wow wow wow guys calm down wtf lolz we are doing 1 entry at a time, if you notice the pattern i'm following it's goin 1 entry a day! let's keep it that way for ARGUMENTS sake it's my fault for not putting a notice on it but I figured since it's been goin the same way for the past couple days ppl would just go with the flow.
Today's entry is GAUNTS.
The Hyperlinks will only be used to skip to the first post of the day discussing the current topic at hand, if i started dropping hyperlinks to every single opinion it would turn into a mess. So i'm doing it the same way that the chaos players did it.
Now please guys settle down and lets not make a mess out of the thread im also eager to skip ahead to other entries but this really works well if we take it 1 at a time. k?
With that said here goes
GAUNTSMy analysisBIOMORPHSAdrenal Glands (I) -
NO - Unnecessary upgrade. Gaunts should be kept as cheap as possible to make them worth taking.
Adrenal Glands (W) -
NO - same as above
Extended Carapace -
NO - This is a 'decent' upgrade if you are going to fight an army with horrible AP guns. Will improve your gaunts survivable rate in both the field and CC. However it is VERY unlikely that you'll encounter this scenario.
Flesh Hooks -
MAYBE - On the same boat as EC. This upgrade is useful in engaging units hiding in cover. However most of the time your guants will be a meat shield aimed at tangling enemy units, not necessarily aimed at trying to fight to win, rather fight to stall in which case the upgrade is not really necessary. However of all Gaunt upgrades flesh hooks is the most useful.
Scuttlers -
MAYBE - One more on the maybe boat. Will help get your gaunts across to enemy lines faster but costs quite a bit. You are literally paying for every inch and the costs gets very high very fast for a very very vulnerable unit. Best used on smaller broods.
Toxin Sacs -
NO - As great as having higher strength sounds, because of the ridiculous vulnerability of a 6+ save, this upgrade is quite possibly the worst you could give on almost every case. It has the added bonus of making your guns even more expensive as well to boot! Yay! Your cost effectiveness will take a very steep drop, and the 'benefits' are minimal in most situations.
WEAPON SYMBIOTESRanged
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Spinefist -
YES - Best balance! Is the cheapest and most cost effective in keeping balance between shooting and CC ability.
Fleshborer -
MAYBE - The best all around ranged weapon for gaunts. Useful against nearly any target lucky rolls can glance AV 10 vehicles. However your cost effectiveness takes a blow in CC as you are no better than spinegaunts and cost more.
Devourer -
MAYBE - Powerful but the least cost effective of the 3. This weapon is what you'd get if you combined a spinefist and fleshborer having the abilities of both in 1. (the spinefist is TL but the devourer gets 2x shots so it's pretty much the same thing) the added range makes shooting more viable as an option for gaunts.
SPECIAL RULESWithout Number -
MAYBE - This special rule is a bit pricey but can be ridiculously useful depending on how you use it. The most common tactic is to slap it on and rush ahead with your gaunts soaking enemy fire and letting the other units behind these gaunts move up, get cover saves and avoid being shot alltogether. Then when the fighting up ahead gets messy these guys will re-spawn and be able to take objectives or rush forward as reinforcements. A pretty fun trick is to keep your synapse up ahead, this will cause the gaunts to go into IB and the rules indicate that they will need to FALL BACK towards the nearest synapse creature thus they'll come running FORWARD to wherever your synapse is located, this is a double-edged sword tho so play with caution. Think of this upgrade the same as having extra units in RESERVES, except that you need them to die first before you can get the reserves on the table. Kamikaze is the way to go.
Recommended Configurations To UseGENERAL RECOMMENDATION First understand that prior to selecting a ranged weapon the minimum squad of 8 gaunts costs 32 points total. This means that without adding anything gaunts are just as good if not BETTER in combat than Hormagaunts. ANY ranged weapon you choose will make your brood less point cost effective in CC thus making spinefist the best balanced all-round in terms of cost and results.
24 Gaunt Brood @ 120 Pts
Spinefists- The best choice all-round in cost effectiveness. Very cheap so you can toss them around without worrying about giving the opponents a lot of victory points. Works very well against IG, Tau and Orks. Will suffer against T4 enemies with a save better than 5+. Smaller broods are good in order to cover up more troop choices and reduce the damage of mass fire or blast weapons. However do not be shy about taking more numbers these guys are really cheap and work just as good in larger numbers even when getting pummeled by enemy fire. I recommend a squad of 8 - 24. 24 Spinegaunts can take out 2 MEQs per turn in shooting and 1.33 MEQs in CC, but their real usefulness comes from tying up enemy troops and CC which is what they end up doing most of the time.
Rating 10/1016 Gaunt Brood @ 96 Pts
Fleshborer - The best all-round shooting choice. Will be able to damage the widest range of enemies with the most effectiveness. It is the absolute best gun for gaunts to use against IG, Orks and MEQs. Given that MEQs are the most common type in the 40k Universe this means that Fleshborers will always give you a fighting chance against most opponents. However the downside is that you are no more effective than a spinegaunt in combat and cost more and the sad truth is that as good as your shooting is you only have 12" range at which you are more likely to engage in combat. So that most of the time you end up throwing those extra points away for a better gun that you might never even use. Take in small to midsized broods 8 to - 16 models, this will be more point effective as taking larger numbers means half your guys wont even be in range to shoot their guns which is another big waste of points. A brood of 16 fleshborers will kill 2 MEQs per turn in shooting, the same as a large brood of 24 spinegaunts and for 24 points less! However be warned that once you enter CC your well spent points go to waste in terms of cost effectiveness.
Rating 8/1014 Gaunt Brood @ 98 Pts
Devourer- Powerful! Strongest of the 3 ranged weapons for gaunts. Weapon of choice against TauEQ and models with T5 or T6, against other models it keeps a steady 2nd place being either as good as the spinefist or better. What you lose in strength of the gun you more than make up for with the re-rolls so do not be discouraged, plus the 18" range means that this is hands down THE gun to use if you actually want to SHOOT with your gaunts and avoid CC. In CC this is the least cost effective being just as good as a spinefist gaunt, also this does not just apply to CC this set up as a whole has a major cost efficiency flaw because the gaunts are so vulnerable to anything. But you CAN make up for it by slapping them in cover, avoiding CC and shooting anything in range. Remember these guys are NOT for CC they should be used strictly for shooting otherwise you are wasting a ridiculous amount of points. Take in small broods of 8 - 14 to make sure that the opponent doesnt put too much focus on shooting them and that they can get enough shots to damage whatever they shoot. A 14 strong brood will kill 2 MEQs per turn in shooting and costs about the same as the 16 strong group of termagaunts, thanks to the extra 6" range however these guys are more capable of making their shooting count the way it should.
Rating 6/10NOTE: You can use
Killing Power Calculator to determine killing power of a unit. Do not use it for calculating rends tho as this is an old program.