Command Squad Kit?

[MasterHQ]

I'm building a new army that has a dual theme -- think of it as White Scars meet Salamanders. I'm running Vulkan Hestan with a Captain on a Bike. I'm not running bikes as troops, but the tactical squads are mounted in Rhinos. Bike squads feature too. And because I'm running Vulkan, everyone is kitted with meltas and multimeltas. At last count in my 2000 point army there were 6 meltas and 5 multimeltas, and I'm still not done yet.

 

The major question I'm working with here is the command squad. I can't decide if I want to kit them with meltas (to benefit from Vulkan's chapter tacitcs) or plasmas (to make them that much better at killing units). The general idea is to use the tacticals in the rhinos as firing platforms, the bikes as tank hunters, and the command squad and Vulkan (with assault terminators in a LRR) to deal with the rest.

 

So it boils down to -- is plasma more effective than melta at killing men, and is it worth the risk taken of Gets Hot!?

[Kierdale]

With an apothecary in the command squad the chance of losing men to Gets Hot! is minimised. Hence quad-plasma command squads are very popular (I'm making one myself right now).

 

EDIT: if you've got the points and cash them why not put the command squad on bikes for greater manoeuverability and T5?

[DarkGuard]

I'd say proxy and give them a few games as each. If you have enough melta then stick with plasma, as that can handle elite units and MCs much better, while still threatening tanks.

 

If you need more melta though then obviously go for a melta unit.

 

Have you not considered a bike Command squad to go with the Captain? Equip them for assault and then you'll have two hammer units in your army.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

It sounds like you're going to have plenty of melta for tank-busting, so I'd go quad-plasma. I use one and they can be utterly devastating to infantry units. Plus, they're good for smoking Monstrous Creatures of all stripes, and are even high enough strength that you can pot-shot light armor with them if you find, say, a drop-dread in your backfield or something.

[Freman Bloodglaive]

You're taking a captain on bike, but not taking bikes as troops?

 

Why?

 

You're putting about 350 points into HQ (upwards of 500 with the command squad) and only making use of 190 points of it.

 

Bikes are good troops, but in fast attack they're competing with land speeders and attack bikes, which concentrate more firepower in less points.

[MasterHQ]

I don't care about taking bikes as troops; the only advantage they offer is if you need the fast attack options for other things. Otherwise it doesn't matter if they are fast attack or troops.

 

I took the bike for the Captain to give him t5 and a 12" move. The bike units are kept small to keep points down, but enough to still do their job. I have taken bikes as troops once. Never again. I'd rather take 10 men and a tank.

[DarkGuard]

Why not use bikes and Tactical squads? Keep the bike squads small as well (4 guys and a MM AB) and then they're Troops. The thing is you don't just take bikes to allow you to use other Fast Attack choices, because bikes are actually pretty poor when compared to attack bikes and Land Speeders, so chances are you won't take them in Fast Attack anyway. If you can take 5 man bike squads when using a Bike Captain you might as well, I mean, unless you're taking a Razorspam you'll always have a few Troops slots left, and extra scoring is always good. You don't have to pick between them, you can mix. I know a member on this board, Warp Angel, got good use out bikes, Tactical Marines and scoring Sternguard in the same list. Point being, bikes are actually a pretty poor Fast Attack slot, but a decent Troops choice. Why not have both? The Tacticals for backfield and midfield, and the bikes as an attacking, scoring melta hunter unit.

[MasterHQ]

When I used them as troops, I used them exclusively as troops, and that was probably the problem. The last game that I played the bikes worked in perfect synergy with the tacticals, since the marines objective camped and the bikes were mayhem on 2 wheels. But I prefer smaller bike units to keep costs down for other things. I have used bigger bike squads before, but I usually just keep them as fast attack until I need the extra FOC slot, since I have been known to razorspam too.

[DarkGuard]

Well if they worked well with the Tactical squads would it be worth it shelling out the points for an extra man to make them scoring as well? It'll only be about 30pts won't it, I'm sure there's a couple of upgrades in your list you could drop, and then you have a multiple scoring unit and an extra body. You may not even score objectives with them half the time, but the other half of the time that could be invaluable. Give it a think, I'm not saying take the full complement, just the smallest one, so it's still a small unit that doesn't cost many points with a small footprint.

[facmanpob]

I've recently started using bikes and currently run 1 Tactical squad in a Rhino and 2 bike squads (as Troops) in a 1250 point list, and I'm very happy about the way they work together. I also run a couple of MMAB as Fast Attack choices in the same list. My view on your list mirrors some of the other comments in that if you are taking a Captain on a bike, but not using the bikes as troops, then you are underutilising one of your HQ choices. If you don't plan on using the bikes as troops, then I think the points you are spending on the Captain could be better spent elsewhere.

 

e.g.

Captain on Bike with relic blade = Venerable Dreadnought = Sternguard in a Razorback/Drop Pod

Captain on bike with no upgrades = Rifleman Dreadnought = Vindicator with Extra Armour

 

Just imho of course :D

 

[EDIT] Forgot to answer the original question!......If you are running a Command Squad then my choice would be for putting as much plasma in it as possible, including a combi-plasma for the Captain.