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Hey yall,

I wanted to start a discussion thread about Militarum Tempestus, because I have been waiting for a human-styled elite army that isn't Space Marines or anything. (Even if my army is being converted out of heavily-armoured goblins).

I do not to necessarily have this thread discussing them as allies unless the focus is MT, but they need to be allied to squeeze that extra tank here or there.
(IE: Steel Company Primary Detachment with MT allies OR Knights with MT allies)

My preferred allies list:
Knights
Assassins
Inquisition
Steel Company
Forgeworld

(I hate mixing Guardsmen into the army, bleh)

So, let it begin!

-DK

EDIT:
Allies of note:
Inquistion (Psykers, Land Raiders)
Assassins (Vindicare, Eversor for their different specialties)
Steel Company (Providing the mobile AV14 that actually ends up synergizing well. Executioners and Pask-Punisher do great things to cover MT)
Forgeworld (When allowed, provides super cheap artillery options like the Earthshaker emplacement. Because of FAQ, MT is treated as AM for forgeworld purposes)

If you are allying Astra Militarum, then play Astra Militarum (with Steel Company Allies as the exception).

They are expensive but Deep Striking small Plasma or Melta squads can be used to great effect is some circumstances.

Also, Autocannon / Battlecannon or AC / Missile trucks that are Fast can be effective while staying out of return fire range, even if they are somewhat fragile.

In before the "they aren't competition material" posts.

has anyone used the airborne assault formation yet?

Personally, i held back from valkyrie purchasing just in case the tactic sucked.

I'm wondering what you're hoping that MT can do, that taking AM can't?

You could take a Command Squad, 2x Veteran Squads, all with Carapace armour to mimic the elite-ness of MT. With that, you at least have access to some long range support fire, while up to 9 Scion squads can be purchased from your Elite squads... 12 if you also take Scion Command Squads in the Platoons. [AM have access to Platoons of Scions. 0-1 Command, 1-3 Scion Squads]. From there, you can take the rest of the AM codex to fill every role that your heart desires.

Need Flamers? Take Hellhounds. Need Flying AT? A 5-man Scion squad fits nicely in a Vendetta. Want some walkers to move up to provide Assault Tar-pitting while carrying the Heavy Weapons that MT lacks? Armoured Sentinels! Want something with a large blast, that can actually hurt something? Russes.

The MT codex is a straight rip off. No way around it. It's built into the AM codex, and then you get the rest of the AM codex, which is itself not a highly competitive stand-alone codex. Once you look at the AM codex, and start comparing Vets to Scions, and you see that you could take 3 Specials, 10 dudes and still have Carapace for less than the Scions... it's a bit of a joke. You consider the Flesh Tearers Strike Force from the Shield of Baal: Exterminatus book. You can take a single troop [a Death Company Dreadnaught] a Sanguinary Priest [60+ pts, give FNP to a squad] and then you unlock 6 Drop Pods that you could put Veterans into... Beats the snot out of DS'ing those Scions.

Remember, that if you get tabled turn 1 before your reserves show up, the game's over. With Drop Pods, half your reserves are down turn 1. Scions don't start with much on the board, turn 1, and if they do, they'd be better off as Vets with their longer range and access to Heavies. After a couple of games, I strongly doubt you'll be happy with MT. Don't buy the book!

We (MT players) appreciate that they are tactically limited but the advice 'avoid them' isn't really a 'tactic' is it?



Plus; i can't speak for others here, but i've already bought the book and 100 stormtroopers, so not playing with them is 100% waste.

I'll be intrigued to see what this thread results in.

For what it's worth I think psycanon Ordo Malleus Inquisitors could work well with plasma command squads, they would offer some (limited) small arms tanking ability for the squad and the psycannon would work well with the preferred enemy order that plasma squads love as well as matching up well for ideal targets. On top of that servo skulls may help with the deep striking (if you're lucky and the enemy doesn't shut them off immediately) and they can offer some psychic back up (I'd probably roll on divination hoping for the ignore cover spell) I'd be interested on whether people think it's worth buying the psyker upgrade if you can only get a couple of MLs.

The biggest problems for a pure scion list are probably the first turn presence, dealing with hordes and anti air as well as manipulating reserves to get your guys in first.
Astra militarum has a lot to offer in regards to those areas.
Just wondering if the scion command squads get senior officer orders in the guard codex, as the junior officer orders don't offer much for them but the ignore cover order on a full volley gun squad would be nice or on a melta squad to increase the odds against a jinking serpent.

MT needs more internal synergy, this is one reason you see a lot of homebrew trying to correct it. But I like the concept. A faction that relies entires on T3 4+ infantry to do the work is a cool. Anyways, Scions aren't Vets, that's your starting point. You're paying a 5ppm premium for DS and AP3 weapons, on top of Krak and Carapace. Scions are 12pts each and you pay for their Sgt. They are not disposable the way Vets are (who don't pay for the Sgt and cost 6pts). So I figure if you want to play Tempestus, you want to maximize the effect of their AP3 guns and do your best to keep them alive somehow.

MT infantry (cons):

-- Ineffective shooting against T5+ or AV10
-- Short weapons range, combined with a poor CC profile
-- Unique special weapon is Salvo 2/4
-- No core weapon against 2+ save
-- No anti-air or Psykers in the codex
-- No survivability bonuses

MT infantry (pros):

-- Access to MT Orders
-- AP3 weapons
-- Deep Strike
-- Move through Cover
-- Test LD on Clarion Vox
-- 5-man squads if desired, with 2 special weapons
-- All units have Krak Grenades

Since the MT codex doesn't nearly have enough synergy to cover its own weaknesses, I think you want some IC support to help with special abilities, psychic powers or wargear. Jump Librarians can DS alongside the troops, which is nice. Basic strategy, your TXP gun trucks need to dismount the enemy troops with AC/ML fire. Your infantry will need to get in close to destroy the dismounted infantry and leftover transports. Things get more complicated with MCs or heavy AV around -- this is where you will need Melta and Plasma to supplement.

Artillery and anti-air are a big miss in the MT codex, these are the best thing to ally in if you can get them. Though mass fire from the TXPs is better than nothing. I wonder sometimes if the HK missile is worth it here, TXP fire is solid though your platform is fragile. Anything that can keep your trucks alive throughout the game pays huge dividends, especially as Fast ObSec vehicles.

So keeping everything alive is the key. Offense is nice, but it's good to search out defensive options because you won't alpha strike everything.

Again, it isn't the optimized army but it can pull off some interesting stunts.

I played:
4 Taurox Prime
6 x 5 man with dual Plasma Gun
1 x Command Squad with all Melta
1 x Command Squad with all Flamer

Against on game with:
2 x 10 man GK TDA each with HQ IC
2 x NDK
1 x dual AC Dread

First turn, hid the Taurox far away in cover. Reserved everything else.

Second turn Deep Struck everything. 3 Plasma squads each put heavy damage on each of the TDAs. Command Melta killed the Dread. Taurox ACs killed one of the NDKs. By turn 4 he was tabled.

Could anothe army list have done better? Sure.

But playing MT is fun.

Played the same list above against DE too. By second turn, after Deep Striking MT MSU, I'd had blown up all his vehicles leaving all his infantry on foot. Then Taurox just mopped up.

Scions have Scion-Orders in their Codex, I am not sure if it is the same between codi.

This is more or less the skeleton that I use in my lists, whether the final result will be more points or less.


I am tempting the idea of adding a vindicare assassin for that long range threat advantage. It looks invaluable in a Scion Army.

 greatbigtree wrote:
I'm wondering what you're hoping that MT can do, that taking AM can't?

You could take a Command Squad, 2x Veteran Squads, all with Carapace armour to mimic the elite-ness of MT. With that, you at least have access to some long range support fire, while up to 9 Scion squads can be purchased from your Elite squads... 12 if you also take Scion Command Squads in the Platoons. [AM have access to Platoons of Scions. 0-1 Command, 1-3 Scion Squads]. From there, you can take the rest of the AM codex to fill every role that your heart desires.

Need Flamers? Take Hellhounds. Need Flying AT? A 5-man Scion squad fits nicely in a Vendetta. Want some walkers to move up to provide Assault Tar-pitting while carrying the Heavy Weapons that MT lacks? Armoured Sentinels! Want something with a large blast, that can actually hurt something? Russes.

The MT codex is a straight rip off. No way around it. It's built into the AM codex, and then you get the rest of the AM codex, which is itself not a highly competitive stand-alone codex. Once you look at the AM codex, and start comparing Vets to Scions, and you see that you could take 3 Specials, 10 dudes and still have Carapace for less than the Scions... it's a bit of a joke. You consider the Flesh Tearers Strike Force from the Shield of Baal: Exterminatus book. You can take a single troop [a Death Company Dreadnaught] a Sanguinary Priest [60+ pts, give FNP to a squad] and then you unlock 6 Drop Pods that you could put Veterans into... Beats the snot out of DS'ing those Scions.

Remember, that if you get tabled turn 1 before your reserves show up, the game's over. With Drop Pods, half your reserves are down turn 1. Scions don't start with much on the board, turn 1, and if they do, they'd be better off as Vets with their longer range and access to Heavies. After a couple of games, I strongly doubt you'll be happy with MT. Don't buy the book!

- - -
What I have found with scions is that they are a diamond in the rough. Their highly limited status provides great amount of creative opportunity. The idea that there is no "broken internet list where you only take unit X" is also freeing of the mind. I have played my games where the stupid Taurox is a god-send. The firepower that a Taurox-Scion combo can dish out is incredible, easily putting down entire MEQ squads.

The idea is that MT is not your point and click army, they are more like old Eldar where you have to have all the pieces moving like a game of chess. You never strike alone and you never spread yourself thin. I end up thinking of MT like my Speed Freek Orkz, just instead of Close combat as my objective, it is rapid firing.

And to address the "Why not AM?" question, I don't want to "simulate eliteness" with veterans in carapace. I want the additional rules, feel, Ap3, and what not that I get from MT. If I want big ol' tanks, I can easily ally for them to the same effect. However, I want MT to be my core, not my add-on. Thus, my HQ is MT as well as my Troops. Steel Company provides me with AV14 out the ears, inquisition provides me with psykers, assassins provide me little daggers, and imperial knights / Forgeworld provides big guns. What ends up happening for me is that my MT core gets supported by the different Special Imperial Allies options.

Overall, so far I have found that I absolutely love playing Militarum Tempestus. They are a stupidly ridiculously fun army to play because of the underdog feel and whatnot.

If that doesn't convince you, then I play MT because they are not AM.
- - -

Orders seem to be an important part of MT tactics, so I see a lot of people running dual command squads. Having said that, why aren't people running their command squads in Chimeras? The AV12 makes them a bit more survivable and the Command Vehicle special rule allows you to stay safe inside while issuing orders.

The Chimera isn't actually available within the MT codex! That's what I mean by "poor internal synergy". The Taurox Prime is inexplicably NOT a command vehicle, despite being the signature vehicle of a squad that can give orders. MT Orders recap for the curious:

1-TL shooting
2-PE shooting
3-Confers Crusader USR
4-Confers Fleet
5-Single Shot, Sniper & Pinning (Lasguns and Laspistols only)
6-Rending against vehicles and MCs only

(1) and (2) are always good for your special weapons, it's a pretty straightforward damage pump. More hits, more wounds, less backfiring plasma. (3) and (4) are useful for movement and getting Krak grenades into rear armor. Situstionally useful for CC. The most interesting ability is (5), take larger squads to stack AP3 wounds onto T5 or better. Pinning and Precision shots can help you against incoming hordes, take out the Squad leaders and then force a Pinning test. Rending (6) can help Plasma, Melta, and lobbed Krak Grenades penetrate more reliably, or you can take advantage of massed fire to produce damage against 2+ MCs or AV10-11. 16 shots will produce about 2 Rending wounds or glances -- not particularily impressive but it will supplement your other AP2 weapons in a big squad, or let your Volleyguns hit like Plasma at range.

Do the militarum tempestus get access to the avenger? Also, if you run a combined arms detachment, can't you just field a baneblade variant for all of your heavy metal needs? You can't get much more elite than that!

I think you get access to all the FW stuff AM/IG does. So that's something to think about, yeah. Good point.

The Praetor seems interesting. Hordes and AA are both weaknesses for MT and this vehicle allows you to select one of 3 specialized ammo types before the game begins. So hopefully you aren't ever stuck with a useless weapons profile.

- Foehammer 12”-120” S8 Ap3, Ordnance 2, Barrage, Large Blast, Twin-linked
- Firestorm 12”-120” S6 Ap4, Ordnance 2, Barrage, Massive Blast (7”), Twin-linked, Ignores Cover
- Pilum 72” S9 Ap3, Heavy2, Twin-linked, Skyfire, Interceptor

Not nearly as terrifying as the Baneblade cannon, but maybe economy and flexibility can help too? Just an idea.

Well, if you think logically, the main advantage of MT is Deepstriking 5-man squads with 2 specials and probably a plazma pistol for sarge.

10-man squads...what for? The durability is not really enough to effectively withstand return fire - be it 5-man or 10 man squads. What 10 man can do is benefit from orders a bit more.

Thus, i think that most combinations should revolve around 5-man squads and probably one 10-strong squad if you feel fancy.

indeed. For the most part, 5-man squads are okay.

10-strong squads are best used for objective holders, probably with volley guns to max out on hot-shot type weaponry.

Assassins are good - although frankly any assassin type could serve you well.

One thing I considered a while back is super-heavies. Forgeworld have ruled that Militarum Tempestus get access to the same superheavies for their lord of war slots as Astra Militarum - I think in some ways scions might work better with superheavy support; with lots of fast transports they can actually keep up with a superheavy that's being used aggressively, they can use the big tank as cover, they have good antipersonnel fire at medium-to-close range to keep assault troops off its ass, it provides the 'big gun' support they lack, and - finally - if it's a transport (e.g. stormlord) then 5-man squads with a brace of assault weapons each can provide fearsome defensive overwatch...

I used to have quite a sizeable army of them and found the best way to play them was a Mechanized format with lots of Taurox Primes, ill break it down:

Taurox Primes: They were only EVER kitted out in two ways, either with Autocannon and Missile Launcher or Gatling Gun and Hot Shot Volley Gun, gave them each specialized roles to play for every x2 Autocannon Taurox Primes I took 1 Gatling Taurox Prime as you can never have enough long range firepower with these guys. ALSO IMPORTANT NOTE: These guys are ALSO Fast Attack Choices! So you could even take a few more as dedicated fire support platforms if you so wished.

Scion Command Squads: I often took a minimum of x3 of these bad boys (so x2 CAD Detachments) for Orders and access to x4 Special Weapons which were almost always Plasma or Hot Shot Volley guns. Thanks to the "Twin Linked" Order it enabled me to get the most out of the Plasma Guns in particular (helps against overheat) and made sure whatever they were shooting at went down.

Scion Squads: Another rule I had, for every Squad with Melta Guns I only ever took them x5 man strong, they are anti-armor so putting more Hot Shot Lasgun Guys into the Squad would be a waste. These guys would either Deep Strike or be mounted in the Taurox Primes to get close to the enemy. The x10 man squads always Had Plasma just for the added strength and good rate of fire.

Valkyries: I only usually every took one and it was kitted out with Nose Lascannon, Missiles and Heavy Bolter Door Gunners to primarily be an Anti-Air vehicle.

In a game about 2000pts. I fielded around roughly 10 Taurox Primes all packed with Storm Troopers kitted out the way I listed above and was able to take it to a few tough armies. Having so many vehicles on the board creates an overwhelming number of targets to make up for their fragility, their speed means that they are generally (depending upon your opponent how fast you want to get close to them) in rapid fire range by turn 2 and pack ALOT of AP3. You want to piss of Space Marine players, play an army of these guys. With the above list I beat the following list and only ever lost 2 games with them (to Wave Serpent Eldar which I kept close to about turn 5 and gunline Tau, Pulse Rifles hurt!!):

-Wraith Eldar: The mass of AP3 Hot Shot guns overwhelmed them and since Wraiths are so expensive he could not bring as many Serpents as he wanted. Also Missile Taurox Primes brought down x2 Wraithknights in x3 Turns of shooting supported by Command Squads with Twin Linked Plasma Guns

-Space Marines, Multiple: As mentioned above these guys will WRECK Space Marines, especially if you get into Rapid Fire range. The only thing I really struggled against was a Sentinels of Terra player with x3 Squads of Grav Centrions, however the trick was to get as close to them as possible and shield the Command Squad/Scion Squads with Plasma Guns long enough to get them in range.

-Tau: This MSU format really helps deal with Tau armies, especially those that rely way to much on Marker Lights. Blow up a few Taurox Primes? That's okay I have more where that came from and I if I got the first turn Ill already be in your grill to do damage. Even against Dreaded Riptide Spam how scary they are is severely limited due to target saturation. Ironically the greatest challenge with Tau I MASSED Fire Warriors with an Ethereal, being Strength 5 they did a lot of damage and though it was a bloody battle I lost just because my Primes could not handle all that S5 shooting. But that's fine, every army has weaknesses...I just whipped out my Death Korps of Krieg tank army and watched all his Fire Warriors BURN!! lol.

-Tyranids: Now Ironically I had more issues with these guys then ANY other army as MC spam is pretty difficult for us to handle. Since most of our guns are S3 they could either not hurt them or needed 6's to do anything and I barely escaped with wins the few times I played them due to target saturation. Your Special Weapons and Taurox Primes are very key against these guys so a good position with cover is optimized to keep them putting shots down field. Little bugs are no issue but the big ones definitely present a challenge.

-Orks and Necrons: I never played my army against the new Orks or Necrons so I would have to play them a few times to get an idea how to counter them.

Hope this helps guys and if you have any more questions in regards to this style of army let me know! I do plan on rebuilding this army and think its the best way to play them IMO, I just want to get other projects finished first!

locarno24 wrote:
One thing I considered a while back is super-heavies. Forgeworld have ruled that Militarum Tempestus get access to the same superheavies for their lord of war slots as Astra Militarum - I think in some ways scions might work better with superheavy support; with lots of fast transports they can actually keep up with a superheavy that's being used aggressively, they can use the big tank as cover, they have good antipersonnel fire at medium-to-close range to keep assault troops off its ass, it provides the 'big gun' support they lack, and - finally - if it's a transport (e.g. stormlord) then 5-man squads with a brace of assault weapons each can provide fearsome defensive overwatch...

Mind showing me where they say this? this would definitely help out the Militarium Tempestus and would allow my Storm Troopers to play with my Death Korps of Krieg even better!

@gmaleron - Nice recap, you can also look here for the FW stuff: http://bloodofkittens.com/wargaminghub/2014/11/05/militarum-tempestus-forge-world-question-answered/

@kooaei - 10-man squads aren't very effective alone, they have no more Special Weapons than a 5-man squad and are more expensive to lose in assault. What they can do is magnify any kind of buff you throw on them (Orders, certain wargear, Psychic Powers, War Hymns) so you benefit to a greater extent. A nice thing to note, your ICs benefit from the majority of the MT orders, so at least your half-baked combos support each other mutually.

Yoyoyo wrote:
The Chimera isn't actually available within the MT codex! That's what I mean by "poor internal synergy". The Taurox Prime is inexplicably NOT a command vehicle, despite being the signature vehicle of a squad that can give orders.

Well, that would explain the lack of Chimeras then, wouldn't it?

Might be worthwhile to ally with Inquisition then and hijack some DT Chimeras with psybolt upgrades. Six S6 shots and the ability to throw out orders from relative safety.

I've always wanted to try a list of MT, Assassins, and a Knight. Just for fun, you know, since something like that would be silly to take to a competitive game.

Knights, Scions, Inquisition, Assassins



Game I played with Knights + Scions vs Deldar

 the_Armyman wrote:
Might be worthwhile to ally with Inquisition then and hijack some DT Chimeras with psybolt upgrades. Six S6 shots and the ability to throw out orders from relative safety.

No, because Inquisition Chimeras don't have the Command Vehicle special rule. It's as if GW took the Chimeras from the out-of-date Codex: Imperial Guard (back when they had lots of firepoints and were 10 points cheaper) and haven't gotten around to updating them.

Mallich wrote:

 the_Armyman wrote:
Might be worthwhile to ally with Inquisition then and hijack some DT Chimeras with psybolt upgrades. Six S6 shots and the ability to throw out orders from relative safety.

No, because Inquisition Chimeras don't have the Command Vehicle special rule. It's as if GW took the Chimeras from the out-of-date Codex: Imperial Guard (back when they had lots of firepoints and were 10 points cheaper) and haven't gotten around to updating them.

What a clusterfeth set of rules GW produces...

I have been slowly building towards making an aerial assault formation. 4 valks, 3 scion sqauds, 1 scion command squad, commissar. They have to start embarked and arrive together from reserve with one roll. I really like the idea of a rapid insertion force flying to a hot zone and disembarking to take key areas. With the formation, the turn a unit disembarks from the Valkyries (normally or grav shoot), they are twin-linked and gain split fire. So I built these squads with this in mind.

Aerial Assault Formation
Tempestus Command Squad Plasma Gun x3, Plasma Pistol, Meltagun - 155
Commissar power weapon - 40 (All my commissars are modeled with some kind of power weapon, I prefer wysiwyg)

Tempestus Scions x 10 Plasma Gun, meltagun - 155
Tempestus Scions x 10 Plasma Gun, meltagun - 155
Tempestus Scions x 10 Flamer, meltagun - 145

Valkyrie MRP Lascannon - 145
Valkyrie MRP - 135
Valkyrie MRP - 135
Valkyrie MRP - 135

1200 On the Dot. This is not cheap. However the valkyries with that many blasts can handle infantry, while the scions work on killing the more elite things. Really wish they could take Heavy flamers. Normal consensus is to stick to one type of weapon per unit. However, I want to take advantage of the split fire. The unit hops out and gets an order to sniper at the nearby wraithknight (which is actually very effective against it), while the split firing melta shoots a nearby vehicle. With twin-linked it is more reliable to hit with the one shot. I would escort the Formation with a Vendetta and a Vulture with punishers. It would only really fit in 2k points or more however. Still deciding how to make a strong enough ground presence waiting for turn two. Maybe guard with two fearless blobs in cover. As an AM primary, people usually have a hard time removing lots of guardsmen in cover.

I am still just brainstorming at this point having never tried it. That many fliers sounds fun (for me, not the opponent).

I always suggest allying in Armored Battlegroup. 1HQ and 2 Troops are 3 independent leman russes, one of which is BS4. All the variants are available, and with access to camo netting, they make a great turn 1 board presence for an otherwise deep-striking army.

Depending on the variant, they can also provide valuable firepower against everything save flyers/fmc (though the Beast Hunter Vanquisher will splat any FMC with ease as soon as it lands).

Or a CAD of Armored Battlegroup, opening up a LoW slot for the BS4 baneblade (212 Arethusa) for extra eliteness (crewed by scions in your fluff perhaps?).

Also, the Conqueror is going to be a Fast Tank in the next publication, so there's a Leman Russ that can keep up with your tauroxes.

I would add a sizable fortification network, specifically the wall of martyrs sets. A couple vengeance weapons batteries and some guardsmen holding the wall(which gives stubborn and gives 2+ cover when you go to ground) and a command squad in the bunker makes for a tidy little firebase. With a lord commissar from AM and an infantry platoon you have yourself a psion training ground under assault from enemy forces that needs support ASAP!

(I've added spoiler tags around various rants, so you don't have to read them if you like GW. )

 Unit1126PLL wrote:
I always suggest allying in Armored Battlegroup. 1HQ and 2 Troops are 3 independent leman russes, one of which is BS4. All the variants are available, and with access to camo netting, they make a great turn 1 board presence for an otherwise deep-striking army.

Or if you have lots of points, the Steel Host. A Tank Commander* and 3 squadrons of 1-3 Leman Russes each, plus a hydra to help out with your AA. The disadvantage is that you don't get access to the feared Beast Hunter vanquisher that you mentioned, nor the Lord of War slot. You also don't get orders. The advantage, though, is a bubble of Preferred Enemy around the Tank Commander* (only affects the formation).

The Steel Host tanks are drawn from Codex: Astra Militarum, and most of the AM tanks have been updated with a much reduced price. But, of course, the current Armoured Battlegroup hasn't...

 Unit1126PLL wrote:
Also, the Conqueror is going to be a Fast Tank in the next publication, so there's a Leman Russ that can keep up with your tauroxes.

I've seen a screenshot of Imperial Armour 13 with the conqueror. It rocks. Throw some multi-meltas on it and it can have the speed of a hellhound variant, the price of a hellhound variant, and the armour of a Leman Russ.

@Lythrandire Biehrellian: Remember that a command squad in a bunker can't issue orders. Also, the rules for the Vengeance Weapon batteries are... uh... messy.

* The tank commander's squadron is 2-3 tanks. Confusingly, "Tank Commander" is both the name of a unit (consisting of 2-3 tanks) and the name of one of the tanks within that unit.

One of the nice things about avoiding heavy AV like a Leman Russ is that you don't introduce a big target among your MSU vehicles. That means an expensive melta drop unit like Sternguard cannot make it's points back, and losing a TXP to a lucky Crisis Suit shot hurts less than losing a 200+ point key model that's not redundant.

Encouraging this kind of asymmetry is good. Another example, if you have no flyers, you're spoiling the effect of any ground AA weapons. You might have a hard time killing a FMC or Flyer, but by forcing Jink and presenting a ton of different targets you can dull their effectiveness. Examples:

- Massed Taurox fire is passable AA, if you throw out 10x TL AC shots and 10x ML shots (15x w/HK), sooner or later you will hit something.
- TL Order on a 4x Melta Command squad stands a good chance of landing a melta pen hit, even on an AV12 flyer.
- Even S3/S4 can do damage if you get enough shots out using Rapid Fire or Volleyguns. Throw TL and Rending on, cross fingers.

Cheap S7/S8 fire like Lootas and Kannons is actually a lot worse than many of the meta units for a Taurox Prime. Getting penned might as well be destroyed since it affects your outgoing fire so badly, and these units throw out enough fire that you risk getting stun-locked. Meanwhile your expensive S3 AP3 guns will won't cut through Ork Boyz fast enough to fend off an assault, and are even worse against a 30pt Trukk... different kind of problem!

I find that things like Str8 Ap3 Pie Plates are only necessary for mass MC-hitting. I use mine for clearing squads of MEQs in other armies, but in MT we have anti-MEQ covered.

What our army needs allied in is simply some long range support.


MT Anti-Tank:
Meltas
Mass-Krak
Missile Launchers
Hunter Killer

MT Anti-Personnel:
Hot-Shot Lasguns
Gatling
Volley
Missile Launchers

MT Anti-AV14:
Melta

MT Anti-Horde:
Gatling
Concentrated fire

MT Anti-Monster:
See AT

MT Anti-TEQ:
Massed Plasma (However, meltas take up Plasma slots)

MT Anti-Aircraft:
A lot of guns

As you can see, on paper, the Militarum Tempestus struggles with the extremes. Having to tackle AV14 vehicles, aircraft, or too many guys is a battle we face, thus our allies should cover what the Militarum Tempestus has little answers to.

Easy Nominations for allies/attachments: Battle Brothers
Aegis (AA or Lascannon)
Steel Company (AA, Ap2, Str9+)
Sabre Weapon Platform / Rapier (Lascannons)
Vindicare (Threat removal, intimidation)

Here's a less obvious ally for you!

Adepta Sororitas (Allied Detachment)
-- Saint Celestine
-- Battle Sisters

Here's the theory. Celestine is a Jump Unit, so she has synergy with your usual DS deployment options. She gives you a 2+/4++ with 3W, alongside Miraculous Intervention you can afford to be aggressive tanking the kinds of small arms that would usually hurt Scions. In combat, she not only has a good profile, but backs your guys with Fearless and a S5 AP4 template for overwatch. Even better, she confers Hit and Run to the unit, so you can disengage from CC and use your Special Weapons in your shooting phase at point-blank range. Hard to do much better with a 135pt HQ.

The Battle Sisters are only 60pts. With BS4, LD8, a 3+ save and a Preferred Enemy AoF, they make better emplacement gunners than your Scions and will save you 10pts. Not a troop tax, it's more like a tax return -- you are effectively adding Celestine to your list for 125pts. So it's potentially very useful in smaller games.

Ministorum Priests with Plasma are also an option -- they are expensive at 40pts, but will benefit from the MT Orders once they're attached to a squad, and help you hold up in assault.

Can Seraphim be taken as troops with Celestine? If so, you get a unit that is quick enough to keep up too for the troops section.


Side-note: