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This is not just addressed to the SoB players out there; i'd like some feedback from the rest of you. Have you used them with any success/been horribly mauled/underwhelmed by their performance against/for you etc...

I find the Seraphim to be a brilliantly effective unit. They can cover more of the board than any other unit available to me, be incredibly effective in assaults, pack a decent punch in the shooting phase and, act as a deterrent/bait for my opponent.

I'm aware that some think they are horribly over-costed (110 pts for a basic 5 girl squad) but i think they justify this with their flexibility. Especially when the best armies seem to be based on strength-in-depth, to me they are the ideal unit for a largely 1-D army.

Thoughts?

I completely agree. A squad of 10 led by Celestine single handedly mauled a 1500 blood angels army (ok the other sisters proved worthy diversions). In my book seraphim are the bread of a succesful SoB sandwich

I generally prefer a smaller squad size (6-7), it being easier to pull off acts of faith that way. Thanks to the SI, i can use either Divine guidance, or Spirit of the Martyr reliably every turn. The old wording of HitandRun gives them a huge boost as they are incredibly good at choosing when to engage the enemy, i.e. if they are stuck in an attritional combat, i can flit away to an advantageous spot, or i can use my invul. saves to keep my opponents unit where i want it.

As i have said in a previous batrep. People tend to ignore the Seraphim in favour of wrecking exorcists/rhinos/immolators etc... Handily forgetting what a nightmare it is to have such a hard hitting and mobile unit loose

Ive only used them a few times and it seems to me they are very much akin to an Eldar Unit. They are GREAT at what they do, but take them out of that situation and they are doomed. Against my guard opponent they get shot to crap by his small arms fire like crazy and who cares if they assault up some guard squads which are inevitably screening his deadly tanks. Against my Eldar opponent they work very well though. To be able to have a unit that is almost as maneuverable as his is just awesome. So for me they are hit or miss depending on the army.

It is up to you as the general not to put them in a situation where they can be obliterated. If your opponent has great shooting, use your acts of faith and vehicles to provide invul/cover saves. If he has great assault units, use the Seraphims mobility to your advantage (Flit them around your battle lines until the assault can be made on your terms).

There are not a lot of armies that can shoot and assault well enough in the same turn to cause serious damage to a properly played Seraphim unit.

As far as Guard go; i welcome them using their troops to screen tanks from my Jump-troops. On average i will survive an assault without losing a model, then be able to H&R 10" from combat, move 12", and have my assault move to reach his tanks. A 28" threat range will have any opponent worried, not least the one that has used 2/3 of his points on tanks

I find first rank fire, second rank fire takes care of seraphim quite well. Also a dumped out squad of dire avengers with doom and bladestorm. Its the same way you kill terminators. Masses of small arms fire. You will eventually fail saves when you are rolling 15-20 dice a turn on them.

Thats not to say I dont find them useful. I think they are great at taking out specialized units like genestealers, witches, scouts, and any other low model high points cost unit.

Also if you give em inferno pistols and the Veteran an Evis they are great at popping transports and rear armor on tanks also.

I'd say that if you were giving a guard army the chance to use the FRFSRF order, you'd have made a horrible error of judgement with your Seraphim. Same goes for the DA bladestorm scenario. Coupled with the rest of your army, you should never give your opponent the opportunity to use such a well practiced trick!

I prefer the Hand-flamer load out with an Evis. on the vet as it gives them ability to massacre infantry whilst still posing a threat to vehicles. Seraphim are best when they present a threat to everything they come across: It's hard to quantify, but if you speak to your opponent after a game, i'll bet that your highly manoeuverable/good at assault/good at shooting unit of seraphim caused a major headache. Not everything can be worked out via Mathhammer.

I've been finding my Seraphim to be better tank hunters that infantry hunters these days, but that's just me. I've had huge success popping vehicles when I run them as a 6-Sister squad with infernoguns than as an 8-Sister squad with flamers.

SJ

I like they, we were playing a 4v4 a little while back and 5 Serephins plus Celestine singelhandedly saved the guards gunline against 1000point or army...Those Boyz didn't stand a chance, come to think of it neither did the Tau XD.

A squad of 10 led by Celestine with dual inferno pistols is my favorite around the 2000pt level, they are an awesome ball of nasty that is capable of dropping vehicles and infantry both. Never leave home without em!

only faced them once but their ranged attacks took a wrecking ball to my suits, and that was before they got into CC. Also they look/ are cool.

Lets put it this way, I started my Witchhunters army TODAY (JUST got the codex, still has the new codex smell ) so I could run Seraphim as my fast attack. Nuff said, and I havent EVER seen them fight, but I know they will work wounders (twin link bolt pistols+twin linked flamers+ +1 in CC+ Faith points + jump pack= WIN!)

Happygrunt wrote:twin link bolt pistols+twin linked flamers+ +1 in CC+ Faith points + jump pack= WIN!

Take care:- yes the bolt pistols are twin lnked. But the other girls actually carry two hand flamers, which count as a normal flamer for shooting purposes.
-Unless you're pulling the old Vulkan with WH allies cheesecombo

Still, I highly rate seraphim in My SoB army. The jumppacks mean you can get exactly where you want for maximum flamer template coverage, Give'em a bit of the emprah's devine guidance and that's a lot of dead marines!

There are just so many uses for seraphim. Their speed is a huge plus and really makes it possible to fulfill any variety of roles.

Big squads can wreck infantry with their charge/hit and run and divine guidance. They can pack the tools to smack armour, proper application of faith means they have a use in any role, and their cost (while expensive for SOBs) isn't prohibitive compared to their utility.

I like them best for tarpitting and bounding up the field quickly to jump lootas/devs

There are gunna be PART of my anti infantry SoB allies, as my SM got armored covered.

Sgt_Scruffy wrote:
I like them best for tarpitting and bounding up the field quickly to jump lootas/devs

IMHO, this is their best use. Faith points give them a massive advantage over whatever you throw them at meaning they can either quickly chew through a large infantry unit, or go all invulnerable against say, a squad of Termies, then leap away to have some fun in your opponents back line.

Remember though that you are only ever one failed AoF away from leaving them open to attack which, despite their Power Armour, can often be devastating thanks to their low toughness :(

loved em in 4th edition, in 5th I feel they've lost allot of their luster. (I just wish they had str 4 on the charge) I do still use them on especially in larger games. I prefer to run small squads 5 model with dual inferno rather than with flamers. I've also recently been seeing how they preformed as mid game deep strikers and have been pleased with the outcome provided my luck holds out. Anyone else been trying tactic?

Seraphim are great tank hunters and crowd control. Cheap meltabombs, the ability to get out of combats you don't want to be in etc. makes them very flexible.