Heavy weapon squads

[NTFH]

well put. you move you > don't shoot heavy weapon. plain and simple. though the story to explain was nice.

[Tripl3Stormsoul]

With the way the IG codex reads (Two guardsmen may form a single heavy weapon crew. The heavy weapon crew is armed with...) it would mean the IG not manning the gun CANNOT fire his lasgun, nor can the heavy weapon crew fire their lasguns if the squad moves (since they traded them in for that nice shiny lascannon). They form one crew, and the crew is armed with a heavy weapon. So one guy fires, the other spots and reloads. The spotter cannot fire, since the crew sacrifices two lasguns for a heavy weapon (a great trade)

[[*NoCo*]]

yes you are partly right there but there is no deeper explanation so.
look at what you said and what Inquisitor Leet said they are both right in there own way.

[Abraham Lincoln]

So... I know this thread is kind of old, but I'm still not sure what the consensus is.

1. Do you need both the HW operator and the ammo guy for the HW to be operational?
2. Can the ammo guy also fire his lasgun?

If the answer is that the ammo guy has no effect on the HW, and he can even still fire his lasgun, then that makes him completely pointless, doesn't it? You wouldn't need to differentiate between him or any other guardsman in the squad, because his presence or death would not make any difference to the HW.

I don't have a codex with me, but this seems like a giant grey area. I have always played that if either of the members of the HW team dies, the HW is unoperational. I also thought that neither of them could use a lasgun.

Could someone please purge my heretical soul with the light of truth?

[smallelflaughing]

I have heard that the only reason it is like this is:
a) becuase the spotter can't take a special weapon
and
b) becuase it's a remmenant of older rules, and is pointless.

[Tripl3Stormsoul]

The man second man in the Heavy Weapon crew cannot fire his lasgun, but his death does not diminish the crew in any way (I guess we can say that if the spotter/reloader goes down, any of the other nine guardsmen can easily fill in for him, if you wanna be nitpicky about it)

Yeah, it does render one guy in your squad useless, but when you consider that youre trading in his lasgun (along with his friend's) for a Lascannon or any similar nasty weapon, its obvious which way you should go.

[BiG_SaNCHeZ]

Well think about it when you look at the support squads. The codex says they have lasguns and must be upgraded to teams. If one was the loader and the other the shooter then what would be the point in having lasguns? However, if they were shot at by something with the marksman rule (vindicare, for example) who can choose specific targets then the other guy could shoot his lasgun since the guy with the heavy weapon is dead and there is no gun for him (or her) to load.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Okay, I like this rule. Apparently I have been shorting myself a lasgun AND killing off my HW's too soon... so, here's another question about this:

In a HW squad, I have 3 HB gguys and their 3 spotters, who are firing their lasguns. The squad takes one wound, so I remove a spotter and all 3 HB's still fire as normal. Next turn, the squad takes another wound... can I just remove another spotter, and still have 3 HB's operational?

Wow, I have really been shafting myself when it comes to the weapons teams if this is true.

[Kaiser]

In a HW squad, I have 3 HB gguys and their 3 spotters, who are firing their lasguns. The squad takes one wound, so I remove a spotter and all 3 HB's still fire as normal. Next turn, the squad takes another wound... can I just remove another spotter, and still have 3 HB's operational?

You got it.

The worst job in the history of 40k is the job of a heavy weapon team loader, because you will be the first one to die in every battle.

[smallelflaughing]

The worst job in the history of 40k is the job of a heavy weapon team loader, because you will be the first one to die in every battle.

And you don't even get frags for helping! Unfair!