any success with Rock Cutters for Acolytes over Rock Saws?

[kukie]

So I was looking at the loadouts for my Acolytes. I know Rock Saws have been the favorite for a while (Str 8, -4, 2 damage @10 points). but I've been looking at the Rock Cutters (Str 8, -4, D3 damage and -1 to hit @10 points). The D3 damage is swingy I know, and the -1 to hit hurts but the Rock Cutter mechanic that auto-kills a model after it's wounded and you role a D6 higher than the remaining wounds looks good. 

I play against lots of Elite armies (Space marines, Harlequins, and Death Guard recently), a 3 wound terminator gets a high likelyhood of being one-shotted by a Rock Cutter (D3 damage means 33% of the time he's dead, if I role average 2 damage when I role the D6 on a 2+ he's dead, and if I role 1 damage on a 3+ he's dead), it's more swingy that straight Rock Saws for damage but it seems that a bunch of Rock Cutters could tear through a unit of terminators or bikes with some hit re-roles from a banner or even the Pauper Prince trait...?

just wondering if anyone has had any success with the Rock Cutter loadout.

[gorsameth]

I think you need a Primus nearby for the +1 to hit but yes I think Cutters are worth having since Marines got a bunch of good 3W models and it has only gotten better since with more 3W stuff and -1 damage floating around now.

If I remember the math right from when I last did it. If you manage to wound its an 86% chance to kill a 3W model.

[kukie]

That's what I was thinking, Plus I play Death guard sometimes and the -1 damage nerfs the rock saws hard.

[beetlejuice]

What about drills vs cutters for the same reasons? Pretty decent chance to score 2 mortals and killing off a 3W model. Plus it still works into mortarion, other characters and tanks where the cutters just become a 1D weapon. Wondering if the extra 5 pts might be worth the more general viability and still hit on 3s or 2s (depending on primus).

[hivefleetkerrigan]

I decided to use drills for my crusade list and they worked great in my last battle.

[Hive Bahamut]

Doesn't the Drill only trigger once regardless of how many you have due to the wording of codex vs. index? I always thought that's why they were bad nevermind the magic 5 points extra for less damage.

[hivefleetkerrigan]

Mar 5, 2021 19:58:47 GMT Hive Bahamut said:

Doesn't the Drill only trigger once regardless of how many you have due to the wording of codex vs. index? I always thought that's why they were bad nevermind the magic 5 points extra for less damage.

Here's the relevant part of the rule:
Roll a D6 each time a model suffers damage from this weapon;


I read "each time" as each damage done yielded the extra mortal wound off. I'll run it by my 40k friend to clarify.

[No One]

I don't know what you're looking at, but that's wrong.

After the bearer has made all of its attacks, roll a D6 for each model
that suffered damage from this weapon this phase but has not been
destroyed; on a 2+ the model being rolled for suffers 1 mortal wound
and, if that model is not destroyed, you can roll another D6.

[hivefleetkerrigan]

Mar 6, 2021 1:27:06 GMT No One said:

I don't know what you're looking at, but that's wrong.

After the bearer has made all of its attacks, roll a D6 for each model
that suffered damage from this weapon this phase but has not been
destroyed; on a 2+ the model being rolled for suffers 1 mortal wound
and, if that model is not destroyed, you can roll another D6.

I'd been looking at battle scribe. I'll double check the codex. Thanks for the correction!

[kukie]

I think the rock DRILLS are interesting but I believe they are 5 points more expensive (15 points compared to 10 points for saws and cutters), If they were 10 points like other 2 they may edge them out?

[niiai]

They are indeed 5 points more. I have one in my 15 acolyte saw team. Mostly for fun reasons. It looks good and it makes some variation. But the few times they do not finish a vehicle (like a morkanaught) it is funn to roll the drill dice. Great drama. A+.

[garg]

What makes the drill worse for me is that it's per user as no one quoted whereas the cutter is per attack. This makes it awkward as you have to do each model separately and it's probably less wounds overall compared to the other two.
It feels like the cutter is better than a saw against elite infantry but i haven't crunched the numbers.