How do You use...

[Sunwell]

Greetings fellow gamers and strategists.

 

The topic of the day is Terminators and I would really like yo hear your stories on how You use them in-game, both normal ones and Assault ones

 

Are they there to distract? To deliver the main punch? Do you teleport them or bring them to the table with your trusty LR, or even prefer to take a Libby with Gate, or with Shrike?

 

Do you take more than 5 models? Use heavy Flamer or Assault cannon? Do you ever bother with them in a 1000 pt game or generally higher? Is there a particular race, that you know you're up against, that you never leave home without them or, on the other hand, keep them in your showcase at home?

 

This is the place to tell us (especially me) what worked and what failed when you use/used your Terminators - and importantly why (You think) it worked or failed.

 

Cheers,

 

Sunwell out

 

PS. points on elaborate in-game strategies are appreciated, should you choose to share such coveted information

[minigun762]

I won't comment on how I use Chaos Terminators since it seems to be outside the scope of this discussion but I will comment on how I WOULD use Loyalist Terminators if I was a Loyalists.

 

I think the idea of 5 Terminators with the CML walking up the board is a great little mobile threat.

10 S4 shots with an effective range of 30" backed up by 2 Kraks or 2 Frag blasts is a safe way of handling enemy infantry. The ability to kite them around the board while still being a threat in HtH combat makes them a great support unit, especially if you have other units (RifleDreads, MM Fast Attack) to open up enemy transports.

 

If you have a good piece of cover, there is no reason they can't camp inside with a 2+/4++ save. That will take some effort to dig them out. And all of this comes at the same price as your typical Rhino mounted Tactical squad.

[liberty790]

I'll typically bring terminators in 2000 point and higher games. They are a huge chunk of points, especially since I use only 10 man squads. Likewise, I'll only use them if I pair them with a strong IC, like Shrike or Calgar. And yea, they do attract a lot of attention, but that takes the heat off my TFC, plasma cannon tacticals, and devastators, which all do most of my heavy lifting anyway, except one game where a squad of assault terminators with Pedro within 12" the whole time and shrike giving them fleet where they accidently ate half a tau list.

[Iron_Chaos_Brute]

If I played loyalists:

10 Term, 2 CML, 2 Cfist, Libby, Null Zone, GoI, TDA

[captain sox]

I find the trick to terminators is to deep strike them. This way you can hopefully put them in a place which will mess up your opponents plans. Take a teleport homer though...

 

I run a squad of 6 with a Cyclone Missle Launcher.

 

I found bringing them out on the table at the beginning of a game (usually) ensures a quick end to them. Termies will take a lot of fire, so be prepared to support them with something else, perhaps a long range dev squad.

 

Also, the theatrics of Terminators teleporting onto the battlefield is great for those with visual/imaginative minds!

[spartan249]

I run Shrike with 10 TH/SS terminators, and basically jam that into my opponent's throat. I then couple that with two sternguard pods where they will hurt the most, then watch the carnage unfold. The things that would normally massacre my terminators are occupied/destroyed by the double sternguard squads, and the stuff that's left has a choice: Shoot the termies and take a few less TH/SS hits, or shoot the sternguard and just get steamrolled by the terminators, while maybe taking less casualties in the shooting phase. I am a firm believer in target saturation, and a whole bunch of killy squads that are in your face T1 make for painful decisions. I know because most of the opponents I play against say exactly that.

 

I play terminators all the time, assault more often than normal, and I never regret the decision. They can withstand so much, and deal so much, that the points I spend on them are almost always worth it. More often than not a bargain for what I get.

 

And they look cool. You can't go wrong with stuff that looks cool.

[KhorneHunter57x]

Also, the theatrics of Terminators teleporting onto the battlefield is great for those with visual/imaginative minds!

YES!!! (though usually for me it is imagined from the point of view of one of the Terminators)

 

Anyway, I take 2 squads of 5, each with one Chainfist and an Assault Cannon. I usually Deep Strike by homing them in on Marneus Calgar in a Land Raider. They are my emergency response squads, used to hose down enemy infantry with Bolter and Assault Cannon fire. Usually their arrival permantly turns the tide of the game in my favor.

[BrotherTristan]

Usually the problem with my normal termies is that they deep strike too early.

I made the awful mistake of puttin them down next to the Tau gun line on their flank on the 2nd turn.

 

They're great if you've engaged and have other viable targets. They draw the heat from the rest of the army, which leaves most of my tac squads alive. Unfortunately, if I have a 2+ save I usually roll horribly and lose 3 termies a turn.

 

True, they are AMAZINGLY cool.

 

I like to couple them with power armoured characters, so if we win combat they can chase them down.

[wizard12]

I stick them with my lucky chaplain in TDA and deep strike them 3" from impassible and difficult terrain all around

[Kay]

5 ttermis with cml can hold your flank pretty well. If you use 10 instead of 5, they wil wipe their flank. The amount of firepower they dish out is absurd. Add lysander fore some boltergasm.

 

In my experience,shooty terms tend to lill more than th/ss ones, but i usually play orks and nids, so that is normal.

 

If playing shotties, always deploy them, to take advantage of their firepower from turn 1

 

If playing assault ones buy them a lrc to guarantee they will get to assault where and when u need them to. LRs are also handy to move them around once they have taken care of their objective.

 

I also use ACs, and i love them. But they get much better results when used in pairs.

 

Hope it helped.

[Gaz1858]

I have used Th/SS termies quite a few times. While they can pretty much decimate most enemies in CC they really need a Land Raider to get them in the fight. Too often have my termies spent an entire battle just wandering around the board trying to get into assault range!!

 

As for a normal Terminator Squad. I put them on the board as sson as possible so i can benefit from their guns and CML asap!!! Any turn with them left in deep strike is a turn my enemy doesnt have to worry about them shooting, nicht gut!

[chapter master 454]

My tactical termiators are used to escort lysander into a CC and help out. Delivery system being my redeemer, the combo is quite deadly and as long as lysander hits home thats mission accomplished however they do maintain a purpose. 4 chainfists and CML make them able to reach out hurt people while in CC not even a land raider will escape. Lysander, termies plus redeemer = secure flank!

 

edit: 1500th post =3 also 1 whole year of the B&C suffering my madness!

[tubo10]

I find this very effective.

I use assault termies with chaplain assualting straight from a redemmer, chaplain -term armour or not- fires combi weapon -usaly flamer- into enemy, assault cannon fire into same squad, then fire flamestorm, if i can, at the closest enemy squad, that wont hit my men. I used this to clear an objective and my tactical squad came and moped up some guys who fell back :( -could i imrove this?

I Get to assault into cover while going same time, reroll to hit, reroll to wound (apart from 2 termies), Relentless and Fearless.

 

i use this in 1500pts+ and have 2x th/ss.

 

Edit: Sentences sounded strange

[Giga]

I use 5 th/ss termies in a LR classic with extra armor and (sometimes) multimelta. I usually have an IC with them (either a librarian, or a close combat IC such as vulkan, lysander, or a beefed up captain).

 

Basically, me being a water warrior type of guy, I use the termies & the LR differently depending on list and opponent, but here are some general things:

 

Against nids or other opponents that like to close in on me (SW, BA, WE); I usually place the LR somewhere, and use it as a firebase to shoot their transports/MCs/infantry. By the time they get close to me, I should have slaughtered the really dangerous things, at which point the LR can move forward so that the termies can deal with something in a single assault phase (such as a tyrant with guard, or a warboss with nobz, or a big unit of zerkers with kharne etc.).

 

Against opponents I want to assault (guard, tau, necrons, footslogging marines), I just zoom the LR forward, disembark, and assault something with the termies, and hopefully kill it. I target big dangerous things such as squadrons of leman russes, tau suits, or units of MEQ such as tacticals and the like.

 

 

 

 

The general guideline is to keep the LR with termies in the forward center of your army (like a spearhead). No matter how you deploy, this is what you should do (unless there is a really good situational reason why placing the LR elsewhere would be better), because that way the termies inside have an effective 20" assault range, enabling them to rush to wherever your army needs some heavy punch. Keeping the LR with termies at one corner of your army means the enemy can circumvent them.

 

 

 

Of course, all of my tactics involve a LR. Termies without a LR are a waste, I believe.

[Giga]

Concerning tactical terminators... I don't think they're quite worth it.

I think the idea of 5 Terminators with the CML walking up the board is a great little mobile threat.

10 S4 shots with an effective range of 30" backed up by 2 Kraks or 2 Frag blasts is a safe way of handling enemy infantry.

Not cost-effective.

 

That unit costs 230 pts.

 

For 210 pts, you can get a squadron of 3 mm/hf speeders.

 

Far more survivable, far more mobile, and far far more dangerous. Also looks cooler on the table. :(

 

 

 

 

When I pick my units, I always try to know what these units are going to do on the tabletop, and if something can do the same job better. No matter how I think about it, I always end up coming up with a better unit to use then tactical terminators, no matter what the role I want for them.

[hazardousZERO]

I use a 10man squad of termies. One has a CML and another has an AC, i deploy them close to the middle of the table and just shoot as soon as i can. They usually cause a lot of destruction. I have yet to use Lysander i do have him in a list but just haven't used it yet. I imagine hes great because of the bolter drill which is exactly why i choose him.

[kaiserstole20]

When I pick my units, I always try to know what these units are going to do on the tabletop, and if something can do the same job better. No matter how I think about it, I always end up coming up with a better unit to use then tactical terminators, no matter what the role I want for them.

 

I agree that for any specific job there's always a better choice in the space marine army list and I certainly see where you are coming from.

 

For me, I like to have at least a few generalist units and it's hard to beat tactical terminators as a generalist unit. They are tough, great at shooting things up, and killer in close combat. Adding Lysander not only increases their shooty and CC abilities but also gives them a good way to shrug off a lascannon.

 

I also second the 'kiting' comment - the move and fire can make them a real pain in the neck for opponents. It's like a dog chasing a car - even if you catch it what are you going to do with it? Lysander + a bunch of power fists and a power sword is pretty formidable especially when they have had time to soften the units up with shooting.

 

It's expensive but a lot of fun and usually very effective for me.

[Giga]

For me, I like to have at least a few generalist units and it's hard to beat tactical terminators as a generalist unit.

This is true. If we're looking for a generalist unit that can shoot, assault, and survive well, then yes, tactical terminators are pretty awesome.

 

The problem is, most of the vanilla codex is made up of generalist units. Just look at tactical squads, which is something we're basically forced to take in every list. They're a generalist support unit that can't do much on their own.

 

This is why vanilla armies actually need specialized stuff to deliver the punch. The great thing about this is that lots of this stuff in our codex is still generalist to some extent.

 

MM/HF speeders are a great example of this. So are sternguard and attack bikes.

[Lord_Caldera]

I use a squad of 5 Tactical Termies with a HF and CF to teleport in and threaten something important. They work great with my drop dreads to distract the opponent, even if they usually die on their first turn to small arms, it's tons of fire off of the rest of my force. If they're ignored then they wreak havoc behind enemy lines. They also allow me to include a Godhammer LR as a firebase/taxi while keeping my Devastators and Thunderfire Cannons at max in the list.

[Frosty the Pyro]

My model choices are very limited, cus I'm pooer, but I have an impresive amount of chainfists. They have seen some success in hunting tougher vehicals and walkers. Also I am a lucky son of a gun, that 5+ inv acts almost like a 3 or 4+. Your millage will vary.

[Kay]

I completely ripped of a dark eldar army with 2 10man tactcal termis, 5assault termis and 3-4squads of scouts.

Durable as a brickwalls and hitting like a sledgehammers. Thats what termies are.

[Kronk]

Black Templar player, here.

 

Recently, I've been deep striking with mine. However, never alone. I've been deepstriking crusader squads with drop pods, terminators, assault marines, and land speeders. Usually, multiples on turn 2, with the rest on turn 3.

 

I make my opponent pick whom he wants to kill. The multimelta landspeeders about to pop his rail-gun toting tau tank, the assault marines about to jump his stupid jump pack tau, or the terminators.

 

Pick your poison.

 

In a recent game against Eldar, I went with two 10 man squads for the first time. One squad was 2x assault cannon with an attached Marshal with twin lightning claws and terminator armor. The other squad was 2x cyclone missile launcher and tank hunters. Normally, with 2 squads, I only run 7-men squads to keep the points down. But I wanted to try a couple of large units to see how well they performed. The squads were deployed on opposite sides of the board. Both took massive amounts of fire and assualt. The tank hunters cleared their half of the board and had 8 men standing, along with a shooty crusader squad's help. The Marshal's also did well, but finally succombed to the Eldar player's t6/I5 troops and a whole lot of shooting. But they killed their points back and then some. Including the screaming banshee whatevers.

[Banville]

It's received wisdom that you should never, ever Deep Strike Terminators. Too random, too predictable and you will be guaranteed to lose that 200+ pint unit the turn they arrive. The best termies out there at the moment is a squad of TH/SS Termies with a pair of L/C thrown in assaulting out of a Crusader.

[minigun762]

It's received wisdom that you should never, ever Deep Strike Terminators. Too random, too predictable and you will be guaranteed to lose that 200+ pint unit the turn they arrive. The best termies out there at the moment is a squad of TH/SS Termies with a pair of L/C thrown in assaulting out of a Crusader.

 

I think thats true with Assault Terminators but I see nothing wrong about DS Tactical Terminators.

You have a effective range weapons (Even the Heavy Flamer is awesome and cheap) and you can easily afford 2 5 man squads for the price of those TH/SS Terminators + a Land Raider.

 

As an aside, how effective has the CML been for people?

[Octavulg]

Terminators are heavy cavalry. You don't want to waste them on large units - they'll get bogged down and hacked to pieces. You don't want to waste them on anything purpose-designed to kill them - they'll get bogged down and hacked to pieces. They can't attack into cover - they'll get bogged down and hacked to pieces. Anything else, they'll shred.

 

Charge the hell in, shooting all the way. It's basic, but it's not ineffective. Just remember that they're heavy cavalry. Sometimes they're flexible heavy cavalry, but you always want to be moving toward whatever it is you're going to charge next. They're (very) slow mobile assets - they take, they don't hold. A Terminator squad sitting still is usually wasting its time. The exception, of course, is against things you could never hope to catch in a million years. ;) Then sit there to your heart's content.

 

Thinking of them as knights (in terms of their battlefield roles and capabilities) will give you a remarkable amount of insight into what is and is not a good idea with them.