Flamers, Meltaguns and Power Weapons

[W0lfie]

Hey B&C,

 

So building my siege assault vanguard force, I have come to a bit of a list-building dilemma.  For those of you who don't know, Siege Assault Squads are basically assault squads without jump packs, who have the option of using meltaguns and power weapons as special weapons as well as the standard flamer and plasma pistol options.  My question is: how would YOU build such a squad?

 

The way I see it, I could either go with two power swords as special weapons, plus one on the serg, two flamer and a combi flamer, or two meltaguns and a combi-melta, as well as melta bombs on everyone.  I'm going back and forth on this since they are meant to sweep an objective of defenders, and then hold it while the rest of the army catches up and defends them.  The issue here is that the huge anti-tank threat with the melta gives them versatility, the flamers are a good way to soften a squad for assault and the power-weapons make them actually good at their intended role-assault.

 

Bearing in mind that flamers are the cheapest and melta is the most expensive (though they're fairly close), how would you build this squad?

[Muctar]

I would take 2 power weapons, with another on the sergeant, rather than specials because the intent of the squad is to get into combat and be as effective as possible in that role. Since that's my choice I would be sure to include some melta or long range, high S, low AP shooting somewhere else in the list. Since assault squads are mediocre in assault, the extra power weapons in a siege assault squad will do a lot of the killing in order to swing combat resolution in your favor.

 

Meltaguns may cause you to be sucked into targeting something the squad can't do much damage to in assault, which may mean reduced effectiveness. Meanwhile flamers are great at clearing out enemies before a charge but also lengthen your charge distance, which may lead to failed charges and being caught in the open. 

 

Meltaguns and flamers have their uses but are not as good when compared to power weapons in a siege assault squad for my playstyle. 

[Grey Mage]

*nods* Powerweapons would likely get you the most mileage, with a combi-flamer and meltabombs on the sarge.