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E&C, you are not thinking in terms of actual in-game use. Your assertions about the actions the Vindicators will have to take v. what the Devs do is in some cases exactly backwards. Vindicators, in their primary role of assault support, are going to be faster and project better firepower than Devs in all but a few rare circumstances. In some cases, much better.
If you're supporting an assault, the Dev weapon range is 15cm, same as the Vindicators.
The effective range of Vindies to double/support is 65cm (assuming the 25cm move). The effective range of Devs is 75cm, 80cm only if you don't want any transport support. Not a big difference but it might affect the game in rare cases.
The effective range of Vindies to advance/support is 50cm. The Devs is 30cm. That's a real difference in threat range. It's a 2/3 increase and, more importantly it extends past 45cm range weapons' "stand off" distance (a very common weapon range in the game). It is a critical range at which much of the game action takes place. If you are trying to support an assault, Devs are actually much more likely to be forced to double move than the Vindicators, not the other way around. With Vindicators taking a single move and Devs forced to double or not support the assault, there is absolutely no comparison.
Or you can keep the Devs loaded to get 45cm advance/support range (50cm w/o transport support), in which case they have given up a round of fire and taken an increased risk of being killed while loaded. That's a substantial sacrifice and a big risk just to pull even with the Vindicators.
So:
5-15cm to target, with LoS, Devs are better (rather rare)
15-30cm (and 5-15 w/o LoS), Devs and Vindis are comparable
30-50cm Vindis crush the Devs
50-65cm Vindis marginally better
65-80cm Devs are better (Vindis can't be used) (rather rare)
The Devs could move to support against the assault target while firing at a third formation farther away. However, like the very close and very long range examples, the times at which that is likely to be a valid choice are rare.
You also brought up suppression and durability. Devs can use cover. Big deal. Many weapons hit AP better than AT anyway, so using cover is just barely better than breaking even on hits scored. Devs' armor is as good or better than most cover anyway so they gain no benefit from the save.
Adding vehicles makes the formation vulnerable to AT fire. If they have transports, the transports cannot, and remain a fine target for arty and air even if out of LoS. Rhinos and Razorbacks also have a lower save than the Devs, making it easier to kill them and add BMs.
You also ignore the fact that Vindicators can and should use cover as well, especially if they have Walker ability. The -1 for "hull down" counts for partially obscurement and should be applied generously. The ruins provided on the old infantry base sprues would be sufficient to partially obscure a Vindi from ground fire, as would being in woods as long as they are reasonably far back from the edge of the terrain piece. The only advantage Devs have in that regard is terrain that is impassable to Vindis, but then the Devs' transport has the same problems as well.
Compare the results of taking the same fire in any reasonable battlefield position and most of the time the Devs will lose their transport almost immediately and both formations end up with similar numbers of unsuppressed units.
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Neal
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