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Hi all, my bits box is looking rather full so have been working my way through it. I'm going to build a tactical squad sergeant and was wondering, how do you tool yours up, rather than the usual sword and pistol?

Usually, when in doubt, you can't go wrong with equipping them with combi-weapons

Combi-melta is the best thing a leader of a shooty squad can get in this book.

One of my current projects is re-doing the shelf deployment of my battle company. Previously all my tac sarges were either basic bolter or BP/CCW.

I plan on keeping two each of bolter and BP/CCW, and haveing a c-plasma, and a c-melta sarge. One of the bolters might be replaced with a c-flamer, still up in the air on that one.

Both the combis are magnetized at the shoulder for swapping as needed.

In the nebulous future, I plan on putting together a CC sarge, probably magnetized on both shoulders. But if I want someone choppy leading the squad for whatever reason, I can just grab a VV or spare marine from the command squad. I dislike spending the points for CC toys of tac squads, so this is a very low priority.

My generic advice for equipping tac sergeants is a combi weapon to match the squad’s special. Melta bomb if you got an extra 5 points.

Combi-melta, lightning claw. Magnetized melta bomb on the base in case I have 5 pts to burn.

Ehh, Combi Melta is the only good option if you ask me. That or a plasma Pistol

I always give mine a combi-weapon and bolt pistol since they're not going to reliably win fights anyways. Anything Tacticals are going to want to fight, they don't need a power weapon for. Anything they don't want to is going to kill them regardless of one.

bare Bolter/BP almost every time. If I should actually have the desire to use Combis I can take Sternguard as a stand-in. As Nevelon said they should match the special weapon of the squad but I found it really hard to justify taking even this upgrade on a unit which are supposed to score most of the game so nearly all the time I leave them as harmless as possible with just the special but your experience may vary.

Tools for cc are not the greatest idea either as the tac-sergeants are a strange type of a mediocre close-combat-guy stuck in a ranged squad who is in desperate need to make his costly upgrades worthwhile while his buddies want to avoid the place where he shines most of the time...

Best bet is match them to the squad in question.

I have two ten man squad and a 5 man

One ten man runs PC PG and combi plas on sgt
Next ten man is MM MG and combi melta sgt
5 man is heavy bolter and vanila bolter on sgt.

I give them a chainswords as their second choice for modeling looks and as a badge of office. Its 0 pts and the bolt pistol is pretty much redundent as the second weapon when you have a bolter already.

Just for variety try a storm bolter power fist . Rule of cool and a point sink. I like the deadly ( to user and foe alike) plasma pistol and power weapon kit, just my preference because I like to have sgt with a fancy pistol

Wayyyy back in the day, it was Power Fist + Bolt Pistol for every sarge. As the rules more modernized, it started getting rolled back to just bolt pistol and CCW without a vet (The time this changed was when Marines could choose to fail a morale test and fall back, then auto-regroup.)

THESE days, the BP+CCW still stands tall and proud, but a simple boltgun is the norm for devastator sgts. I should really run more tac sargeants with 'em as well, but it seems that they always wind up in close combat one way or the other, so I'm reluctant to make the switch.

Normally just a combi-weapon, although it's among the first things I drop if I need the points elsewhere. Tooling them up for close combat is generally a waste, as you normally don't want your tactical squads in close combat.
Now, in my Pre-Heresy Emperor's Children, well, my sergeants rock Artificer Armor and Power Axes, because a 20-man Tactical Squad charging into combat can actually do some damage.

Magnetise him so he can be the serpent king.

I give them power weapons but that's because i play black templars and accept any challenge rule

If you're just wanting them to be min/maxed for a tourney... meltabomb, combi weapon, done

For fun... PS+meltabomb or PF+ combi