Sternguard Weapon Combination

[SamuraiOrk]

Hi,

 

Was putting together an army list for my up coming Astral Claws. Plan on taking a 5 man sternguard squad in a pod to melta on the first turn. Was just curious what the. Best combination of weapons would be?

 

Currently looking at:

5 Sternguard

- x3 Combi-meltas

- x2 Heavy Flamers

- Drop Pod

 

Idea is the slag a tank on the drop then continue to flame (and bolter) any infantry the remaining turns, whislt the rest of the army closes in. Would the heavy Flamers be worth it? Or would it be better to go for more meltas or even 2 meltaguns?

 

Thanks for any advice in advance! :tu:

[Olis]

If it's a suicide squad I'd be inclined to give them combi-flamers rather than heavy flamers as you still have access to special issue ammo for the wielders. Besides if it's a suicide squad it's best to keep costs down (even though it's an expensive unit anyway).

[red_starrise]

. In the past, I've run a very lethal unit, though I don't consider them so much suicide as just plain nasty:

10 SG- HF, 2 combi-plas, 2 combi-melta, 5 combi-flamers led by Pedro Kantor in a drop pod.

 

They've yet to let me down.

[Olis]

Sounds... pretty nasty indeed. What sized games does the unit get fielded in normally? :)

[DarkGuard]

With that unit I'd prioritize a combi-melta over the second heavy flamer. If you drop first turn (which I'm guessing is the goal) then you're most likely to face tanks, because that's what most people field. So you'll want more melta to reliably kill one. However, in hybrid armies (and in case of Nids I suppose) there's a chance you could veer off course and land next to some infantry, the heavy flamer would be more useful.

 

Personally I'd take 1 heavy flamer and 4 combi-meltas. You're primary goal should be to take out tanks with that drop, so that gives you the best chance of doing while also giving you good capability against infantry if you get a bad scatter or find you last throughout the game.

[red_starrise]

Sounds... pretty nasty indeed. What sized games does the unit get fielded in normally? :)

 

Usually in 1750 or 2k where I then take Pedro's Honour guard & lead them with Vulkan in a razorback. I usually also pod in an ironclad dread.

[DarkGuard]

I'm interested as to why you take Vulkan and Pedro at those points levels? You can't have scoring Sternguard and twin-linked flamers due to Chapter Tactics. Is it for the ability to choose which you'd prefer?

[red_starrise]

I'm interested as to why you take Vulkan and Pedro at those points levels? You can't have scoring Sternguard and twin-linked flamers due to Chapter Tactics. Is it for the ability to choose which you'd prefer?

 

Exactly. Though I typically will choose the TL heat weapons. Plus, Vulkan is a beast & leading an Honour guard unit I've held out & destroyed 15 TWC & a rune priest (ultimately Vulkan died but he tied-up & killed most of the enemy army for 3 turns).

[DarkGuard]

And then you have a +1A bonus without worrying about needing the Chapter Banner while Vulkan fulfils the same benefits as a RB/SS Chapter Master would in the Honour Guard unit, mainly absorbing low AP ranged shots and power weapon hits.

 

I don't do it myself, I run an Honour Guard unit and Sternguard squad at 1750pts as well, but only run a vanilla Chapter Master and sometimes a Librarian at that points level, preferring not to use SCs myself, and your config is a lot of points. But Double Guard works surprisingly well I find, so good to know others are finding it work well. :)

[Chaplain Admetus]

I've been running a 7 man squad with 1 regular melta, 3 combis, and a powerfist, in a pod, and its fairly successful. The mix of melta and special issue ammo means it can reliably turn up and slag anything on turn 1 (4 meltas is statistically likely to destroy anything with an armour value up to and including a land raider). Remember, they're still veterans, so with 2 attacks each they can hold their own in a fight as well as a tactical squad of half their size. The way I use them is to destroy whatever unit worries me most on the other side of the table turn 1; and then they can either range around the enemy lines making a general nuisance of themselves, or provide a nice distraction whilst the rest of my army advances (I play Blood Angels, but I doubt it makes a difference).

[Ming]

For me it would depend on the purpose.

 

To just slag vehicles, 5 sternguard, 2 meltaguns, 1 combimelta and no other points wasted.

 

If looking to be dual function and combat squad, add another 5 sternguard with flamers (if your local meta is rife with AP5 troops) or heavy flamer (AP4), or combiplasma or combimelta (AP2). If you are likely to be assaulted the next turn and wiped out regardless of what you do, may as well not provide more than that. Drop danger close (to en enemy landraider), combat squad so one half takes down the landraider. The other half then shoots up the transported survivors. Between the 2 combat squads and pod you now have a big distraction. If you play it well, the opponent may then shoot your guys before working to assault them....if he does, choose to fall back, maybe outside charge range....

[rusty1109]

I am considering doing this but also adding Lysander! Having him there will make a lot of units think twice before charging him!

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I am considering doing this but also adding Lysander! Having him there will make a lot of units think twice before charging him!

 

In my experience, no it won't. If someone has a dedicated assault unit -- 'Zerkers, Death Company, whatever the case may be -- they will throw it at the Sternguard regardless. The thing is, unless they're also wielding hammers or fists, that CC unit is going to hit before Lysander. Chances are, that unit's task is to lock the Sternguard so they can't shoot, or more ambitiously, wipe them out so that player doesn't have to worry about their shooting. These two facts combined means that that CC unit is going to charge and direct all of their attacks at the Sternguard in an attempt to denude or neutralize them and ignore Lysander. They'll get their full bevy of attacks before Lysander ever gets to swing, which means that the damage will be already be done before the big man gets to hit back.

 

I've used the Lysander/Sternguard combination several times -- including using it to take third at the Midwest Massacre last year in Kansas City -- and I can tell you that Lysander, as scary as he is, is only one model, and good players will recognize that fact. In three games at that tournament, I played Tau (never got charged, obviously) the first game, but then fought Blood Angels and Grey Knights and they got charged BOTH of those games. In both cases, the target wasn't Lysander, it was the unit.