[MechTau]

I'm torn.

SMS needs no LoS (Big plus for my cityfight cadre), has a lower rate of fire, but has a longer range. They cost, 20 points though...

Bust cannons bring the firepower of two stealth troopers for only 10 points. Insane rate of fire and excellent range.

Two turns of SMS > One turn of burst cannons

24" is a huge difference to 18" when you consider assault marines and other 12" move/charge nasties.

I'm leaning towards SMS. Any reason why not to?

[The Orange]

I always go with the BC's, their cheaper, theirs a larger rate of fire, and they count as 2 separate weapons (helps out against those weapon destroyed results). With my tanks, its all about the main weapon, so I see little need to spend the extra on the secondary weapons, so I only ever take the SMS on the DF.

[Go Guard Or Go Home]

Live and die by the SMS. The burst cannon may be cheaper but if you can't see what your shooting at they don't do anything

[VF-7]

You must note that Los is a hughe advantage!
Consider this scenario:

1.-2 Cadian pattern sentinel are 36 Inches away, they fire the auto cannons,
First shot rolls a 2, second rolls a 5, 1 and 6
the armour penetration shot result is 4 on both so it fails to penetrate your armour

2.-Then you move behind a wall or hill 12", the Sentinels can't draw line of fire, you come in sms range, you have one on lock... the gunner fires, but 2 of those missiles miss the sentinel, 2 hit... you roll for armour penetration, miss... he got lucky

3.- the Sentinels moves 6 inches closer to you, he can't target you... yet.. so they fires at a stealth team, fails to see them... turn wasted

4.- the Warfish moves 12 inches in cover and warriors desembark, fires again, 3 hit... you roll 2,5 and 6! you got 1 glancing and 1 penetrating, but wait, the sentinel is open toped, so both are penetrating hits!

there's only a 16% chances that he goes away unscratched, so you roll, and score 2, darn you say... he didn't blew up... but wait, you see the damage chart... you destroyed the autocannon! so the sentinel is useless!, the upgrades to the warfish just paid themselfs and kept your firewarriors alive and out of range!

There, simple scenario, the sentinels are slow, weak, but niceley armed, i say, the sms is worth the points only if you know you are going to face light vehicles, land speeders, rhinos etc.... if you want to face something more numerous like tyranid warriors, then the burst cannon is your weapon of choice!
can hide from a mid vehicle, like sentinels, or razorbacks,

[Go Guard Or Go Home]

Originally Posted by VF-7

You must note that Los is a hughe advantage!
Consider this scenario:

1.-2 Cadian pattern sentinel are 36 Inches away, they fire the auto cannons,
First shot rolls a 2, second rolls a 5, 1 and 6
the armour penetration shot result is 4 on both so it fails to penetrate your armour

2.-Then you move behind a wall or hill 12", the Sentinels can't draw line of fire, you come in sms range, you have one on lock... the gunner fires, but 2 of those missiles miss the sentinel, 2 hit... you roll for armour penetration, miss... he got lucky

3.- the Sentinels moves 6 inches closer to you, he can't target you... yet.. so they fires at a stealth team, fails to see them... turn wasted

4.- the Warfish moves 12 inches in cover and warriors desembark, fires again, 3 hit... you roll 2,5 and 6! you got 1 glancing and 1 penetrating, but wait, the sentinel is open toped, so both are penetrating hits!

there's only a 16% chances that he goes away unscratched, so you roll, and score 2, darn you say... he didn't blew up... but wait, you see the damage chart... you destroyed the autocannon! so the sentinel is useless!, the upgrades to the warfish just paid themselfs and kept your firewarriors alive and out of range!

There, simple scenario, the sentinels are slow, weak, but niceley armed, i say, the sms is worth the points only if you know you are going to face light vehicles, land speeders, rhinos etc.... if you want to face something more numerous like tyranid warriors, then the burst cannon is your weapon of choice!
can hide from a mid vehicle, like sentinels, or razorbacks,

Nice analysis but I think you were referencing 3rd edition with the open topped rules. Under 4th ed rules being open topped just adds a +1 to the effect roll. So a 4 Armament destroyed result becomes a 5 immobilized. So in your example, you would still only have 1 glance and 1 pen. But a nice analysis

[Vash113]

I used to love the SMS and in things like city fight and jungle fight they are worth their weight in gold... or maybe twice their weight... whatever. However now Im leaning towards BC more as my tanks get up so close that LOS and range hardly matter and the rate of fire is all that matters. I may lose a turn of shooting first turn but after that the extra rate of fire and slight decrease in cost really helps. Besides I keep it to BC on two of my Railheads and I can give a DF SMS anyway. Not too bad Id say.

[Aquila_XV8]

It all comes down to what board your playing on and what type of army you are playing against. If its a city board with lots of buildings and sneaky jump troop or infiltrators are hanging around the SMS is worth taking. On the other hand, if the board is mainly open and you are playing against orks for example the BC is the go.

[FiveRings]

I always go with the BC's, their cheaper, theirs a larger rate of fire, and they count as 2 separate weapons (helps out against those weapon destroyed results).

My thoughts exactly. I live by the BC. I think it is more a personal preference and style of play consideration. I have always benefitted more from using BCs. I simply haven't found it to be a significant problem of not getting los with my BCs, at least one of them. When I move the HH it is also to consider how to get the most out of my BCs also. The railgun or Ion is rarely blocked against shooting something very useful. Besides, I often have 2 HHs to make sure that a priority target that is blocked for one HH is open to the other one.

I can certainly see how many would prefer the SMS and I wouldn't presume to try and persuade them to play like I do. The SMS is a good weapon system.

FiveRings

[khanaris]

I usually use two Railheads, one with each secondary weapon system. It helps me tell them apart for campaign purposes. One other minor advantage the Burst Cannons have is that they can be split with the target lock. It has only been relevant a few times, but sometimes it lets you attempt to force panic checks on multiple units. I don't really have a preference.

[Fish Ead]

The way I see it if I want to "alpha strike" a unit with both my railgun and secondary weapons Im gonna have to be in sight of it anyway. Burst cannons give me a couple more dice at the cost of range, but at less pts. Fair Trade I say. If I want SMS I'd probably just put em on the devilfishes