Assault Armies

[Commander Proteus]

Before you second guess the topic of the thread, let me elaborate.

 

I'm going to start using a strange sort of a list, because I've always played 40K leaning my armies to shooting, and I'm going the other way into bloodying up those chainswords and powerfists before their warranty is up!

 

I'm wondering if an assault army has a greater necessity for a firebase than any other?

 

In other words, if I plan on using assault squads, infiltrating scouts, and mobile tac squads geared for "shakin' hands," then do shooty units become a must-have choice? aside from just literally being able, can you make an army for NOTHING but assault with minimal shooting capability, or do these types generally get turned into swiss cheese in record time?

 

I'll take opinions, experiences, projections and good ol' rants!

 

Let's press the issue! :tu:

 

-Proteus

[Wolf Guard Nostromo]

Short reply, you can win with an exclusively assault army as long as you are agressive and tactically sound. You must either be able to get into combat quickly, take punishment on the way in and still be effective or have some nasty little tricks up your sleeve. Use terrain to reduce shooting lanes and be decisive. Certain forces will also prove very difficult. A couple of thoughts:

 

1) Transports are essential - rhinos, land raiders, pods... your choice, but you need the speed and protection of vehicles to get there in one piece bar a few specific examples (any black templars out there?).

 

2) Why? You don't always NEED support troops, but a balanced army will always prove more effective against a variety of opponents, and while having a strong assault bias is great, do keep a few support troops around. Distraction if nothing else...

 

Oh, and get some powerfists. Lots of powerfists :tu:

[Jezroth]

Yeah I used to field one and one of the most effective combinations I found was drop dreads (drop podded dreadnoughts in case you didn't know)

I only ever lost a few games the only ranged unit I had was an 8 man sniper scout squad

 

I used c.c scouts to tie up slect 'shooty' elements of the enemy and then within two turns I was cutting them up with space marine goodness

 

I used a lot of pods though so depends on what your willing to do

[minigun762]

Need? No.

Should have? Yes, I'd say so. Especially with Codex Marines as you're not wonderful assaulters to begin with.

 

Wolf Guard has nailed it on the head. To make a competitive ALL assault army, you need speed, durability and a way to handle armor. For most Marines that means Rhinos/Jump Packs, Numbers and Power Fists/Meltaguns.

 

Space Wolves, Blood Angels and Black Templar all have advantages in these categories.

[Commander Proteus]

Well, I'm going to give Raven Guard a shot, and I'm going to impliment most of the suggestions here. My shooty units are going to be a fire support dread, and a sniper squad, with a tactical squad up for shooting or assault, and one with a fist and a flamer in a rhino, a commander with a jump pack, and a full 10 man assault squad, just for starters. So, this won't be a TOTAL assault army, but I'm keeping the big guns to a minimum.

 

Thanks for the help so far.

 

-Proteus

[minigun762]

Well, I'm going to give Raven Guard a shot, and I'm going to impliment most of the suggestions here. My shooty units are going to be a fire support dread, and a sniper squad, with a tactical squad up for shooting or assault, and one with a fist and a flamer in a rhino, a commander with a jump pack, and a full 10 man assault squad, just for starters. So, this won't be a TOTAL assault army, but I'm keeping the big guns to a minimum.

 

Thanks for the help so far.

 

-Proteus

 

One thing to think of is that fire support =/= static guns. Attack Bikers, Rhino Tactical Squads, Dreadnoughts, Vindicators, Tactical Terminators, all have the ability to provide firepower to an army without being static.

 

Something to look into is take 1-2 Tactical Squads with Razorbacks. Combat squad them so the Heavy is in a different unit then the Special Weapon. Now you can provide shooting with the Razorback and Heavy weapon while camping an objective. Use the Special weapon squads to provide cover and intercept other units.

Then take some Assault Scouts with a Power Fist and use them as Outflanking support for your Assault Marines.

[Grey Mage]

Well, I'm going to give Raven Guard a shot, and I'm going to impliment most of the suggestions here. My shooty units are going to be a fire support dread, and a sniper squad, with a tactical squad up for shooting or assault, and one with a fist and a flamer in a rhino, a commander with a jump pack, and a full 10 man assault squad, just for starters. So, this won't be a TOTAL assault army, but I'm keeping the big guns to a minimum.

 

Thanks for the help so far.

 

-Proteus

Well Id actually suggest a Dreadnaught with a TLLC and a Heavy Flamer to simply walk up alongside your troops- hes great in assault himself, and can deal with enemy armor starting on turn one- or help against hordes. I find "Fire Support" Dreadnaughts lackluster in most marine armies- Grey Knights being an obvious exception.

 

As for the scouts... why not take an assault scout group in a LSS? You can give them a ML if you really want, or you could just equip the LS with a MM.

 

Speaking of MMs- Attack Bikes make a great mobile anti-armor punch for a rather small points investment *even if the models are a bit pricey*. I highly reccommend them.

[Kronk]

Black Templar player, here. I'll start with saying "Hi, I'm not the most experienced player in the room. Take what I say with a grain of salt."

 

Now that that's out of the way, I absolutely believe in providing cover for my approaching close-combat units.

 

1. Keep their Head's Down! A shooty dreadnought (TLLC, ML, and Tankhunter) and/or a TriLas Pred can threaten the opponent's anti-infantry units. If you can pull off a stunned or better on their dakka-pred (or equivalent), your foot sloggers get a reprieve. You want as many of your guys to make it across the table as possible.

 

2. One-Dimensional = One-Trick-Pony! You need some degree of flexibility in your army. You never know what you're going to face, and having all of your eggs in the assault basket for every game is a big gamble.

 

3. Anything you can do, someone else can do better! Your opponent might also be playing close-combat. I've found berzerkers to be a lot like my templar, only bad-assier. Soften up their transports, their units. Destroy their fire-support before they tear into your soldiers.

 

4. Distract, Redirect, Confuse! Give them a threatening target. Make them forget about the troops for a turn or 2. Remember the old saying: You can assault some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but not the Tau if you are dumb. They'll freaking own you with a capital Whoop-Ass if you charge across the field without cover fire.

[Wolf Guard Nostromo]

3. Anything you can do, someone else can do better! Your opponent might also be playing close-combat. I've found berzerkers to be a lot like my templar, only bad-assier. Soften up their transports, their units. Destroy their fire-support before they tear into your soldiers.

Welcome to my world. Im a Space Wolf player, and so while pretty handy in combat, there is always somebody better. Mumble mumble Khârn and the betrayer and his bezerker buddies mumble mumble.

 

On topic, I would reiterate the point made by Grey Mage above - cheap (points!) units like attack bikes are great for supporting assault forces as they don't take too many points away from the main units but still pack an important punch. A couple of MM attack bikes would be a great investment.

[JamesI]

I love running my Blood Angels as an assault army. But, it works better when I don't cut all my fire support. A few units like MM Attack bikes, Land Speeders (I like Typhoons) and a Baal Predator (Vindicator could be substituted, or even a Predator Destructor) provide some cover fire while the assault guys get where I need them.