The Email
I got another email from the new Space Marine player. He asks great questions, and I thought it would be an enlightening article for newer players...

Hello this is H.B, how are you? I've just got a couple of questions to ask. Just yesterday, I was going through my old closet and found a model of a tank with a vulcan cannon. I thought that the vulcan cannon would make a great conversion for an assault cannon for one of my Terminators. Is an assault cannon worth the points? I mean 30pts seems an awful lot of points to me. Should I go for it?
Also, I've got a question on the Devastators. If I do come across one, how should I arm them? I researched and there were several different opinions out there and they all make sense (at least in some way). Any advice?

The Answer
For the Vulcan Cannon, I'd say that as long as it isn't way too big or way too small, it'd be a great conversion for an Assault Cannon. In general, it's great to use weapons from other toys and models as weapons for your armies. Just make sure that they are close to the right size and shape for what you want. For example, the only Space Marine weapon with multiple barrels is the Assault Cannon, so if you want a Lascannon or a Heavy Bolter, don't use multi-barrel weapons. Also keep in mind that a few bitz or pieces can make a big difference. For example, the primary difference between a Dark Lance and a Disintegrator (Dark Eldar weapons) is the muzzle/flash suppressor. You may also be able to take part of a weapon (say, a Heavy Bolter body) and add pieces to it (such as a much longer barrel) to make a different weapon (An Autocannon in this case.)

Personally, I think an assault cannon is a fantastic addition to a Terminator squad, but it depends on exactly what you are using the Terminators for and what you plan to use them against. If you are planning on primarily using them as an assault unit, particularly if mounted in a LandRaider, that extra firepower will be wasted. On the other hand, if you expect them to be moving on foot or standing around (such as when you are using them in a counterassault role) then it is a wise investment. Assault Cannons are particularly effective at killing lots of light infantry or light vehicles, but they can also be useful against heavier infantry and vehicles.

Vs AV13: 4 shots x 2/3 to hit x 1/6 to Rend x 2/3 chance to Penetrate x 2/3 chance to get a weapon destroyed or better result= 19.7% chance of a damaging hit. For comparison, a single Lascannon has a 14.8% chance of a damaging hit. The other anti-tank weapon available to the Terminators is the Cyclone Missile Launcher with 2 Krak missiles, which would have 2x2/3x1/6x2/3=14.8% chance of a damaging hit, equal to the Lascannon.

Vs Space Marine (Heavy Infantry) 4 shots x 2/3 to hit x 2/3 (non-rending Wound) x 1/3 to fail armor save+ 4x2/3x1/6(Rending)= 1.03 Dead Space Marines. The Cyclone Missile Launcher gets 2x2/3x5/6=1.1 Dead Space Marines, so they are pretty equal that way.

With Frag missiles, the Cyclone is also a very good light infantry mower, so both are very effective at pretty much anything you might ask them to do. If you already have a Cyclone Missile Launcher, I don't think it would be worth switching to an Assault Cannon, but I do think that adding either one to a dismounted Terminator squad is definitely worth 30pts. (Otherwise the squad has no chance against any vehicle outside of Close Combat.) If your shooting bags a single 90pt vehicle every 3 games, it will have paid for itself.

Which way to the gun show?

Devastators
Remember that a Devastator is just a Space Marine with a Heavy weapon. Each of the Heavy Weapon troopers in your Tactical squads is a potential Devastator. Many people will buy multiple Heavy weapon troopers so they can swap them out when they want to use something different. (like, you have 4 Tactical squads of 10. You have 4 Sergeants, 4 Flamers, 28 Bolters, 4 Missile Launchers, 2 Lascannons and 2 Heavy Bolters. This will let you swap out your heavy weapons to make your force better against particular kinds of target.) Any of these spares can be put into a Devastator squad. After you've played your army for a while, figure out if want your army to be more effective against a particular type of target, then build your Devastator squad around that. My theory on Devastator squads is that you want them to have the same or similar targets. If you put 2 Lascannons in with 2 Heavy Bolters, you will always be a little effective at something, but they'll never be completely effective. Keep in mind that you pay more for weapons in Devastator squads than in Tactical squads, so you really want to make them as efficient as possible. Let's take a look at what each weapon is good at and I'll explain a little bit more...

Heavy Bolter: Light Infantry
Missile Launcher: moderately effective against all targets, but not great
Multi-Melta: Heavy Vehicles
Lascannon: Heavy Vehicles
Plasma Cannon: Heavy Infantry

Like I said, I like to have either a dedicated squad or at least a complementary squad. A dedicated squad will have all the same weapons. Sometimes this results in overkill, but it is great insurance against those times when you seem to roll nothing but ones, or you just can't seem to get a penetrating hit to save your life. A complementary squad is one that has a combination that overlaps in effectiveness. Even if 2 of the weapons aren't great at a target, they will have decent effectiveness. For example, Plasma Cannons and Heavy Bolters are both effective against infantry. Plasma is much better against Heavy Infantry, but it's high strength and blast make it pretty good against light infantry too. Multimeltas and Lascannons are another complementary combination. Multimeltas have great use against Heavy Vehicles, but are limited by their range. Lascannons are also effective against Heavy Vehicles, but have much greater range. With the Vehicle Damage charts in 5th edition, Lascannons aren't as effective against AV14 Vehicles, but Multimeltas (at the proper range) will slag them very quickly. If you want to have a weapon that will be useful against almost any target, go with 4 missile launchers. This gives you a higher chance of having a target every turn, but it means you won't be quite as effective against any one target.

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