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Was thinking about picking up 150pts worth of scouts to bump my 1850 list to 2k. The list is:

Vulkan, 5x TH/SS termies, Redeemer extra armor MM
5x TH/SS termies, Redeemer extra armor MM
10 Tacticals, MM flamer, rhino with dozer blade
10 Tacticals, MM flamer, rhino with dozer blade
Speeder with MM/HF
Speeder with MM/HF
Speeder with MM/HF
Thunderfire Cannon

I was figuring 8 scout snipers with a Heavy bolter (hellfire rounds) and camo cloaks at 148 points might synergize with my Thunderfire cannon (2+ cover with bolster defenses), plus i really need another scoring unit and more models.

What are peoples thoughts on scouts? Are they worth the points? Should I have the snipers camping back causing wounds or maybe tool them up for close combat and infiltrate them or outflank them?

What have been your experiances against scouts (with and against them)?

Actually I would rather take a tactical squad.... But thats just me. Scout squads cost alot of money.

scubasteve04 wrote:Was thinking about picking up 150pts worth of scouts to bump my 1850 list to 2k. The list is:

Vulkan, 5x TH/SS termies, Redeemer extra armor MM
5x TH/SS termies, Redeemer extra armor MM
10 Tacticals, MM flamer, rhino with dozer blade
10 Tacticals, MM flamer, rhino with dozer blade
Speeder with MM/HF
Speeder with MM/HF
Speeder with MM/HF
Thunderfire Cannon

I was figuring 8 scout snipers with a Heavy bolter (hellfire rounds) and camo cloaks at 148 points might synergize with my Thunderfire cannon (2+ cover with bolster defenses), plus i really need another scoring unit and more models.

What are peoples thoughts on scouts? Are they worth the points? Should I have the snipers camping back causing wounds or maybe tool them up for close combat and infiltrate them or outflank them?

What have been your experiances against scouts (with and against them)?

The best thing about scouts with camo cloaks, is that they can score and shoot with their sniper rifles. Basically you put them in the back field camping on an objective, shooting at stuff. If they get shot at, just go to ground, get a cover save of 2+.

I agree with Yuber. Though what I like to do with my scouts is give them four sniper rifles, and a missile launcher (I run a 5 man unit), and some camo cloaks. I will infiltrate them into the highest (see also: best sight lines) ruin I can. That way, turn 1 I can (hopefully) pin down an infantry squad, or try to pop a tank/transport. That way the enemy is going to focus their fire on the scouts pouring fire on them from high, while the rest of my army moves in. They are a great, inexpensive way to put rounds on some targets turn one. And with their camo cloaks and the ruin they are getting a 3+ cover save (you could even bolster their ruin for a 2+). Though they do tend to die quickly, just because they are such a nuisance.

I don't find scouts do much. With the amount of fearless and high leadership units out there, pinning is unreliable at best and one heavy flamer is all it takes to wipe out the unit.

Vaeloris wrote:I don't find scouts do much. With the amount of fearless and high leadership units out there, pinning is unreliable at best and one heavy flamer is all it takes to wipe out the unit.

You don't take scouts to kill stuff. Shooting with the sniper rifle is just gravy.

I run a five man squad of Scout Snipers with cloaks and either a missile launcher or a heavy bolter on every list. They don't put the hurting on my enemies in terms of points killed, but as a unit to camp on an objective in cover, they are unsurpassed. I mean, you get 4+ for cover and 3+ for cloaks, so they save like Tactical Marines in most cases. Since their firepower isn't vital, if you really need them to stay alive, you can have 'em dig in like Alabama ticks by going to ground on top of that for a 2+. If you still take 25% casualties after that, then you can use Combat Tactics to fail your Morale Check, fall back, use ATSKNF to regroup and take advantage of that USR. (Well, you can't do that since you Vulkan replaces Combat Tactics, but you get the idea.)

Also, if you have 150 points, you might want to consider a different configuration for your Scouts: 5 Scouts (CCW+Pistol, SGT w/P. Fist+Shotgun) in a stock LS Storm. They don't perform all that much worse than Tactical Marines in Assault, they get 3 attacks on the charge, and the open-topped Storm extends their Assault range impressively. They're great for seizing objectives at range late in the game, punching tanks to death, and taking out soft infantry units. (They're particularly fun against Tau!) This configuration probably wouldn't work for you since your Fast Attack slots are already taken up, but I've been using them for a little while now and I really like their flexibility, so I figured I'd mention it.

You may get lucky every once in a while and your Scouts (in whatever configuration) will earn their points back by killing enemy units, but to the extent that they're useful, it's in objective games. They're probably not the most efficient use of points, but my scouts have won objective games for me, whether it was a result of their survivability (Scout Snipers w/cloaks) or mobility (Scouts in a Landspeeder Storm).

Problem with sniper scouts is that one deepstriking HF will eat them for breakfast...

They are interesting, If you are willing to shell out 200pts you can get a full strength unit w/ tellion and a missile or HB depending on your preferences. But they have serious problems w/ firepower. A full squad w/ snipers will hit 5 times and wound 2 or 3 times. They will likely only kill a single space marine per turn if they are lucky. If the scouts had a BS of 4 they might be worth it. As for survivability they are damn near indestructible from long range shooting if you can bolster their ruins (Get a Thunderfire or run w/ Lysander), An Ironclad in a drop pod will heat this unit for breakfast.

I use to run them all the time when I first started playing, but I've found for the points I'd Rather have a tac squad in a rhino. They are loads more survivable and can dish out a whole lot more hurt when the enemy gets close.

Scouts are useful for holding objectives in your board edge. I'd give them 4 sniper rifles and a ML and leave them on an objective. Of course, you could also run a larger unit and give them all sniper rifles. Camo-cloaks are a must for scouts, as they're fragile compared to normal SMs and a cover save would really help.

I run min sizedd bolter scouts with heavy bolter. For 85 or 100 points (depending on cloaks) you get an annoying squad that can put the hurt on geqs who venture out into the open, suppress AV 10 units, and generally just be an annoyance.

Their REAL primary purpose is to prevent people from scouting toward anything I actually care about. People forget that their scout moves have to stop 12 inches away from enemy units. It is not a bad way to channel those types of units towards areas you want them to be.

Occasionally I give them beacons, so I can bring a drop pod or speeder into midfield without scatter.

The guys at my store use a melta bomb run with scouts they load up 5 guys in a landspeeder storm with a melta bomb and use their scout move before the game starts move 12" in the turn and pop a landraider 1st turn. they are a suicide squad that can take a land raider out or any tank that is going to hurt.

Daemon Eater wrote:The guys at my store use a melta bomb run with scouts they load up 5 guys in a landspeeder storm with a melta bomb and use their scout move before the game starts move 12" in the turn and pop a landraider 1st turn. they are a suicide squad that can take a land raider out or any tank that is going to hurt.

A bit of a gamble if the opponent knows what he is doing. First: land raiders shouldn't be on the front line if they are looking at scout movement skimmer transports. Melta vets should have taught people this. Second, an unit of infiltrators will block your scout movement towards important units.