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So I'm at my folks house and bored so I don't have my Codex on me, but I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to put in this BT army I've just started putting together in earnest. So I don't have all the equipment listed but I'm gunning for a fun, decent 1500pt army. Here's what I'm looking to get. (Marked an [X] for models I have already or am getting in the next couple days...

[x] Marshall - Term. Armour, Thunderhammer (alternatively a power weapon), bolt pistol
[x]5 Terminators HQ squad - 2 assault cannons

Emperor's Champion

Reclusiarch

[x] Crusader Squad 1 - 10 initiates/10 neophytes. All with bolt pistol/ccw. 1 melta (or plasmagun)
Crusader squad 2 - 5 initiate las/plas (or missile launcher instead of LC)
Crusader squad 3 - 5 initiate las/plas (or missile launcher instead of LC)

Assault Squad - 7 marines, 2 plasma pistols, PF, melta bombs.

[x]Dreadnaught w/ lascannon, extra armor
Predator Destructor - w/ Heavy Bolter side sponsons


I think that's everything.
Assault Squad and Termies drop/teleport in. Should be able to handle vehicles.
Squad 2 & 3, the dread, and pred are gonna sit back and fire.
20 man squad and Reclusiarch march up, trying to stay in cover or at least not draw TOO much fire.



Questions:
Is running just one large crusader squad viable?
If I fought against a troop heavy army (orks, nids) do I have enough fire support from the dread, tank, and other squads?

Too much shooty imo. I've tried balancing my BT with shooty elements every way I know how, and I've seen it tried a few other ways with BT...but I've never seen it work. It's just not what we're meant to do. We assault, we assault some more, we yank out some initiative 5 strength 5/6 assaulting goodness where we can, and we win that way. At least...that's the only way I've ever won. When I rely on guns (which I have done far too often because I don't learn), I get pounded.

One 20 man squad is not enough. You have decent numbers for 1500, but I think you can squeeze more fun out of it by losing the dedicated shooting and get more assaulting.

I like Dreadnoughts though. I'm a softy for those walkers.

IMO every Crusader squad geared for assault just isn't quite complete without a power fist and a meltagun.

Some games it might be worth to get your terminators and assault marines to hoof it behind a mob of Initiates and counter-charge/reinforce your line where needed. And of course having the Marshal on the table would help out any other squad you have with his Ld 10.

Can you fit any servitors in there with your chaplain? Those could help balance out any poor running D6 rolls.

Against troop heavy lists, I still feel large crusader squads are your best bet. I run large bolter squads with flamers in front of large BP&CCW squads and have had success against tyranids. Two large BP&CCW squads with meltaguns and power fists behind two large bolter squads with flamers and power fists has been a fun way for me to find wins against all kinds of lists (tau, chaos, vanilla marines, DA, and IG are what I play most at the lgs). It's no powerhouse, and it has definite weaknesses, but I think it utilizes the strengths of BT and marines fairly well.

I hope I gave you some food for thought.
Happy hunting.

While some fire support is necessary for BT, limit it to anti-tank roles only. Successful fire support builds include dual LC/HC Preds, Venerable Dreads (for midrange support), and Land Raiders (made all the better with 5th around the bend).

Unsuccessful builds include, but are not limited to, fire support troops, fatty attack bike quads, and shooty sword brethren. Your guns should either move with your choppy stuff to blaze away at mid-range, or should sit back and take potshots and snipe. I prefer the former.

When running a close combat army, you should always keep in mind one very important bit of advice: redundancy is key.

If you have one uber-killy unit, it will be the primary target of your opponent. If you have 3 or 4 identical squads that might not necessarily be the best Assault units in the game, but with target saturation, you'll be more likely to connect in Assault.

In sum, keep this phrase in mind:

"Try to look unimportant, the enemy may be low on ammo."

CK