Heavy Weapons

Basically heavy weapons are the means by which you win battles, dirt cheap, and pack a massive punch, better yet, they are troops. Heavy weapons can either park on objectives, or act as the support role in your army. Personally I have a love hate relationship with them, because they are $35, how do I overcome this? some creative modeling, instead of spending that, simply convert six men from a squad into them, this works great with rocket launchers, but it works just fine with things like autocannons too. One of my men has an autocannon and uses a mortar stand as a bipod.

Mortar:
One of my favorite heavy weapons is the mortar, easily convertable so you don't need to spend that money on extra troops (just use the same troops from whatever squad gave 4 men up to an officer's squad, then you have 6 left over, perfect for a heavy weapons squad), and I like the mortars for their range and pinning power. Against Tau, the mortar works wonders, and also against other Guard. A lot of other Guard players dismiss the mortar due to its minimal strength 4, and AP 5, and its only a small blast, so how is it going to hit anything, let alone kill it? Well, some things lend the mortar strength beyond its statistics, its barrage, so you can fire over cover, and the whole "you can't use the model's BS to keep it on course" only applies if the model can't see it's target. Speaking of which, it can fire over terrain, so you can place them behind a large piece of terrain, and your opponent usually won't see a threat in them, so they will go the entire battle unharmed. This weapon won't kill a whole lot of people, however, its only 60 points and at the very least it can hold objectives.

Autocannon:
Without doubt, my favorite piece of heavy weaponry is the .50 cal autocannon, with two strength 7 shots it pulps Guard, Tau, Eldar infantry, and Nid Gaunts instantly, and with range 48, what's not to love? its cheap, strong, and long ranged. I field them with my defensive squads, this is the only heavy weapon I suggest for infantry squads, because it lends to their strengths, as long as they are on defense.

Heavy Bolter:
If you only fight Guard or Nids, then yeah go for it. Otherwise, I can't say I love this weapon. If you do field it, then field it in a heavy weapon squad, that's nine strength 5 shots in a single turn, from a relatively cheap unit, perfect for fighting horde armies.

Lascannon:
Don't ever field this with an infantry squad, they don't work well in the same unit. That said, lascannons are perfect for killing terminators, vehicles, and monstrous creatures, and work particularly well with the "Bring it Down!" order, which makes them count as twinlinked.

Rocket Launcher:
My least favorite heavy weapon of all, with strength 8, it will take out a light vehicle, but for the points it's not worth it, and as an anti-infantry weapon, there are weapons that do it far better.



Now that I've covered that, understand the different roles that heavy weapons can play. On defense heavy bolters should be placed directly on the objective, so their short range isn't so much of a problem, and you can use their immense firepower effectively. A great supplement to any defense, is mortars, placed a good distance away, they can hammer anyone attacking your defenders, or even if the enemy has captured the objective. If the mortar pins them then use the other elements to finish the enemy unit off. Even if the Mortar doesn't kill them then at least they are a nearby unit that could potentially contest, or at the very least force your opponent to go out of his way to kill them. As a support, mortars also come into play, so make sure when you place them, you place them so they can both defend and support. Lascannons shouldn't care about their own welfare, simply take out what poses the greatest threat to you, such as enemy tanks (obviously) and those pesky terminators. Autocannons should do their best to support the infantry from afar helping them advance by mowing down swathes of enemy heavy troops, the lasguns can get the rest.

So there you go, any more questions, ask and I will answer.