Experiences and tactics with Superheavies?

[chosen40k]

So what are your experiences with Fellblades, Glaives, Falchions, and the like? 

 

Which one is the most bang for their points? What are you tactics with them?

[Theredknight]

I used a fellblade in a 6 k battle (each side) it more than made up for it's pioint value.

 

Mashing infantry, wiping out a knight with ap rounds, not to mention the contemptors, basilisk and vindicator.. Personally I love it, for the simple amount of versitility it has. That and I don't fancy shelling out for a glaive etc lol

 

I used it to support my infantry as much as possible. I wasn't really worried about hp and would sacrifice a few to save my men.

[Dono1979]

The Fellblade is basically the Marine version of a Baneblade in more than just stats, it is THE most points efficient Super Heavy available for a general purpose role. The sheer amount of firepower that the Fellblade can churn out is devastating, coupled with its 12 Hull Points, relatively low profile (compared to a Warhound Titan), high Ballistic Skill (if crewed by Marines) and ability to take defensive upgrades makes it a scary scary tank.

 

The other chassis options are awesome tanks unto themselves but are very focused, in a very similar way that all of the other 'Baneblade' variants are specialised version. The Glaive is great at clearing medium armour and infantry groups, but lacks the punch to go toe to toe with another Super Heavy (unless it is also a Glaive) while the Falchion suffers from the same problems of the Stormsword only to a smaller degree.

 

If you could only afford to take a single SH Tank and you wanted the most bang for your buck than the Fellblade is certainly the one to grab. I often feild the other variants simply for the fun of it and to tie it in with the rest of the list, but I play a lot uncompetitive lists.

 

If you do take the Fellblade though, you need to be aggressive with it, remember it can more 12" and fire ALL weapons, so take advatange of that, get close to the enemy so that you can start using the Demolisher cannon but also to move it away from your own troops for when it goes BOOM.

Try to keep it flanking, rather than charging up the centre, so that you can at least protect one side and make it harder to be flanked yourself.

Dont forget how potent Tank Shock and Ramming can be against other non Super Heavy units, take advantage of that, you will be pleasantly surprised at how many extra wounds and hull points you inflict on things.

 

Lastly be very careful of Haywire (Grav or regular haywire weapon) they will strip the hull point from you very quickly.

[ChainMachete]

What about the Typhon? In theory, this sounds like the best bet in lower point games and frees up  points for more toys in the higher point games.

[Moonstalker]

The other chassis options are awesome tanks unto themselves but are very focused, in a very similar way that all of the other 'Baneblade' variants are specialised version. The Glaive is great at clearing medium armour and infantry groups, but lacks the punch to go toe to toe with another Super Heavy (unless it is also a Glaive) while the Falchion suffers from the same problems of the Stormsword only to a smaller degree.

 

This is exactly backwards.  The Glaive is awful at clearing medium armor because it will deal only a single haywire hit to a non-superheavy.  It is excellent at killing superheavies, because its main gun is basically guaranteed the equivalent of an explodes result every turn (d3+1 haywire hits, each haywire hit is a 2+ to strip a hull point).  A Glaive will kill a Fellblade 1v1 every time, the Fellblade's AP shot does not have the hull point stripping capabilities needed to keep up, and the extra demolisher cannon on the hull does not make up for it.  If anything, the Fellblade is the one that excels at clearing infantry and medium armor, while the Glaive is best used for stripping HP off superheavies.

 

Edit: A more in-depth explanation of this here.

[depthcharge12]

Thoughts on the Stormblade tank?

 

It has two firing modes:

 

Primary S8 AP2 heavy 2 7" apocalypse blast

 

Or

 

Overload S10 AP2 heavy 1 10" apocalypse blast

 

 

If you take a lot of anti tank in your list already, this thing can take out big blobs of anything.

 

The only unit I could see circumnavigating all these crazy weapons are the Castellex (which can be pretty OP at times) with their T7 and 5++ they can damn near shrug off anything. I almost wonder if it would just be better to get the equivalent super heavy in castellex instead - a 500 point tank can warrant you about 5 upgraded Castellax.

[Moonstalker]

ChainMachete, I like the Typhon as a LoW at 2k points, but I don't think it scales well above that, and it'll get outclassed too easily by bigger LoW.  14/14/14, 6 HP, Armored Ceramite, 2 Lascannons, and its siege cannon make for an imposing vehicle at 2k points while also not being super expensive/taking up a full 25% of your army.  It will do a good job at clearing tactical blobs while lending some anti-tank if you need it.  It's a fairly solid all-around choice, IMO, but not overwhelmingly strong.  The trouble comes when you escalate to 2.5k, and your opponent brings a Fellblade (or similar).  Then you've only got a ~150-ish point edge to try to make up for the difference in durability and firepower between the Typhon and the Fellblade.  I don't think you can do it.

 

The Stormblade that depthcharge suggests is like the Typhon, but... more.  Still a big, powerful template, some lascannons on the sides, and a beefy hull (lower armor values, but more huillpoints), price still low enough that you can squeeze it in at 2k even with a Space Marine Crew.  It might be a little harder to bring alongside a balanced list, but it is doable.  The tank is possibly good enough to keep up as the points go up and nastier LoW options become available.

 

 

The best choice might be knights, though.  You see them everywhere in 40k for damn good reason, and an allied contingent of 2 knights at 2k (going by what I have heard of Conquest) instead of using one as a Lord of War can put you at a crushing advantage.  We have to wait and see what exactly Conquest is bringing us, but I don't feel like anyone is ever going to regret bringing a knight household to the table.

[SillyDreadnought]

Cerberus is always a neat AT choice in lower points brackets.