Viable Tactics/Builds for a Battle Company?

[Vutall]

So, I am 2 assault squads off from having a full fledged battle company for my custom chapter. I was just pondering how you all would equip said company.. A refresher on what is in a company: 2 Dreadnoughts, 6 Tactical Squads, 2 Devastator Squads, 2 Assault Squads, 1 Captain, 1 Command Squad, 1 Chaplain. Lets say, 'ard boyz level for points is max. (2500)

[Ookami_81]

I don't have the dex at hand, but I'll try something like this:

 

JP naked chaplain, if you have the points add a plasma pistol.

 

1 assault squad with PFist/TH and two flamers.

1 assault squad with combi-melta PFist and two meltaguns. And melta bomb if you've got points to spend.

 

1 rifleman dread. (2 TLAutoC)

1 AssC + HF + DCCW dread.

 

1 deva squad with 4 ML.

1 deva squad with 4 HB. (absolute kick ass against orks, tyranids, eldar, etc.) Or if you're Meq oriented and you've got points 4 PCannons.

 

biker captain with relic blade and hellfire rounds.

biker command squad either shooty or CC or both (beware: death star unit and point sink !) See the death star thread for loadup.

 

two tacticals on bikes (yeah, troops all the way :ermm: ). Both with PFist, 2 meltaguns, 1 MM AB.

 

two defending tacticals with plasma cannon, and plasmagun, Rhino/Razorback.

 

two offensive tacticals with ML, Flamer, PFIst, and Rhino.

 

No idea of the points (an awful lot I think) but should be an excellent army to try.

 

Enventually, a battle company is a lot of guys, maybe try half of a company in "normal" points range. (but keep the dreads, the command squad, the ICs, etc. just half deva, tacticals, bikers, etc.)

[Hackbar]

Honestly, I think it would be a stretch to fit a full battle company in at 2500 points.

Just the 10 squads with no weapons, no transports, no dreadnoughts, and no HQ would put you sl;ghtly over 1700 points. Rhinos for the tactical squads (Devastators want to start on foot so they can shoot) pushes that figure just past 1900, still without considering any weapon upgrades, HQs, or dreadnoughts. Unless you plan on everyone walking and/or taking almost no weapon upgrades, there's just no way you can get 2 HQs, 2 dreadnoughts, and a command squad for the remaining points.

Consider, also, that any situation that would warrant the deployment of an entire battle company at once would probably also warrant support from the scout and veteran companies and some tanks from the chapter armory. Pretty soon you're looking at a 5000 points army that either pushes you into apocalypse/spearhead territory or literally fills your entire Force Org chart.

 

I like to run a half company that runs up around 1750-2000 with just the 3 tacticals, 1 assault, 1 devastator, plus my HQ and a dreadnought.

That's including the cost of weapon upgrades and transports, so I imagine a fully kitted-out battle company would realistically run in the 3-4k range.

 

If you're not using the apocalypse formation, then I agree with ookami that a bike squad or 2 might make an interesting substitution for tactical marines. More mobility never hurts, especially with such an infantry-heavy build.