kturock wrote:Cypher has 2 pistols and this rule. I THINK he has a bolt pistol and a plasma pistol.
You don't have to be Cypher to tote around two pistols. I could take a squad of ten Vanguard Veterans, and kit out the squadboyz this same way - although Cypher has some additional special rules and a higher BS that make him quite the shootist compared to a regular old Space Marine - or even a veteran!
Thing is, I doubt it's actually worth it to do something like this, and that's why I'm asking for other opinions.
- Sergeants, especially in tactical squads, need to be the one carrying a special close combat weapon like a power fist or thunder hammer. This comes at the cost of being able to carry two pistols, though, making them somehwat less shooty but much more fighty.
- Similarly, a Captain, with his high WS, multiple Attacks, extra Wounds, and Iron Halo, is well suited to slugging it out in close combat. You could go crazy and buy him two plasma pistols, though. With his higher BS, he hits on anything but a 1; this means he'll either hit with both gunz, or suffer a wound from "Gets Hot!". Unlike regular Space Marines, Blood Angel officers can not buy Artificer Armour, so the save on "Gets Hot!" is a 3+, but, thankfully, as a mighty hero, the Captain has wounds to spare. Still, this model starts at 100 points, and buying him two pistols means he can't take a snazzy close combat weapon at all!
- Honour Guard and Vanguard Veterans - here's where things get really interesting. Right out of the gates, I'm tempted to say this is a poor choice for Vanguard Vets because it limits them to S4 hits with no AP if you elect to perform a "Heroic Intervention" upon arriving from Deep Strike - plus they're not allowed to shoot if they do this. However, the squadboyz of both units can swap out for two pistol armament. The Sanguinary Novitiate in the Honour Guard can't buy options, limiting that unit to only four configurable models, but in a squad of ten Vanguard Veterans, all nine squadboyz could have two pistols (including the aforementioned two plasma pistols, but also infernus pistols or hand flamers as well!) if you're willing to shell out the extra points!
The most interesting combination - ten Vanguard Veterans with jump packs and two awesome pistols per squadboy - is a whopping 585 points with no extras. It's 600 points if you give the sergeant an awesome pistol too. This essentially
doubles their cost. All other things being equal, though, you would get at least one turn with 19 S7 AP2 shots; but how likely are you to make your points back before either being slaughtered by return fire (assuming you didn't vapourise all hostiles with your initial barrage) or losing valuable manpower due to "Gets Hot!"?
Bargain hunters might note that instead of jump packs, you could herd a Vanguard squad into a Drop Pod, saving 65 points over the cost of jump packs. Additionally, were one so inclined, you could take hand flamers as pistols, saving a further 95 points (assuming your sergeant wants one instead of a plasma pistol, too). Given the way shooting with multiple templates works (see
Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook, page 53), there's an enormous potential for blasting some poor enemy squad with a truckload of S3 AP6 wounds, provided you could arrange your own models so that every lad could fire without striking his fellows. As an added bonus, any enemy who charged you in response could potentially be facing a Wall of Death (see
Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook, page 52) with 10d3 automatic hand flamer hits!
