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Troops:  Scout squads

9/21/2013

12 Comments

 
Got my head at least partially on straight, so time to get back on the horse and continue the analysis of our codex.  I'm going to continue with the troops, again because they are the bread and butter of our codex.  They are the most important units we can take, as they fulfill the all important scoring requirements in 6th Edition.  So next up are scout squads.  We did get some fluff expansions for the Black Templars in the way of scouts (henceforth called neophytes), which essentially stated that it only made sense for the mentor initiates of the Black Templars to allow their protege neophytes to take on missions, by themselves, to perform some crucial task for the good of the crusade.  I like the fact that they allowed for this possibility.

Fluff aside, what does the scout squad give us as a chapter?  First off, we still have access to all of the Chapter Traits so they still gain all of the bonuses in that respect.  While seemingly not important, having access to them is a boon, no matter what type of list you use them in (always assume CT:BT, unless otherwise noted).  Additionally, they have access to the special rule Combat Squad.  That means if they are numbered at 10, they can separate into two squads of 5.  This is incredibly useful, especially if you purchase a Land Speeder Storm transport (which I'll discuss in a moment) for one of those 5-man squads.  Also standard for the neophytes are Scout, Infiltrate, and Move Through Cover USRs.  All of which provide nice movement and disruption abilities.

Stat-wise, neophytes are relatively unimpressive.  They have WS/BS of 3 and armor saves of 4+.  Not only that, they have a relatively limited selection of wargear to choose from (will get to in a sec).  What they do have, however, is their relatively low cost.  For a base of 55 points, you can buy yourselves a 5-man troops unit on the cheap.  For minimal investment in wargear, you can increase their durability and firepower potential.  You increase the neophyte's survivability via camo cloaks, which increase the cover save of the model by +1.  Against a good chunk of opponents, this will cause your neophytes to be devastatingly hard to kill.  Especially when you're sitting behind 3+ cover (i.e. defense walls/barricades).  However, please note that Tau markerlights will cut straight through these defenses and you'll be forced to use your normal armor saves, which aren't going to cut it verses most of their weaponry.

The neophyte squad has access to standard fare bolt pistols and close combat weapons, shotguns, and now:  boltguns.  Boltguns allow your neophytes to do some legitimate damage against low armor save models for a very minimal price.  In addition, you can upgrade your neophytes to have a sniper rifle for 1 point each.  These are the standard sniper weapons you see everywhere.  So that means the potential for Precision Shots, Rending wounds, and Pinning.  They have some use in that you can occasionally pin a dangerous unit and throw a lot of wounds on high toughness models, but otherwise, I find the bolters to be better overall.  You can also take one heavy weapon with the squad; either a heavy bolter or a missile launcher.  These two weapons can be upgraded further with hellfire shells (HB) or Flakk missiles (ML).  To be honest with you, neither are worth their points.  Hellfire shells gives you an one-shot blast weapon with the 2+ poison rule.  Lame.  And the flakk missile is being fired by a BS3 neophyte.  Scary use of 25 points if you ask me.

On the other hand, the neophyte sergeant can be upgraded to a veteran if you so desire to give him an additional attack and a higher leadership.  These can be given melta bombs and teleport homers for a reasonable price.  They can also be given melee and/or ranged weapons for the associated points cost, giving your unit some nice duality.  Be careful though, these guys are still stuck with 4+ armor saves.

Lastly, the Land Speeder Storm.  This is a AV10, 2 hull point vehicle that is also a fast skimmer for the price of 45 points.  It also has the Scout and Deep Strike USR.  As far as wargear, it has some interesting things going for it.  First is the Jamming Beacon.  This essentially makes a scatter result for any deep striking enemy units within 12" double that distance.  That can have a huge effect on the game, for very little cost.  It also has a Heavy bolter and a Cerberus Launcher.  The Cerberus Launcher is a Str 2, large blast weapon that also causes Blind.  While "meh" at first glance, that weapon has some very nice applications against armies like Tau when combined with its Scout USR.  You can also upgrade the heavy bolter to three other weapons (heavy flamer, multi-melta, or assault cannon) for minimal points.  However, due to its...fragility (even with jink)...you might want to avoid putting extra points into the vehicle.

As noted, there is a nice application of the Neophyte squad and the Land Speeder Storm.  Because I see a lot of comments about Tau and their firepower, I went about finding a possible solution to that problem.  At least for a turn, for a very small points expense (~200 points), we have a counter for their withering firepower potential.  If game doesn't have Nightfighting, Scout move forward two Neophyte squads in a LS Storm.  Behind cover (if possible) if you don't have the first turn.  When its your turn to go, shoot whatever unit you're afraid of with your Cerberus Launcher and force a blind test on them.  Remember, the Cerberus Launcher fires Large Blasts.  Considering they are mostly initiative 2 all the way around, chances are extremely good you're going to make them blind for the turn.  Likewise, you could also simply Outflank them if you are under Nightfighting rules to minimize the shooting potential as long as possible.  The ideal target for this would be the Tau Pathfinders, as their marker-lights are the primary source of cover-ignoring firepower.  But if they can't hit you, then you're good to go.  ;)

Also worth noting is if you DON'T have the first turn, you can disembark out of the LS storm and assault your opponent with the Neophytes as well if they have an open path and/or no bubblewrap.  I'm talking things like Riptides, Crisis Suit teams, Broadsides, and Pathfinders.  That will negate a lot of shooting while they try and kill your really cheap dudes in CC.  Meanwhile, your LS Storms are still out there, potentially blinding more units per turn.  I would arm the Sergeant with a Combi-Flamer and meltabombs for duality purposes.  But remember, this is best used by cheap neophyte squads for disruption purposes.  It'll work against any army, realistically, but expect them to die for their efforts.  Those ~200 points, however, could potentially win you the game.

In summary, I think the Neophyte squad is a nice cheap throwaway squad to use for disruption purposes.  That in itself is worth their points if done correctly.  However, they also have value in providing yourself with cheap troops units for scoring purposes.  They aren't the most "durable" squad ever, but for their price, they are decent at holding objectives, especially the ones in your deployment zone.  They have the potential for duality and can definitely cause headaches for your opponent.  ;)

By the way, Implausible Nature's 4th birthday was on the 18th and I totally forgot.  So...once again, thank you all for reading and making IN the success it is!

12 Comments
Zeruvar
9/21/2013 05:24:32 pm

Happy birthday to IN!

For me, I've been liking a 10man squad with cloaks and sniper rifles. Since Im taking tfcs, i just hide them in the bolstered ruins which gives me a decent firebase.

I run a drop pod heavy list. My philosophy against tau is, if he wants to blow my scouts away using his markerlights, that gives me a chance to deal with his units with my ironclads and sternguard.

For reference my troops look like this
10 man scout snipers with cloaks combat squadded
3 5man las squads
5 man scout in LS storm

Sometimes i take out the storm and put in 1-2 crusader squads in a drop pod.

Reply
Marshal Laeroth (Admin) link
9/23/2013 10:58:51 am

I'm definitely not saying that there isn't value in the cloaks/sniper rifles. But...overall in the scheme of things, that many scouts don't add much to the style of lists I build. Never know though. ;)

Reply
Marshal Gaisgeach
10/1/2013 10:46:32 pm

@ML

What do you think about putting 3 sniper/camo cloaks behind an aegis defense line, a sergeant on the gun, and a scout with a ML with Flakk combat squaded to allow the other five with shotguns or CCW (haven't decided yet) to go into a LS Storm for an early flame on a squishy squad???

Algesan
9/22/2013 09:16:44 am

I'll note that Scouts with sniper rifles and camo cloaks spread around with combat squad gave me fits the several times I played against them. It seems they work like most other units, the more you have, the more effective they are, up until "saturation" whenever that would be.

So, three of these, split into combat squads with half of them snipers soak up a lot of firepower and put out a minor amount themselves with the potential to be a major nuisance.

Reply
Zeruvar
9/22/2013 12:45:01 pm

Exactly, i plan on going up to 20 snipers when I get my rifle bits to put on my scouts. They may not do that much damage, but hitting and wounding on 4s isnt too bad, especially at their range. 2+/3+ cover saves are great and if they get hit by drakes/markerlights thats some shooting your other units are not taking.
Really a great bargain for 140pts for 2 squads.

Reply
Marshal Laeroth (Admin) link
9/24/2013 07:04:43 am

Aye, I think I might test a squad like this out. Precision is nice too. The BT's ability to eliminate characters should not be underestimated. :P

Reply
Algesan
9/26/2013 09:51:07 am

Don't do one squad, 3-4 combat squads (or more) of snipers in cloaks works a lot better.

xXTerminatorXx
9/22/2013 10:09:11 pm

I would like to point out that all Tau suits come with Black Sun Filter, which makes them Immune to Blind. So cerebus launcher has no effect on them. Assaulting all things Tau works well though, unless it is named Farsight...lol.

Reply
Marshal Laeroth (Admin) link
9/23/2013 10:49:20 am

Aye, as does the Riptide. The tactic I mentioned above only works against the infantry. Of special interest is the Pathfinders, as those are the guys that give the Tau army their cover-ignore. That, however, doesn't mean you cannot assault the suits or the Riptide. With cheap, throwaway scouts, you'll tie up a lot of shooting for next to no cost. :)

Reply
Acebaur
9/27/2013 02:21:30 pm

Sniper scouts?!?! HERESY!!! Templars don't snipe, they face their foe and shoot him in the face so he's know's he's been judged unworthy of living by the Emperor's finest!


;)

Reply
Zyth23
9/28/2013 08:47:12 am

Black Templars doesn't Camp from the corner of the table***

Would be nice to have some Crusader Sniper Squad. With Initiates and Neophytes that can take Sniper Rifle.
(The 2+ to wound seems to be really usefull against units like Centurions, of the Eldar Ghost Knight *Endurance 8, 6 HealthPoints*)

Anyway the difference between 5 scouts and 5 initiates isn't so big, only 15pts base-cost of difference.
I prefere spend 85pts to have 5 Initiate and one Missile Launcher two time to have my two base Troop Choices.

Reply
Jonny Industry
6/22/2014 04:49:33 am

i love having Storms for combat squad Neophytes.. melta Vet.. melta bombs..scout move or outflank.. OR... deep strike...ty Emprah

Reply



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