Stinger Salvo vs. Cluster Spines

[undertow92182]

Is it just me, or are Cluster Spines more for swarm specific armies while the Stinger Salvo is more of an all comer's weapon?

I mean, that large blast is nice for when you crack open a transport or when facing imperials. But I keep seeing situations where the Stinger Salvo is more of an advantage.

Against just about any enemy with vehicles, I see the stinger salvo being the wiser investment. The blast still only comes out as one hit against a vehicle while the stinger has a chance for 4 S5 hits.

Am I way off base here? It just feels like in 6th we are seeing a lot of armies that hide inside their giant metal boxes and working to bust those open is half the fight.

[lordbob]

I assume you mean on the tervigon; the stinger salvo has become a much more appealing weapon in 6th, not just against light transports, but in a lot of cases, like overwatch, precision shots and fliers.

The cluster spines might seem more inviting with the large blast, but I find that it very rarely gets that more hits than the stinger salvo, because of scatter and spacing out models in units.

There is a chance of getting 4 hits, but the chances are really really low, so don't expect that, what you want with the stinger salvo is shots in the right places to do more damage

[halos]

Disagree on the accuracy point; the Stinger Salvo is getting two hits average at BS3. A large blast is fairly reliably gonna be getting more hits than that versus most squads.

However, as LordBob says that doesn't make it a done deal. Snapfire and Precision Shots are impossible with the Spines, and they are better when firing at single model units or vehicles should such an opportunity become necessary. Not to mention the risk of the blasts scattering back onto your own gants.

In my own experience I'd say there's very little in it. Boils down to whether or not you prefer blast weapons to straight shooting really.

[infornography]

In 5th ed, I would take cluster spines every time. in 6th, I have been picking Stinger Salvo more often than not, but I think it is a much closer choice. Cluster Spines will still do more against a unit, but stinger salvo has a number of less tangible advantages over cluster spines. My take is SS barely wins out in this edition.

[commandersasha]

Now that Tervs are aggressive assault units, I find I always want to charge something, with all my babies, so dropping a pie-plate so close is a bad idea. Short range non-scattering guns are definitely my preference.

[rpricew]

I've been running Cluster Spines, but I may have to switch after all of this talk. I just never seem to get the 4 Shots to hit anything from the Stinger Salvo. Will have to try though!

[leeroy1986]

I've always run stinger salvo because of the damage it could do to tanks last edition, this edition you cn glance them to death so it's arguabily better but people don't really use tanks much they use flyers and MC's which the stinger would be better against than a template. Only scenario i can think it'd be useful would be against Orks or Guard gunlines.