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(Slowly) Returning player here. Agonizing over what kind of army to play and units to take... When I played briefly back in 4th edition I always loved autocannons, dreadnaughts and plasma weapons. So imagine my surprise when I read the new space marine codex and saw the rules for Master of the Forge and tech marines. I'm even fond of axes! So while I work out a real army, I plan to field a Master of the Forge and six dreadnaughts with two twin-linked autocannons. Tac squads, not scouts. Just for fun and to reintroduce me to the hobby and help me go through the motions of getting set up to model, paint and play.

(I am aware of a thread on these boards all about the hate for tac squads. Please don't turn this into a tac squad thread, I promise I'm enjoying that read over there very much. I just prefer to model them over scouts and this is obviously a casual/fun list. Not much else to it.)



Q's:

1) On a scale of 1-10 how horrible is this idea? I really don't know the environment well enough to judge it.

2) Assuming a goal of 1,500 points (so about 600 points left) where should I go from here to be as viable as possible in casual games against unknown opponents? This number was given to me by a friend who is also a novice. If I should be shooting for 1850 or 2000 for general play please do tell me.

3) What tactics should I be aware of to use or avoid being trapped by?

4) Can I put both a Master of the Forge and a Techmarine in the same tac squad? The rules on independent characters in the 7th ed. rulebook are very brief but I feel like there's more to it that I'm not aware of.


Thinking stick the characters in the two tac squads and drop pod them with as much plasma/melta as I can afford?

Run as Iron Hands and it is an awesome idea.

Massed S7 is good for a lot of things. But you need more then just that in your list. You will struggle against heavy armor. Dreadnought drop lists can be scary, although TLAC rifleman dreads are not the preferred cargo. You could probably work out a hybrid drop list, where part of your army starts in ruins fortified by your MotF, while the other half rains down from orbit.

Basic techmarines are a little iffy for their points. You are spending a lot on a 1 wound model. The MotF is fine though. You can attach as many as you want to a squad. Take note of the transport capacity of your transports though. I know I prefer my tacs at full 10 man squads, so no room in a rhino/pod for a HQ. Command, assault, or sternguard make for a good place to stash them.

Every area plays at different levels. Dreads and Tacs are looked down upon by the more competitive people. And with reason; against the more competitive lists they can be a liability. But from a more moderate perspective, they can work fine.

You basic plan is workable. Depending on the details, you should be a solid, TAC, moderate power list. Against a “power” list, you are going to get stuffed, but for friendly play, you should be able to hold your own.

1,500 points is a good target for an army. This number varies widely on the area, check with your FLGS/fiend to see what they play.

40k right now is widely regarded as being in a shooting edition. Some armies can put a huge amount of fire downrange. Watch your LOS, keep to cover when you can (and where it helps, some people ignore it) Keep an eye on the sky for flyers. If you don’t want to include dedicated AA, massed mid-range fire helps. Luckily, you seem to enjoy that. There are a number of monstrous creatures (not just nids) and super heavy vehicles out there these. Plasma will help with the MCs, but I find I need more melta in my list then I used back in 4th edition.

Wait...

What if I did an allied detachment to get ANOTHER DREADNAUGHT? An allied SM detachment with another MotF and TWO more dreadnaughts!?

*Goes to check rules on SM allied with more SM...*

You might want to look into Space Wolves and Blood Angels too if you are a big fan of dreadnoughts.

I know that SW can run a 100% dreadnought army, and I am pretty sure with one of the new BA detachments, you can do the same.

SW can also bring along the stormwolf gunship, which just horrifyingly great at killing tanks.

I know I prefer my own tacs at total Ten guy teams, so simply no room in the rhino/pod for any HQ. Control, assault, or sternguard lead to a great place to stash them.

1) Awesome Idea, I think it will be fun.

2) 600 points? You will want something to distract from the dreads and keep them alive. Or, some flyers. So maybe a couple landspeeders and a couple stormtalons. Or even a Stormraven with a Dread in cargo, although if the stormraven gets shot down, so does the Dread.

3) Use Iron Hand tactics, and watch out for mobs of units that will tie up the dreads in close combat. and also watch out for alpha strike meltaguns that will wreck your dreads. So keep those dreads in reinforced ruins for the 3+ cover save.

4)Yes, you can put multiple HQs in one squad. In fact, if you allied, you could put the allied HQ in that squad as well.

If your interested in forge world guys as well, the miniature have an hq dread. I believe, and you could fit in three more that way. Also the Mortis dreads are great for aa duties if you look up those rules. Contemptor are a really good looking model I think.