Assault weapons, Relentless or Slow and Purposeful Infantry

[minigun762]

Most basic infantry in the game have rapid fire weapons. This means that moving and shooting severely impacts the max range you can fire at. It also means that you can't fire and assault in the same turn.

However there are a few units out there that get around this through various means.

Tactical Terminators, Grey Knights and Sonic Blaster Noise Marines have assault based weapons.

Thousand Sons have Slow and Purposeful.

Bikers are Relentless.

 

So my question is, how big of an advantage is it to be able to fire to full range while moving or shoot then assault? And how do you play these squads on the table top to get the full benefit from them?

[Gornall]

Most basic infantry in the game have rapid fire weapons. This means that moving and shooting severely impacts the max range you can fire at. It also means that you can't fire and assault in the same turn.

However there are a few units out there that get around this through various means.

Tactical Terminators, Grey Knights and Sonic Blaster Noise Marines have assault based weapons.

Thousand Sons have Slow and Purposeful.

Bikers are Relentless.

 

So my question is, how big of an advantage is it to be able to fire to full range while moving or shoot then assault? And how do you play these squads on the table top to get the full benefit from them?

 

I think it's a huge advantage, especially when you couple relentless with speed (aka Bikes). You have the option to stay out of charge range as you slowly wittle down your opponent or you can get in close and unload lots of firepower before mopping up the left-overs. The effectiveness of being able to pick and choose when to engage while still putting out shots cannot be overstated.

[Resv]

Hey everyone! Its been a while!

 

Anyway, speaking just from a Bike Army point of view Relentless is one of the BEST features of bikers. People often mention the lacking performance of Marine Bikes in assault but the simple fact they can shoot (their shooting being very effective due to rapid fire twin linking and two special weapons with a heavy weapon if an attack bike is attached) and then assault can really tear the heart out of an enemy squad. This ability and other abilities like it allow for more damage potential since they are effective in both phases of combat. Not to mention the possible extra 12 inches of movement (6 inch assault, 6 inch consolidation).

 

The major issue here is movement. All of these abilities allow for more fluid play which can sometimes really throw parts if not all of your opponents army off balance. Being able to maneuver for the best possible position and then fire is huge. To which you can always play for the advantage.

 

At my local store I am the only person who regularly fields Bikes in force, meaning not just Attack Bikes. This is in contrast to the near endless Drop Pod armies I have been playing lately. This sort of makes me sad in a way. I find the more fluid armies more fun to play and play against. There is the initial excitement of the 1st turn Drop Pod Assault because you never know where they might end up on the board, but that is short lived.

[Giga]

Relentless is a massive thing. Especially on bikes and things like shooty terminators, since they can walk around and still shoot their heavy weapons. Without relentless, attack bikes would've been pretty much useless.

[ShinyRhino]

I'll agree that Relentless is a huge boost to any unit that has it.

As Resv mentioned, the ability to "stick and move" with bikers is great. Moving 12" and still getting one twin-linked bolter shot at 24" with each biker is awesome for whittling down your enemy. And the T5 makes them resilient enough to be able to do so for several turns.

I like to drop Terminators on the table via Deepstrike, so the TDA ability to shoot after doing so is great when paired with Cyclone Launchers, heavy flamers, and assault cannons. Heck, even a full salvo of stormbolter fire is a force to be reconed with after a teleport landing against the right targets. Even footslogging tactical Terminators can put out a beatdown via shooting while still advancing across the board to powerfist range.

The Legion of the Damned make up some of their HUGE points costs by being S&P. Put a heavy bolter in that squad, and you've got a unit that's putting out fire every turn while slowly but surely moving downrange.

[minigun762]

I noticed alot of people really enjoying the new Loyalist Bikes and with good reason. They are quite the package.

 

What about the foot slogging infantry though, since they represent more armies then just Loyalist Marines.

Does the same advantages hold true if you're walking up the board as riding around on a Bike?

 

And tactically speaking, are you able to pour enough dakka out while moving around to adequately thin the ranks of horde armies or overwhelm units like Terminators/MCs?