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Do you think it's worth running and what would you put in it? I thought maybe Assault Centurions since you can fit a giant squad in there but it seems like they're not the strongest unit in the codex. Honour guard seems like it might be a waster of the giant capacity, but they are a strong unit and the Spartan has other advantages. What do you guys think is the best way to run one and how viable is it run like that?

Its a land raider with better guns, bigger capacity, and melta immunity, and it pays for it accordingly.

A full unit of Assault Terminators works, though the combo does come out to nearly 800 points.

Do you think it might be worth using as a transort for some tac squads, say if you had several? Perhaps supported by some aircraft for a force of extremely tough models - a lot of enemy shooting would just patter harmlessly off them so you could more about with impunity, but the challenge would be getting enough firepower to do major damage.

If you think paying +45 pts for 2 more lascannons is worth it.. then yes it is. The transport capacity is meaningless as why would you ever use a full squad of assault terminators?

 Kirasu wrote:
If you think paying +45 pts for 2 more lascannons is worth it.. then yes it is. The transport capacity is meaningless as why would you ever use a full squad of assault terminators?

Obviously a counter to those large Guardsman blobs. They don't just kill themselves, you know.

You can throw twenty guys and an apothecary in it plus an IC. Its a great vehicle if you have the need for that kind of capacity and the extra firepower. Chaos, BT(I think), and heresy era can definitely use it, Regular marines, BA and SW can use it but aside from throwing an IC or two in with a ten man squad I don't think it will live up to its full potential.

The only guys that I can think of that really could use that capacity for something worthwhile are BT. Put a 20 man crusader squad with a couple characters in it and you have a somewhat reasonably priced deathstar.

I could also see perhaps a full assault squad using combat squad to split them in two. The rest of your army would have to be a MTO style army to box the opponent in though. Otherwise you could never hope to really benefit.

BTW spartan tanks are pretty awesome with IH CT and the new IH supplement relic. A 4+ IWND on a melta immune vehicle is nasty. The only problem being I cannot think of anything to fill that transport capacity...

I agree. Now, if you were allowed to put more than one unit in it (possibly broken into combat squads, i'd see it being more useful.

10 man tactical squad with Siege Mantles and IC like a librarian

Oh and yes it is usable; it is sheer invincible, a huge fire magnet and has crazy good firepower for its cost and looks hella awesome

Give it frag launchers!

Johnson101 wrote:
10 man tactical squad with Siege Mantles and IC like a librarian

Oh and yes it is usable; it is sheer invincible, a huge fire magnet and has crazy good firepower for its cost and looks hella awesome

Give it frag launchers!

er.. it's as "invincible" as a land raider. Which have been easy to kill for their point cost for 3 editions now. If you want a tough land raider, use the Achilles. The entire purpose of the spartan is to transport LARGE hand to hand units, otherwise you're paying a ton of points for a rhino. Basically either you play BT or you take a CSM version of it with a large squad.

Or..if you like quad lascannons just take the support weapon version and ditch the land raider all together.

In a competitive environment where your opponents don't hissy-fussy over FW, It'd come down to whether anyone is fielding one of the drop-dead broken deathstars like Screamerstar or Seerstar for putting CC units in it.

Personally, I'd chuck 10 Hammernators inside it or 10 Sternguard with no few amount of combi-weapons and an AA-SE-TH build Captain/CM inside it. Then, take either the Iron Hands Chapter Tactics or the Raven Guard Chapter Tactics.

The IHCT gives you resilience that makes or breaks games and saves you a lot of points and effectiveness, but the Raven Guard CT gives you a 12'' push before the game to compensate for enemy deployment, get there quicker or outflank. The Sternguard also benefit from stealth if they disembark turn one into cover.

The real deal is coming out, being almost impossible to kill (TH/SS or SETHAA CM) and then ripping something to pieces with fire or hammer.

A unit like that seems like it would be so much fun to use, even if it doesn't do much.

Once I can afford one I intend to use it to plough into the backfield with a full 20 man tactical squad with attached apothecary and techmarine.

Melta isn't the only av14 killer! Dark eldar and eldar - lances and haywire. Marines - grav. Tyranids and deamons - MCs. Guard - the tank which basically fires a long range melta gun but isnt classed as melta (vanquisher?). Necrons - gauss, scarabs, deepstriking or dropped off hawire squad, wraiths, pretty much everything once a single scarab base has touched it. Oh and vindicators and demolishers have a reasonable shot of doing some major damage!


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Ps. I love the idea of the spartan... far more worth the points than a raider, but its not invincible!

Go with a full hammernator squad and 2 termies chaplains, combat-squad and assault 2 units with rerolls!

Poly Ranger, that can be said about every vehicle in the game. I haven't played a game in recent months that had any of those things in large numbers aside from D-cannons and since apparently I am the only person in my group who uses large numbers of AV14 vehicles and only show up erratically, most people are not prepared for them. Its fun to watch Tau armies bounce off them(until the player realizes this and shoots softer targets).

The real advantage of the Spartan is the transport capacity with assault ramp. If you aren't going to take advantage of this then save yourself 60-70 points and take a standard Land Raider. Quad lascannon or the big lasers(that I have never seen anyone even mention using) are icing on the cake but not worth the extra points if you aren't using the transport ability.

I know. Just saying its not invincible as there are other counters for av14 besides melta. Basically any non tesla model in a necron army.

I bet it would be fun to fill it with Death Company.

I think it's a cool model, but as has been mentioned above it's essentially only a LR, and people have answers to them...

D

It really is best used in apoc games where you can have units of 10 termies in it which is brutal or the legion list where you can feasibly have massive squads of marines. But sure it's definitely useable still. Don't invest in extra lascannons as it will next to never use them due to its increased movement and role.

How about a massed group of HG with The appropriate amount of axes and swords with the beat stick CM (Rg/IH CT). Considering HG are cheaper than hammernators, and you can fit many more HG in that hammernators, it seems like a really good fit, and the POTMS allows you to pop a tank or two while transporting your dudes.

"Necrons - gauss, scarabs, deepstriking or dropped off hawire squad, wraiths, pretty much everything once a single scarab base has touched it. Oh and vindicators and demolishers have a reasonable shot of doing some major damage!"

Awwww...but...what if.....damn.

Your right. Id love to slam 20 Death Co with Div libbi into something, but unless my opponent was asleep that would never happen.

spartan assault tank
Techmarine with PFG and bike behind it
10 man DWK squad and a termie chaplain with mace of redemption and displacement field

The Spartan also has 5 hull points, so it's a little harder to glance to death, and can take two heavy flamers or bolters (I think it's two) as well as either a pair of two shot twin-linked lascannons or a pair of ordinance lascannons. Use it as a heavy tank. Sit back and snipe tanks with it, and use flamers and a small squad of assault terminators as self defence. Or you could use it as an assault transport, to carry terminators (no point carrying anything else, you'll never fill up the entire transport capacity otherwise). Basically it's a larger Godhammer, and treat it as such

19 khorne berserkers and Kharn is what I'm gonna fill it up with.

 Lord Yayula wrote:
19 khorne berserkers and Kharn is what I'm gonna fill it up with.

Why not 20?

I plan on getting it myself, as it is the only transport big enough and badass enough to carry my custom Chaos Lord and his 10 Terminator buddies into melee.

 BrotherHaraldus wrote:

 Lord Yayula wrote:
19 khorne berserkers and Kharn is what I'm gonna fill it up with.

Why not 20?

I plan on getting it myself, as it is the only transport big enough and badass enough to carry my custom Chaos Lord and his 10 Terminator buddies into melee.

Yah, you are right, dunno why I thought the max capacity was 20. And yeah I'm also thinking on 10 termies, a termie lord and a termie sorc, why not. I think the Spartan is a bigger upgrade for chaos since we don't have those fancy big capacity transports, nor stormraven, nor pods, or less scatter traits for DS. 10 Termies with power weapons shouldn't be expensive and doesn't have a HUGE dmg output to just jump out of combat on the 1st round and can hold lots of punishment even if they due.

While my Chaos Terminator squad and character is very expensive and uncompetetive in the extreme, a nice and viable way to transport them never goes amiss.

Why does the SM variant recieve POTMS for free, now again...?

I have one for my Sons of Horus terminator army (30k)... It's well worth the points for me. I have also used it for CSM... Again well worth it.

The four twin linked lascannons are brutal versus both MCs and even FMCs. PotMS the twin linked heavy bolter and you have good odds to force a grounding test on another FMC.

Take the ceramite plates and it's melta proof. Versus stuff with armorbane, haywire grenades or entropic strike I screen my big tank... The enemy will never reach it.

How well do folks like the flare shield option?