First game with Militarum Tempestus

[Rommel44]

Fair enough on the Taurox Primes, I personally stay with the Hot-shot Volley Guns on mine as there are a lot of Marines, Necrons, and other tough, elite armies in my meta. Plus it is on the Taurox so that makes it relentless.

[WarriorFish]

Unfortunately that's not something suitable for use, so we'll have to wait for an official FAQ... Even then there will still be people who disagree but such is life sometimes :P

[Rommel44]

Most people in my area think it makes sense that both Astra Militarum and the Militarum Tempestus share the same rules for Forgeworld Flyers so I have had zero issues.

[WarriorFish]

That's good news, if only more people would use some common sense!

[Altasmurf]

Another game in the books. This was rematch with the same opponent as last time. He brought a similar list, Chapter Master on a bike, 4 Tac squads, Razor back, 2 rhinos and a Thunderfire cannon. I used Comand Squad, Plasma squad, Melta squad, Culuxes Assassin, and 4 Taurox Primes. Happy to say a 9 VP to 6 VP for the scions.

 

This time I used my speed to actually back off from his forces and then engage where I wanted. The first 2 turns were actually pretty bad as my Command Taurox and everyone in the command squad except the commander where killed, and a couple taurox lost some hull points and all I had done was take out the t-fire with a drop melta squad. But by turn 3 I had maneuvered my forces away from his and engaged where I wanted and used my speed to obtain objectives.

 

Some of my random thoughts from the game

 

1. This time i tired the taurox missile launcher on 2 of the taurox. Wasn't to impressed, didn't particularly bump up my fire power from the battle cannon in this game, I'm going to try them again but I'm not sure they are worth it. The taurox Gattling cannon is still gold.

 

2. Assassins really bring a different element to the list. It seemed to keep my opponent on his heels and threw a wrench into his plans. Even though he didn't have a psyker the culluxes still did some damage, but mostly provided smoke and mirrors.

 

3. MT do not have sacrificial units to claim objectives. I found myself having to always discard objectives that would split up my force and I'm glad I did, I know if any unit went lone wolf it was as good as dead.

 

4. Move, move, move. Every game keeping your units moving is key, never let a transport get to far from a squad I was mounting up and dismounting constantly.

 

5. The drop melta seems to be a must, but buy 'em a taurox just in case you don't want to drop. Backfield artillary is deadly to scions, so it needs to be removed. An extra truck never hurts and if for some reason you don't want to drop at least the boys have a ride.

 

Hopefully some of this helps people out.

[WarriorFish]

Thanks for reporting back with more Alta and well done on a good victory! Sticking together and to the plan seems to have worked well, keep that mobility going and I'm sure more victories are waiting for you :)

[Rommel44]

Glad to see you managed pull off the win. Granted you didn't have much luck with the Missile Launcher but trust me, the MT need that and it has helped me out a lot as it actually gives us range down field, something Scions extremely lack. Did you combo them with the Autocannons?

 

I will be trying out a list with a Knight Crusader here in a bit so I will tell you hownitngoes, as that alone can address so many needs that the Militarum Tempestus seriously lack with there current book. Only thing still torn on is Thermal Cannon or Battle Cannon lol.

[march10k]

battle cannon, imho! The sort of stuff you shoot the thermal cannon at, you can handle with plasma or melta. What you're missing is weapons that remove a whole squad at a time.

[Altasmurf]

@ Rommel44

 

Yeah it was a pretty sweet win. I did pair it up with autocannons, that's the only secondary weapon I use as I need my taurox to pop transports. I'm going to try the missile launcher again because I do see how they could be good but a taurox with a missile launcher and camo comes in at 115 so it's pretty pricey.

 

I can also see the merit in a knight, but we tend to play 1000 to 1500 and our group tends not to not use such big items in that small of game.

 

If I was to use one it would be the battle cannon version because I agree with March10k as its exactly what scions need.

[Rommel44]

Lol don't get me wrong, I am most likely going to be going with the battle cannon as well as there is a lot of stuff it can kill and the range on it is very nice. Only reason I keep bringing up the Thermal cannon option is that being Militarum Tempestus, we already have a lot of AP3 in our army standard and are only AP2 and AP1 weaponry are our plasma guns and melta guns. The Thermal Cannon would give us a long range AP1 weapon, plus it is the same range as the Gatling Cannon. Still plan to magnetize both the Thermal Cannon and the Battle Cannon arms so I can swap them out. Will give the Thermal Cannon a test run first to see how it goes.

 

 

Not sure of Cameo is worth it but if it works for you then all I would say is use it as a point filler. Allies-wise, Inquisition is a good option in smaller point games.

[Altasmurf]

Yeah magnetizing it is the way to go.

 

As for camo netting, to me it's a no brained, always go for night fight and hunker behind some 4+ and suddenly your taurox have a 2+ save and even a 5+ versus barrage which is deadly to taurox. To me it's the key to early game survival.

[march10k]

we already have a lot of AP3 

You mean the flashlights with overcharged batteries?  They need fives to wound, and the range sucks.  I value them even less than I value standard flashlights...at least standard flashlights are 5 points a model and could be getting three shots apiece and be blobbed up in groups of 40+ for the application of prescience.  Anyway, the value of battle cannons is in the range, the template, and S8.  AP3 is nice, but cover negates it...

[Altasmurf]

 

 

we already have a lot of AP3

You mean the flashlights with overcharged batteries? They need fives to wound, and the range sucks. I value them even less than I value standard flashlights...at least standard flashlights are 5 points a model and could be getting three shots apiece and be blobbed up in groups of 40+ for the application of prescience. Anyway, the value of battle cannons is in the range, the template, and S8. AP3 is nice, but cover negates it...

I think you're underestimating the hellgun. Ap 3 is a great force multiplier and when stacked with certain orders (sniper, preferred enemy) the amount of casualties you can cause is surprising. I've done the massive blob letting loose with 72 shots and that underwhelmed in my opinion. Yes the hellgun unsupported seems blah but when fired with an order with some plasma you suddenly wipe out a combat squad in one volley.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

Right now, all of my line squads have eight men.  Five is too fragile for me, and ten is too expensive.  Eight holds ground almost as well as a full ten, but it's almost a powerfist cheaper per squad, times three squads.

 

Making my units 8 man, actually does take some points off, which actually lets me get a third squad in. I need to build some advisors for my IG command squad. 

[Altasmurf]

I'm really thinking about dropping to 8, but 10 hasn't felt like overkill yet so I'm hesitant. But by dropping to 8 maybe dropping my voxes, and tweaking my points I can get another 5 man drop squad or something. Right now my army is a bit more toys then boys, but it's been working.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

Yeah, I'm the opposite, with my army being more Boys than toys, but I'm at a higher point level, I'm at roughly 2k, having added some Kasrkins (Elysian Stormtrooopers) Elysian Vets, Vendetta, IG command squad, Vets, and Armored Sentinels. 

[WarriorFish]

8 has always been a solid number for a compromise. 10 is of course best but sometimes squeezing in an extra unit is best :)

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I really liked the 10 man squads because of the volume of fire in hotshots, but I'm not losing that much by dropping 2 models per squad and getting my 3 squads in place. I can always get more models to bring them up to 10 men each, and that will really bring the hurt. All I'd need then is 2 more tauroxes and 3 more valkyries and I can do the formations, I'll need another Commissar though.

[Altasmurf]

All of this discussion has really brought forward the old "more boys then toys" motto. For basic guard I stand by that motto, but with stormies I'm not to sure. Near as I can tell the taurox is 100% required, then as most of us know the taurox battle cannon is pretty weak sauce, so at least a few should be upgraded to gattling cannons or missile launchers. As I've stated I'm a huge supporter of camo netting as I feel it's needed for the taurox to survive the first 2 turns, which if you wind up on foot you're screwed. Also special weapons are needed to do the heavy lifting, particularly plasma and melta. This leads one to think about multiple small squads with double special weapons. Now I'm not saying every squad should have every bell and whistle, but I do think there is some merit to some of the upgrades, even more so then normal guard. What are B & C's thoughts?

[march10k]

I mostly agree with you.  It depends on what you want the squad to do.  If it just needs to kill stuff, then 90 points for a pair of deepstriking BS4 meltas with a few spare wounds is nice, and so is the same unit with plasma for an even hundred.  If you want them to hold objectives, then obviously five T3 4+ models isn't cutting it.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I try to take my squads so that they could perform a variety of roles, Since I only have one mounted in a taurox, my melta squad is a late game vehicle killer, and the other is late game objective grabber/Reinforcement/QRF. While the plasma squad mounted in the taurox is a QRF unit. I have a Squad of melta vets in my other prime, as a roving anti-tank unit, since 3 meltas do it better than 2. 

 

As for the Taurox prime, I think the way to Make use of thee battlecannon is to take autocannons instead of volley guns, that way you maximize the S7 shooting the vehicle can provide. I haven't used the taurox much, and this saturday will be my second attempt to field them, hopefully they do better.