eNvY wrote:CaptainExorcist wrote:the reason they would be ineffective is that assault termies are only good in close combat and they cant assault if you deepstrike them so they would get wiped without being able to do any damage and thats 200 points plus my librarian of 185 points thus making 385 points or nearly a third of my list as ineffective
A unit of 5 Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield terminators is one of the hardest things to kill in the game. Just make sure you run to spread out versus blast weapons and it will take a crapload of firepower to kill them. Especially if you have an
IC to soak up a couple of wounds.
The 10 Storm Bolter shots the Tactical Terminators would get would be completely ineffectual. And they would die much faster than the assault terminators.
I do not disagree with your first statement regarding the Assault terminators with Storm Shields/Thunder Hammers but I do disagree with you regarding the Storm Bolters as even with only 10 shots they are not ineffectual nor are regular terminators, but to the
OP, if you are going to use them in that fashion you should at least give them the Assualt Cannon or a Cyclone
ML to make them a bit more deadly If you are planning on hopping the terminators around the board, which is a viable strategy if taking a Librarian with Gate of Infinity and maybe Vortex of Doom or Smite as your second choice or possibly even Might of Ancients, and then making the unit as large as possible is actually the way to go in my opinion and I have used this same tactic with some success, you just cannot get to attached to them as they will eventually all die to most armies through weight of fire. 10 Terminators for instance with two Assault cannons and a Librarian hopping them about will force your foe to deal with them which of course allows the rest of your army to concentrate on taking out whatever you feel is best.
In looking at your list I think you have a few models or units that are not exactly kitted out to their best effect, which is fine, so long as you recognize that and take it into consideration. While the Honor Guard is fun to have, it is a luxury item that usually should only see the board in a fun fluffy type game or in a high points (3000+) game. I think if it were me and I just had to have the Honor Guard, I would make them the minimal size unit and transport them in a Land Raider if I had one and take the Terminators to full strength. They will not win the game for you and will die fairly quickly once they have won their first combat so taking too many of them is probably a waste of points. My Chapter Master would go with them and would either have twin
LC or preferably the Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield combo to give that unit a bit more punch and you can always move a power weapon wound or two to the Chapter Master that would kill an Honor Guard to keep both them and him around a bit longer. If you do not have the points for a Land Raider then taking the Honor Guard is probably even less of a good idea.
I think that generally a marine players best loadout for theirTactical Squads is the 10 man Melta/
ML with Power Fist Sergeant in a Rhino, although if you have bad luck with the
ML, then a Lascannon could be used for when you Combat Squad and want to hunt armor and then the Melta Gun/Power Fist go in the Rhino to hunt armor up close and sieze objectives as needed. The
ML gives you better options usually, but I understand not liking or having bag luck with certain weapons. Generally the only time I ever roll snake eyes is when I am within 12" and firing a Multi-melta at something as that weapon is the one that almost never fails to not work for me. If you need to save points drop the
PF opn the Sergeant but only if you had to. The other thing to consider is that with objective missions two scoring units may not be enough to get the job done.
In regards to your heavies I love the 4 Plasma Cannon Devastator Squad and have in the past even taken two of them. For
MEQ opponents almost nothing scares them worse in the new edition then a bunch of easy to hit with AP2 templates wounding on twos for which they generally have no save or have to rely on cover. The other Heavy Choice that I like at least two of in a list if I take them is the Vindicator, but that is only if I can shoehorn them in or I am taking them in place of the Devastators as that is another weapons system feared widely by all, not just
MEQ, opponents.
In your current list you may not have enough anti-armor or enough troops but you have plenty of anti-troop firepower which is actually all that the Honor Guard bring to the table. I would consider dropping them altogether and either adding more Terminators to that unit as they can deal with troops or armor, or add another Tacital Squad, and then also drop the Land Raider and put in two Vindicators and with some tweaks the points will work.
