Centurian Devastators vs. Traditional Devastators

[spacemarinejunkie]

Are the Centurian devastators any better on the table than the standard dev squad? 

 

If there is a thread that talked about this I missed it. It's been awhile since I've been on here. 

[fluger]

Depends on what you want them to do and how much you are willing to spend in points.  

 

Centurions are awesome with their grav cannons for dealing with MCs.  They are more mobile and more durable, but also VERY pricey.  

 

Regular devastators will kick out more damage at the same points, but are more flimsy.  

[WestRider]

If you've got Points available, but HS slots are tight, Centurions can be more efficient that way. I mean, sure, it costs 550 Points, but you can get 6 TL Lascannon and 6 Missile Launchers in a single HS Slot.

 

With standard Devs, 6 Lascannon (not TL) and 6 Missile Launchers only cost 420 Points, but they take up all 3 HS slots. They're also static, compared to the S&P Centurions, but they have more Wounds total, tho not the 2+ Sv.

 

I think both are viable options, depending on what you need from the Unit, and how they're going to fit into your Army.

[AbusePuppy]

Centurion Devs, despite the name, generally don't do the same thing as regular Devastators. Normal Devastators are pretty much a static anti-tank shooting unit- you use them to bring along a bunch of Lascannons (or occasionally other things) to break open tanks for the rest of your army. Their big advantages are their range (since they can generally reach anywhere on the board) and resilience against anti-tank weapons (as they are usually sitting in cover and have ablative bodies to soak with.)

 

Centurions can potentially fill a not-dissimilar role by equipping with Lascannon/Missile, but to be honest this isn't their preferred loadout as regular Devs do the job better. Centurions are more mobile, but since you often want to be firing from an elevated and protected spot on the map anyways, this isn't actually a huge advantage. And with fewer wounds in total and a significantly higher price tag (though with more guns to compensate), they tend to be much more fragile despite T5/2+, as a lot of the guns that will be fired at them ignore both of those.

 

Grav Cannons/Hurricane Bolters is the most common setup for Centurions because it's the only one that is really unique to them (and Grav weapons are good.) These ones basically serve as a shooting deathstar unit- typically they get some kind of psyker support for offensive or defensive buffs and just sort of wander into the middle of the field to kill anything that comes within 24" of them. Infantry, MCs, and even tanks are all pretty scared of that unit, since it kills just about anything it shoots at with relative ease. It's still somewhat fragile (hence the need for defensive buffs), but even with one or two members of the team dead it still hits pretty hard and thus remains a very real threat.

[Guest]

Contextual. Very contextual.

 

Normal devs are, typically, very static and tend to hide in cover all game. Centurion devs aren't much different - yeah they move and fire, but they don't move very fast and lack dedicated transport options beyond land raiders. Centurion devs are also very bulky, so their use while inside a fortification is potentially limited. Centurion devs are tougher, have more wounds and better saves, they can't, however, purchase extra bodies for their squad to lose before removing heavy weapons.

 

Centurion devs lack invulnerable saves, melee weapon access, and can't overwatch, making them the weaker choice should they be assaulted by something that can penetrate their armor. Despite having more wounds each model, their attacks remains the same, so this unit is very pitiful if assaulted. If a dreadnought manages to assault this unit, they won't likely escape, while a normal devastator squad would have krak grenades and potentially a melee trained sarge to save them.

 

Centurion devs do boast much more potential firepower and the ability to move and shoot it.

 

I suppose for a simplified answer, centurions are very specialized in shooting, while normal devs retain the SM above average at everything and just are a bit specialized in shooting.

 

So, yeah, contextual.

 

EDIT: Devastators don't usually have invulnerable saves either.