Landspeeders

[infinite_array]

I'm planning on taking 3 landspeeders as part of my 1500 pt. army. I plan to have 2 with heavy bolters/multi meltas, and a third with just a heavy bolter. The first two were always planned,and will be used for tank killing. The third came from an extra 50 points I had left over once I was with the rest of the army.

 

My question is, should I run these three as a single FA choice, or should I run them as separate slots?

 

My plan was to run them completely separately. This was so I could deep strike all over the board, hitting heavy armor where need be. With three separate speeders, I would always have more chances to be able to call them in from reserves, instead of one roll keeping them from entering. Finally, having three speeders moving around means that the enemy general (supposedly) would have a tougher time hitting them, as one squad or squadron couldn't take down all 3 with a single shooting phase. Here, the opposing general would have to devote at least 3 separate units to shoot at each speeder.

 

If there's something I'm missing, some advantage to taking them together in one slot, please tell me.

 

Thanks in advance.

[the_forgefather]

If that's all you're going to be taking in your 1500 point army as Fast Attack then yeah it would be a good idea to take them seperately. But if not, then putting them in a squadron, or 2 of them and one by itself. But the advantage I see of taking them in a squadron is that you could Deep Strike them all at once with the Multi-Meltas ready to bear down on enemy armor! Yes it can happen that they might not come in the 2nd turn but hey, I'm willing to take risks like that, but as for you I don't know. I like playing against the odds :P

[infinite_array]

Right. The main idea for my army is armored spearhead. Two Tacs, my Captain (with command squad) in Rhinos, going in through a hole punched by a dakka pred and vindicator, with a whirlwind providing long range support. I'll also have another tac squad and a dreadnought in drop pods to contest objectives/hit form behind.

 

I don't know how well it'll turn out. But it's my first army, and I'm having a blast painting and theory-crafting with them!

[Giga]

I like to run a squadron of two mm/hf speeders. I find they are a lot more survivable then people give them credit for, and by being in a squadron I'm denying easy kill points to my opponents. The squadron also adds a lot to target saturation.

[Koremu]

While Squadrons appear to be easier to kill just by reading the rules, clever use of Terrain and the hit allocation system actually improves their survivability a lot of the time.

[mowglie]

Don't you have to mix speeder types to abuse the hit allocation system?

[Fatuous]

Personally I think if you are taking speeders, it is well worth taking the heavy flamer option but that's just my preference.

 

Squadrons....... bit of a mixed bag really assuming you are planning no other fast options..........

 

Ignoring stunned and shaken is pretty good, so they will keep on firing! But being destroyed on an imobilised result is a high price to pay for it, so think carefully. TBH, with speeders, it probably isn't such a big problem.

 

Seperating them gives you a higher number of potential targets each turn, which I think I would find too tempting to pass up myself, and marines do have a pretty good chance of hitting anyway and does increase your number of targets they will have to choose from.

 

But as they are at risk to bolter equiv fire, most general armies infantry can deal with one speeder, but not a squadron, so you do have to weigh that up as well.

 

Do you ahve any scouts? You could swop out the none MM speeder for a LSS, stick some scouts in it, and give a bit of infantry support to the other speeders (of course, they cannot join the squadron).

 

You'll need to get in some play testing and see what really works best for you...

[River Black]

Ignoring stunned and shaken is pretty good, so they will keep on firing! But being destroyed on an imobilised result is a high price to pay for it, so think carefully. TBH, with speeders, it probably isn't such a big problem.

 

Squadrons don’t ignore stunned and shaken they threat stunned as shaken. This means that the squadron can keep moving but you still not going to be able to shoot.

 

Don't you have to mix speeder types to abuse the hit allocation system?

 

No. You allocate the glances and pens however you want regardless of their loadout.

[infinite_array]

Whoof. Lot of replies as soon as I turn away for a couple of days.

 

I don't currently plan on having any scouts. That being said, I may - I have 250 points that I plan on using on a vindicator and whirlwind, but if they don't work out I may turn to another tactic.

[pattison]

1 vindicator + 1 whirlwind: won't work.

2 vindies? 2 whirlwinds? maybe, if the rest of your army can profit from them.

i run 2/3/4 land speeder typhoons regularly and i love them.

used the mm/hf type and the hb/assc type only a couple of times, but their profile is much narrower than the typhoons'.

whenever i can i field them as individuals not as squadrons, but i had rather good success with 2x2 of them on a tourney one month ago or so.

yes, 360 points may seem a big investment (especially in a 1250 list as the tourney one), but if you manage to keep them safe on the flanks they can be extremely annoying.

just have to remember that you paid 90 points for those 2 missiles & the maneouverability, so don't push for the additional heavy bolter shots, only when you are sure that tere will be no-one to shoot back after you've closed in.

oh yes and a tip: use the shortest stick you find between the model & the base, so you can deploy them behind a predator/rhino, shoot your missiles and avoid getting shot back at you as the hull of the speeder is totally covered by the tank.