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So after reading a recent battle report by jy2, I began thinking about a close combat unit centered around Col. Straken. While the one included in the battle report was grossly overdone, I decided to use that as a base and go from there. This is the first setup I came up with:

Col. Straken
2x Meltagun Veterans
Las pistol/ccw veteran
Medic
2x Bodyguards
Officer of the Fleet

Ministorum Priest w/ Eviscerator
Lord Commissar with power weapon and Camo Cloak.

Chimera w/ 2x Heavy FLamer

So a brief explanation for my choices. Straken is there to buff his unit and to use his SM-esque abilities to slaughter. The 2 meltagun vets are there to dish out AP 1 and instant death goodness. The LP/CCW veteran is basically another wound that can be allocated. The medic gives them FNP which helps them live past that 1st assault. The bodyguards dish out 3 attacks on the charge, and keep Straken alive. The OotF is there as this would be the sole CCS in the army and he is a must-include. The priest gives them 'Righteous Fury' and gives an extra PF attack if needed. The Lord Commissar gives them stealth and an extra PW.
All in all, this is a 450 point that absolutely wrecks. Suggestions on complementary units, general response to this and other such stuff is much appreciated.

UG

Both Hq's in one squad, and I see even a flamer doing some serious damage to it (by removing all squishy guardsmen)

Yeah if it charged into me it'd do some damage, but as a Daemon player my Bloodletters would not be impressed, nor would dual LC termies. It seems a very expensive unit who cannot handle other deathstar units. I imagine 5 TH/SS termies having a field day with this, ID'ing everything and still costing cheaper.

Yeah no matter what you do you can't get around the fact that the unit is incredibly squishy, and unlike the most commonly seen Guard assault units (Power Blob) you don't have the numbers to bypass it. It not hard to stop a Chimera if you want it dead, and then you are trying to walk 10 Guardsmen across the board to get to combat. It doesn't actually hit that hard either, its going to bounce pretty badly off dedicated assault units who deal with Straken's damage, laugh at the S3 power weapon from the Commisar and kill the Priest before he swings.

Against many units you won't be winning combats anyway, at I3 Tactical Marines go before you, which means they allocated as much as they can to try and remove the Priest and clear away most of the standard Guardsmen before any of your stuff swings. Then you get a couple of kills with each of the remaining power weapon guys, but you won't be winning combats by the large margins you need to reliably break people.

Imo the main reason to bring Straken is for the AoE buffs he provides. He makes Vets decent in combat (enough that they can probably take on weakened or combat squaded units) and Blobs truly scary. I would just build him a fairly standard Command Squad, the reserve buffs/debuffs if you want them, probably the Medic for FNP and Meltaguns/Plasmaguns (you have FNP so its not a bad place for them) everywhere else. Keep him in his Chimera as long as you can to increase the size of the bubble and keep him safe, only jump out if you badly need the extra punch to deal with something tough.

I agree, 450 points for a unit this squishy at I3 is a waste of points. Against even standard assault units like assault marines or boyz half this unit's points cost, this unit would suffer badly before even getting to swing. Dedicated assault units, even at lesser points costs, would wipe the floor with this unit in a single round of combat. The unit is not very mobile or tough to kill either, as a single AV 12 vehicle isn't hard to put down, after which the 10 or so guardsmen would be shot to pieces by even shoota boyz or tactical marines, trying to get anywhere on foot. Where Straken belongs, IMHO, is behind atleast one 40-man strong powerblob and nowhere else.

I am going to be using straken (at first) just with a vox, not even any special weapons. I was tight on points, and frankly any CCS is going to lose a few men if your opponent targets it, so there's not much point taking any expensive upgraded models. I would view the veterans as 4 disposable wounds to keep straken alive long enough to buff your blob squads or get stuck in himself. With cover saves (from being behind a big squad) that should be enough. All the toughness upgrades (carapace armour, stealth, medic) can be bypassed by some weapons, and all the offensive upgrades (bodyguards?) aren't worth it at all.

Now I think of it, I should probably model his CCS with pistols though. Just because they'll never stand still or rapid fire.

At 450 points, my Paladins laugh at them.

Use Straken to buff the men around him. Powerblobs+Straken is a dirty, dirty combo.

All or nothing:

Company Command Squad - Straken, Kell, Nork Deddog, Medic, Carapace Armour/390pts
With attached:
Lord Commissar - Power Sword, Carapace Armour, Camo Cloak/100pts
Priest - Eviscerator/60pts

Equally hilarious as it is useless.

But Straken with a CCS loaded out with melta guns charging right behind a powerblob is freaking scary and cost effective to boot.

Oh absolutely, a buddy of mine runs Straken with two 30man blobs plus support and its a fun and surprisingly effective list.

Company Command Squad (8 Models)
- Colonel "Iron Hand" Straken
- Medi-Pack/Laspistol
- Regimental Standard/Laspistol
- 2 Meltaguns
- 2 Bodyguards
- Astropath (or Officer of the Fleet)
- Carapace Armour
- Chimera Transport w/ Hull Heavy Flamer

This is how I generally run Straken, in my fully mechanized veteran list, and he's never let me down. Don't get tempted to add Priests, Lord Commisars, or much else besides the things listed above. I even consider Carapace Armour optional. You just have to realize that as far as assault goes, Straken is really only good for counter-charging enemy Troops. Don't expect him to take down MCs, or powerful HQs/Elites like TH/SS terminators, he's just not that strong. But if he gets the charge off, his squad will mow through Tacticals, Grey Hunters, and other MEQ/GEQ. His squad will even do well against Necron Warriors, and will tear through Guardsmen and shooty Eldar/Dark Eldar troops.

His auras are really what you take him for. Just remember you're playing Guard. Don't assault things that want to be in assault, shoot them! Other than that, keep him around your guard squads to make them a legitimate assault threat, and keep him as a counter-charge threat.

Fafnir wrote:But Straken with a CCS loaded out with melta guns charging right behind a powerblob is freaking scary and cost effective to boot.

This is probably the best thing to do.

don't take carapace, don't take an LC, don't take a medic. Mayyyybe take a bodyguard and consider a standard. If I were to run straken again, I'd try this:

Straken
-meltax4
-priest (optional)
-chimera
~270pts

Use for hunting vehicles and marine/MC/termie counter in a pinch. Obviously less worth it if you have nothing to benefit from straken's rules. Or if you have a lot:

Straken: mobile anchor
-standard
~160pts