Scouts/Drop Pod/Razorback Loadouts

[minigun762]

I have 3 specific questions because I've been very tempted to go with Codex Marines recently, so I'm looking at the options that CSMs don't have.

 

1) I'd like to use a Drop Pod squad since its something that Chaos can't do. Is there a preferred loadout for all purpose? My original thought was Power Weapon/Plasmagun/Multi-Melta. It should give me rapid fire goodness when I land and then create a 24" threat zone around my pod squad. Do you typically keep the squad together or CS them upon landing?

 

2) I'd like to use a Razorback (TL Heavy Bolter) and a Plasma Cannon, again because Chaos can't. Whats the best method of melding those two together? Sternguards? Devastators? Tac squad? Do I keep the squad together or combat squad them? Etc etc.

 

3) What is the best way to use "assault" Scouts? I suppose you could go with the LSS but that seems like a waste of your FA slots, plus its only 5 guys. My gut feeling is that Scout+MTC or Infiltrate+MTC should be enough to close the distance. Either Outflank and stick in cover or Infiltrate and stick in cover. You could even take this a step further with using Camo Cloaks.

[Giga]

This is a defensive tactical squad I run in a majority of my lists;

 

- flamer

- plasma cannon

- chainsword

- razorback

 

Comes out at 215 pts. In non-KP games I like to combat squad them and keep the plasma cannon + sergeant in the back, while flamer and the bolter guys ride in the razorback and move forward (or stay in reserve, for later objective grabs). It's a really nice minor-firebase unit that helps with scoring and adding bodies to the army. The razorback is like another heavy weapon in the unit. Really useful.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't have much experience with assault scouts, but if I ran them this is what I'd do;

 

LSS with multimelta

5 scouts with combimelta and meltabomb

 

It goes without saying this is designed to go in a Vulkan list. Not only does it become quite strong in an alpha-strike list, it also fits the theme perfectly.

[Frosty the Pyro]

This is a defensive tactical squad I run in a majority of my lists;

 

- flamer

- plasma cannon

- chainsword

- razorback

 

Comes out at 215 pts. In non-KP games I like to combat squad them and keep the plasma cannon + sergeant in the back, while flamer and the bolter guys ride in the razorback and move forward (or stay in reserve, for later objective grabs). It's a really nice minor-firebase unit that helps with scoring and adding bodies to the army. The razorback is like another heavy weapon in the unit. Really useful.

 

you cannot leave one combat squad in reserve and put the other in the feilds, if placed in reserve you may not have them enter in the razorback. Combat squading is done at deployment, and when you put something is reserve it is not deployed untill it comes out of reserve. You must declare how units will enter play when you place them in reserve. So it is still a 10 man unit in reserves and 10 man units canot fit into a razorback. Therefor you cannot say they will enter in the razorback. Therefor they may not BE embarked. If its a rhino (which can fit 10 men) they may not be combat squaded if they are embarked when they come in from reserves as two units may not be embarked at the same time (except of course attached IC).

[glayvin34]

Well, let's see...

 

1) I've found that Heavy Weapons in Drop Pods are often wasted, you can't fire them when the pod lands so the enemy tends to move away or tarpit the unit so the HW can't be fired in subsequent turns. If you pod them far enough away to protect the HW, then the bolters go to waste. I typically drop a pod of 10 tacticals on or near the opponent's lines, and open up with rapid fire and a melta/ plasma/ flamer. I also give the sarge a PF so when the enemy reacts to the presence of the DP the unit stays versatile.

 

Putting 5 devastators in a DP might work for HWs, though, if you give them 48" weapons and enough distance to be safe and use them.

 

2) I feel the same about Razorbacks and HWs as I do with DPs and HWs. Get some Devs and park them distant or drive down the enemy's throat with assault weapons.

 

3) The LSS with 5 CC scouts has worked really well for me as a surgical strike unit. I back them up with a regular land speeder and something else. They won't last long, so don't expect them to, but here's what I said a few threads ago:

 

"What's nice is that you can use the LSS and the scouts in tandem. The LSS can open the transport with melta, and the scouts can assault. The LSS can stun the walker so the scouts can place their grenades easier. The LSS can flame the Assault squad so the scouts have the advantage in CC. The LSS can take out one vehicle, the scouts can hop out and take care of the one next to it. Note that all of this would take place in turn one or two before they get blown up."

 

I like to use them as a roadblock. One time they zipped across the table and harried some Terms in a LR. As a unit, they killed one termie and took out one of the LR's weapons, but the LR and the termies didn't finish dealing with them until turn 4, and so wasn't able to get across the board and push my guys off an objective for the win. So my 150 points of scouts and LSS kept 550 points of LR and termies from doing their job.

[Vanor]

I like to use them as a roadblock.

 

So you don't really expect a CC scout to actually win, just tie up something big and nasty for a few turns, so by the time that unit finally gets clear of the assault it's to late for it to really do a lot?

 

I have 5 scouts from the battle pack still on the sprue and I'm not really sure what I want to do with them. They're not going in any of my current lists but I'd like to put them together even if I'm not going to use them.

 

Was leaning towards giving them bolters, and using them as a lite combat squad. Using them for CC never made much sense to me, what with their relatively bad stats. I just couldn't see how they'd avoid getting munched by anything that was good at CC.

 

But using them just to tie up a unit for a round or two... That makes a lot more sense to me.

[minigun762]

I guess I was hoping to use the BP/CCW/SG Scouts as light Assault Marines. Sure you lose out on WS4 and 3+ saves but you're alot cheaper and still have the all important Power Fist. Plus most assault specialists seem to be built to tear through a 3+ save (Power Weapons, Thunder Hammers, Rending, MCs etc) so a 4+ save isn't that bad in comparision and WS3 doesn't matter much when those same assault specialists have WS5+ (ok it matters for WS7+). In this role they would be used to stop those units which are geared for killing MEQs.

 

Razorbacks, Drop Pods and heavy weapons in Tacticals are some of the major differences compared to Chaos (for me that is). Hearing that they don't seem to work well together is discouraging.

[Vanor]

Razorbacks, Drop Pods and heavy weapons in Tacticals are some of the major differences compared to Chaos (for me that is).

 

The thing is, all HW suffer from the same problem. You can't use them if you move, so they'll never mesh real well with transports or drop pods..

 

What I've done is is CS my tact's leave the HW on an objective and load the rest into the razorback, then go looking for something to shoot with them. You could do much the same thing with a DP, drop it on or near an objective, CS the group leaving the HW behind and moving the bolters out looking for trouble.

[glayvin34]

I like to use them as a roadblock.

So you don't really expect a CC scout to actually win, just tie up something big and nasty for a few turns, so by the time that unit finally gets clear of the assault it's to late for it to really do a lot?

Yeah, I don't prefer to use them that way, but sometimes it's the best option. They aren't going to do anything against assault specialists, but if they deny the charge to a 10-man devastator squad the assault is going to last a few turns and the 250+ point devs will be nigh-on useless dealing with your throwaway unit. They're fairly fire-and-forget for me if there's a good target for them, one time they killed a Leman Russ with Plasma cannon and sponsons, then they were murdered immediately, good trade, though.

 

I make them specialists at taking out vehicles with this loadout:

LSS with melta, Sarge with PF

or infantry with this loadout:

LSS with HF, Sarge with PF and combi-flamer

then I pick a target and don't expect them to do anything but die and at least stall their target for 3+ turns. IMO, one of the few useful suicide units for the points.

 

They're versatile, too, you can use them to contest an objective on turn 5, by then your opponent's force will be diluted and might have trouble taking out the vehicle and all 5 scouts by the end of the game. A tactical squad firing full rapid fire will still need a turn to take out the speeder, then they can't assault until next turn, giving your scouts the opportunity to deny them the charge, all in all a headache for your opponent as he tries to figure out what to do with his remaining units to get that objective.

[FlamingDeth]

I like to use them as a roadblock.

 

So you don't really expect a CC scout to actually win, just tie up something big and nasty for a few turns, so by the time that unit finally gets clear of the assault it's to late for it to really do a lot?

 

I have 5 scouts from the battle pack still on the sprue and I'm not really sure what I want to do with them. They're not going in any of my current lists but I'd like to put them together even if I'm not going to use them.

 

Was leaning towards giving them bolters, and using them as a lite combat squad. Using them for CC never made much sense to me, what with their relatively bad stats. I just couldn't see how they'd avoid getting munched by anything that was good at CC.

 

But using them just to tie up a unit for a round or two... That makes a lot more sense to me.

While they die easier than power armor marines, keep in mind that they're still I4 and S4, WS3 and WS4 will both hit on 4+ up to WS7, and a squad of 10 CC scouts has the same number of attacks as a squad of 10 assault marines, for 50 points less.

 

As for using them, I've found it surprisingly effective to stick a full size squad of them in a LRR with a chaplain. People don't really take it seriously...until they find that they've got some flamestorm cannons and a dedicated (but cheap!) CC unit decimating their back lines, and if they don't deal with it immediately then they also have a scoring unit in an AV14 bunker camping out on their home objective. Throw a couple of vindicators in the list and chances are your scouts are going to get into CC intact.

[hazardousZERO]

I only have 1 drop pod and i usually put an Ironclad with a DCCW/Heavy Flamer and a ChainFist/Meltagun combo in it. Then i drop it somewhere where it can do a lot of damage and draw attention. Its a kind of expensive speed bump but WAY worth it. The last 2 games Ive dropped him in the middle of a black Templar formation of 2 10 man crusader squads and hes wiped them out. last time i dropped him next to my opponents annihilator predator and he blew it up with a very lucky shot from his melta gun. He then went on to destroy a crusader squad and contest the objective. On other occasions i haven't had as much luck with him other then as a shot absorber. I suggest using a dreadnought of any kind there tough and relatively cheep. The ironclad DP i run is 180pt so not that bad. I suggest you try it and let me know how it goes for you.

[Warprat]

Razorbacks, Drop Pods and heavy weapons in Tacticals are some of the major differences compared to Chaos (for me that is).

 

The thing is, all HW suffer from the same problem. You can't use them if you move, so they'll never mesh real well with transports or drop pods..

 

What I've done is is CS my tact's leave the HW on an objective and load the rest into the razorback, then go looking for something to shoot with them. You could do much the same thing with a DP, drop it on or near an objective, CS the group leaving the HW behind and moving the bolters out looking for trouble.

 

 

Which is why I like Plasma Cannons in Tac squads. I run a foot list, so most of the time my full squads are running to get into rapid fire range. But sometimes, close combat squads are manuvering to get me! That's when I put on the brakes and apply the plasma cannon. I don't use it that much, but when I do, it really rips into enemy formations and vaporizes the enemy baddies. It's also good for squads that have been whittled down to 2-3 men. My decimated squads become super annoying as they blast away (hopefully out of enemy range) with abandon.