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The Space Marine Land Speeder Storm is one of my favorite units in the entire Space Marine codex and is perhaps the most overlooked unit by many marine players. Its one of the few units that I feel I have used enough to be able to write a comprehensive tactica for, and I hope that this will help enlighten players to its hidden potential.

Outfitting the storm.
When I play the storm I usually field two of them in the following fashion.
Land speeder storm w/ Multi Melta
5 Scouts w/ BP and CCW, Srg with Powerfist and combi flamer
Land speeder storm w/ Heavy Flamer,
5 Scouts w/ BP and CCW, Srg with Powerfist and combi melta.

By equipping the units in this fashion the ability of either storm to be effective on any form of enemy troops or vehicle is relatively uncompromised. This is essential to their ability to outflank. Since you are never certain which table edge the Storms will arrive from, this configuration allows them to threaten any enemy unit they encounter. A nice added bonus too, since the Storm is not a dedicated transport, you can interchange the scouts squads between the speeders, allowing them to be dedicated to only anti armor or anti infantry roles. Fielding two Storms is by no means mandatory. I ran only one for a long time and really enjoyed the model in nearly every game. Two Storms however doubles their hitting power and versatility and allows you to threaten both short board edges in games where you are forced to put them both in reserve.

Advantages of the storm.
1. Dictating opponents strategy via the threat of a first turn alpha strike.
2. Threatening the short board edges via Outflank.
3. Fast skimmers bearing a troop choice for late game objective grabbing and contesting. AND the added bonus of the Cerberus Launcher and Jamming beacon.

Dictating Strategy.
Chiefly, the Storm forces your opponent to play a different game than they would against any other army. 2/3 of the missions involve taking objectives. Many players prefer to go second during objective missions because you get the advantage of the end of the turn push to try and either tank shock your foe off an objective or the last minute rush to contest held enemy objectives. However, allowing a seasoned opponent with the Storm in their arsenal requires a different game plan.

Should the Storm player be allowed the first turn, the Storm can make use of its ability to scout move within easy striking distance of enemy troops and armor. This figures into the deployment phase.
During Deployment, should your opponent choose to go first.
Look for a piece of terrain that will shield you from enemy fire. If a large piece of appropriate terrain is available, use your scout move to advance one or both of your Storms up the the edge of the enemy line. Remember that even though your units are effectively open topped tin cans, they still benefit from a flat out cover save during the first turn of enemy fire which can make them very hard targets indeed. If you can maneuver them so that the threaten the enemy advance or a juicy soft target, your foe will have to deal with the threat that they present.

If no such terrain exists it is best to put both Storms into reserve and outflank them. The threat of having two capable fast weapons platforms arrive from either short table edge will force your foe to a more central disposition with their forces. After all the Multimelta equipped Storm can effectively melta any vehicle within 24” of the boards edge leaving only the center of the board as a safe zone.

Should you get to go first, The Alpha Strike.
I usually put a storm in the center of my line. This enables me to strike nearly any enemy unit on the board. After all, once your opponent has deployed their army, you can still move a 24” scout move, and assuming they fail to seize the initiative; you get a further 12” move putting any part of the board within easy melta range. The HUGE threat bubble this creates is where the Storm really excels. I couldn’t possibly tally the number of land raiders that I have reduced to a smoldering hulk on turn one. Should the multi melta miss you still have the potential for a combi weapon shot and a possible charge with a power fist on a vehicle that has yet to move. A battery of basilisk can be severly damaged by a unit like this.

Most savy opponents will know that this is a potential and do everything that they can to mitigate your ability to do this. it takes a lot fo troops to bubble wrap a tank so that no Storm can close to within 12" melta range. To mitigate the Storms abiltiy will require that your opponent play by a different game plan from the outset of the game. Dictating your opponents game and making them play by your rules is the very essence of warfare.

The second Storm can be put into reserves to outflank or scouted out to alpha strike another part of the board, it just depends on the field of battle and your foes army list, and the mission. With two Storms on the table many players will be tempted to put their army in reserve, or at least some of their units, to mitigate the storms effectiveness. When I suspect that my foe will do this I put one storm into outflank reserve for late game harrasment. Other armies don’t have the luxury of this tactic. They have to come all on the board. Against an army like this I put both storms on the board and tear into their line.

Never underestimate the scouts ability to get things done in melee, they are great for taking out elite units like lootas. Against a full 15 ork Loota squad, the scouts will typically win combat on the first round charge by killing 5 orks (1 shooting, and 4 in melee ) while suffering about 3 casualties in return. The orks will need to test at a 7 Ldr value since the Cerberus launcher adds an extra -2 Ldr modifier on the round that the scouts disembark the Storm. Sure your scouts are down to only a pair of men, but one of them has a power fist and they still count as scoring. You have to pick your targets in melee, but running down a loota squad or two first turn of the game can be very demoralizing to a ork players battleplan. The pair of flamer templates that they bare to the combat when utilized on one unit can really do a lot of damage. An ork mek with a KFF isn’t necessarily safe from their ravages behind his Kan wall.

The Jamming beacon is a nice ancillary bonus to the unit. I haven’t found it to be all that useful but every now and then someone will make a foolhardy roll and try to deep strike near one of my storms, and the threat of a deep strike miss-hap when playing near a board edge can make cautious player rethink their move.

I hope this was helpful to some, and at least an interesting read for the rest.

Thank you, Sennacherib, for the first ever LS Storm tactica I've seen that does *not* assume your opponent is an idiot who will cluelessly allow you to get a turn 1 assault on a stationary vehicle.

This is actually a smart and usable tactical article because it recognizes that the real value of the LS Storm is in forcing your opponent to counter the turn 1 attack, not the turn 1 attack itself (which almost never happens against a competent opponent).

I'm glad it was somewhat useful. I might have been overtly long winded but i am a prolific writter. Thanks for the props.

I'm one of the 4% of 40k players who doesn't have a marine army, but every once and a while I consider Codex marines, and when I do, the Storm always shoots to the top of my list for my wishlist army. I was just reading the entry again today, and I noticed another possible use for the Cerberus launchers. I'm fairly certain it says the assaulted squad gets -2 Ld. for the duration of the assault. This would make a supporting charge with Scouts potentially handy against Grey Knights or other psykers to lower their ability to get their powers off.

Interesting, I have never really taken the time to look at the land speeder storm and it's possiblilities. I used to use scouts all the time but since the new codex I have only used them for a supporting sniper role. I will have to try out this unit and see what happens

They work very well in this role, however you must be certain that whomever you melee you have a chance of beating. Dont expect a miracle against someone like mephiston.!

Outfitting the storm.
When I play the storm I usually field two of them in the following fashion.
Land speeder storm w/ Multi Melta
5 Scouts w/ BP and CCW, Srg with Powerfist and combi flamer
Land speeder storm w/ Heavy Flamer,
5 Scouts w/ BP and CCW, Srg with Powerfist and combi melta.

Are the powerfists worth in these squads?

How useful would a HB be in a CCW squad mounted on a LSS?

The first round of assault, it's worthless. But, holding position, and when in cover after dismounting, is it worth taking?

It seems to me that an AR10, open-topped vehicle wouldn't be good at holding a position regardless of how it's armed. It could only hold as long as nothing decided to shoot at it.

I never use the HB. The multi melta for vehicle destruction is the best weapon for the oints followed by the Heavy flamer. I never used the HF until recently but its proved to be pretty indespensible when i have faced eldar or orks.

@Wuestenfux ~ The power fist are totally worth the points. You may end up engaging heavy infantry or a vehicles and the power fist makes you a real threat. The key with the scout speeder storm is seeing your foes army and knowing what is the best target to hit. If they have a landraider and a pair of rhinos, you can potentially destroy the raider and one rhino first turn. after that you will be lucky to survive, but your foe will be footsloggin after the initial hit.

So basically run them like suicide koptas and target key units but don't expect them to carry your whole army for you. They are like throwing sand in your opponents eyes and while they are reeling from the initial shock you strike with the rest of your force.

Yep. One reason i like to run two is so they can tag team a heavier hitter and overwhelm them in melee. 6 powerfist attacks and 24 CCW attacks can do a lot of damage.

Hmmm, Scout Army Runner Here...

I Like everything you said, I dont use the HF cause scouts lack anti-Tank and back door MM is as anti tank as it gets. Using scout bikes with a Beacon, I take out transports and anti cover artillery first. If the back door dies the enemy will have to march through mine fields with snipers and anti cover artillery to worry about. Just scarry...

For Reserved enemies, I too reserve, hoping they land close enough to strike off the edge, or take cross fire from ALL the static forces. Scout bikes also scout a good ways in case things dont set up well.

MY Question:

In your expierance is a Melta Bomb Storm option better, or is Combi Melta better? Same question regarding the Scout Biker Sgt? Would it be a useful idea to take both?

BTW, the bikers have a PF and three GL

My experience dictates that a combi melta scout srg with a powerfist is best. Although i do have a meltabomb armed scout srg that i have used in the past. The only reason i say this is because a charging powerfist will hit more times on a non moving vehicle which amounts to more likely hood of a destroyed result. This is especially true if your foe is running a vehicle squadron. Power fist is also useful if your initial assault cracks open a transport and yeilds a unit of powerarmored foe for the subsequent melee.
Combi melta is a great addition because you can use it for the afformentioned transport cracking prior to assault of the goodies inside. It also helps to mitigate bubble wrapping of key vehicles.
On scout bikes i take a combi melta. It just seems to yeild more in the way of initial hitting power. after all, against a dread melta bombs only hit on a 6 whereas the scout srg hits on a 3+ and neednt go to melee with it foe.
I only run 1 GL in my bike squads. Does three work well for you?

Well written, concise, and balanced. An excellent tactica. Thank you for this.

Nice summery


Now the question is "is the benifit you get from doing the above worth not having access to regular Land Speeders?" Particularly Typhoons.

Land Speeder Storms REALLY should have been a DT for scout squads. as it is you are eating up 3 FoC slots with only 150 points. Especially in high point games, this can be a major problem as you are running out of slots to get stuff.


That said, in small games the LSS with scouts owns face with its abilities.

I really think that the land speeder storm is worth diverting a fast attack slot to the storms inclusion. I usually run all three fast attack slots full, in fact i wish i had five FA slots in my list, thats how much i enjoy the ability to rapidly maneuver around my enemy. The storm allows you to both instill fear in your foe and to quickly move to expedite a weakness. It is absolutely worth the expendature of points and FA slots. I have been running two, which when fully kitted out cost 350pts, scouts included. Recently though i have backed off to only one and two squadrons of two speeders with a mix of weapons.

I wish it was a DT also. If not then they should have made it an option to add to the squadren like bikes with an attack bike. BUT its ok, Scouts are all Troop and Fast Attack. I take my storm scouts as combat squad, leaving the other 5 scouts with the HB or ML back under the snipers or on objectives.

BECAUSE I only have 3 Fast Attack Slots, I amp up the bikes. Giving them more numbers usually keeps them alive a bit longer. My storms are MM so I use the GL for the templates. Against hords I kill more, against mech I might get a lucky break.

I will try the combi-melta for all three Fast Attacks. All have Melta Bombs and PF but maybe Combi is better.

Lets see what happens

I was looking into this, and I realized why my points were with Melta Bombs and not Combi-Meltas....

With a PF the biker Sgt can't have a pistol, so he can't use a Combi-Melta....

OR

Would he Combi-Melta a Shotgun? While the PF was holding the wheal?

yes saddly, no PF and BP on the scout biker srg. You are correct as well that no combi melta fist combo on scout srg biker. I always take that combo on the scouts that are in my storm.
One of my freinds plays the double PF scout sargent. he loves it. 4 powerfist attacks on the charge. One game he domed a demon prince with this combo. I think he just likes the excess that he has to spend on the option but to each his own.
Yes.... combimelta are one shot and cost twice what a melta bomb costs. My scouts never live long enough to engage more than one foe so the fact that the single shot anti tank weapon is not such a big deal. However, should he fail to do reall damage with the combi shot he gets 3 PF hits on the rear armor to seal the deal.