Today we continue with the Twin-Barreled Turbo Laser Destructor (the official name in the Apocalypse book, which we'll just call the Turbo Laser for short). This weapon is among the most common of the Warhound weapon options used because of its shear lethality and well known and feared stopping power.
Range 96" - SD - AP2 - Primary Weapon 2, Blast.
**NOTE: The possibility of rolling a 6 on the D Table will rarely be discussed in this article as it is only a 1/6 chance. Warhound owners can reasonably expect to roll the 2-5 result often and should consider that from the tactical standpoint instead of its maximum.
Range: At 96", this mammoth of a weapon can hit anything it wants on a standard sized table. The Turbo Laser can easily out-distance heavy weapons teams and is rarely out-ranged by other equipment. Using a Turbo Laser, a Warhound can sit outside of the main battle, in spite of its nature as a Scout Titan, and lay the hate from safety.
General Effectiveness: The Turbo Laser really offers itself up as a very versatile weapon for a Titan to use. Due to its nature as a Destroyer weapon, something heavily feared in the current state of 30k/40k, it's able to harm anything and everything with ease. Results of the Turbo Laser, like any D weapon, rely upon a single dice roll to determine just how devastating the weapon may have a chance to be. There is always a 1/6 chance of doing no damage at all, but this is largely made up for by the fact that 2/3 of the time you'll deal an average of 2 wounds or Hull Points per hit, usually causing Instant Death in the process. Because of the D weapon rules, its general effectiveness in combat is very high. However, this weapon shines the most against 2+ armor opponents with lower invulnerable saves, multi-wound models that you have to kill quickly, and other vehicles, especially Titans that need to go down fast. Shooting at infantry type units, while brutally devastating, should be reserved for after other "battlefield kings" have been dealt with. Furthermore, care should be taken against enemies that have respectable invulnerable saves as the multi-wound nature of a D weapon shot can easily be negated by invulnerable saves that will completely ignore the effect once the save has been passed.
Effectiveness Against Titans: As previously mentioned, the Turbo Laser is really good against vehicles, and is among the best counters for other Titans. Titans, being notoriously hard to kill, obviously need to be dealt with by superior weaponry. D weapons are known as "Titan killers" for good reason. Often a Turbo Laser won't miss its shots due to its BS4, reducing scatter, coupled with the shear size of other Titans. This means that on average, a Turbo Laser will strip out 4 Hull Points per salvo once the Void Shields have been stripped (see the Vulcan Mega Bolter article for more information about this tactic.) Furthermore, rolling a 6 on the D table has the chance of completely coring out a Warhound Titan in one shot, and a Reaver Titan with two very lucky rolls on the table. This makes the Turbo Laser the Warhound's best option at killing fellow Titans due to the ease with which it can damage them, and it's potential to completely kill them in one shot with luck. It is important to note that a hit from a D weapon will automatically collapse a Titan's Void Shields. This should probably only be used as a last resort after all other nearby support units have attempted to knock out an enemy Titan's Void Shields, since these shots are much more useful in killing the enemy instead of taking out defensive measures where no real damage will be done.
Recommended Deployments: This weapon is best used against enemy elite infantry (preferably with lower invulnerable saves), multi-wound characters that can be killed by Instant Death, vehicles, and other Titans. While the weapon is very capable of killing hordes and soft opponents, the shots are somewhat wasted compared to its ability to kill heavy armor and major threats. Once the major threats have been eliminated, this weapon can be used to devastate infantry and punish them. This weapon is good against any and all opponents, shooting just comes down to a matter of target priority. While tempting to take two of this heavy hitting weapon on the battlefield, it does limit your Titan to being able to hunt only hard hitting targets in a way. Pairing the Warhound with another weapon type, such as the Plasma Blastgun or Vulcan Mega Bolter, gives the Titan much more versatility and helps it to tackle the entire spectrum of opponents and increases its effectiveness.
Source: https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Mars-Pattern-Warhound-Titan-Turbo-Laser-arm-only
Summary: The Turbo Laser is probably the most versatile weapon that a Warhound Titan can carry. Due to its nature as a D weapon, it is able to kill infantry and vehicles alike with ease using the Destroyer Table. However, the weapon shines most against elite infantry, vehicles, and in particular other Titans. Care should be taken during target selection to maximize the lethality and impact of this weapon on the battlefield. Wasted opportunities with this weapon can lead to your own Titan's death.
Please comment below to discuss the Twin-Barreled Turbo Laser Destructor.
Shadow
He shadow, excellent article. I love this weapon, but I do miss some of the limits that used to be emposed on hard points from AT.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely my favourite Warhound Weapon. My first Warhound has this and an Inferno Cannon. Not sure the combination works so well but the Turbo Laser is fantastic. People often run a Warhound with two of these for extra killing power against bigger Apocalypse forces.
ReplyDeleteGreat article too Shadow.
Thank you for the kind comments on the write up, but I'm giving credit to the weapon. It really lends itself to just talking about it bluntly. Like Drake, this is my favorite Warhound weapon because it's got both stopping power and versatility which allows your Warhound to do things in a game and do it effectively. I'm hoping to core out another Titan with mine one day. :)
ReplyDelete