Bolter scouts in 8th

[nusphigor]

Hello guys.

I have been thinking of retourning to 40k and the troops i used were bolter scouts with cloaks.

What do you guys think of them in this edition?

[N1SB]

Hi, welcome back, Brother.  I'm admiring Bolter Scouts more and more, as we all experiment more and gain more experience in 8th edition.

 

I'll try to describe my train of thought.  It's based on really what we've been noticing about the 8th ruleset, now appended with Chapter Approved 2017 (which came out last month, added a few new things).

 

Troops are still important due to (the return of) Objective Secured, so Scouts with Tactical Marines and Primaris Intercessors still play a role in a Space Marine army.  However, Power Armour seems less powerful with 8th's Armour Piercing weapon mechanics.  Moreover, Dedicated Transports are no longer an auto-take due to increased points costs (and it's ridiculously high for Primaris as they need the expensive Redemptor tank).  With those in mind, Scouts, despite lacking Power Armour but not needing a vehicle as they can still infiltrate seem to perform better than other Space Marine Troops choices for their points costs.

 

I'm not sure which Chapter Tactics fit Bolter Scouts best, but I think the Imperial Fists one is always relevant.  Iron Hands, too, on a similar token for survivability, but a lot can be said for Salamanders, too.  Even for Raven Guard, famous for Scouts, maybe I'd prefer them for Snipers instead.  I think you're good with IF Bolter Scouts.

 

(On a sidenote, Intercessors actually seem to do really well with the Raven Guard Chapter Tactics, too.)

 

With 8th, it's very easy to mix & match different Codices in the same faction, thanks to the Detachments system, so let's not look at just Space Marines, but Imperium as a whole.  Imperial Guard has become a top tier army while Mechanicus also looks more and more interesting, for example.  However, for infiltrating Troops, Marine Scouts I think are still a better deal than, say, Tempestus Scions; they're like a point apart but Scouts have a better statline, so it's worth it.  And whereas you can have a mob of Guardsmen or Skitarii either running up the field, with how cover saves work now, just infiltrating into cover to begin with a higher Toughness of 4 seems still really worth it.  I don't think Scouts do quite as much damage per point as those other armies, but for Objective taking Infantry, Scouts really seem to be doing well.

 

(To be fair, I've really also been impressed with Leman Russes because, aside from really good damaging units, they can also Objective Secure now.)

 

TL;DR - Space Marine Scouts, being relatively Tough infiltrating Troops, remain as relevant if not more so than before, as the new rules haven't detracted from them like other units.  Even across the other Imperium Codices, they're probably the best at what they do.

[KGatch113]

A 10 man Stormtrooper squad deepstriking 9 inches way with 4 plasma, a plasma pistol and 5 hellguns outshoots 10 bolter scouts. Cover is not that much of a benefit given the large number of Ap minus weapons. Statline also does not mean much when you have many units with Str 4+.

 

Back in 7th a 10 man Stormtrooper squad facing off against 10 Tactical Marines would win the fight most of the time, despite wounding on 5's, because each wound was death, while bolter wounds still allowed a 4+ save. Odd mechanics, but at least now the Tac Marine gets a 5+ save vs a hellgun. 

 

Hellgun =hotshot las, my bad.