assault terminators as first elite choice?

[Kaptejn]

Hey all!

 

Started collecting wh and ba about a month ago. Played my first couple of matches yesterday. Or i guess they where more tutorials really. At least I'd like to think them as that since i really got served. My force consisted of a stunning 505 points!

 

As some of you already know from my other thread i stated that i'd like to play heavily dependant on vehicles. After yesterdays matche.... Er... I mean tutorials i'm not so sure about the vehicles part anymore. (My tutor played IG with 473828 las-teams and a tank as support).

 

I'm about to buy my first elite squad and really likenthe idea of assault terminators with storm shields. The 2+ as and 3+ is seems like a neat setup since they can (if the dice rolls my way...) take an insane amount of damage.

 

Would this be a good choice for my first elite squad? I`m guessing that for the time being i'll play 1000 points matches.

 

If not; why and what to choose instead?

 

As always i am grateful for your wisdom/opnions and whatnot :down:

 

/Kap

[SamaNagol]

Vehicles can work. It depends which ones.

 

If your vehicles are being shot at and killed you can do one of 2 things..... drop them or cause a distraction that stops your opponent from shooting them.

 

Vanguard Veterans Deep Striking in with jump packs, or Death Company coming in a Drop Pod can both do that.

[Kaptejn]

Assault terminators seems like the best distraction though :down:

[Chaplain Admetus]

First elite slot should almost always be a sanguinary priest - so much bang for their buck. I kept a tally today and I passed 9 feel no pain saves on assault marines. That's 162 points saved for a 90 point outlay (running mine with JP and power sword), on top of the fact that he survived as well. Add in the fact that I saved my hammer-sergeant twice, and a flamer once... They'd be my first choice. Mileage obviously varies depending on how much infantry you have - if you have more, keep them in the bubble and be survivable. If you don't have much (if, say, you're mech heavy :down: ), its even more important to cut your casualties by a third of what they should be.

[SamaNagol]

2 x 10 Assaut Marines with Jump Packs and a Jump Pack Priest should be the first thing a new BA player puts on their Army List tbh

[Kaptejn]

Duly noted. My new #1 priority is th

e sang priest then :down:

 

Although later on, are the assault terminators useful or situational at best?

[Black_Sky]

Ever since the current codex Space Marines was published, Terminators with thunder hammers and storm shields have been a solid choice to include.

They can be footslogging or ride around in a vehicle, both options are equally viable.

 

The sheer resilience they bring to the table, combined with their hard hitting hammers makes them an effective counter for almost all parts of your opponents army.

Bring a priest along, and you will have a squad that will weather everything your opponent can throw at you turns on end.

 

For delivery you are faced with a few choices, They can slog it up the field, teleport, ride in a land raider or a storm raven. All of the options are worth considering, and all have pro's and con's.

Footsloggin' leaves points for increasing their size above a transported unit, but potentially leaves them without a target to reach for the first few turns. Very effective as a counter attack unit.

Teleporting is a high risk/reward strategy. You risk scattering away from your target, not coming on before it is too late or outright losing the unit before they have made an impact at all. But they tend to create a large zone of worried models when they touch down.

Land raider riding units are limited in size, but enjoy the much larger threat range afforded from the assault ramp equipped doombox. A land raider moving up the field presents a very tangible threat to the opponent, and is something he cannot afford to ignore. They are a very expensive fire magnet, which is able to survive one, if not several, shooting phases intact. combined with Mephiston, some black armoured lunatics and a pair of baals, and your opponent will be left with brown pants and a lot of hard decisions.

The raven is the final choice. being automatically placed in reserves, it carries the risk of not appearing on the board untill it is too late. But when they do fly on, you can be sure to place them wherever you need them the most. The 36" zoom when it comes on + hovering 6" disembarking another 6" and charging 2d6" the following turn, is one of the most potent threats you can have in your list, albeit with a price tag to match the potency.

[Chaplain Admetus]

List dependent. Synergy is probably more key with BA than the other power armour armies. However, you seem really keen to field them, and the best way to play this game is to play the units you like and have fun, and don't let people tell you otherwise :P

[Kaptejn]

Am i misreading anythibg or does corbulo have a +2 chance to remove any unsaved wound on himself? O.o

 

Also, is feel no pain the 'last roll'? As in should it be taken after any invulnerable rolls when available?

[Venerable Jazzman]

The problem with Assault Termies is that they don't do anything until they're in combat - once they're in combat, they'll own anything, but on their way across the board they're not doing any damage.

If you Deep Strike them, they've got a turn of being shot at by everything in range. Ok, that means it's not shooting at the rest of your army, but in low points value games when you're starting out you've not got much else in your army to be shot at. Also, one large blast pie-plate on a Deep Striked unit and you're crying in your martini.

 

Have you thought about taking a regular Termie squad with an assault cannon? It's 5 pts more, but will do more damage over more turns, and will still pulp face when it rolls into combat? Hammers are still Init 1 in 6ed (?), so you're still hitting last with your Assault Termies.

Stick a chainfist or two in the regular Termie unit and you can carve open vehicles too.

 

I'd certainly take a Sanguinary Priest, as you can add more as your army grows and still only use one Elite slot - it also opens up Corbulo, whom Morticon has used to awesome effect for quite some time.

 

Also, an Honour Guard with 4 plasma guns in a Razorback will make a lot of people sad when it opens fire on their favourite unit - you can usually get 6 kills from it per turn, which will normally make a unit run away. I know it's not an Elite choice, but it's not taking up any other slots and gives you another option.

Put a lascannon on the Razorback and you can pop the transport then popcorn the contents - good times. :)