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Why don't more people just focus their Tac Squads on pure infantry killing and leave the lone anti tank weapon at home?
Every army has some basic infantry that will die to bolters and flamers, so ignore trying to force your Tac Squad to kill Riptides or Land Raiders.

The point is to have duality, or being able to handle anti-tank and anti-infantry. This creates tactical options for players during the game, so that one unit can threaten both. This tends to be smarter and cost less points than 2 specialized units.

The real question is....why are you using tactical squads if you want to win games?

 Carnage43 wrote:
The real question is....why are you using tactical squads if you want to win games?

I have exactly 2 setups for tac squads that I use right now.

1) 5 marines with 1 flamer, in a razorback.

2) 10 marines with 1 flamer, in a rhino.

Only anti-infantry, no heavy weapons.

I find I get much better use out of them by keeping upgrades at a minimum, and just sticking to anti-infantry roles.

 Dracos wrote:
I have exactly 2 setups for tac squads that I use right now.

1) 5 marines with 1 flamer, in a razorback.

2) 10 marines with 1 flamer, in a rhino.

Only anti-infantry, no heavy weapons.

I find I get much better use out of them by keeping upgrades at a minimum, and just sticking to anti-infantry roles.

Yes, that's what I'm looking for. Cheap and simple, they kill Guardians and cultists all day long.

I like 10 w/ Plasmagun and Combi-Flamer in a rhino. Add a HB if you're feeling frisky. Lets them threaten a wider range of foes, but keeps the eye on infantry. Flamer's reserved for a good shot or overwatch. Also keeps them ideal and all shooting at 12''-24'' without feeling like you wasted a flamer.

Players might be finding that plasma gun is better anti-infantry than flamers for their most common match ups. It's better AT for light vehicles that contain said infantry as well.

In all honesty, the best Anti-Infantry in the marines book is the Thunderfire Cannon. Using Tacticals for scoring or distraction forces it pretty much their reason for existing.

 Tyberos the Red Wake wrote:
Players might be finding that plasma gun is better anti-infantry than flamers for their most common match ups. It's better AT for light vehicles that contain said infantry as well.

Yeah, I agree with this. Plasma kills stuff... lots of different stuff with variable levels of Toughness. Maybe you only want to kill infantry, but your opponent sometimes feels differently and wants that high Toughness MC to attack your Tactical squad because it has nothing but flamers that have little to no chance to hurt it. People are dicks that way.

I think that at the end of the day you will still want to combat squad up with a heavy weapon in a 5 man rear camping group and your special and Sarge with a combi weapon in a 5 man attacking unit in a vehicle (Rhino or Razorback). At that point it is up to you on what you want to get and how many points you want to spend on the Squad. I actually now miss the free/cheap ML/Flamer option for Tactical squads. But I think going Heavy Bolter or Missile Launcher as your heavy choice and Plasma/Melta/Flamer special with a combi-Plasma/Melta/Flamer on your sergeant will give you the versatility you will need. Like Tyberos said, use the heavy to pop that transport while the squad up front kills them.

I can easily see a Tactical Squad being a ML, Plasma gun, and Combi-Flamer with Melta Bombs in a Rhino to give you the most tactical flexibility. Then the last choice is if you want a Close Combat weapon (Fist/Axe/whatever) on your Sergeant.

 minigun762 wrote:

 Dracos wrote:
I have exactly 2 setups for tac squads that I use right now.

1) 5 marines with 1 flamer, in a razorback.

2) 10 marines with 1 flamer, in a rhino.

Only anti-infantry, no heavy weapons.

I find I get much better use out of them by keeping upgrades at a minimum, and just sticking to anti-infantry roles.

Yes, that's what I'm looking for. Cheap and simple, they kill Guardians and cultists all day long.

I get this, but the first squad has a razorback, filling the duality and making the whole unit a multi-threat. The second unit is pure anti-infantry, but you could spend 10 more points and swap a bolter for a MM. For those 10 points, you just added a whole element of threat to the unit. Seeing as they have a flamer and a rhino, they are most likely going to be moving into midfield, getting on an objective, and forcing infantry to stay away or be blasted. The MM now also lets them scare any vehicles that want to get close as well. For 10 points it seems like a no brainer

 racta wrote:

The second unit is pure anti-infantry, but you could spend 10 more points and swap a bolter for a MM. For those 10 points, you just added a whole element of threat to the unit. Seeing as they have a flamer and a rhino, they are most likely going to be moving into midfield, getting on an objective, and forcing infantry to stay away or be blasted. The MM now also lets them scare any vehicles that want to get close as well. For 10 points it seems like a no brainer

Furthermore, now we have Snap Fire, which is really a bonus for the non template heavy weapons, which might have been utterly useless in a moving Tactical Squad in the past.