Ideas on my new crusade

[MarshalMittermeier]

heyas. so, i decided to create a new crusade. i still have a med-sized (approx. 4000-5000 pts) black templars army, but there are reasons that told me to start from scratch (fluff-wise; in tournaments i will combine the old and new/whatever works).

 

i am writing this in search of advice from my brethren.

 

the following are the reasons and subsequent criteria/what i hope to accomplish:

-i love reading up on real life military weapons and organization. I'd like the new crusade to have a "feel" of a properly organized, autonomous military unit similar to a NATO brigade/us brigade combat team.

 

-there is no true "cost limit"; i am not in search of an "army to play"; i intent to slowly buy 1 box per month for a large period of time, similar to a country modernizing its armed forces piece-by-piece. i made my own budget and i am certain i can buy "1 units/box per month" nigh indefinitely (it helps that i already have models to play and am in no rush).

 

-every unit in the army should be either mechanized (fit in transports), airbourne (fit in flyer transports/have jump packs/teleport), or use Concealed Positions. it makes no sense for troopers as important as astartes not to have organic transports.

 

-boltguns should have a very limited role to play (shooting in general is ok, but real armies ever since ww1 do not really use basic rifles as primary weapons, basing their tactics on machineguns/artillery/missiles, and rifle infantry have more of an occupation/assisting role).

[Palmu]

If you want to aim for more realistic military feel, the Pray Kill Burn maniacs will probably leave you wanting mechanically, but I do approve of all who stick with their favorite boys through thick and thin.

 

The Primaris Vanguard units are your best bet if going for more realistic tactics, with their infiltrating units and absolutely loaded tanks, as well as characters that put more focus on shooting and command rather than punching things. Couple that with some gunships and you'll have sci-fi special forces.

[MarshalMittermeier]

If you want to aim for more realistic military feel, the Pray Kill Burn maniacs will probably leave you wanting mechanically, but I do approve of all who stick with their favorite boys through thick and thin.

 

The Primaris Vanguard units are your best bet if going for more realistic tactics, with their infiltrating units and absolutely loaded tanks, as well as characters that put more focus on shooting and command rather than punching things. Couple that with some gunships and you'll have sci-fi special forces.

thing is, primaris have the following problems:

a) too much rifle usage (i am a former marine, and believe me when i say modern armies are las/plas-style heavy weapon spam; each combat squad has approximately ONE rifleman(depending on nation), whose main job is to cover fire and assume he can get 0 kills, others using attached grenade launchers/machineguns/missile launchers etc doing the real work). i mean, in iraq war, 2003, 60.000 bullets were needed to get a kill on average. real rifles only really work in urban environments/closer distances. with  primaris, bolt rifles are literally your stars in open field... doesnt "feel" right.

 

b.  loaded tanks, unlike modern militaries (modern tanks have just one main gun plus two machineguns, one of them even being very light, and are mostly used for mobility and armour rather than firepower. a perfect analogy is a predator with two heavy bolters  or even just a storm bolter)

[MarshalMittermeier]

ok, first thoughts to provide the outline:

 

real world paradigm:

Stryker Brigade Combat Team

3 x infantry battalions on Stryker APCs as frontline units to hold ground(assault troops?)

1 x Artillery Battery as "the real killer" (spearhead detachment-equivalent with multiple whirlwinds?  other squads that are designated "fire support" in codex like devastators/aggressors)

1 x Cavalry  Battalion, featuring (even more)loads of mobile antitank/machineguns (this almost immediately screams "bikers/inceptors")

1 x support Battalion for recon/engineer/some artillery (dunno what that could be?)

1 x HQ Battalion (all HQs combined probably fall into this).

 

 

 

first generic example

 

Brigade detachment organization

 

HQs (to be decided)

Elites (to be decided; apothecary, maybe some agressors for fire support if i can get vehicle for them, but like i said primaris vehicles are weird, would never work irl except Impulsor**. i like reivers but idk what they could be)

Fast Attack (bikes/inceptors. i already have some bikes, but i would like to add inceptors)

Troops (3 x rhinos transporting 6 x 5-man squads, 2 squads each. the most accurate i can think of. otherwise, 6 x 5-man intercessor units are too much rifle dakka/not enough heavy weapons-centric.)

Heavy Support (hmmm lots of options fit here, but definitely artillery first)

 

thoughts?

 

** (it is funny, cause fluff players in 40k hate it,but "MSU las/plas" is a pretty accurate description of how real militaries operate. offensive tech making a mockery of armour has made every "big tough" weapon system/unit obsolete, and it is all about what the military calls "distributed lethality", i.e. smaller/mobile units filled with heavy weapons)