I've been thinking and I have a question: are shotguns good for anything? Even the Boarding Shotguns? I mean, Boarding Shotguns have this AP option... but still, they have a really short range. Is such a weapon useful in a game? I admit I'm struggling to find some use for them... Any help?
Yes, shotguns are great! +6 on anyone coming around a corner, putting direct templates into link teams. Ghulams and Fidays hitting on 17s. They are tons of fun and can really do some damage. It makes it so almost all of your units aren't afraid to get in close while your opponents will think twice about coming around corners on you.
Ah, you are referring to the Rifle + Shotgun combination? Yes, that is useful, I agree. But what about "bare" shotguns that some troopers have? How can they be used effectively?
I wouldn't run the BS Ragik over the RLSG one, but units like Fidays, Farzans and Al Hawwa can get a lot of mileage out of them. Unless you play on really empty tables, you should be able to get into 8 inches reliably with anything that has infiltration or another form of forward deployment. Models like Sekban BS or GovadBS might get a bit less out of it, but at that point it's more of a defensive weapon. For the warbands, I'd rather have the chainrifle 90% of the time.
Shotguns are situational. Up to 8" away, no weapon gives oyu such a bonus. Also, keep in mind that in blast mode shotguns allow you to win Face-to-Face rolls against multiple targets. They do ignore cover for the purpose of calculating Armor. From 8" to 16", the modifier is 0, so a shotgun is not an ideal weapon... but still acceptable. 16" to 24", you are at -3 to hit. Which is bad, but still not tragic. Naturally, if you have a choice, there might be a better weapon to choose. In the 8"to 16" range, a standard Rifle is preferable over a Light Shorgun... most of the time (better Burst, better range modifier), but if you can hit several enemy models with the terminal template, I'd say it might be well worth the risk. Not to mention, a Boarding Shotgun has the option of using AP slugs, which are very, very useful if you manage to catch something well-armored up close and personal (and preferably out of Cover). Last game, my Sekban fireteam got a Jotum in such a way, and while ARM 10 is damn impressive, having it reduced to effective ARM 5 vs AP slugs makes it way less scary. And Damage 14 of a Boarding Shotgun is nothing to sneer at. Now, is a shotgun a good choice? It all depends on whether you expect to be able to use it effectively: at close range. It is a good option for troops capable of Infiltration and Camouflage - they will be capable of getting close and maximizing the impact with their Combat Camo / Surprise Shot attack and Mimetism. It is decent option for AD troops (though especially on Ragiks, I prefer the versatility of having Rifle + Light Shotgun). Light Shotguns come included with most Haqq rifles, anyway, so it is a matter of choosing the right gun for a given moment. In Sectorial Armies, there's the factor of building your Fireteams - with Boarding Shotgun loadouts being often noticeably cheaper than AP Rifles (which allows you to field a Fireteam for quite a few points less). Also, having a dedicated shotgunner for close-in assaults isn't a bad idea either - that's the rationale that brings BSG Janissaries, Sekbans or Govads into my fireteams (the abovementioned Sekban team had a Spitfire, two AP Rifles - one of them a Lt - and two BSGs, one of them a Doctor). This gives me a toolbox, with someone appropirately armed to go on point at any given moment.
