DA Scout Sniper guide to the Galaxy. V1.01

[Chaplain Lucifer]

Welcome to the Ultimate Scout Sniper guide. This document will try to be a living document in order to acomodate changes and incorporate more wisdom.

Part 1.

Why Play with Scout Snipers?

The answers are:

- Everybody loves Snipers.

- Scout Snipers usually collect dust.

- Add a new/different layer to the game play.

- Because!

It's a known fact that Scout Snipers are underused throughout 40K editions. They're rules have been less than stellar but now in 8th they have the chance to shine a bit more.

Usually people pick them because "Snipers" but after not using them against the good targets or not in the right way, they put the "They suck" label and drop them .

Well, they can suck, true, because they are dependent on luck more than other units but in this edition we have the means to get the luck on our favour and the only thing we have to do is to provide them the correct targets to shine.

They will never be infantry killers or anti-tank killers, but in this edition they can do something few other units can: Target characters, thus eliminating buffs and other nastyness.

They can also focus on small elite units, making them less efficient and less of a threat.

Part 2.

What is the role of the Scout Snipers?

The Scout Snipers role is to decapitate.

Kill a Character and not only the buffs will be gone, the extra Ld will be gone and the Close Combat power as well (depends on the army).

Even if you don't kill the Characters for some reason you will still make the opponent play more cautiously with them, because they know their luck can run out. Forcing the enemy to change his plans is also a good way to thwart his general strategy.

How do we go about it?

The first thing we have to remember is that Scouts are a unit that the more you invest in it, the greater the gains.

Having 5 Scouts with Snipers will take too many turns to accomplish something.

The minimum for faster results is 10 Scouts with Sniper so that whataver you target disappears in two turns maximum. Ideally you'll want 15 ( one unit of 10 and one of 5 or three units of 5).

Once you get the scouts, you have to buy them camo cloaks because cover are their friend.

Any other upgrades or special weapons are not necessary. They don't need CC gear because Ideally they won't be in CC and other weapons will only take away one precious sniper rifle (and won't be able to single out characters)

What else do you need?

Like I wrote previously, scouts are more dependent on luck so to make the luck count less we need two more aditions that you will probably already have in your army. A Captain (or equivalent) and a Lieutenant.

The Captain will give re-rolls to hit and the Lieutenant gives re-rolls to wound. If by some reason you can only have one within 6" of your Scout Snipers, then choose the Lieutenant because re-rolls can provide the extra "6s" you need to get the job done.

Part 3.

Your army.

Your army will also have to take in account you have the Scout Snipers.That mean you need a sort of castled up army and a defensive posture. That will mean that your buffing characters will have to baby-sit the Scout Snipers, but good news is that if you have Predators, Devastators or any other shooty squads nearby, the Characters won't be "just" baby-sitting the Scouts.

The battlefield.

Scout Snipers can be used for area denial so, ideally they'll be on the flanks. But don't split them up too much because you need to keep your characters nearby and if the Scout Sniper squads are too far apart they probably can't shoot the same targets and/or benefit from character buffs.

Set up those Snipers as cliche as possible. Use the 36" range to your advantage and put them in cover and high as possible so tehy can get a good overlook of the battlefield.

If you can't place them high, try to place them with at least 2/3 good fire lanes so they don't have to move to search for targets.

Get that Captain and Lieutenant close to them for the re-rolls.

If you can and the mission has objectives, keep in mind that the scouts can setup on top of them thanks to their deployment ability.

Ideally you need both characters (Cpt and Lt) close but if you can't manage then pick the LT, because any re-rolls are more likely to get extra 6's for mortal wounds.

Don't forget that the Mortal Wound comes as an extra. The enemy still has to save that 6!

So for example : You get two 4's, three 5's and two 6's against a SM Character, he get's two mortal wounds and still has to make 7 armour saves. If he won't die this turn, he'll bite the dust in the next.

Choose a target. Ideally you'll want to target the enemy characters first. Choose the one that can give you headaches and shoot some toxin coated lead dowrange.

If you don't have a character you can shoot, select a small elite unit so you can at least cripple the unit , giving them less chances to hurt your army.

Disclaimer:

Again, this is a guide for using something and trying to get the best out of it. It is not a super-duper competitve set up. It's a guide to help you use those cool models you have...

If you use them , have fun with them and instead of "They suck" you start to think "They're okay" or "They're fun" my objective has been achieved.

If you have something to add, correct, share, etc, go ahead and post it. We need all the wisdom to make those Sniper Scouts fashionable again.

Have fun and enjoy the headshots!

Thanks to dtse, Cpt Bannockburn and Major_Gilbear for the input!

Edited July 31, 2017 by Chaplain Lucifer
Added and corrected stuff.

[dtse]

cool post.  Have fun with your snipers, unfortunately, they don't really seem that good, despite the initial hype about snipers.  Still, as you say, some players may be put off their game by having snipers around.

 

I feel like you'd be remiss in any kind of scout guide, snipers or otherwise, and not mention really their best use....as area denial units.  They take up space, can deploy literally anywhere, and cause havoc to your opponents deep strike plans.  They can also be used as bubble wrap, and of course in a progressive mission type can hold objectives for you.

[Cpt. Bannockburn]

First of all: I like what you did. A handy guide with a number of good suggestions that will help anyone who's wanting to try out a few snipers.
 
Now for a bit of constructive criticism:
 

If the target is T5 or more, you're "in luck" if the lieutenant is nearby, because you'll miss more, thus making any re-rolls more likely to get extra  6's for mortal wounds.

 
While the first part about not wounding as much is true, a lieutenant will not grant more re-rolls due to that fact. You're only ever allowed to re-roll 1s to wound, and since a higher toughness doesn't reduce your roll - you merely need a higher target number - you don't get more re-rolls.

[Major_Gilbear]

A fair guide, thanks for sharing. :)

 

My comments are with this bit:

The battlefield.

 

Set up those Snipers as cliche as possible. Use the 36" range to your advantage and put them in cover and high as possible. Get that Captain and Lieutenant close to them for the re-rolls.

 

1) I think you should explain the setting up more carefully - it really is the most important aspect of their usage aside from the list-building part.

 

2) Babysitting them with an important character may not the the best use of the character. Tying into (1) above, it would be helpful if you considered the different implications of deployment of both the Sniper Scouts and the heroes as part of your article.

 

Additionally, I think a popular squad compliment weapon to the sniper rifles has often been the Missile Launcher (and you get one in the kit too). Might be worth a quick rundown of whether they are worth including in sniper squads or not, and why?

[Chaplain Lucifer]

Thank you all for the suggestions and corrections. :)

I will get on it shortly.

[Chaplain Lucifer]

OK, added some more stuff, did some corrections. I hope it got better. Please keep suggestions coming.

Cheers!

[Frater Cornelius]

I used Scouts against T1 deep strike charge armies. Infiltrate them to spread that juicy 9" denial bubble. That way, they may die, but your army will be spared that inevitable alpha strike in the charge phase. Nids with their double move come to mind as well as those gambling for the 9" with Assault Terminators or Grey Knights.

 

Speaking about GK, infiltrating Scouts not only denies them a solid deep strike, it also denies them a good Smite. Better to lose 8-ish Scouts than to lose a Razorback or 8 Marines.

[Chaplain Lucifer]

I used Scouts against T1 deep strike charge armies. Infiltrate them to spread that juicy 9" denial bubble. That way, they may die, but your army will be spared that inevitable alpha strike in the charge phase. Nids with their double move come to mind as well as those gambling for the 9" with Assault Terminators or Grey Knights.

 

Speaking about GK, infiltrating Scouts not only denies them a solid deep strike, it also denies them a good Smite. Better to lose 8-ish Scouts than to lose a Razorback or 8 Marines.

 

While that may be true, Sniper Scouts are more expensive and have a mission other than making a denial bubble.  That's why it's not a priority for Scout Snipers to do forward area denial job. Because you're just paying premium for a unit that will die in a couple of turns.

So ideally, if they can, they are tasked to guard the flanks but it's a task best suited for regular Scouts.

[Frater Cornelius]

Just saying. There may be time you need to do that trade-off. I ran them in my Primaris army and I was happy to sacrifice 10 Sniper Scouts and keep my Repulsor, Dread and 3 Aggressors, to be fair. There will be match-ups where they will do little, as they are a rather specialized choice. Having options beyond the main reason you take them along is a great thing for any unit in the game, as it allows adaption on the fly with less conventional tactics to get that edge you need in particular match-ups.

 

If you want conventional tactics and by the book plays, check in the UM section :P

[Solrac]

cool post.  Have fun with your snipers, unfortunately, they don't really seem that good, despite the initial hype about snipers.  

 

Incorrect.

 

If you play in a heavy Chaos Daemon meta (like me) Snipers are an auto take to kill the Changeling as he is an auto include for Tzeentch Daemon armies (which is the bulk of Daemon lists).

 

Being able to shoot at him and potentially cause mortal wounds will win you the game. Also S4 shots are good against him seeing as he isn't that tough and has a 4++ and no armour.

[dtse]

Assuming your opponent just leaves him hanging out in open. Then yea. He deserves to be killed by scout snipers

And what I really meant was if you remember back before 8th was released but snipers were revealed people thought snipers were gonna rule the game. Hasn't quite worked out that way

[Frater Cornelius]

Assuming your opponent just leaves him hanging out in open. Then yea. He deserves to be killed by scout snipers

And what I really meant was if you remember back before 8th was released but snipers were revealed people thought snipers were gonna rule the game. Hasn't quite worked out that way

This isn't about using the optimum. This is about finding the best strategy and use given a certain constraint. In this case, it is about Sniper Scouts. It does not matter if they are good or not. This is about how to maximize the use of Sniper Scouts. The question of good or bad is irrelevant here.

[Berzul]

I actually found myself wishing that I had brought these guys along last few games I played. I usually play on boards that are about 50% filled with terrain. Enough to create blind spots and force you to move about, but nothing too cluttered. Last few games I played them in boards that were almost 80% terrain. It felt like playing Shadow War or Necromunda, to be honest. LOTs of fun, but meant that most of the time, my positioning was difficult. 5 guys with rifles atop one of the tallest tower could have served me greatly to create a threat bubble for my enemies. I think I might start bringing this guys along mor often.

 

Thanks for the review on the squad. It was an awesome read.