Topic: Gaunt weapons ?

[Forsete]

Greetings all, this is my first post  

Im about to glue together all my gaunts, but what weapons to glue on them ?

- Spinefist     - R:12  S:X       AP:5  As: X
- Devourer    - R:12  S:X-1   AP:6  As: 2X
- Fleshborer - R:12  S:X+1  AP:-   As: X

Any words from the veteran players ?

[Arcas]

First off, welcome to 40k.ca and EldarOnline!

I'm not a veteran 'nid player (soon to be), but the most common gaunt variant is the spinegaunt. Guess its weapon...
It is the most common because it is cheap. With its vast numbers it is as powerful as the other species, but a casualty is by far less important.

jwu

[Kei'Ariq]

Actually it depends upon what purpose you want your gun toting gaunts to fufill.

Spine gaunts exist because they are the cheapest possible option for a gaunt. Using them tactically essentially revolves around throwing them into a part of the table where you want to slow your opponent down and waiting for them to eventually finish them off.

If you actually want their shooting to be slightly meaningful then either the Fleshborer or the Spinefist and Toxin Sacs are good options. That makes them more expensive, but offers a gun that can destroy vehicles with armour 10 (Dark Eldar Raiders, Ork Wartrukks, most rear armours of larger vehicles) and worry enemy troops a little more. These models can move ahead of the second wave of Tyranid models because of their fleet of claw and can shoot and assault anything that has managed to outflank or beat back your Hormagaunts and Gargoyles.

The Devourer is sadly too weak with the strength of 2 that it would have on a gaunt to be a serious option.

[Arcas]

Ok, some math.

Against T3
Spinegaunt:
1/2 hit, 1/4 wound, 1/20 wounds per point, AP5

Devgaunt:
2 shots, 1 hit, 1/3 wound, 1/18 wound per point, AP6.

Fleshgaunt:
1/2 hit, 2/6 wound, 2/42 wound per point, AP5.

Against T4:
Spinegaunt:
1/2 hit, 1/6 wound, 1/30 wounds per point, AP5

Devgaunt:
2 shots, 1 hit, 1/6 wound, 1/36 wound per point, AP6.

Fleshgaunt:
1/2 hit, 1/4 wound, 1/28 wound per point, AP5.

Obviously against T3 the devgaunt is the shootiest variant, but it is only AP6. Therefore the other two species will usually do better. Against T4 the fleshgaunt is the shootiest.
But the spinegaunt is always close to the shootiest unit, and it has greater numbers, so casualties are less severe and with these vast numbers it is better in close combat.
Additionally, big bug swarms look better, there is a psycho effect

[Tobab816]

The spinefist IS the supreme Gauntweapon.

Spinefist and Toxin sacs and you have a gaunt that for only 1 more points has an extra strenght and AP5. GREAT against Imperial guard.

Or just go average spinegaunt and have a blast with one of the cheapest units in the game.

[Forsete]

Thanks guys. All points are hereby taken into consideration.

On thing though; my Codex sais that Fleshborer have AP: - contrary to what Mr Archon Astaroth write in his post above.

[Callidus]

Yup, your right, he is wrong. Fleshborers have no AP value.

[Arcas]

Oops, you're right. I'm not perfect and pretty new to the hive too.
That screws up some parts of my Math post up there...but fleshborer not having AP is in favour of the spinegaunt, so the summary still applies, even more than before.

jwu

[Hivemind]

Your choice of weapon will have to be determined by what you want your gaunts to do on the battlefield.  I choose spinegaunts because I wanted a unit that could be effective against lightly armored enemies - against DE, Eldar guardians, IG and Orks.  I also wanted them to be numerous enough to tie up tough assault units until I could deal with them - 24 spinegaunts could keep a Wraithlord out of the game since even killing one with each attack would take 4 full turns to go through the whole brood.

If you see a different function for your gaunts, like going after light vehicles then choose a different weapon for the brood.  You may find that a different weapon suits your tactics.