Does a Blaster Bug Army make sense?

[Galatea]

I wondered if anyone is using blaster bugs as a big part of his army and could say how good that kind of Blaster-based army works.
It appears very nice to me, to shoot back 18" against the MI, espacially when combined with Burrowers bringing them into position.

 

[Stratos]

Blasters have been very useful against Cap Troopers. I have had more success with them over Blisters. I have one more box and it will be made into more Blasters... giving me 6 Blasters and 3 Blisters in my Army.

 

[Voracioustigger]

Blasters can be a nice addition to an army, but an entire army of them doesnt make any sense. You pay 30pts for a model that is barely more resilient than Cap troopers, but nowhere near as mobile and shoots a LOT less. Sure, giving them Burrowers makes them a bit better, but then a squad of 5 that normally costs 150pts now costs 375pt (tunnel+entrance+burrower), and is that really worth the points? Probably not. Plus the fact that an all blaster bug army will be PL3 without any good means of taking out tough enemies.

It may sound good, but it would never work.

Use them as a distraction, shield them, or tunnel them, but never use them as a "big part" of your army.

 

[Adastra]

It depends on the opposition you're going to face. Blasters are effective against cap troops and LAMI, but they can barely scratch the paint of harder targets like CHAS or Marauders.

If you wanted to do something whacky like make an Arachnid all-shooter army, Firefries would be a better way to go. They cost 10 pts less, make a smaller target (size 1 vs. size 2 Blasters), have the same range as a Blaster (if you combine their flame attack with a jump), and hit with a D10 as opposed to D6+1. Plus, the Firefries come 5 to a box instead of 3 like the Blasters do.

 

[Quark]

'Tigger, never say never! I in fact HAVE successfully run an all Blaster/Burrower army, and even an all Blister army. The first won two out of three, and the second won the only game it was in. We were re-creating the Tophet campaign from the TV series and decided to give this army a try. The biggest things I can tell you would be to use swarming to your advantage, use your reinforcements wisely, and DO NOT sit still! It's a challenge, but it can work (only a couple times though :lol: )!

 

[Voracioustigger]

'Tigger, never say never! I in fact HAVE successfully run an all Blaster/Burrower army, and even an all Blister army. The first won two out of three, and the second won the only game it was in. We were re-creating the Tophet campaign from the TV series and decided to give this army a try. The biggest things I can tell you would be to use swarming to your advantage, use your reinforcements wisely, and DO NOT sit still! It's a challenge, but it can work (only a couple times though :lol: )!

The success of an army cannot be judged in a few games. My PL1 all Warrior bug army went undefeated, but I only used it in 3 games in one tournament. Does that mean it's a great army? No. Does that mean it's a balanced army? No. It just means that the people I played weren't prepared for me. I'm sure if those 3 people played that same army twice, they'd probably beat me or at least make it a really close game.

I don't doubt that an all Blaster/Blister bug army CAN win games, but I do doubt that you'll have a winning record over the course of 10-15 games with them. As you said, "It can work. . . but only a couple times", after that, the few tricks that you can pull with the army will no longer be surprising and your enemy will deny you that advantage by adjusting his tactics.