to models before saves are rolled...

So put the marker at a position that balances how many models are hit, and central location in the unit.

[jago668]

Aye, if your opponent has his models bunched up you want to place the marker over the most number of models. If they are spread way out, you probably want to place in the middle so scatters will still hit something (and maybe two somethings).