Thoughts on Tomb Blades, or Math Is Weird Sometimes

So, let's say you want your space undead fast and shooty - why not combine them with a bike?

Well, why not - but man, once you read the sheet, you've got some options to think about.  There's the question of which of three guns, and whether or not you're going to add any defensive upgrades onto these things.  After we look at those, we'll look at the Dynasty options.

The Guns

You have three options for guns, and you can mix and match if you really, really want to - you can go with the base Particle Beamer, the twin Gauss Blaster, or the twin Tesla Carbine.  Real talk here - my initial impression is the Gauss Blaster with that sweet AP-2, but we'll take a look at math and see what works out here.

I'm going to make some assumptions about math here - 

1) Run shots without help

2) Run another set of shots with My Will Be Done

3) Run shots in and out of rapid-fire range (when applicable)

4) Run shots in and out of Mephrit's bonus AP range

5) Shots against T3-4 infantry

6) Compare vs. variety of armor saves (2+, 3+, 4+, 4++) for common infantry targets

I'm going to compare the beamer and the gauss rifle.  Note that the tesla carbine has four shots and needs to pull off at least a six and a couple of hits to get the same number of hits as a particle beamer - so its output is similar to or lower than a particle beamer.

The Particle Beamer

Assault 6, S5, AP0, 18" range

Base shots - 6 shots > 4 hits > 2.66 wounds > 0.88 vs 3+, 1.33 vs 4+, 0.44 vs 2+

MWBD - 6 shots > 5 hits > 3.33 wounds > 1.11 vs 3+, 1.66 vs 4+, 0.55 vs 2+

With Mephrit bonus - 

6 Shots > 4 hits > 2.66 wounds > 1.33 wounds vs 3+, 1.77 vs 4+, 0.88 vs 2+

Mephrit + MWBD

6 shots > 5 hits > 3.33 wounds > 1.667 wounds vs 3+, 2.22 vs 4+, 1.11 vs 2+

The Twin Gauss Blaster

Rapid Fire 2, S5, Ap-2, 30" range

NOTE - AP-2 is the same vs 2+ armor saves and 4++; but when you factor in Mephrit, you get -3AP in rapid-fire, so any saves worse than 4+ armor don't matter

Non-Rapid-Fire - 2 shots > 1.33 hits > 0.88 wounds > 0.59 vs 3+, 0.74 vs 4+, 0.44 vs 2+/4++

Rapid Fire - 4 shots > 2.66 hits > 1.77 wounds > 1.18 vs 3+, 1.48 vs 4+, 0.88 vs 2+/4++

MWBD Non-Rapid-Fire - 2 shots > 1.667 hits > 1.11 wounds > 0.74 vs 3+, 0.92 vs 4+, 0.55 vs 2+/4++

MWBD Rapid-Fire - 4 shots > 3.33 hits > 2.22 wounds > 1.48 vs 3+, 1.85 vs 4+, 1.11 vs 1+/4++

 Mephrit Rapid-Fire - 4 shots > 2.667 hits > 1.77 wounds > 1.18 vs 2+, 1.48 vs 3+, 1.77 vs 4+ armor, 0.88 vs 4++

Mephrit MWBD - 4 shots > 3.33 hits > 2.22 wounds > 1.48 vs 2+, 1.85 vs 3+, 2.22 vs 4+, 1.11 vs 4++

What does the math tell us?

The particle beamer's got volume of fire over the other weapons.  This gives you two things - first, you're more reliable just because you throw more dice; second, you get more wounds and force more saves.  The twin gauss is technically a little more effective, but really pulls ahead when you go Mephrit and go My Will Be Done into 2+ armor.  

On Range

So, let's talk about range - first off, you're on a platform with a 14" move and the FLY keyword.  Odds are good you can get into the range you want, unless you're digging a unit out of the corner.  So, let's look at the weapons.

Particle beamer - it's the shortest range at 18", but you're at full effect at 18 inches.  That gets you charged by jump troops, but foot troops are a bit far unless they can advance and charge.

The twin tesla carbine is full effectiveness at 24" - you're arguably the least effective gun, but you're definitely safe - very little in the game gets to you from 24" away in assault.  

The twin gauss blasters really need to leverage rapid fire to do the work - having a 30" range is neat, but rapid fire is the difference between 'incidental gunfire' and 'closed-casket funeral' - 15" is definitely in range to get tagged if someone wants to make it happen.  

Stratagem Considerations

There are two base stratagems Tomb Blades care about, plus the Mephrit-unique one.  Tomb Blades can pay a CP to turn rapid-fire weapons into assault 2, or fire assault weapons without penalty - obviously this is a little better for the tesla and particle beamer.

The other stratagem is just good for necrons in general - Disintegration Capacitors say we auto-wound on 6's to hit.  This again favors volume-of-fire weapons, so the assault weapons pull ahead here.

Finally, we've got Mephrit's Talent for Annihilation - the first three 6's to wound do mortal wounds in addition to normal wounds.  Again, we like volume here - so once again, the assault weapons pull ahead here.

It is worth noting that you could take a single tesla carbine for malevolent arcing - you just need one tesla weapon to target something.  For 5pts, it's an option to get mortal wounds.

Other Gear

You start with a 25pt model - you can go up to 30 if you upgrade from the particle beamer to either option.  You can proceed to dump plenty more points into these guys, but I question whether you'd do that.  Defensively, you are a T5, 2W, 4+ model that takes a -1 to hit vs. ranged combat. 

You can pay 3pts to go up to a 3+ save, or buy a 5++ save for 5pts.  You can also pay 3pts to ignore cover.  You could even, if you wanted to, mix and match the saves.  I think I'd rather get the 5++ or go without - volumes of AP-1 and AP-2 aren't hard to find, but 5++ will at least slow down higher-damage weapons.

I'd consider the nebuloscope's perk for tesla - yes, particle beamers like it as well, but the point of the particle beamer is cost.  Nebuloscope's take that away.

The Configurations

Keep It Cheap - particle beamers, nothing else - take 6-9 for 150-225pts in a unit, throw 36-54 dice at stuff, laugh.  Run mephrit.

Some Quality - Buy gauss, shadowlooms - 33pts a model, pay 198 for 6ea.  You're reasonably durable, you don't care if the inevitable rapid-fire fun coming back is ugly.