One Terminator Per Kill Team or Two?

[Ordo Xenos Inquisitor]

Disregarding point costs, I think I can see value in adding in some Terminators to my Deathwatch Kill Team due to the immunity they'd bring to Morale tests (so long as the Terminator remains alive)  I currently am able to field in 4 squads of 5 Veterans, and thanks to a borrowed hobby knife, I managed to replace the Terminator's default pauldrons with the Deathwatch ones. I currently glued them to two Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield users and two Lightning Claw users. Now then, should I just put in one terminator each? or perhaps two?

[SnakeChisler]

Played a couple of test games and moral isn't as big an issue as 1St thought though the bigger the squads the more it matters

 

Couple of things on terminators, the new -1/2/3/4 to save is brutal any forward troops needs storm Shields or are going to be saving on 5/6's coz tanks are back in a big way.

From initial read of the rules you can charge anything so dropping in on a corvus your going to want to shoot a couple of different targets then nail another in combat.

Once you get a wound on a multi wound model all saves need to be taken on it till it dies

 

From the game in the shop and our test game yesterday I wouldn't field any weapon that doesn't do at least -1 damage, that's going to mean a return to min troops and as many big guns eg plasma as you can feasibly stack in squads.

[Vel'Cona]

From the game in the shop and our test game yesterday I wouldn't field any weapon that doesn't do at least -1 damage, that's going to mean a return to min troops and as many big guns eg plasma as you can feasibly stack in squads.

 

Isn't there something to be said for volume of fire, though?  Force enough saves, get the wounds you want regardless of how good those saves are.  I mean, this is assuming that volume of shots is coming at a reasonably low cost.

[SnakeChisler]

There's a trade off between dealing with Hordes and burying the old 7th type lists that you'll meet

 

Just done the math on Terminator load outs and it made my eyes water they come naked at 32 + Wargear cheapest Melee weapon is say a Sword at 4 points then a storm bolter at 2 points

 

mmmm looks like the hobby knife is coming out again

[shanewatts]

There's a trade off between dealing with Hordes and burying the old 7th type lists that you'll meet

 

Just done the math on Terminator load outs and it made my eyes water they come naked at 32 + Wargear cheapest Melee weapon is say a Sword at 4 points then a storm bolter at 2 points

 

mmmm looks like the hobby knife is coming out again

 

Keep in mind that Termies are 2 wounds now as well. So with gear and a 2+ save you are getting more survivability for the unit than 2 vets, really you just lose out on SIA.

[Vel'Cona]

 

Keep in mind that Termies are 2 wounds now as well. So with gear and a 2+ save you are getting more survivability for the unit than 2 vets, really you just lose out on SIA.

 

This is an important thing to acknowledge, the 2 wounds, but SnakeChisler has it right that the prevalence of AP means 2+ saves have been largely devalued.  Even more troubling is the ease at which multiple damage weapons can be spammed; Grav will STILL obliterate Termies easily despite the buffs and their cost has increased to the point where this is a crucial weakness.  For my money, I wouldn't count on Terminators to tank anything unless you're going for the SS, which itself makes the build even more expensive.  Honestly, the days of "tank" models may well be over with 8th edition . . .

[leth]

That was the idea, however you can decide which models you want the wounds to go on so factor that in when designing your army. I would personally wait until we see if there is a day one FAQ for the storm shields as we are getting charged a crazy amount compared to other armies for no good reason. 

[CaptainCaveman87]

Don't forget terminators in cover get theoretically a 1+ save, now the rules say a one always fail but does mean an AP - 1 weapon would still be a two up in cover and so on.

[Mobius0288]

That was the idea, however you can decide which models you want the wounds to go on so factor that in when designing your army. I would personally wait until we see if there is a day one FAQ for the storm shields as we are getting charged a crazy amount compared to other armies for no good reason. 

Idk, I wouldn't totally look at it that way. They've had time to work on these books. And while yes they've had a history of bad wording, it seems like it is what it is at this point.

 

So adapting to the new cost, like snake said, your frontline guys are gonna need storm shield priority over the guys in the back field... Which then forces you to look at some range options for covering fire (Lascannon/missile Dreads? Stalker bolters? Infernus? maybe kraken bolt combis?)

 

At least our strength of loading up on special weapons still exist, same goes for the termies. Ya it cost a bunch but we definitely get more flexibility in dealing with targets. Taking damage, is still going to be a challenge for sure.

 

I picked up some assault termies instead of regular termies by accident a few months ago, but now I'm kinda glad. I'll have to look into the various power weapon options. It kinda makes me wonder if mixed (weapon) squads could become feasible with the inclusion of termies (considering point costs of have gone up for some things). Like... having some pistol/melee guys, but having an assault cannon termie for extra shots/range.

[leth]

O I know, I am personally not going to change any equipment until we get the actual books in our hands and see everything involved in the rules including the first few pages or any sections that dont explicitly cover rules.  For example some one who saw the book said SIA is part of the deathwatch faction Keyword.

 

Just gonna work on getting my guard assembled until then haha