Plasma Pistols... ever worth it?

[AfroCampbell]

Question is in the title really, is the plasma pistol ever really worth taking??

its is super expensive and you need to be rather close to do any damage with it. 

Thoughts?

[Slips]

Nope. Not to me. The risk of Gets Hot! Actually wounding a character or outright killing them if they have 1 Wound also makes even even less attractive.

[Disciple of Caliban Sgt]

I like it on my three wound jump packers. Seems fitting to me and while expensive fun to actually shoot a bad guy with it and take some wounds off.

[Terminus]

No. Maybe if they were 5 points, I'd sprinkle them in units like Suzerain to use as ghetto-special weapons.

[Lord Blackwood]

No. Maybe if they were 5 points, I'd sprinkle them in units like Suzerain to use as ghetto-special weapons.

yeah at 5 points i would consider them for templar brethren as well 15 is just way too high for the return 

[shandwen]

I have seen a couple betreps where a dude with a plasma pistol managed to shoot three or four enemies down during a game. That made me reevaluate their usefulness. I would recommend not buying them in bulk, but one on a sergeant can be worthwhile, and perhaps in a unit like the Ultramarine jump infantry as they can doubletap (even with the drawbacks involved the chance to shoot down four enemies is nice).

Edit: but if they were dropped to 5 pts a model nobody would ever equip anything else.

[Caillum]

Yeah, 5 points is definitely too cheap. 10 points would be the sweet spot, because you'd still consider dropping them if you needed the points back for something more important. At the current price of 15 points, I don't see them being worth it.

 

Beyond the HQ options, I might consider them for Sons of Horus unit Sergeants and generic Seeker Sergeants. They can take artificer armour for a 2+ save to protect them from Gets Hot, and they have BS5.

[Sanct]

I used to like them on certain reaver sarges before vets became so cheap.  Plasma pistol + hand flamer was cool.

[Chaplain Raeven]

I never use plasma pistols, since you get a rifle or a cannon (with better range/shots) for exactly the same price.

I would reconsider if they dropped the price to 10 points.

[LtDan]

Too expensive for my taste. A combi plasma has more use Imo and half the price

[Major_Gilbear]

Plasma pistols and weapons like Powerswords/axes/fists etc., should always be priced by entry and not off a big list at the start of the army list section.

 

Whilst generally speaking this is how the HH lists *do* work, it seems that the pricing of the weapons/equipment is not always adjusted accordingly.

 

The reason I mention this is that a plasma pistol is clearly never going to be as valuable on a Sergeant as on a Character (higher BS and multiple wounds for a start), the same is true of different types of unit - a power sword is worth more on an Assault Sergeant than a Devastator/Support squad Sergeant even if they have the same statlines.

 

At a fairly universal cost of 15pts for a plasma pistol (same in all 40k Marine books as well I think), it is a pretty niche choice that really comes down to betting on whether you are going to get that improved shot off against a target of opportunity or not (and whether several bolt pistol shots at no risk would acheive the same for cheaper anyway).

[Charlo]

It's a great question - but at 15pts the answer will always be no!

 

...Or will it?

 

I like to think of the Plasma pistol in the following way, it's a weapon you can take, shoot down terminators with AND still get an extra attack in combat (assuming normal PW or something). I believe this is why it's priced how it is.

 

NOW, 15pts is probably still too much for that... But what if maybe the PP got the Specialist weapon rule? So it could grant an extra attack with a power fist?

 

Just spit balling :P

[Captain Idaho]

15pts on a character isn't terrible but 10pts is more reasonable. I've blown a hole through many a beastie or Space Marine/Terminator using a crucial plasma blast but when trimming a list it is the 1st thing to go.

 

15pts on a 1 wound model is usually wasteful. A double tapping 4 shot Ultramarines jump troop might enjoy it but usually I'd say nay.

[Terminus]

5-7 points for Sgts, 10 for characters I think would be fair.  GW arms like 80% of their Space Marines characters with a plasma pistol, and those guys are in 40K, so in 30K those should be a standard side arm for every Sgt. :P

[Major_Gilbear]

I guess another way of looking at it is this: for 15pts, would you rather upgrade one pistol into something better (but riskier) or have a whole extra tactical marine complete with weapons?

 

If you just have one, it's situational but the pistol is probably worth a go.

 

If you have a fair few across your army, that's a whole extra squad that you might prefer instead!

[Terminus]

I will never make the choice for the pistol at 15 points, ever.  I can leverage 15 points into a lot of useful upgrades here and there, like HK missiles and melta bombs and dozer blades.

[Charlo]

As a Blood Angel however, I think an Inferno Pistol is an astounding investment for 15tps

 

Same for Salamanders who can make them Master-Crafted.

[Blindhamster]

As a Blood Angel however, I think an Inferno Pistol is an astounding investment for 15tps

 

Same for Salamanders who can make them Master-Crafted.

 

really? i find the range to be the big turn off for them, rarely use them in 40k for the same reason...

[Charlo]

It's a Pistol that has the potential to not only instant Death most characters but also murder even a land raider.

 

Range isn't an issue when you have a jump pack and deep strike in combination IMO.

 

YMMV.

[Terminus]

The range is unfortunate, but you basically have to pretend the melta bonus doesn't exist and just enjoy the S8 AP1, which is nice.

 

Deep strike can be risky and you can't have a nuncio vox everywhere.  And using your shooting phase to run and try to spread out is most of the time far more useful than taking a few pot-shots (even with Day of Revelation cover).  In the specific case of assault squads, I wouldn't give them to the grunts because BS4 and sword or axe will contributes more to their main goal. For the Sgts it's not a terrible upgrade, although a combi-melta is cheaper and better if you only get one shot per game.

 

Now the Moritat with twin inferno is something to seriously consider, mainly because the recent Moritat models are so badass.  Getting that guy anywhere near a vehicle is usually very bad times for the vehicle except that one turn you roll snake eyes and have to contend with a meltabomb. :D

[Brofist]

In our league we've been pricing plasma pistols at 5pts across the board for everyone for about two years. We even added the specialist weapon rule to them, so they can be used to grant extra attacks for things like fists and claws.

 

People still don't regularly take them. I use them occasionally myself, but they often don't really contribute to my games beyond getting +1 attack. In VisV they're more popular, but even then some people really don't like the idea of loosing models to their own weapons.

[Captain Idaho]

With those rules I'd take one on every character in the army!

[exsanguis]

Due to their size, I'd even be happy if they were S5 or 6 AP2 with no Get's Hot! rule. At 10 points each I'd at least consider something like that, especially for a character.

 

Basically it becomes a ranged power axe...

[Elzender]

Due to their size, I'd even be happy if they were S5 or 6 AP2 with no Get's Hot! rule. At 10 points each I'd at least consider something like that, especially for a character.

 

Basically it becomes a ranged power axe...

The problem would be that what you described is a better version of an archaeotec pistol :D

[Brofist]

Funny you mention those. We've been running those as assault 2 and also at 5 points across the board.

 

10 points for a single shot just isn't a great deal when a combi plasma is the same price with longer range and double the firepower. At 5 points and with specialist weapon people do take them more, but it becomes an eggs in one basket situation. To take advantage of the extra attack you're looking at 30 points on your sergeants, which can add up really fast for something that isn't always relevant (a dedicated CC squad won't care about your extra fist attack and single AP2 plasma shot at 12" is hardly scary).

 

Expensive pistol weapons just aren't very impactful within the ecosystem of the game. The exception might be inferno pistols, but again at 15 points why not grab yourself a combi melta instead?