These are the results that I have found while breaking down the effectiveness of each weapon available for a devastator squad using the maximum number of Heavy Bolters squads to factor in price to keep everything even which will make point costs actually matter. . .
Frag Missiles and Plasma Cannons are expected to hit 3, this is my experience with firing anything that isn?t a terminator because of the larger bases most people in my area seem to use. . . Against terminators I will use 2 as the base number. . .
Price of 12 Heavy Bolters is 15 12 180
1 Las-cannon 35 5 175
1 Missile Launcher 20 9 180
1 Multi-Melta 20 9 180
1 Plasma Cannon 35 5 175
The number of glancing or penetrating hits for 5 Las-cannons vs. 9 Missile Launchers vs. 9 Multi-Melta vs. 5 Plasma Cannon vs. 12 Heavy Bolter vs. vehicles over 1 turn:
LC = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 3.3 (vs. AV10), 2.5 (vs. AV11), 2.17 (vs. AV12), 1.65 (vs. AV13), 1.08 (vs. AV14)
ML = 9 = 6 hits = 5 (vs. AV10), 4 (vs. AV11), 3 (vs. AV12), 2 (vs. AV13), 1 (vs. AV14)
MM = 9 = 6 hits = 5 (vs. AV10), 4 (vs. AV11), 3 (vs. AV12), 2 (vs. AV13), 1 (vs. AV14)
PC = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 2.1 (vs. AV10), 1.65 (vs. AV11), 1.08 (vs. AV12), 0.54 (vs. AV13), 0 (vs. AV14)
HB = 36 shots = 24 hits = 8 (vs. AV10), 4 (vs. AV11), 0 (vs. AV12), 0 (vs. AV13), 0 (vs. AV14)
The number of wounds achieved by firing 5 Las-cannons vs. 9 Missile Launchers vs. 9 Multi-Melta vs. 5 Plasma Cannon vs. 12 Heavy Bolter vs. GEQ in open over 1 turn:
5 LC vs. GEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 2.75 wounds = 2.75 unsaved wounds.
9 MM vs. GEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 5 wounds = 5 unsaved wounds.
12 HB vs. GEQ in open = 36 shots = 24 hits = 20 wounds = 20 unsaved wounds.
5 PC vs. GEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 9.9 total hits = 8.2 wounds = 8.2 unsaved wounds
9 Frag ML vs. GEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 18 total hits = 12 wounds = 10 unsaved wounds.
The number of wounds achieved by firing 5 Las-cannons vs. 9 Missile Launchers vs. 9 Multi-Melta vs. 5 Plasma Cannon vs. 12 Heavy Bolter vs. GEQ in 5+ cover over 1 turn:
5 LC vs. GEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 2.75 wounds = 1.81 unsaved wounds.
9 MM vs. GEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 5 wounds = 3.3 unsaved wounds.
12 HB vs. GEQ in open = 36 shots = 24 hits = 20 wounds = 13.2 unsaved wounds.
5 PC vs. GEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 9.9 total hits = 8.2 wounds = 5.4 unsaved wounds
9 Frag ML vs. GEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 18 total hits = 12 wounds = 8 unsaved wounds.
The number of wounds achieved by firing 5 Las-cannons vs. 9 Missile Launchers vs. 9 Multi-Melta vs. 5 Plasma Cannon vs. 12 Heavy Bolter vs. GEQ in 4+ cover over 1 turn:
5 LC vs. GEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 2.75 wounds = 1.375 unsaved wounds.
9 MM vs. GEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 5 wounds = 1.65 unsaved wounds.
12 HB vs. GEQ in open = 36 shots = 24 hits = 20 wounds = 10 unsaved wounds.
5 PC vs. GEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 9.9 total hits = 8.2 wounds = 4.1 unsaved wounds
9 Frag ML vs. GEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 18 total hits = 12 wounds = 6 unsaved wounds.
The number of wounds achieved by firing 5 Las-cannons vs. 9 Missile Launchers vs. 9 Multi-Melta vs. 5 Plasma Cannon vs. 12 Heavy Bolter vs. MEQ in open over 1 turn:
5 LC vs. MEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 2.75 wounds = 2.75 unsaved wounds.
9 MM vs. MEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 5 wounds = 5 unsaved wounds.
12 HB vs. MEQ in open = 36 shots = 24 hits = 16 wounds = 5.28 unsaved wounds.
5 PC vs. MEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 9.9 total hits = 8.2 wounds = 8.2 unsaved wounds
9 Krak ML vs. MEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 6 wounds = 6 unsaved wounds.
The number of wounds achieved by firing 5 Las-cannons vs. 9 Missile Launchers vs. 9 Multi-Melta vs. 5 Plasma Cannon vs. 12 Heavy Bolter vs. MEQ in 5+ cover over 1 turn:
5 LC vs. MEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 2.75 wounds = 1.81 unsaved wounds.
9 MM vs. MEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 5 wounds = 3.3 unsaved wounds.
12 HB vs. MEQ in open = 36 shots = 24 hits = 16 wounds = 5.28 unsaved wounds.
5 PC vs. MEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 9.9 total hits = 5.41 wounds = 8.2 unsaved wounds
9 Krak ML vs. MEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 6 wounds = 4 unsaved wounds.
The number of wounds achieved by firing 5 Las-cannons vs. 9 Missile Launchers vs. 9 Multi-Melta vs. 5 Plasma Cannon vs. 12 Heavy Bolter vs. MEQ in 4+ cover over 1 turn:
5 LC vs. MEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 2.75 wounds = 1.375 unsaved wounds.
9 MM vs. MEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 5 wounds = 1.25 unsaved wounds.
12 HB vs. MEQ in open = 36 shots = 24 hits = 16 wounds = 5.28 unsaved wounds.
5 PC vs. MEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 9.9 total hits = 8.2 wounds = 4.1 unsaved wounds
9 Krak ML vs. MEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 6 wounds = 3 unsaved wounds.
The number of wounds achieved by firing 5 Las-cannons vs. 9 Missile Launchers vs. 9 Multi-Melta vs. 5 Plasma Cannon vs. 12 Heavy Bolter vs. Terminators in open over 1 turn:
5 LC vs. TEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 2.75 wounds = 1.81 unsaved wounds.
9 MM vs. TEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 5 wounds = 3.3 unsaved wounds.
12 HB vs. TEQ in open = 36 shots = 24 hits = 16 wounds = 2.64 unsaved wounds.
5 PC vs. TEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 6.6 total hits = 5.51 wounds = 3.63 unsaved wounds
9 Krak ML vs. TEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 6 wounds = 1 unsaved wound.
The number of wounds achieved by firing 5 Las-cannons vs. 9 Missile Launchers vs. 9 Multi-Melta vs. 5 Plasma Cannon vs. 12 Heavy Bolter vs. Terminators in 4+ cover over 1 turn:
5 LC vs. TEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 2.75 wounds = 1.37 unsaved wounds.
9 MM vs. TEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 5 wounds = 2.5 unsaved wounds.
12 HB vs. TEQ in open = 36 shots = 24 hits = 16 wounds = 2.64 unsaved wounds.
5 PC vs. TEQ in open = 5 shots = 3.3 hits = 6.6 total hits = 5.51 wounds = 2.75 unsaved wounds
9 Krak ML vs. TEQ in open = 9 shots = 6 hits = 6 wounds = 1 unsaved wound.
My opinion after this complete breakdown is that if you are interested in using Devastators in your army you should think about what else is your list first, but you can?t ever go wrong with Heavy Bolters. . .
