Terminators Opinions

[Kriegriss]

G'day thanks for dropping by I have a few questions to ask the Fraters of experience as my actual game play experience is small and not alway rules compliant

 

I have finally got my Cataphractii terminators and a bunch of weapons options but I am not sure how to proceed. I want to magnitize the weapons so I can run them as several different units depending on the mission but I wanted to hear people's opinions on load outs so I can prioritize what to get and paint first.

 

I use Imperial Fists legion rules I have one special weapon set and one power axe set and 2 Cataphractii sets and have 10 templar storm shields as well as a good bits boX full of grey knights terminator power weapons( I hate grey knights but love there models)and some other terminator bits

 

My math hammer is weak and there is no 30k scene here to speak of so any examples or opinions are welcome I would also like to plan out a five man terminator command squad with a banner for fun the rest of the army as it stands is just 2 vet squads with hvy bolters or missile launchers and a smattering of characters any and all advice welcome

[Marshal Loss]

As one of the two Legions with access to storm shields your terminators are pretty awesome no matter what you put on them. Just arm them all with shields & assorted weapons of your choice and they'll be a tough anvil with a lot of punch. A chainfist or two is pretty much mandatory but other than that, whatever rocks your boat

[Kriegriss]

is there any real advantage to thunder hammers over power weapons and in betrayal it lists the srgt. as a character so can I take a Sol gauntlet or was that faq'd in the red books and seeing as I have no transport should I be giving them auto cannons over assault cannons for now

 

are lightning claws good enough to warrant losing the storm shield if they are ground pounding it towards the enemy

[Slips]

Only Independent Characters can take Solarite Power Gauntlets or the Templar Champion.

 

If you want them in CC do not Deepstrike.

 

If you Want to Footslog, they aren't going to be seeing any CC action Soon and should be geared to reflect that. IE Reaper Autocannons > Any other special weapon.

 

Lightning Claws and Power Swords are only good if they are Charging 3+ Armor. Vs 4+ armor, Mauls are better due to S+2. Vs 2+ Armor without FNP, Axes. With FNP, Power Fists to deny it.

 

Thunderhammers if your taking down a Multi-Wound Model who Isn't ID by S8 and strikes Hard/First in CC namely Primarchs/MC's. Otherwise, Fists are Cheaper as concussive is wasted.

 

Chainfists are for AV Popping meaning the whole squad will also have S8 Since it means they'll be aiming for Av13+ Targets. If they are going to hunt a knight, for example, give them all Chainfists. Bonus is that they're still power fists.

 

Heavy Flamers are for Horde Cleaning. If you're sending them in to perform this job, they're invaluable. Plasma Blasters are for TEQ Duty otherwise they might cause you to fail charges.

 

Assault Cannons are a good alternative to Heavy Flamers. Helps that they have a higher threat range due to Rending and 24"

 

Entirely Storm Shield'd units are cool but footslogging or Deepstriking them is essentially wasting them since they'll still die to massed fire. Their use comes mostly from increasing their survivability to Ap2 Weapons.

 

The Type of suit will also help determine what role their better suited for.

 

Cataphractii is, to me, best suited for Charging out of a Transport or being a Mid-Range Shooty unit due to 4++ Invuln and Slow & Purposeful. Helps that you save 5pts on Storm Shields. Meaning they're best suited for Ap2 Combat due to their increased resilience over Tartaros/Indomitus.

 

Tartaros/Indomitus is pretty much meant for non-Ap2 CC (unless they have Storm Shields) and Short-Ranged Non-Ap2 shooting. Their 5++ doesnt lend well to them tanking Ap2 Shots since Cataphractii does it better. Having a Unit of 10 Deepstriking with ~3 Storm Shields at the front to tank return fire as well as having Shootier Elements (Assault Cannons, Heavy Flamers, Combi-Weapons and/or Volkite Chargers), before charging into CC with Weapons that hit at initiative (Swords, Claws, Mauls mostly) to crush 3+ or worse squads while surviving any non-ap2 return hits.

 

I've geared up Cataphractii and Tartaros Termies (15 of each) willy nilly going for "the rule of cool" which resulted in a pretty confused identity thus making my units less efficient, something that I regret having done, no matter how cool they actually look.

 

I still love them though. Terminators are what originally sold me on getting into 30/40k.

[Kriegriss]

thanks guys for the info so I guess I might need to buy a spartan as haveing shooty terminators AND shooty vets makes little sense. I may need to just rock a GW land raider until my resin budget allows for a spartan death Taxi another question though.

 

what is the best character in you're opinion to run with 5 or 10 close assault termies is a chaplain viable or is the Primus medicae the best choice by far how about a librarian .

 

I know there is alot of benifit from FNP but has anybody tried more out of the box options with great success and how about more interesting delivery methods is a storm eagle just a good way to crash and burn terminators or is it reliable, how about an assault ram

thanks guys for the info so I guess I might need to buy a spartan as haveing shooty terminators AND shooty vets makes little sense. I may need to just rock a GW land raider until my resin budget allows for a spartan death Taxi another question though.

 

what is the best character in you're opinion to run with 5 or 10 close assault termies is a chaplain viable or is the Primus medicae the best choice by far how about a librarian .

 

I know there is alot of benifit from FNP but has anybody tried more out of the box options with great success and how about more interesting delivery methods is a storm eagle just a good way to crash and burn terminators or is it reliable, how about an assault ram

[Marshal Loss]

When working with a big Terminator unit, you need to be mindful of the impact it has for the points. Terminators with storm shields are a fantastic anvil unit but when it gets to the point that you have 10 + a character or 2 + a Spartan you're looking at a Deathstar sized unit that many opponents will be able to play around or mitigate, particularly if they are avid graviton enthusiasts.

 

Storm Eagles are decent, particularly for storm shield armed Terminators as you are much more likely to survive a potential crash, but if Deredeo's are popular in their area (as they are in mine) it may be a bit risky. Additionally, you are relying on reserve rolls. Spartans are the king of reliable combat unit delivery.

 

As for the characters, a Paragon Blade armed Praetor gives you some AP2 at initiative (which you won't come by otherwise) helping to remove slower infantry threats to your Terminators before they strike. Primus Medicae is a great choice but watch out for the large amounts of high strength weaponry that ignores FNP.

[Kriegriss]

so it seems like just a ten man squad with axes and shields in a raider might be the cheapest alternative as far as cost effective goes or at least a good place to start now to go and get magnets lol and I guess some more axes

[Slips]

You mean 5 Man unit in a Raider due to it only having 10 Capacity :p

[Brother Heinrich]

Not to Hi-jack the thread or anything, but how would you kit out a Deep Striking Night Lord Terminator unit?

[TemujinZero]

This is my deep striking terminator unit.  It's Imperial Fists, so you'd have to drop the storm shield, but it would work similarly.

 

5 Terminators, 1 Storm Shield + Thunder Hammer, 1 Chainfist + Combi-Plasma, 3 Power Fists + Combi-Plasmas, Teleportation Transponder.  268 points

 

I run two of these units, the second running melta instead of plasma.

 

They're cheap (teleporting is 235 points cheaper than a Land Raider), put out decent firepower on the turn they arrive, then go for CC with their S8 AP2 causing instant death and denying FNP.  The downside is potentially getting shot to death on the turn they arrive.  I'm relying on my single storm shield to mitigate that, but ultimately I feel able to risk a 268 point unit in a way I couldn't if they were a 500+ point Land Raider unit.

 

I don't rate power axes on terminators.  They don't benefit from the extra attack since they don't have pistols, and S8 AP2 is such a valuable sweet spot in 30K.  Power Fists are easily worth the 5 points on terminators IMO.

 

The thunder hammer and chainfist are 10 points (over power fists) that increase the threat of the squad against certain high value targets (expensive vehicles, primarchs, MCs), but they could easily be skipped.

 

I like combi-weapons because they're efficient - one turn of high damage output on the turn when you can't charge for a small points cost.  Given the risk of deep striking and the time they're likely to spend tied up in combat, I can't justify splurging on a plasma blaster.

 

As a Night Lords player you might want to increase the size of the squad a little to ensure that you outnumber your opponent, but you might find that your power fists are wounding everything on 2+ anyway.  I wouldn't feel confident deep striking a very large squad, since a bad roll could throw the whole game.

[1ncarnadine]

Not to Hi-jack the thread or anything, but how would you kit out a Deep Striking Night Lord Terminator unit?

 

I probably just wouldn't, as MeltaPreds, Typhons, and Medusae can wipe them off the table after their deep strike. God forbid you play against any Solar Aux or now the Ordo Reductor.

 

But if you don't expect to see any of that, what do you actually want them to do? Deep striking tends to make something a surprise suicide distraction more than anything else, so probably keep them as cheap and small as possible. Maybe run a decent amount of combi-weapons to ensure they can do something constructive via shooting while they can't move, before they potentially get pie-plated. Plasma is an obvious choice if you need some AP2, and Melta is a better choice than you might think due to Primus Medicae and Apothecaries being popular (ID shooting) Also, when your opponents expect melta they end up paying a ton for armoured ceramite on vehicles that may not even benefit much from it in the end (like predators and sicarans, where you can potentially still hit them with S8 AP1 in the side or rear and forget the melta rule, it's still S8 AP1). After the combi-weapons unload and if they survive, have some fists so they're still a threat to just about everything. Your opponent won't be able to ignore them completely, mission accomplished.

[Kriegriss]

no please hijack away that's what I want a glimpse into what people use and how they use them and examples of when it works and how it fails and ideas of what they think might be fun or effective

 

this is just meant as an open forum so folks spit ball ideas on terminator tactics

[Brother Heinrich]

So for deep striking Termies with no access to shields, would you say a simple 5-man unit with combi-weapons? I had thought originally about running an 8-man with a couple chainfists embedded in the group for tackling armor and whatnot. Also there is an Iron Warrior guy in my group who runs Medusas, but he's the only one with any real pie-plate power aside from my Blood Angels and their Vindicators.

[Slips]

Deepstriking, in 30k, is very much a risky proposition. Most people who have Apothecaires in a list usually also have Augury Scanners. Dropping in and Potentially Scattering into its Interceptor Bubble (Because I assume you wouldn't willingly place them within - extraneous circumstances excluded) and eating a hail of bullets and Dying / Getting Neutered before doing anything isn't the best use of Terminators.

However, if you're willing to take the risk, such a unit will usually end up on the Shootier Side (Imo anyways) so that they have something to do. A Way to mitigate the above would be to slap on a Character with a Void Shield Harness. It drives the cost up significantly and makes them a bigger target but, it also gives you a DISTRACTION CARNIFEX with some teeth on them.

Again, its down to role.

If you're DSing them next to, say Levies, you'll probably want the Whole Squad to have Volkite Chargers for Choomy goodness and Lightning Claws/Power Mauls to wade through them and 1 Heavy Flamer per 5.

Next to another TEQ Squad and you're likely to give them a Plasma Blaster and Combi-Plasma's to neuter them before they do so to you.

etc. etc.

You can also go for theme if you're so inclined. But that would depend on what you want

[Brother Heinrich]

Deepstriking, in 30k, is very much a risky. Most people who have Apothecaires in a list usually also have Augury Scanners. Dropping in and Potentially Scattering into its Interceptor Bubble (Because I assume you wouldn't willingly place them within - extraneous circumstances excluded) and eating a hail of bullets and Dying / Getting Neutered before doing anything isn't the best use of Terminators.

However, if you're willing to take the risk, such a unit will usually end up on the Shootier Side (Imo anyways) so that they have something to do. A Way to mitigate the above would be to slap on a Character with a Void Shield Harness. It drives the cost up significantly and makes them a bigger target but, it also gives you a DISTRACTION CARNIFEX with some teeth on them.

Again, its down to role.

If you're DSing them next to, say Levies, you'll probably want the Whole Squad to have Volkite Chargers for Choomy goodness and Lightning Claws/Power Mauls to wade through them and 1 Heavy Flamer per 5.

Next to another TEQ Squad and you're likely to give them a Plasma Blaster and Combi-Plasma's to neuter them before they do so to you.

etc. etc.

You can also go for theme if you're so inclined. But that would depend on what you want

Yeah no levies in my meta lol, its all Power-Armored death fest in my neck of the woods. So I'm guessing Combi-Plasma would be the way to go?

[Slips]

Consider Combi-Meltas too. Unless you're up against Iron Hands or Stone Gauntlet IF, the S8 Shooting will mitigate FNP that you might encounter and make the damage you deal stick while also giving you an Anti-Tank option if required.

 

If the guys you play against also tend to blob up their PA Squads then a Heavy Flamer or two wouldn't be a bad addition; though Blood Angels also have access to the Illastus Pattern Assault Cannon, which your Night Lords dont.

 

Dont Discount Volkite Chargers too, deflagrate can be a nasty surprise even for Blob Squads with FNP.

[Kriegriss]

this is great alot of usable info please keep it coming and don't be afraid to post pictures of how you represent stuff o n you're terminators or characters in terminator armour all things tactical dreadnaught should be here to help inspire and motivate people in there terminator projects

[Arac]

 

 

This is a WIP of my soon to be Cataphractii Terminator Standard Bearer.

He will be part of a Command Squad: Praetor with PBlade+Lasers+Combimelta, Standardbearer with Fist and Combibolter, 1 Guy with Chainfist and Combibolter, 1 Guy with Poweraxe and Combi-Weapon (don't know which yet) and 1 Guy with Poweraxe and Combibolter (the first to die). Together this unit will fit into a dreadclaw. This gives me Maximum flexibility with a unit that will allways draw fire and should never do anything alone but to Support the troop and/or elite section.

 

The rollout plan isn't fixed yet, but it will contain either heavy flamer / autocannon (magged) and more of the chainpowerfistaxe-mixture.

[lionofjudah]

Liking that grabbing fist man!! How'd you do that Arac!?

[Kriegriss]

oh that's sweet arac how did you do that/where did you get that fist

[Slips]

Looks like Abaddons power fist with the fingers bent

[Kriegriss]

that's sweet I have a grey knights banner that I was going to try and use and this is just the inspiration I needed to go for it thanks arac

[Emperor's Furor]

I've walked Cataphracts before in a small game and lets just say, don't bother. :P

[Kriegriss]

well I suppose my next forge world order will include a spartan but that may be months away si I'll have to deal dor now

[Brother Heinrich]

I'm thinking about running a unit of 7 Night Lord Terminators with a Teleport Transponder, 4 with Combi-Plasma and 3 with Comi-Melta, Chainglaive on the Sergeant, and one with a Chainfist. Can't decide Axes or Swords on the mob though.