Flame delivery units

[Ja'ryn]

Just wondering if I can get an opinion from my more experienced battle brothers on flame weapons.

 

Our unique stratagem, flamecraft, feels like it can potentially pack quite a punch, but flamers themselves feel as though they are a little packing without it. Do you think it's worth including some to take advantage of it?

 

If so, we have the following main delivery mechanisms in my eyes:

 

* Tactical squad

* Company veterans

* Aggressors

* Terminators

* Sternguard

* Bike squad

* Assault squad

* Centurion assault squad

* Land raider redeemer

 

Of these, the terminators feel too expensive and I would naturally be more inclined to go with an assault cannon to maximise shots at a similar range, and I Sternguard can do a similar thing with their own strategy at greater range, albeit not with auto hits.

 

The most interesting options to me are the Aggressors, the Assault Squad and the Centurions. Aggressors seem as though they can really take advantage of the stratagem due to 2D6 for the number of hits, but I'm not sure how you would get them in place. The Assault Squad is more manoeuvrable, but only had two standard flamers. I have no idea about the Centurions - has anyone tried them much?

[Kaiser Rude]

I tried Aggressors with Vulkan. The potential is certainly there but they ended up being a disappointment.

I had a lot of fun using bikes with 2 flamers and a combi flamer. So fast and they were terribly annoying for my opponents.

I am going to continue experimenting with aggressors and I also just built up 3 double heavy flamer land speeders. The speeders are an expensive unit but will demand a lot of attention on the tabletop.

[Slan Drakkos]

It's not just about the flamers, it's about supporting them too. Truthfully, I play my Salamanders against CQC heavy armies (orks, Khorne, Blood Angels, Space Wolves), so my strategy might not work for you but I'll try to give you advice. Here's how I play:

 

I usually try to at least take a brigade detachment of three aggressors, and two squads of scouts with snipers with Vulkan, a captain, a librarian, three squads of Hellblasters, two squads of tacticals, two squads of intercessors, and three squads of inceptors. I also take a supreme command detachment consisting of a chaplain and two more librarians (one in termie armor).

 

Set the Inceptors and one Terminator armored librarian into deepstrike position. Wait until turn three before deepstriking the inceptors and termie librarian. Use the Inceptors to target range heavy squads with the librarian buffing them. By the point in time that you've struck, most of the close combat squads and regular range squads should be far enough away that they can't try to kill you without being struck from behind by your ranged squads. There's some sort of statement about being between a hammer and an anvil somewhere in there.

 

Huddle most of your troops behind terrain while having the scouts, hellblasters, and tacticals take pot shots from afar. Have the other two librarians cast toughness enhancing powers on the aggressors (just to make sure they don't die before they do what you paid for them to do). Once they get close enough, get Vulkan, a librarian, a captain, and the Inceptors close enough to burn a squad to death and then charge them.

 

If all goes well, the opponents back lines/overlapping fields of fire will be destroyed by your precise attacks with mid-close combat fast attackers. Any attempts at deepstriking against you will be met with massive amount of plasma/melta/flamer fire. And the enemy will suffer a fair enough amount of casualties before even getting close enough to be killed by your flamers.

[Ja'ryn]

Great, thank you both. The more I think about it, the more I think something fast moving like a bike squad or assault squad would be beneficial in getting into range.

 

Having said that, Aggressors seem surprisingly nippy, and I do like the idea of a strike force of them, some Assault Terminators and a Librarian...

[Medicinal Carrots]

Don't forget the vehicles. Razorbacks, Dreadnoughts of multiple stripes, and some of the Forgeworld tanks can all pack heavy flamers.

[Claws and Effect]

Company Vets on bikes.

 

Huge threat range, and all of them can pack flamers or combi-flamers.

 

5 of them would net you 5d6 flamer hits, 20 bolter shots (Since you'd be in rapid fire range to use the flamers anyway.

 

And if you want to go really crazy with the unit, you could follow up with 11 thunder hammer attacks or 16 chainswords.

[FormelyKnownAsSmashyPants]

Does the strat work with a Redeemer's flamestorm cannon?

[Medicinal Carrots]

Yes, it has "flame" in the name.

[Saxxon the Dragoon]

Why not use a Stormraven, it can carry up to 12 standard marines, up to 6 terminators/jump pack marines or up to 4 centurions AND the stormraven can take a multimelta. Not to mention it can also carry a dreadnought, so maybe take a venerable contemptor with a multi-melta, or take a Venerable Dread with multimelta and heavy flamer. Fly down the field on turn 1, and then on turn 2 put it in hover mode and drop off the dread and the units and just use the Stormraven as a gunship. If all else fails you can pack everyone back up into the raven and have them at another location by turn 4.

Edited January 18, 2018 by Saxxon the Dragoon

[Claws and Effect]

You don't have to drop into hover for passengers to disembark anymore.

 

And the only weapon in that scenario that benefits from the strategem is the dreadnought heavy flamer. Melta doesn't count for Flamecraft.

[breng77]

I would say 3 bikers with 2 flamers and combi-flamer is up there for points efficiency and getting into range (20" move + shooting).  It also seems you missed land speeders as an option they can take 2 heavy flamers.  It is expensive but a squad of 3 with double heavy flamers has 20" base move + shoot.  I want to like flame aggressors but they are simply to slow with not viable transport option (it is too expensive).