Sniper Squads

By this I mean 5-10 Kabalites (or true born) whose job it is to sit in one spot and fire dark lances

In third ed. a team (or 2) of 10 Kabalite warriors with 2 dark lances would always be sitting in my deployment zone denying area, firing cheap dark lance shots at anything that moved and then moving onto an objective late game.

5 trueborn with 2 darklances comes in at 95 points and could fill this same kind of roll, but with the added life expectancy of Ravagers and reasonably costed scourges is this really a useful type of squad any more?

I'm really torn with them, they don't quite have the life expectancy of the 3rd ed ones with only 5 bodies, but they are very simarly pointed to a ravager, freeing up a ravager to take dissies (but thenI could just take a second DL ravager...)

Has anyone tried them out or similar?

I usually have one squad of 10 kabalites with a dark lance on my backyard objective.

They sit there claiming an objective and usually shoot pretty much the whole game.

Sitting them in cover isn't going to have them survive any sort of fire, as they're still T3, 4+ save. Putting a few squads inside a bunker or bastion however might give them the survivability they need to do a job.

They are 95 points, same as a double cannon venom. They need nearly 100 lasgun shots to die
96 lasgun shots 48 hits, 24 wounds 12 saves 10 pfp (ok 96 lasgun shots)
96 lasgun shots 32 hits, 10.7 wounds, 5.3 saves it is nearly a dead venom as well.
But you got 0-18 shots and a dark lance versus 6-12 shots, and less bodies to capture the objective and no objective secured.

I find most of the time the unit either escapes unscatched because nothing came close because they were no threat and they just held an objective. Or they might die but then the enemy is usually in their face trying to capture an objective and the objective secured is vital then.

So you guys are talking about a 90 point, 10 man squad with a dark lance?
Interesting, that is a lot less anti tank firepower than a triple lance ravager, or a 5 man trueborn squad for almost the same number of points.

Do you feel ObSec is worth that much?

I was talking about a 5-man Trueborn squad with 2 DL (95 points), and I'd take them in addition to Ravagers, not instead.

Unfortunately I hadn't realised that fortifications, for reasons best known to GW, can only take a single unit plus characters. I had intended to put multiple units inside. That kinda FUBARs my plan

Jeah I was talking about the 10 man squad with 1 dark lance.
It is a lot less anti tank firepower than a triple lance ravager, and clearly not a pure substitute to it.
But 10 man die slower then the ravager most of the time to all those drop troops (who all seem to be bringing anti tank weapons around here, a raverger costs over 60% more). And since those drop troops are only sometmes obj sec. they cannot always come in to charge and take the objective. And even against lasguns a similar price in boots is not much more easy to remove then a venom etc.

Are they always the best option, no clearly not. But I find that they can fulfill a usefull function for me.
The darklance was added mainly because I often found they actually survived most games.

Yeah they may be more points to stick a DL on a unit of Warriors, but I find it very frustrating for my enemy when they see that I have DLs, Dissies, and blasters spread out ALL OVER my list.

Scourges
TB
Raiders
Ravagers
Warriors
Archon
etc

I try to give my opponent as many difficult target priority decisions as possible, and spreading out my AT is a good way to do that.

Unless he tables me, I will always have a good AT source on the field.

If you've calculated that it'll take an obscene amount of Las fire to kill your objective campers then your opponent probably has too and will just kill them more efficiently with something else.

If it's working for you great but you can't really justify the durability of 10 Kabalites.

Heh, i thought real sniper squads.

Just found that Illic and 2x5 Rangers are legal detachment now, and they can really kill off ccharacters.

Add a Haem with Hexrifle and a squad of Wracks with another one and you've got a Battallion for +3CP!