40k: Combi Weapons – Worth It?
Mercer here from Imperius Dominatus. Combi weapons can be found in two army groups to my knowledge; all Space Marine variants inc Chaos Space Marines and Orks. The question is are they worth it?
Firstly lets look at Space Marine combi weapons which come in three flavors; plasma, flamer and melta. The points on these range from 5 – 10 points depending what unit you take them with, the elite choices in the armies tend to get combi weapons at a half price discount compared to other units.
Marine Combis
Consider that a combi weapon is a single shot weapon so once it’s gone then it’s gone. But you also get a bolter with it, which isn’t too bad. Plasma can be good to dispense rapid fire death and melta is a way of getting extra cheap melta, however I’m not sure about the flamer option. While the plasma and melta can be useful a single shot flamer probably isn’t, sure a template weapon is good but a flamer costs free or 5 points in exchange for a bolter – a combi weapon is keeping that bolter but gaining a single shot flamer for 10 points – double the price of a flamer!
I would say 10 points per combi is a touch high. Sure you keep your bolter but that’s standard wargear and you’re gaining a single shot, more often than not the combi points are the same or more than the actual full weapon itself – only plasma is cheaper.
When you look at combi weapons for 5 points things change. The flamer is still a bad deal, 5 points for a single flamer shot when you can get a flamer weapon which is better than a bolter full time – no cover saves auto hit and hitting more models 😉 . Though 5 points for a rapid firing one shot plasma combi or single shot melta is pretty much a bonus.
So if you’re taking Chaos Terminators or Space Marine Sternguard load up on the combi, (except the flamer). Both these units are anti troop and don’t need the single shot flamer anyway. In the case of Sternguard, the lower costed combi weapons stacked atop the special issue ammo can make for a nasty flexible unit.
Ork Kombis
In the Orks army only four units can get kombi weapons; Warboss, Big Mek, Nobz and Meganobz. All these are 5 points a pop which is pretty cool and you get flavors of twin-linked shoota, skorcha and rokkit. With the Ork’s poor ballistic skill the rokkit is often a waste, the shoota is perhaps worth it as it’s twin-linked and giving two shots though wouldn’t be my first choice. What is awesome is the skorcha! Firstly it’s a flamer template so it autohits – so no crappy 5+ to hit with Orks. Best of all it’s a skorcha which is S5! Yes you heard right a S5 flamer template – how awesome is that? Basically the skorcha is a heavy flamer so things like Guardsmen, Tyranids, Eldar and Space Marine Scouts are bacon under it wounding on anything from 2+ to 3+ very helpful when charging into cover or to thin out units, after all Orks aren’t the swiftest in combat.
In a Ork army I would say if you’ve got points spare go kombi especially kombi skorcha as it fits the Ork style of being a assault army, and a real bargain for 5 points and it being a heavy flamer profile weapon.
Summary
So to answer the question are combi weapons worth it? A straight short answer is yes but a more complex gray answer and more accurate is sometimes and depending on circumstances. What combi weapons do is fill gaps in your army, making individual units more flexible and adding more firepower which can complement a unit i.e combi melta with a meltagun. Sometimes these weapons can be expensive for what they do, but if a 10 point combi melta wrecks a tank then it’s made the points back. In other FoC slots combi weapons are down to a must for them being so cheap and in a Ork army you’ve got to ask yourself why not.
I would take combi weapons to complement a unit and to add more special weapon saturation throughout your army. Although I would pick my choices carefully depending on what army I would be taking as some type of combi weapons suit others better due to various factors such as ballistic skill etc.
Combi-weapons, do you use or like them and what are you favorite unit combi-buildouts?
