Salamanders 1850 Orbital Assault

[Shieldbreaker]

Greetings!

 

Just taking the plunge into the heresy, and here's my first hack at a list. C & C is appreciated. I'm trying to keep it mostly fluffy, and maybe a tad bit competitive. Here goes:

 

Praetor with Mantle, Paragon Blade and Volkite

 

Tac squad X2 in pods, vexillas on both, a nuncio vox on one

 

Tac Spt squad x10 in pod, Melta guns

 

TH SS Firedrakes X5, DS with praetor

 

8x Pyroclasts, Melta bombs and fist on the Sgt

 

Storm Eagle (ride for the pyros) with las, ml

 

With wargear, it works out to 1847, which is where I wanted to start. I'm very interested in hearing what you fine folks think. I'm a long time lurker, but finally built the courage to post. Cheers!

[Shieldbreaker]

The biggest issue with this list is that I've only got 2 pods coming down turn 1. It leaves me hoping for good reserve rolls turns 2 and three for any chance of not being tabeled. Is there someone out there with experience playing sallies that could toss me an assist?

 

My current collection is very small, and I'm looking to grow it into a fun army. I've got the praetor set, a Storm Eagle, one unit of firedrakes, one unit of pyroclasts, and Vulkan because I love the models. I plan on buying the mk III bundle of 30 marines.

 

I've poured through the Salamanders tactica, but it's not been terribly active recently. I've played one game thus far with a largely foot list, and was decimated due to awful dice rolls. Thanks again!

[Michael Cooper]

Just looking over it briefly it looks pretty good tbf, ive only had a few HH games and I did go up against salamanders, they are a nasty army to go up against, especially fire drakes and pyroclasts (both pretty nasty)

From looking at it id say its a very flexible list, you've got meltas in a drop pod for any nasty armour like an enemy landraider (which ive heard are quite common in 2000pt games), and then you can position all your men where you need them with the pods, you got airpower which only a few enemy models will have a chance at, altogether I think its a very good list, im not that all experienced with 30k yet so other people with more experience may have better input xD

[Nusquam]

Not speaking from a Salamanders perspective but from a Raven Guard player who loves drop pods and these types of lists. The placement of the pods as well as what you choose to come down turn 1 would be crucial. With the Praetors Master of the Legion rule you can role twice on a WL Trait chart and pick the one you want. I recommend Strategic as any of them would help a Orbital Assault army.

 

Rather than trying to get an alpha strike in with the tacs/support you can take cover and set-up a support network for your reserves. Then the Tac Support can come down and melta the biggest threat with the normal Tac squads already in place to support them. Your opponent will probably try to limit your access to his big machines once he knows you have a drop-pod full of melta.

[Shieldbreaker]

Thanks for the replies gents!

 

I'll admit I was fixated on the alpha strike idea, that being bringing in one tac and the support squad first. Dropping into cover with both tac squads first to set up a net makes more sense!

[Kor'Vesh]

Welcome to the forums Shieldbreaker.

 

So the most obvious issue is that you need an invulnerable save on your Praetor - its all very well giving him eternal warrior, but he might as well have a chance of surving AP2 weapons.

 

So - I've never made an orbital assault list, and it seems tough in the Heresy! Are you total wed to a podding list? I personally feel that in 30K, Sallies are a combined arms force. Slog it in under some serious ranged power...

 

In the orbital assaut context I'm worried by the melta squad. That is clearly going to kill something when it drops in, but there aren't many targets worth the 350+ points of the unit that it can kill, and most of these will be protected by armoured ceramite. Once that team is down your enemy will throw EVERYTHING at it. It is unlikely to get a second kill, even if something is still in range.

 

You COULD buy a contemptor with 2 fists and grav guns in a pod, and a flamer support squad in a pod for a similar price. The contemptor should strip a couple of hull points on landing, and probably have a decent chance of surviving the next turn. The grav and fists are immune to armoured ceramite, and your best weapon against spartans. The flamers could really hurt an infantry unit on landing, and are great for holding or assaulting an objective. I'm not sure if this is a better option... at very least I'd run some numbers and work out if you really need 10 meltas to kill most threats - even though it is poor points efficiency my gut tells me you'd be better off with 2 small melta squads than one big one...

 

A final option to consider could be dropping the Pyroclasts. I love them, but landing your storm eagle to deploy them makes it MUCH more vulnerable, and you don't want to lose it in this list. The points from this unit could buy you a full flamer support squad in a pod, and leave you points left over for a landspeeder or something. Or it could be another way to get a dread.

[Shieldbreaker]

Thank you for the feedback Kor'Vesh! I'm not totally stuck on to the concept of a pod list, but it lines up nicely with how I play my 40k salamanders.

 

This is probably my 5th or 6th draft on a list, as I'm trying to maximize monetary cost with list flexibility. The other list I built had similar core, but the tac and support squads were in rhinos, backed up by a land raider phobos for the pyroclasts, and a sicaran battle tank. Is that closer to how you envision them?

[Kor'Vesh]

Yeah, that's more in line with my style. Pyros in a scouting proteus is my plan, and certainly a sicaran. That doesn't mean I'm right though, or that it is the only option.

 

I think a pod list can work though, but it is much easier in 40k. Teleporting drakes certainly sound fun! This is still a relatively low points level for heresy games, and I think for lower point games you need to be much more points efficient. Min sized squads in pods just make it hard to bring enough troops and tank busting ability. I think you are close, but it needs some more experienced advice with this type of list, or some testing. I'd look at some raven guard pod lists though for some more ideas.

[Nusquam]

Keep in mind things are only as vulnerable as you make them. You could have something come down or arrive in an eagle and unload them in front of a juicy target, kill and it be killed by retaliatory fire if there's nothing supporting them. Like I said before: You can use those that arrive first as support for what comes next. It's tempting to kill the big bad thing as fast as possible and match off all your units to you opponents. But it can be more advantageous to keep your army close and work in direct unison. Sometimes you will have to sell their lives dearly for the Emperor, but not always. Losing a few marines from attrition is certainly better than losing your heavy-hitters once they take out their initial target. Just like sometimes it's best to get as high of an alpha off as possible to throw your opponent into disarray. It really comes down to each battlefield and each opponent and it takes practice.