Theory on power weapons

[War Angel]

I'm sure this has been brought up before, I know I've read a lot of posts saying how they don't put power fists on sgts because they can get singled out and killed before they ever get a chance to strike. I can agree that in all three of my sixth edition games my powerfist has died before getting his turn in combat, either because of a bike hitting him with hammer of wrath or because a chaos lord challenged him to one on one. I think this is due to miss use of the power weapon.

 

For example, I could have had the sgt hidden further back in the squad and avoided the bike, as far as the challenge issue, (and I'm sure tht you've all figured this out by now and I'm the last on to catch on but humor me for a second) maybe the sgt shouldn't be the only one who can accept a challenge getting into the fighting. If another IC had been in the squad then I could have a tougher faster model take care of challenges, he could be outfitted to best take on enemy challengers. Mean while my powerfist sgt would be free to lay the hurt on the retinue, and though quickly destroying the enemy's back up, reduce my own casualties so that I can chear on my own IC, winning the fight.

 

So I think something ill have to consider when taking CC weapons on my sgts is, who will be joining them, and what other unit might I have on station nearby that can assist him should I need another option for challenging. Perhaps this could give assault units a purpose in army's again. As I found out in my last game, army's that out shoot us have poor army saves, and (depending on local meta, my games always seem to have lots of ruins every where) they will take advantage of cover that gives them invulnerable saves better then their normal armor.( it's like cheating) while assaulting them with a tactical squad was the way to go the emigre game long, the assistance of some one else to soak up challenges to free my heavy hitters would have been a big advantage.

 

I'm not really sure if I'm staying on track with these thoughts, I just felt like I had to get them out before I forgot about them. While I was originally thinking of sternguard, now I have a sudden thought that with slight tailoring to a tactical squad, I can find myself having a use for assault squad that should fit into every game.

[Ming]

In my lists, the squad with the power fist or power axe accompanies the IC (librarian), as the IC usually has a power weapon at I4 or higher. They compliment each other in that fashion. Power fists still have important uses.

[Brom MKIV]

Power fists can still have their place if, as you say, accompanied by a beatstick IC or on a non character model, or a model with a 2+ save. I would not rely on nearby units supporting when choosing the PW though. Also hiding characters in the back to avoid challenges just isnt going to be that feasable for marines, the rules covering engaged models makes it very hard to pull off and usually not beneficially in terms of unit formation. Personally ive still been rocking swords although some squads like termies carry axes/pf.

 

On a related note an opponent of mine runs his jump sergs with PW/SS and to my surprise they have been quite good, although situation and a little expensive. Still, they look great, can win challenges against PW models and often tank many wounds before going down that would of otherwise erased the squad.