Can I expand starter set with vehicles?

[Ronazai]

Don't know much about the game. I got an old Warhammer 40000 first strike starter set as a gift and intend to play it super casually with friends. 

Having only infantry units is a little boring, so I was thinking it'd be cool to add some vehicles to both sides. Would that be a viable playable option?

If yes, then I guess the vehilces on both sides better have an equal ammount of points?

 

Don't have time/willingness to invest into both infantry AND vehicles. Just want to play the starter set casually, but want to have some vehicles too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cleon]

Is First strike the set with 6 Marines, 3 Plague marines and 6 plague zombies, or one of the other ones?

 

If so while yes, you can expand with vehicles, the infantry you have don't really have any effective way of hurting vehicles, so you'd probably want one middle step infantry unit each that can hurt vehicles.

[Ronazai]

 

Is First strike the set with 6 Marines, 3 Plague marines and 6 plague zombies, or one of the other ones?

 

If so while yes, you can expand with vehicles, the infantry you have don't really have any effective way of hurting vehicles, so you'd probably want one middle step infantry unit each that can hurt vehicles.

 

Yes, that exact set.

Even if I don't add those infantries, then vehicles can still hurt each other, so would work that way too, no?

But where do I get info about which units can hurt vehicles? Like, I don't know what "middle step" infantry means.

 

Also do you mean to add 1 middle step infantry unit to both sides? Or 1 unit for every vehicle?

 

For vehicles I was thinking:

Space marine side:

Outriders

Storm speeders

 

Plague marine side:

Foetid bloat-drones

Myphitic blight-haulers

 

 

 

[Cleon]

Outriders are fine, as Bikes they are in the infantry toughness range and don't have many wounds, so while harder than the foot marines they are still vulnerable to the plague marines and even the zombies, the others are a bit tougher, but will be able to hurt each other.

 

For example - a Blight Hauler is Toughness 9, with 10 wounds with a 3+ save, an intercessor (basic Marine) has 2 shots at str 4.

 

So the marines need to hit (3+), wound (6) then get through the armour (4+ as they modify the 3+ by one) ten times total with 2 shots each. In return the Blight hauler is firing 2 multi melta shots, hitting on 3s and killing marines on 2+, and a missile launcher which does the same, except the marine gets a 5+ save, so it will eat through all the marines quickly.

 

By middle step Infantry I mean infantry who are equipped to fight vehicles - for the marines a good example unit is an Eradicator squad, with their melta rifles they hit the Blight hauler on 3+ as well, but they wound it on 4+, reduce it to it's 5+ invulnerable save and then remove D6 wounds at a time giving the Marines the ability to fight the blight hauler.

 

You don't need one unit for each, but you need a total pool so the game isn't decided by one shot - for example if the marines only have 3 Eradictors to threaten blight haulers and the blight haulers go first and kill them, game over.

[Ronazai]

Thanks for the explanation.

It seems if I want to play bigger games, it's better to just buy combat patrol sets. Trying to expant a starter set wouldn't be much cheaper.

[Cleon]

No, to be fair there isn't much cheaper way to expand any collection than the combat patrols, if you want what's in them.

[TheArtilleryman]

 

For vehicles I was thinking:

Space marine side:

Outriders

Storm speeders

 

Plague marine side:

Foetid bloat-drones

Myphitic blight-haulers

 

The storm speeder is a good shout. Maybe you could add some hellblasters? There should be a relative abundance of them around on eBay and they are a good “halfway” unit as has been suggested. Alternatively a unit like aggressors or terminators are a threat to vehicles in close combat because of their power fists.

 

The blight haulers are great because they are an absolute bargain unit in all imaginable ways. You can even field them in squads of 3!

[Dr. Clock]

As you've stated - Combat Patrol is the current 'minimum balanced 40k game'. Something like First Strike is several editions out of date from a rules perspective, so you don't yet have many 'full legal units' for warhammer 40k 10th edition... Poxwalkers start at 10 each, and plague marines at 5 (even though a box of them is 7 guys - go figure). You do have a full squad of Intercessors, so that's good, and then I'd recommend painting that 6th guy as a Lt or equivalent character.

 

As-is, you don't really have enough models to make 'proper vehicles' balanced into those very small squads...

 

If you wanted to keep the game very small, I'd look at some of the older Kill Team rules and build something like that, though it doesn't use rules for ANY vehicles.

 

Just for reference, a Stormspeeder is basically bigger than a Rhino. An old Landspeeder or current Invader ATV would compare alright with a blighthauler or bloatdrone, but your infantry guys will be completely outclassed by a Stormspeeder, and it still substantially outclasses either of those other 2 light vehicles.

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.