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50 points for a bonus order (woo) and the ability to regroup at below half strength...is there a point to this guy?

Nope.

Id take him if he was 20 pts. But hes not worth it at 60. Id rather get a ccs.

Sergeant Bastonne. Just say "no"...

I use him for fluff reasons ...

Sgt Harker is kind of useful in some cases though

I like harker but I find Bastonne useless

sudojoe wrote:I use him for fluff reasons ...

Sgt Harker is kind of useful in some cases though

Yeah but Harker gives you a BS4 relentless Heavy Bolter, and a couple of USRs I can't remember.
Bastonne is just...why?!?

Rule of SC writing

The GW staff at the time will roll a D6, consult the chart below

1-3: Character will be overpriced and underpowered
4-5: Character will be decent
6: Character will be really good

Guess what happened to Bastonne

Friends don't let friends use Sergeant Bastonne...

I'm glad humor is still alive and well on Dakka

I could use him for fluffy purposes or as a bonus officer in a "shock troops" Vet unit.

I would run him in a unit with:

Bastonne
Shotguns
2 Flamers
and a Meltagun
Maybe with Demolitions and Carapace Armor doctrine for a grin

I dont use him. but were you to use him with a melta drop squad, i could see him doing well.

We're still talking about this guy?!

"never" sounds a little harsh. I mean, he comes with BiD in a squad that is likely not going to be in range of BiD. That's not useless.

The question is if twin-linking BS4 weapons is worth it for the price. On the one hand, the character increases the killing power by only 33%, while those points could go towards half another melta squad for a +50% bonus. On the other hand, it does give you force concentration, and 50 points for bastogne is certainly a lower investment than another vet squad in another vendetta.

I mean, I've had great success with al'rahem and 3 BS3 meltaguns with bring it down, I can only imagine that bastogne in a valkyrie with 3 BS4 meltaguns with bring it down is only moreso.

Probably not so much of a deal with chimera squads, what with being closer to a CCS, and more likely to get shot up first, but if the vets outflank, I could see this guy being plenty useful. Outflanking plasma vets without FoMT kill 1 or 2 devestators, while the same vets with kill 3 - the difference between them losing their sarge but still having their missile launchers intact, and a squad that just lost half its killing power and has to make a morale check.

I agree with the OP that most orders most of the time are pretty blah, but certain orders in certain situations are actually pretty neat. In said circumstances, I'd consider taking him.

Plus, he does come with Ld10, a decent statline, and a power weapon (and AP3 pistol). Not enough to make it a serious threat in close combat to most targets, but to something that's just been ravaged by plasma, it means that the squad just might stand a chance, other than just getting utterly wiped out, even against the lamest CC options (like those surviving devestators).

I like Bastonne at times but he's not a must take upgrade. Ailaros pretty much covered all the reasons why.

Peace Out!
Jonny!

He really shines in exactly 1 situation:

Making his squad a gun-line squad, in a gun-line list, that is to be deployed outside of CCS command Range. This means that he is either relegated to an extreme flank, or a forward/rearguard position.

Why does he shine in this set-up?
As a forward position he(and his squad) become a defensive first-strike line that is just about a throw-away unit, but one that should do some damage before dieing horribly. In this form you want 3 Plasmas and a suitable Heavy weapon(Lascannon, AC, or Missile launcher), while these are expensive guns they get the most use out of both Bring it Down!, and Fire on my Target!, especially if an enemy gets within 6" and Bastonne can throw his Hot-shot laspistol into the mix. Fire on my target can be more valuable than Bring it down against many CC armies.

Kommissar Kel wrote:He really shines in exactly 1 situation:

Making his squad a gun-line squad, in a gun-line list, that is to be deployed outside of CCS command Range. This means that he is either relegated to an extreme flank, or a forward/rearguard position.

Why does he shine in this set-up?
As a forward position he(and his squad) become a defensive first-strike line that is just about a throw-away unit, but one that should do some damage before dieing horribly. In this form you want 3 Plasmas and a suitable Heavy weapon(Lascannon, AC, or Missile launcher), while these are expensive guns they get the most use out of both Bring it Down!, and Fire on my Target!, especially if an enemy gets within 6" and Bastonne can throw his Hot-shot laspistol into the mix. Fire on my target can be more valuable than Bring it down against many CC armies.

Ironically the real world guy they based the 40k character from did exactly that

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Basilone

sudojoe wrote:

Kommissar Kel wrote:He really shines in exactly 1 situation:

Making his squad a gun-line squad, in a gun-line list, that is to be deployed outside of CCS command Range. This means that he is either relegated to an extreme flank, or a forward/rearguard position.

Why does he shine in this set-up?
As a forward position he(and his squad) become a defensive first-strike line that is just about a throw-away unit, but one that should do some damage before dieing horribly. In this form you want 3 Plasmas and a suitable Heavy weapon(Lascannon, AC, or Missile launcher), while these are expensive guns they get the most use out of both Bring it Down!, and Fire on my Target!, especially if an enemy gets within 6" and Bastonne can throw his Hot-shot laspistol into the mix. Fire on my target can be more valuable than Bring it down against many CC armies.

Ironically the real world guy they based the 40k character from did exactly that

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Basilone

"With his unit pinned down, Basilone made his way around the side of the Japanese positions until he was directly on top of the blockhouse. He then attacked with grenades and demolitions, single-handedly destroying the entire strongpoint and its defending garrison. He then fought his way toward Airfield Number 1 and aided an American tank that was trapped in an enemy mine field under intense mortar and artillery barrages. He guided the heavy vehicle over the hazardous terrain to safety, despite heavy weapons fire from the Japanese. As he moved along the edge of the airfield, he was killed by Japanese mortar shrapnel."
That is seriously bad-ass. Genuine hero right there.

That guy there is like the real Rambo...

Bastonne is also pretty hilarious when combined with a squad with Camo Cloaks in cover constantly using "Incoming!" for a 2+ increase in cover, which in turn is incredibly useful for holding an objective.

Kinda like a ghetto pathfinder squad.

Too bad the gw homage is not up to snuff. This guy needs some buffs to match what they did with Marbo / Rambo.

Snarky wrote:That guy there is like the real Rambo...

Bastonne is also pretty hilarious when combined with a squad with Camo Cloaks in cover constantly using "Incoming!" for a 2+ increase in cover, which in turn is incredibly useful for holding an objective.

Kinda like a ghetto pathfinder squad.

Incoming can do that anyway. In order to get a 2+ cover with camo cloaks you only need to go to ground. Sargent Bastonne helps in neither of these ways. 50 points is just too much to be spent on such a useless charector.

Joey wrote:

Snarky wrote:That guy there is like the real Rambo...

Bastonne is also pretty hilarious when combined with a squad with Camo Cloaks in cover constantly using "Incoming!" for a 2+ increase in cover, which in turn is incredibly useful for holding an objective.

Kinda like a ghetto pathfinder squad.

Incoming can do that anyway. In order to get a 2+ cover with camo cloaks you only need to go to ground. Sargent Bastonne helps in neither of these ways. 50 points is just too much to be spent on such a useless charector.

Only if you are in a building or cover that provides 3+ already. Stealth only increases this save by +1, while bastonne and friends can be away from a CCS and be in something like a shrub or ruin containing an objective that provides 5+, turning it into 2+.

Still, it's probably nowhere near as useful in equivalent points for a chimera and veteran squad...

Saw a guy use him recently in an airdrop list and he had mixed results. Sometimes, he would drop by himself in a wierd position outside of orders range, and would pull off an incredibly important shot. With "bring it down" he could twin link the demo charge, as well as the melta guns, and seriously wreck armor. However, if his squad's ride got blown up, they did just as badly as a normal squad.

I imagine for the right list he'd be helpful, but to the average person's list he's not good for much more than a pointsink

I agree that his two uses are the one Kel describes below, and the one Ailaros and others talked about- with Vets in a Valk or Vendetta. Twin-linking meltas and a demo charge makes for one super-dead tank. TL Plasma and Demo makes for a lot of pain on a valuable non-vehicle unit. His purpose here is to multiply the killing power of that one unit, rather than you having to send a second unit in a second Valk/Vend.

Joey wrote:

sudojoe wrote:

Kommissar Kel wrote:Making his squad a gun-line squad, in a gun-line list, that is to be deployed outside of CCS command Range. This means that he is either relegated to an extreme flank, or a forward/rearguard position.

Why does he shine in this set-up?
As a forward position he(and his squad) become a defensive first-strike line that is just about a throw-away unit, but one that should do some damage before dieing horribly. In this form you want 3 Plasmas and a suitable Heavy weapon(Lascannon, AC, or Missile launcher), while these are expensive guns they get the most use out of both Bring it Down!, and Fire on my Target!, especially if an enemy gets within 6" and Bastonne can throw his Hot-shot laspistol into the mix. Fire on my target can be more valuable than Bring it down against many CC armies.

Ironically the real world guy they based the 40k character from did exactly that

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Basilone

"With his unit pinned down, Basilone made his way around the side of the Japanese positions until he was directly on top of the blockhouse. He then attacked with grenades and demolitions, single-handedly destroying the entire strongpoint and its defending garrison. He then fought his way toward Airfield Number 1 and aided an American tank that was trapped in an enemy mine field under intense mortar and artillery barrages. He guided the heavy vehicle over the hazardous terrain to safety, despite heavy weapons fire from the Japanese. As he moved along the edge of the airfield, he was killed by Japanese mortar shrapnel."
That is seriously bad-ass. Genuine hero right there.

And that's just his last heroic battle. The guy won the CMoH before that. He's one of the main characters in HBO's The Pacific, the sort-of sequel to Band of Brothers.

"During the Battle for Henderson Field, his unit came under attack by a regiment of approximately 3,000 soldiers from the Japanese Sendai Division. On October 24, 1942, Japanese forces began a frontal attack using machine guns, grenades, and mortars against the American heavy machine guns. Basilone commanded two sections of machine guns that fought for the next two days until only Basilone and two other Marines continued fighting.[5][6] Basilone moved an extra gun into position and maintained continual fire against the incoming Japanese forces. He then repaired and manned another machine gun, holding the defensive line until replacements arrived. As battle raged, ammunition became critically low. With supply lines cut off, Basilone fought through hostile ground to resupply his gunners with urgently needed ammunition. Toward the dawn of the battle, Basilone fought Japanese soldiers using only a .45 pistol and a machete. By the end of the engagement, the Japanese regiment was virtually annihilated. For his actions during this battle, he received the United States military's highest award for bravery, the Medal of Honor"

reminded me exactly of what was quoted as him doing the best. By himself. never surrendering, with a crazy pistol. And essentially fighting a totally isolated forward/rearguard position and of course rallying even when nearly everyone is dead. They actually designed the character damn close to the actual man.

John Basilone rocked face.