Landspeeder Storm

[SirDuck13]

I'm looking into scouts and the Landspeeder Storm for a C:SM army and I'm curious about different tactics anyone may have seen used with them that were effective.

 

I was thinking of taking a 10 man squad of scouts that have 5 sniper rifles and combat squading them so that the snipers can deploy in an advantageous position. I'm indecisive about how to deploy the other combat squad. I've considered ccw and bp in a Landspeeder Storm, or even shotguns. I've also considered bolters and a heavy bolter to help saturation fire from cover near the sniper squad. Kinda providing some cover fire as things get close so the snipers can take more advantage of their range.

 

I'm particularly interested in the LSS though, since I think it's a very cool model. I'd love to hear about some experiences or insights into the use of these squads.

 

SD13

[Kapitan Montag]

Well, I can't talk from experience as my LSS is still unpainted. My plan is to load it up with bp +ccw scouts and sarge with power fist (maybe combi melta too)

The plan for them is all about getting the first turn charge in and power fisting some stationary tanks in the rear armour. I think that makes good use of the LSS scout move and transport capacity

 

Hope to have them finished soon so I'll let you know how it goes.

[greatcrusade08]

the land speeder storm is cool, very cool.

You must never forget that they are made of paper and do tend to be suicide units when used aggressively, so when you build a list always discount the scouts inside for scoring purposes, they wont likely survive the game.

 

the first thing that struck me from your post was this:

I was thinking of taking a 10 man squad of scouts that have 5 sniper rifles and combat squading them so that the snipers can deploy in an advantageous position. I'm indecisive about how to deploy the other combat squad

 

this is a bad bad idea.. lemme repeat.. BAD idea.

the whole point with LSS being delciate is to play smart with them, use thier special rules to the max to ensure your getting use from them, that means scout moves, that means outflanking when necessary too.

if your using combat squads you cant outflank with 5 scouts embarked on the speeder, its just one of those things.

chances are your not running 6 troops choices, so your best off spending those extra few points and giving them a dedicated 5 man squad.

 

there are alot of different builds that work, i would insatantly rule out the assault cannon upgrade though, as its hardly worth its points, if your looking for dakka stick with the heavy bolter.

heres my two favourite builds

LSS with multi-melta (65 points)

5 ccw scouts with combi-melta and meltabombs (90 points)

 

pretty easy to see what this unit does, if you get first turn its alpha strike time, people wiull often say its easy to block this unit, but if deployed centrally the 24" scout move can be used to avoid alpha strike blockers and rhino castles etc, it can be difficult sometimes but more often than not youll get a good shot at a nice juicy land raider or battlewagon.

*TIP* always shoot the combi-melta first, its shorter range means only your intended tyarget will likely be within the double pen zone, if you kill your target the longer range of the MM on the LSS can be used to target a different enemy unit.

If you dont get first turn, they can be outflanked and have an effective assault range of about 20-21" from whatevevr board edge they arrive from, if your out of range use flat out to go 24" and get a cover save, if they down the speeder the squad inside can still charge in the following turn.

 

2nd build:

LSS with heavy flamer (60 points)

5 ccw scouts with combi-flamer and powerfist (110 points)

 

this is a nice anti-infantry unit, best used as an outflanker to target backline objectove sitters and heavy support units like lootas and devestator marines, as outflankers they come on more oftne than not turn 3ish, this gives time for your opponent to push forward and leave certain units exposed.. this LSS build is a bully unit, use it as such.

 

there is another build used by brother Tual

LSS with heavy bolter (50 points)

5 bolter scouts with heavy bolter (75 points)

pure dakka unit, usage depends on enemy, this is the one exception to the rule about not taking these scouts as scoring units as they can operate at range, if the speeder is downed they can hop into terrain and continue laying down bolter shots.

[MagicMan]

Im so glad this thread has come up, i was about to make the same one after fruitlessly trying to find GC08's 10th company Tactica.

 

 

Ive already assembled mine with a Powerfist/Combi- Weapon, 2 CCW scouts, and 2 with Shotguns.

 

 

 

The one thing ive been thinking about, does the Storm get to use its Turbo-boost as its scout move, and if so does it get the cover save on its first turn?

[rusty1109]

I've alpha struck so many enemy nasties with my storm I've lost count. Everyone at my local club makes killing it their number one priority and with a scout move cover save it survives more often than you think!

 

If there's nothing worth alpha striking then I outflank and tear into either weakened CC specialists of his firebase!

 

I think that scouts in a storm are the best scoring unit in our codex!

 

I run mine with combat blades, a fist and combi melta.

 

A few stories,

 

Turn one, blew up a space wolf rhino killing a few grey hunters who got themselves pinned, then assaulted said squad and gave his librarian a powerfist to the face!

 

Turn one again, scout moved and melta'd a defiler. The scouts then got eaten by a winged demon prince, however by moving to assault the scouts he left cover and got shot to bits by my gunline!

 

I love my storm and scouts!

[Meatman]

2nd build:

LSS with heavy flamer (60 points)

5 ccw scouts with combi-flamer and powerfist (110 points)

 

this is a nice anti-infantry unit, best used as an outflanker to target backline objectove sitters and heavy support units like lootas and devestator marines, as outflankers they come on more oftne than not turn 3ish, this gives time for your opponent to push forward and leave certain units exposed.. this LSS build is a bully unit, use it as such.

 

 

Definitely agree with this. My LSS load out is:

 

LSS with heavy flamer - 60

5 man scout squad, 4 shotguns/combat blades (go for all shotguns or all combat blades), sergeant with power weapon, and maybe meltabombs.

 

Heavy flamer makes up for the BS3 of the storm, coupled with mass shotguns or combat attacks, this unit can make a surprisingly large dent in a unit of your choosing.

I prefer shotguns for rule of cool, and you can pump out a surprising amount of firepower from them.

 

 

I'll also echo what he said about combat squading. Don't.

The real strength of scouts in 5 man units is the sergeant. Combat squading a 10 man will always perform less then you expect.

[greatcrusade08]

Im so glad this thread has come up, i was about to make the same one after fruitlessly trying to find GC08's 10th company Tactica.

 

ask and ye shall recieve

[Meatman]

Damn, I just noticed I got ninja'd by 2 people while I was posting. Hmm. I need to stop getting so distracted when posting!

[Brother Tual]

Good O.

 

LSS + scouts make a great alpha strike unit. There is no denying it. What they also do well (and the aforementioned LSS + HB) is capture objectives late game. The trouble is keeping them alive and moving to the last turn. I found range and reserves very helpful at doing this and the twin HB unit is somewhat effective at holding range and perfect as a little harrassment unit shooting at squad remnants or infantry on foot.

 

I dont know your resources or army list but I found two LSS with squads very helpful. Operating in tandem opens up some nasty situational tricks not normally achieved with power armoured marines. The LSS is the only flying transport we have and 10 scouts can easily surround a transport thanks to the ability to move over units. Most transports crumble in assault (even if you dont have any upgrades) and the lower WS is irrelevant. Even with only 5 scouts it is more than possible to block the access points and thus instantly forcing the transported target unit to become pinned due to emergency disembarkation rules. With 10 scouts you can likely surround the entire transport and destroy both the transport and contents at the same time. This method is the quickest and simplest way to kill 10 plague marines in a rhino. It is rare to achieve this and players just dont see it coming but I wouldnt say it is hard to achieve. Just some careful planning. Easy as pie if you have first turn and your opponent hasnt deployed to stop this.

 

The LSS make good road blocks late game forcing big nasties to go around them or charge into them needing 6's to hit. Why they work slightly better than rhino's in this role is they can turbo boost and get a cover save instantly. They otherwise force the same movement restrictions on the enemy.

 

The biggest downfall of the LSS is the FA slot it consumes PER LSS. I love my FA slots and loathe loosing two spots to a pair of transports. If they were dedicated they would be a much stronger selection.

[rusty1109]

It's been said before but all I want from the next codex is for LSS's to be dedicated transports!

[greatcrusade08]

It's been said before but all I want from the next codex is for LSS's to be dedicated transports!

 

amen to that, space marines would get its own aircav army build.. if they release stormravens for C:SM id definately be set for 6th ed.

[MagicMan]

Thanks GC, i had a flick through the relevant sections and from what ive read ive decided to go with....

 

 

 

LSS

Multi-Melta

 

5x Scouts

2x Shotgun 2xBP/Blade

Powerfist/Combi-Melta

 

 

Maybe swap the Melta components to a flamer if there ends up not being enough armour amongst my opponents for it to be worth it.

(So far Ork + Tau armour hasn't been a big problem for me)

 

If i get first turn, i infiltrate, scout move to within 12" with the LSS 24" move, then let rip, maybe jump out to punch things if i really want that armour dead. If i get second turn, i outflank, and try and do similar things. Hopefully ill try it out tomorrow. ;)

 

 

The powerfist really seems like an auto-include for me considering my opponents. It means i can instant-kill battlesuits/Nobs if i can get the jump on them and have a bit of luck.

[greatcrusade08]

yeah the powerfist really is down to personal preference, its good for gibbing battlesuits and the like, but generally i us emy melta storms for anti land raider, which means the unit inside normally cleans up before the fist gets to swing.. thats why i stopped using them.

local meta is very important to list building

[MagicMan]

Yeah, i imagine if i end up using the LSS to take down my friends Battlewagon i won't want to be jumping out anywhere near its contents unless he fills it with Lootas.

 

Which is something the Flamer-toting squad seems like a cool bet for, because Lootas are so annoying. Most of the time i rely on pinning them with my sniper scouts or trying to ignore them. So a Heavy-Flamer LSS + Friends seems like a good bet for wiping them out, them or Pathfinders actually.

[greatcrusade08]

Yeah, i imagine if i end up using the LSS to take down my friends Battlewagon i won't want to be jumping out anywhere near its contents unless he fills it with Lootas.

 

hmm, the melta combo only really works if you DO disembark, although open toppes you cant fire if the speeder moves over 6" and given you have to be just outside the 12" mark before the game, your not going to get much use from your combi-weapon.. which itself has a better chance of causing damage than the MM

 

the melta squad is a suicide unit, designed to get in and blow up the big AV14 uber unit transports early in the game, it dopesnt matter if your scout die, you now have 3-4 turns of shooting the snot out of the enemies big nasty, rather than a single turn

[Brother Tual]

If lootas, pathfinders, scouts etc are an issue then a whirlwind is the perfect answer. Not flamer scouts... too easy to protect against and requires first turn.

[MagicMan]

They're not a huge problem as such, but they're just annoying. My Ork friend always, always, runs forward leaving his Lootas sat at the back by themselves. Usually i pin them/run them off the board with a small scout squad until i get up to that side of the board, but i think the LSS could be a fun change of pace. :tu:

 

 

Ill be trying it out in about an hour, so if it goes terribly ill be sure to remember your words and hang my head in shame Tual. Haha.

 

 

P.S. Im taking a whirlwind in the same list, anyway. First time using it, too. :)

[MagicMan]

So the Melta combo messed up pretty badly due to my friend going all Ork foot horde, if id had the flamer it would have been golden. The only vehicle he had was a solitary Kan which the LSS did slag.

 

 

As it is i fluffed the dice majorly, and my scouts slowly got whittled down by a unit of 10 Lootas (the shame). On the plus side it stopped them from shooting for a few turns..

[Brother Tual]

and the whirlwind?

[MagicMan]

The Whirlwind has become a must-include. I can't believe i hadn't tried it out before.

 

 

It eventually got killed by Snikrot and some Kommandos who appeared pretty much right behind it, but it must've killed 20-30 Boyz and ran a Loota unit off the table first turn. Easily worth the low point cost.

[D-USA]

I have had the same problem with the Storm. 1st time I ran it as a Flamer/Flamer combo against nids, and it did a great job.

 

The second time I ran it as a Multi-Melta/Melta combo against Eldar, and didn't really have any transports or tanks to pop. So it was just melta-shots against foot troops. Probably would have done better as a Flamer against that particular enemy.

 

As I twist my list more towards a scout heavy army, I think running 2 storms (1 flamer/1 melta) would be a good way as a well rounded list.

 

I like my more scout heavy lists. On a total unrelated note, I included a thunder cannon in my last list. That tech-marine with sniper scouts kicked butt. Hiding in a 4+ ruin, with camo cloaks 3+ and then fortifying the ruin 2+ really made them annoy my opponent. Only have 4 snipers and 1 rocket launcher. When those guys get up to 10 they will be great.

[DarkGuard]

My experience of the Storm has been mixed to say the least. I run it in a melta torpedo fashion, deploying it in an area where it can move at least 18" and stay 12" away from it's intended target (and hopefully behind cover). This allows it a 4+ cover and some obscurity if my opponent snatches first turn, otherwise I make sure it's hidden if I know I won't likely get first turn. First turn I pop it 12" infront of the target, disembark and try to slag said target. I try to target clusters of vehicles if possible, so if the MM works I can fire the combi-melta at a different target, and so that if that doesn't work I can multi-assault with my nades.

 

So in some games it's worked a treat, knocking out or incapacitating a vehicle and then soaking up enemy firepower or holding them up in melee. In one game they even survived. But I've had a lot of unlucky games where my opponent has stolen the initiative and downed my transports, hosing the guys inside with firepower. So mixed results. I must say though, that while the alpha strike is nice, I'm preferring MM ABs and MM/HF Speeders for fast melta. If I had points for a flamer team that will Outflank and clear out objectives or weak units, then I may give it another shot.

[MagicMan]

I think the Flamer team is definitely worth a look in.

 

 

Although i only managed to cause one wound in three rounds of combat (With 4 Scouts, and a sarge with powerfist. :| First game blues?) i think the flamer/heavy flamer could've probably done all the work for me, without needing to charge.

 

Ill try it out this saturday and see how it goes.

[Dudley Nightshade]

Hey all,

 

Good info in this thread!

 

I just acquired one of these models, and I'm amazed by the coolness (so far - everything is still on sprues mind you :P). It leads me to wonder, though... what do people do about WYSIWYG? The Scout body parts don't lend themselves to easy conversions, and the Scouts don't look like they will be especially removable once they disembark.

 

Also wanted to clarify something else: even though it appears from the model that you would need a gunner to operate the heavy bolter, I don't see anything in the rules requiring it. It can be fired even if the Storm is empty, right?

[greatcrusade08]

Hey all,

 

Good info in this thread!

 

I just acquired one of these models, and I'm amazed by the coolness (so far - everything is still on sprues mind you :)). It leads me to wonder, though... what do people do about WYSIWYG? The Scout body parts don't lend themselves to easy conversions, and the Scouts don't look like they will be especially removable once they disembark.

 

Also wanted to clarify something else: even though it appears from the model that you would need a gunner to operate the heavy bolter, I don't see anything in the rules requiring it. It can be fired even if the Storm is empty, right?

 

 

hi brother Yroc, ill answer the last first

the gunner is one of the passengers, when he disembarks the weapon can still shoot, its not very good continuity from GW tbh.

some people leave thier storms empty (i do now) previously i had one that i converted to have all shotguns, it took alot of work.

i also put the main gun under the hull now to show that the pilot firesit, removes that awful continuity problem