# Plasma/Gets Hot! weapons



## Crimson_Fist_7 (Nov 28, 2008)

I was wondering if anyone else hates plasma/Gets Hot! weapons. These have a 1 in 6 chance of killing the user, so I was wodering what the point of these is.


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## Blackhiker (Dec 28, 2007)

It is not quite a 1 in 6 chance of death because they still get an armour save if the weapon goes boom. So if your guys are cheap enough or have good armour go ahead and grab some plasma.


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## Underground Heretic (Aug 9, 2008)

Gets Hot represents the chance that a weapon will malfunction. This could be simply overheating or an outright explosion. This can be a fittingly grand way out when your commander manages to overheat twice and fail both of his armor saves. for this see Captain Calamity a few months back in WD.

The weapons, usually plasma guns or pistols, give an infantry squad the ability to break through the armor of any model with an armor save and some lightly armored vehicles. A plasma cannon can knock a large hole in a dense squad of Khorne Berserkers. The balancing drawback is the Gets Hot rule that makes it possible for the gun to kill the owner.

Thankfully, we Tau and Eldar have actually figured out how to make plasma work without killing ourselves.


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## Othiem (Apr 20, 2008)

They're crazy powerful weapons, what's not to love?

Really though, it all depends who is carrying it. Plasma on a guardsman is a no brainer, they live to die for the emperor, and should be in platoons with plenty of ablative wounds. Now a plasma on a khorn bezerker champion that has a powerfist as well...that gets into the territory of too risky, as a failed save is costing you at least 76 points, and removing the ability of the unit to function vs certain enemy types. Gets hot! is a simple risk reward, you just need to decide where it's worth it.


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## Lord_Murdock (Jul 16, 2008)

Plasma weapons on tanks don't overheat. Roll out the Leman Russ Executioners!

Seriously though, I'm a big fan of plasma weaponry. High strength, great AP... the 1/6 chance of frying yourself seems a small price to pay considering how much damage you'll do if all goes well. That being said, I only give plasma guns to my expendable 5-man stormtrooper squads...


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

Just remember, you do get an armour save.

So for marines 1/6 of getting hot, followed by 1/3 chance of getting by armor means about a 5% chance of losing a wound. Pretty good odds, really, well worth it for the strength and AP of the plasma gun.

For lightly armored units like IG and orks, gets hot is a lot riskier and may not be worth it, especially with their lower BS


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## Captain Galus (Jan 2, 2008)

Whatever the absolute opposite of hate is, that's how I feel towards my plasma pistols/guns/cannons.

Oh wait, that's luuuuurve!!! As Galahad put it, a MEQ has a puny 5% chance of kicking his own bucket, so I go ahead and give plasma to anyone with access to it. All my sarges have PPs, my master has a PP, a have a full dev squad of PCs, and my terminator librarian even has a combi-plasma bolter.

Huzzah Plasma!


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## Gul Torgo (Mar 31, 2008)

As silly as it is, I dislike plasma a bit as well. Of course, most of my infantry are either armed to the teeth with sonic weaponry or are CC specialists so i suppose I don't have enough experience with them. 

Once my obliterators have taken out any vehicles they can I always switch em to plasma cannon mode, though. The 2+ save and multiple wounds embolden me, i suppose, and that it's a template weapon makes it well worth the risk.

Speaking of which, if a plasma cannon gets hot, does it still fire? It doesn't have the typical "roll to hit" for which a 1 was never a hit anyway. I always played it as a miss, but I suppose the fact that it burns my hands afterwards doesn't prevent it from hitting its mark. Hmm. never thought of that til now.


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

While plasma guns are relatively safe, I must say I don't use them to the extent that Galus does.

Sarges and characters, for example, almost never have plasma in my lists. These characters are expensive enough as it is, spending an extra wad of points on what, for most of the game, will end up being a second CCW is a waste.

While it's only 5%, why gamble with a 70 point powerfist sarge? Or with a 150+ point IC?


Plasma guns in squads, plasma pistols in assault squads, sure and sure. Plasma cannons? Pricy, but nice.

There's no reason besides cost not to use plasma in most cases, but in the case of special expensive characters, I'd rather not wastge a wad of points on a pistol at all, let alone one prone to explosion.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

Plasma has always been something I've had mixed feelings about, and the fact that it gets hot has never really factored into that. I'm a huge proponent of having tactically flexible squads, and you'd think that a S7 AP3 rapid-fire weapon fits the bill pretty well-- it's strong enough to crack light armor, and as a rapid-fire weapon, it's able to do as well as a bolter when it comes to fighting massed infantry. The thing is, it's a jack of all trades weapon. If you bring a meltagun, you get the same short-range, high-intensity shot with the added bonus of being able to crack heavy armor. If you bring a heavy bolter as your heavy weapon, you've got a more efficient anti-infantry weapon (yes, even against Space Marines. It sounds stupid, but more dice is far scarier to power armour than a single low-AP shot or two). 

I do tend to lean on plasma pistols in some places I probably would be better served by leaving them at home-- in Assault Squads, particularly. They're nice to have, but in practice, their utility is sort of wasted on a unit that makes every effort to excel in close combat. I like to issue them to characters, as well, although it's not really something they need. My Captain fights with one, mostly because I think it looks cool and he can have it. The odds of him hurting himself on it are like 2% with artificer armour, so whatever. 

The only instances where I've ever found plasma particularly more useful than a meltagun has been when I've had to hold an objective for an extended period of time, and the other army isn't willing to close with me for some reason. There have been a handful of scenarios over the years where you win if you just hold more objectives, so you don't really even have to beat the other guy up that much-- and in those missions where you're best served by making it into a medium-range firefight, the plasma rifle reigns supreme. But that's really about it, and those missions aren't around these days. I'm pretty comfortable with meltas and flamers-- they do everything I need them to do. 

If I played Imperial Guard, on the other hand, I would issue every poor shmuck who could carry a plasma rifle one. First of all, it's bloody funny that you'd give someone whose life is so utterly worthless to you a piece of equipment that you plain can't replace; and secondly, it's great when it blows up. It's not so funny when it happens to a Space Marine, but with a guardsman, you have to kind of be like... heh, sucks to be him... More importantly, the volume of special weapons in an Imperial Guard army means that if you have massed plasma rifles, you're going to be putting the hurt on enemy heavy infantry-- while meltaguns are just as good at dealing with really heavy infantry quickly, the Guardsman's ballistic skill means you sort of have to favor anything that puts out an extra shot. When I lose to Imperial Guard players who aren't employing any tactics to speak of, it's because they're spamming plasma rifles, and there's only so much that cover and Rhinos will do for you.


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## Blackhiker (Dec 28, 2007)

Gul Torgo said:


> Speaking of which, if a plasma cannon gets hot, does it still fire? It doesn't have the typical "roll to hit" for which a 1 was never a hit anyway. I always played it as a miss, but I suppose the fact that it burns my hands afterwards doesn't prevent it from hitting its mark. Hmm. never thought of that til now.


If I remember correctly from the rulebook if the die you roll comes up as a 1 then it does not fire. I will take a look in my rulebook this afternoon and make sure though.


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

yep, p31. Roll a d6 when you fire a plasma cannon, if you roll a 1 it overheats (take a wound, normal saves allowed) and does NOT fire


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## DarKKKKK (Feb 22, 2008)

Well I used to not take them at all, but since I went over to Chaos Space Marines and the Plague Marines :mrgreen: Probably one of the best if not the best infantry squad to give Plasma Guns. With Feel No Pain plus the MEQ armour already :shok: You really have to have some bad luck to fail those rolls.


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## Gul Torgo (Mar 31, 2008)

Blackhiker said:


> If I remember correctly from the rulebook if the die you roll comes up as a 1 then it does not fire. I will take a look in my rulebook this afternoon and make sure though.





Galahad said:


> yep, p31. Roll a d6 when you fire a plasma cannon, if you roll a 1 it overheats (take a wound, normal saves allowed) and does NOT fire


Good to know I've been playing them correctly. Thanks guys


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## rokassan (Jan 24, 2007)

Crimson_Fist_7 said:


> I was wondering if anyone else hates plasma/Gets Hot! weapons. These have a 1 in 6 chance of killing the user, so I was wodering what the point of these is.


Str-7,AP-2 rapid fire is the point. I use Plague Marines so its not that big a deal for me.


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## Vanchet (Feb 28, 2008)

I enjoy them in everyway  (cept Tau, they're no fun being safe) I always enjoy the thought of Outflanking harden vets with 6 plasma shots at BS4 .


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## Steel Nathan (Apr 26, 2008)

rokassan said:


> Str-7,AP-2 rapid fire is the point. I use Plague Marines so its not that big a deal for me.


It's even better for the Death Guard because they get their FNP "save" as well :wink: 

For me, I usually use them all the time. With my recent lists for Blood Angels, I have a 5 man squad with a power weapon and a plasma gun. Fun, sturdy somewhat, and cheap! What's not to love?


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## Crimson_Fist_7 (Nov 28, 2008)

Now I dont hate them so much after reading this.


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## ArmoredGhost (Aug 18, 2008)

Wow am I the only one who enjoys watching gimpy IG or stuck-up SMs dieing in a blue, (or whatever color you imagine them to be) firey, melting hilarious death? Even if its my own, I can't help but to crack a smile when that die to-hit rolls a one,.


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## Morgal (Sep 26, 2007)

Each guardsmen with a plasma gun comes to 16 points.
You better believe he is expenadable.

Though it is embarasing removing more of your troops in your shooting phase than your foe's troops.

It does give some extra shooty, especially at close range in rapid fire range, it also gives me a shot if my guard move. So i can advance towards an objective or fall back from something scary and still feel like i get to shoot.


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## TattooedGreenMan (Nov 4, 2008)

Crimson_Fist_7 said:


> I was wondering if anyone else hates plasma/Gets Hot! weapons. These have a 1 in 6 chance of killing the user, so I was wodering what the point of these is.


I love this rule. Due to some serious unlucky rolls it took out two space marines that were giving my little bugs some trouble.:laugh:


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## Casmiricus (Mar 6, 2008)

I'll never forget the one game I played where one soldier overheated on LITERALLY EVERY ROLL MADE TO HIT FOR 6 TURNS and failed exactly one armor save-which was then forgiven because there was amedic in the squad.

:biggrin:

THAT is reason enough to love plasma weaponry. If you needed anything more, there's the double-tap by a squad of veterans (6 S7 AP3 BS4 shots!) that utterly wasted a squad of assault marines about to rip my Leman Russ a new exhaust port. The last-man standing falling back who turns to shoot and blasts the Khorne Berserker chasing him, just as he comes into Iron Discipline Range and rallies.

Oh, I have stories. I have stories.


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