Weapons

[xdesperado]

My Captain often is in the position of providing covering fire for one of the squads heavy weapons specialists or a Berserker. Because of this I upgrade his sidearm as soon as possible.
The Heavy Plasma Sidearm is my weapon of choice.
That said I think the Honor cost for it is very low.
Consider its stats: Damage 4, Attack Bonus 5, Ammo 16 and range 3.
The only sidearm that matches its Damage and Attack bonus is the Heavy Needle Gun which costs 1500 Honor.
Personally I don't think the HNG's range of 4 is a good exchange for the extra Ammo the HPS has, especially if you get involved in more protracted battles where adequate Ammo is at a premium even with Relic Ammo Kits.

Also I prefer the regular Devastator Gun to the more expensive Long Devastator Gun, since it gives both a much higher Attack Bonus and carries more Ammo vs the 1 extra range.

Would like to hear others opinions about these weapons and why they prefer certain ones over others.

[johndramey]

I'll pitch in with more detail when I'm not at the office, but I completely agree with you on the Heavy Plasma Sidearm for the captain. The fact that it's so low on the upgrade list and costs so little hides the fact that it's a superb weapon. It's one of the first things I buy for my squads as it really improves the ranged punch of my squad.

I would consider either A) upping the cost of B) lowering the magazine capacity.

[slayernz]

For general combat against Xeno's, I am really comfy with the Devastator as a primary weapon. However, when I know I am going against FDF, Narvidians, or anything else that actually shoots back, the Long Devastator's 4 square range makes all the difference. Some units camp at 4 square shooting you, and it's also much better to be able to shoot from a distance rather than have to waste an extra AP just to get closer.

That's why I have one squad config with a Captain + 3 Neptunes - Range + Damage + Ammo = lots of pink splats.

[Lt. Hathaway]

I suspect there are some major playing style differences involved here, but my standard for a well played level is that none of my Templars ever get physically attacked by the enemy. A 4 range rather than 3 is a big difference!

That said, there are a number of weapons I questioned before I started calculating total damage (ammo times damage).