Greetings gamers! I have decided after much thought and deliberation, so perhaps 2 minutes, that I am moving everything to do with gaming to my new blog: The Innocent Ramblings Of A Youtube Gamer. This blog will be 100% dedicated to Warhammer 40,000 subjects from now on.
I am looking currently at reviewing all the units in Imperial armour 13, some of these will be written full length reviews and some of them will be video reviews shared here from my channel. Here is my first review today!
The Chaos Space Marine Infernus Predator is the first entry we see when opening the Forge World book and I have to say it is a bit of a let down in all honesty. The standard predator is so obsolete now in warhammer you would think a full revamp would happen with new equipment, rules, models, and of course squadrons. This almost happened, it got four new main weapons, an improved Autocannon profile and heavy flamers for side sponsons. It also got the rule Infernal Relic and it, like every other tank in the book, has access to rending heavy bolter shots. From the top!
The Flame storm cannon: S6 AP3 template is the weapon our Infernus Pred begins with as stock, and to be honest it is a complete waste of time. Why? well, first off you don't have the Fast Vehicle special rule, so you cannot move 12" and then, because you have a template weapon and it is only about 8" range, you could be charged before you ever get to shoot. Brilliant!
The next weapon is the Melta Cannon: S8 AP1 Blast, Melta, 18" I think. The profile is not in the book for some reason, brilliant thinking. So this weapon is +15 points, and it isn't too bad, high strength, but low range so only a turn or two of shooting and because you are a tank with a low value of AV10, you don't really want to be getting charged.
Next up, Heavy Conversion Beamer: Range 0-72" Strength 6 AP- to S10 AP1, All large blast. Ok this weapon is much much better than the other two, but comes in at quiet an expensive +45 point weapon. The big thing about this gun, and why I like it, is the range. 72" is equivalent to guns like the Battle Cannon and it is far more powerful, as between 42" and 72" the blast hits at it's S10 AP1 stats. So you are shooting from first turn and killing stuff, or at least mauling it. The strength drops to S8 AP4 between 18" and 42" which is probably going to be the average distance of an enemy depending on where you sit your unit in comparison to them. 2/3 times the deployment zone will allow you to use that higher strength profile.
This brilliant weapon does come with it's own unique downside, Firing Calibration. What a stink of a rule. Basically, if you want to shoot, you cannot move regardless of the relentless special rule, so you turn this unit into a bunker to sit there for 5-6 turns firing off powerful shots every turn. This is a problem, no maneuverability at all means an easy target for armies to isolate, and you are not exceedingly tough with your 3HP's and to be honest this rule makes it redundant.
Plasma Destroyer Cannon: S7 AP2 Range 36" Blast. Basically, it's a triple shot plasma cannon with no Gets Hot special rule. Sounds brilliant to be honest. 36" range is an average firing range and you have 3 shots a turn, so average 2 hits from your BS4, if you are hitting something big then it's most likely you will be hitting it. You can move and shoot, not restricted like the Conversion Beamer and you don't have to get too close like the Melta cannon. Thinking I like this one out of all the new gear.
Sponson Heavy flamers, see Flamestorm Cannon entry for how useful they will be. The other sponsons are the same, Lascannons and Heavy Bolters, don't think I need to review these to be honest.
Relic Rule: This bugger of a rule pops up throughout the book, and it ruins most entries. Why? because I doubt you would ever want just one of these units available in this book, so your army gets a tax of having to take either: Abaddon, a Sorcerer with a Malefic power, or a Warp Smith.
So, tactically I would always take the sorcerer, being forced to roll once on the Malefic Daemonology table is the smallest tax you can ever get with units like this, Abaddon or a Warp Smith are just extortionate.
All in all I would not take this unit, not because it isn't any good, I think it is a good unit. It's downside is that there are so many other options in the book that do better than the Infernus Predator does. But if you are set on taking this beast here is the set up I suggest:
Predator: Plasma Destroyer Cannon, Lascannon Side Sponsons - 145 points
5 Shots, all AP2. S7 and S9, so we can BBQ some monsterous creatures and pull a few HP's off some tanks, elite troops get a hammering too, and them bigger enemy's such as Riptides and Knights can take a tickling from one of these. Not the best, but by far better than the standard!
Hope you have enjoyed this review, please leave your thoughts below and I will get back to you!
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