My First AM squad....

[AfroCampbell]

Hi Guys, 

I am building my first Astra Militarum infantry squad - going Death Korps of Krieg - 

just about to start building but wanted to know, if you were building a squad now, how would you do so?

I was debating Melta gun vs Flamer ??

[Slave to Darkness]

Id go flamer, not for any in game reasoning, I just think melta guns look silly. 

[TCC]

I don’t build with any special weapons anymore, I keep my new squads bare bones based on the performance (lack off) that the specials have given me. Also much quicker to play a game when running the same kit. 
 

I made my krieg guy magnetised to run both melt and plasma if you want to that root - two magnets in each hand 

[Emperor Ming]

Basically you don't really want to be paying for any weapon that hits only on a 4+. So most people will just run the guard squads as basic 55pts and a flamer has too random damage at d6 hits. 

 

Currently I run just basic scion squads as guard squads are too expensive for where the game is now at 55pts

[WarriorFish]

You will no doubt have plenty of models and choice eventually for it not to matter, but when starting out cheap is best I think as well. Guardsmen don't last long and a melta even hitting at 4+ will invite shorter life spans. I've long liked keeping my Infantry Squads cheap - usually with just a special weapon - but with how deadly 9th Edition is it's harder still to want to spend points on them.

 

Keep us updated on your progress :tu:

[AfroCampbell]

What about Sergeant builds? any advice?

[WarriorFish]

Upgrades on them are the same - generally best to keep the Sergeants bare bones. They won't get much opportunity to make use of upgrades so the rule of thumb is unchanged. There is still scope to add things of course, but only when you think there's some room to benefit for example floating points on squads that aren't in the vanguard etc.

[Harrowmaster]

If you have the spare points the bolter will likely be the most useful

[Tallarn Commander]

At 2,000 points I usually run 9 Tallarn infantry squads (Red, Blue, and Gold Platoons) and each is issued a plasma pistol. It's probably not points effective since they die so fast, but it sure is fun and looks cool.

Sgt. Tariq aims his plasma pistol at a Chaos Heretic

Edited March 5, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[AfroCampbell]

And you cannot give the Sergeant a normal lasgun ae?

[ScionOfCorlesia]

That's right no standard lasgun on the sergeant. You can give them a bolter though if you're wanting that extra range.

[Emperor Ming]

Its part of the lore, a sgt must be distinguishable from a guardsmen at all times. Thankfully deathkorp sgts were brought in line with the new models  

[Marshal Mittens]

Plasma used to be the way, but now it's not really worth it. Still looks cool though!

[The Pounder]

I always go with a sword and pistol for my Watchmasters.

 

Mainly because I think it looks cool! It just feeds into the Krieg aesthetic.

[AfroCampbell]

Also, further question, are heavy weapons embedded in squads that are sitting back-field objectives worth taking, and if so what heavy weapon?

[WarriorFish]

Depends on your needs, though technically that can be said of any question :lol: I find them useful as practically you need a lot of infantry to protect assets and control ground (and weather attrition to remain effective at doing so...), that means there's only so much room to use effectively for deployment. A squad to sit back and provide some ranged support fits in nicely here, though since the reduction in table size it is likely more pertinent now?

 

I've always liked mortars (were they ever cool..?), good for a squad intending to hide on an objective but I'm under no illusions as to their effectiveness. I'd wager most would agree the heavy bolter is the overall better pick to cover bases. Good anti-personnel weapon that can turn a hand to light armour too, and with Damage 2 now all the more useful as each shot can take out a Marine outright. Anti-tank is important of course, but on an easily removed squad that can feel an expensive basket for your eggs especially as Guard have long relied on armour to deliver the heaviest fire power.

[duz_]

I've airways liked the heavy bolter for this duty.

Whether or not is a good use of points...can't say

In 8th I took it if I had the spare points. I suspect with the lethality of this edition they're fairly superfluous.

 

But hey it's the guard! Build as much as you like and then you have a choice of what to play player :yes:

[Inso]

If it was a choice between a flamer and a melta, I'd probably go for the melta. It gives you the possibility of popping a vehicle that gets too close... and may just be enough to provoke your opponent into keeping a vehicle clear of your unit.