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Hi,

I'm very new to 40K, and wargaming in general. I had the Necromunda boxed set years ago, but never used it, and still have my Blood Bowl box sitting in my basement. With that in mind, let me explain the situation: I have a couple of friends, both with a few years of 40K experience, who play Tau armies. At this point, they are my direct competition and I want to be able to play with them without getting trashed every time.

I realize that there is a learning process regarding tactics, but my main concern here is money. Quite simply, I don't want to buy a bunch of Space Marines, put them together, then realize that A.) I managed to create an illegal unit, or B.) they simply don't work well as an army.

Right now, I've got an assembled Command Squad, which I've already managed to botch by giving two of the models Terminator Honours, not realizing that its all or nothing. I imagine I can salvage a couple of the models, but I'm considering them scrap.

Other than that, I've got a tactical squad box. I've only glued the legs to the bases on this one, not wanting to prematurely assemble them with bad equipment/weapon choices.

Oh, and I've got a Chaplain with Crozius and Boltpistol, but I reckon I can't ruin him, since he came in one piece.

So, any ideas, or suggestions for how to outfit my tactical squad? I'm not sure whether I should increase their point values by adding a lot of extras and changing some weapons around, or keep them with their basic kit, thus reducing their point value.

Also, any suggestions for how to build the rest of my army would be extremely helpful. Keep in mind that I don't want an army that would specifically combat Tau; I'd like it to be balanced.

Thank you so much,

Jason

Which chapter do you play?

A Command squad is fine.
You need two troop squads. The first tactical squad you have should have 10 models (new codex says 5 or 10). Give one a plasma gun and another a missile launcher. Not sure if there is a power fist in the box. If so, upgrade one model to a Vet Serg and give him power fist and bolter.
The 2nd tactical squad should be outfitted in the same way.

Tokugawa, I don't play a specific chapter, just the basic one.

Wuestenfux, I was thinking of doing a Terminator Command Squad. Is that a good idea? I would have to buy a new leader in Terminator armor, though.

I'd avoid a Terminator Command Squad for now. You can always get a Terminator squad as you expand your army, play with it, and then you'd know if you wanted it as a command squad.

In general I am not a fan of Command Squads, and a Chaplin, while a great HQ choice, is often best leading something that will be charging. A Chaplin with a Jump Pack and a Assault Squad is a popular and effective combo.

You do need two troop choices. I'd suggest either two 10 man Tac Squads, or a 10 man Tac Squad and a Scout Squad.

For the scouts, I'd seriously avoid sniper rifles. For a heavy weapon option, I'd go with a ML.

For the Tac Squads: I would not set them all up the same way. You can always swap around the different heavy and special weapons between squads. Power Fists are still a good option, but I'd give one Sergeant a fist and the other a power weapon. Avoid giving them too much wargear, it just makes them to expensive and not really any more effective. If you plan on moving your tac squads a lot, I'd skip on the heavy weapons, since you would not be getting to fire them much. Heavy Bolters, Missie Launchers, Lascannons, and Plasma Cannons are all great choices. The Missile Launcher it the best "general purpose" heavy weapon of the bunch. My favorite special weapon is the plasma rifle, but the flamer is a close second. I usually avoid melta guns.

I would stop before you start to put things together and look at other options. I myself have taken whole squads and used magnets on them so that I get a hell of a lot more out of the unit then what I could have.

I have gotten a pred tank and magnetized the entire tank so that I can change out all the parts. The only part I do not have is the whirlwind section which you can bit order. The pred tank can even be converted back into a rhino if needed.

I have taken an combat assault squad and built it so that I can change out every section. That way you can focus on turning tactical guys into tactical guys with just bolters. I am not a big fan of the serg with a bolt pistol and ccw as they almost all lack range. If your going to do something do it, bolters with bolters, range with range, AP with AP.

Here are a few pics below.





Front of the russ has a magnet in it so that I can change out the hull weapon.


Here is a sent which I can change out from a flamer to a Multi Laser.


If you have the time and tools you should look into this as it will save money.


Things that you will need to start off with or should I say that I think you will need.

Five man assault squad, ebay.20ish magnetize it all so that these guys can be your Vet serges if you need in your tactical squads or what ever. You can also still buy the macrage(spelling) set of 10 tactical marines. This will net you a assault marine, and a flamer which can go into the assault squad. You will also gain a heavy weapon out of it as well, missle launcher. You can pick these up real cheap as they are snap together.

The next thing is that you need to step back and think about what your wanting to play and also remember the new codex comes out soon, very soon.

quick thing for yout tactical squad, only rules:

1 heavy wep per squad (missile launcher is only 1 in box)
1 special wep per squad (melta gun, plasma gun, flamer all included in box)

or, if you want to allways be able to move and fire you can take 2 special weps.

with the seargent he can be kitted out with a few decent weps (not heavy or special though)
best way is to give him a plasma pistol and power fist or power sword.
then he has a weapon capable to damaging tanks, and doesent allow armour saves in combat.

even with a new codex comming out, the tactical squad layout wont change, its been this way for soo many years, and it would ruin 99% of SM armies if they did change it.

The 2 special weapons per tactical squad rule hasn't been around for that long and looks like it will be gone in the new codex.

ok, this could be bad, will need to start taking apart 6 flamers :K

the new rules are no special or heavy weapons in a tactical squad unless there's 10 people, at which point you get a free flamer, and a free heavy bolter, missile launcher, of multimelta

0_o
please say you can purchase upgrades here.
and can you still use 2 special weps in a 10 man squad? :K

To also help you out. The Assault on Black Reach set is coming out soon. for $60 you get SM's and Orks. If you preorder and pick it up the day it comes out I know GW stores are having a sort of a swap shop so to speak where you could trade the Ork stuff for more SM stuff. If you did this you would have.

2 SM Captains
2 Dread's
10 Terminators
20 Space Marines

They come in just a few pieces a piece (I think regular SM's are just three pieces ) and really are mistake free.

And you get basic rules, info, red measuring sticks to beat people with if you lose, etc

commissar, never thought of that, the AOBR box is well worth getting.
and i know people on here will be swapping alot.
and when you think about it, your paying $60 for:

2 SM Captains $20 ish
2 Dread's $80
10 Terminators $100
20 Space Marines $72

just a rough guide, but you save loads.

And the Orks get a better deal.

2 Warbosses $34
6 Deffkoptas $150
10 Ork Nobz $80
40 Ork Slugga Boyz $88

The only downside is that they are less customizable. The Ork's in AOBR are slugga boyz and would need a konvershun to be shoota boyz. And the Nobz have Big Choppas. But it's still a great deal.

i know, look at the value you get
has to be the most reasonable priced items GW will sell

Yeah, I was in my local GW store today and the associate explained that to me. I'll definitely be preordering it in the next few days, and I'll swap out the Ork stuff for some more Space Marine stuff. Individually, the models are around $320... So I'm definitely doing that.

I'm skeptical about putting together my Tac squads, now that you say rules will be changing in the new Codex. But, if I'll have two 10-man squads, I'll still be able to upgrade 2 models in each squad, right?

Tarval: How do you go about inserting the magnets into the pieces and what magnets would you recommend? Also, does the constant moving of weapons wear down the paint on them?

if you want to put together a sure tac squad that will be legal i suggest 1 heavy and 1 special weapon per 10 man tactical squad, its allways been like that and its a standard layout.

i know the Q. was for tarval, but when it comes to magnets i find it fairly easy, for metal models its just a case of using a dremal to bore a hole and put in the magnets, plastic is the same, and it is alot easier and quicker, as for the actualy magnets, im not too sure, i was give a few by a friend.

By the way I didn't mean to sound like a commercial for GW or an employee. I just thought it was a great deal for the money.

It's not often you see deals like that in this game.

yeh its pretty good for ork and space marine players tbh im chaos player im gonna get it and convert it to chaos

if you swap the orks for marines you'll probarly have your 1000 pts army

I'm just hoping there are enough Ork players who are interested in swapping.

well, if you really want to save money, you could take chapter traits that increase the point cost of your guys and if you want to destroy tau almost every match then there isn't a trait better than "see but don't be seen", and "take the fight to them. This allows you to have tactical squads that are great at close combat, which tau suck at... horribly. And your guys can infiltrate, meaning that your opponent gets 1, maybe two rounds of shooting on you before your in close combat.

This is all based on my knowledge of 4e rules, so it may not work in 5th edition. But in a 1000 point match I beat my friend in 3 turns during which i only lost 9 guys out of 40 and he lost 85% of his troops.

Space marines are/were very good against tau, and if you give them chapter traits you don't have to buy as many. Also, they're more unique and cooler

yeah the swap sounds good but the dreads come with multimeltas gonna be fun to convert those... cause i dont really see a use for a multimelta on a dread unless it drop pods