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Hey all, i've been running most of my IG grunts as vets and i'm looking to widen the spectrum into platoons, but i'm really confused by the heavy weapons and the special weapons teams. Say if i spend the points on the 3 heavy weapons teams or say the special weapons teams, are they their own unit or can i mesh them into a normal 10 man squad..making for example 9 guards+ the sarge+3 heavy weapons teams making a unit of 13?.

Thanks

Each one Is a separate unit. Means one platoon can have a LOT of units

Let's clarify some terminology as well.
Heavy Weapons team = one base with one gun
Heavy Weapons squad = three HW teams

A HW squad is it's own unit, same for the Special Weapons SQUAD. No such thing as a Special Weapons team.

Infantry Squads have the Combined Squad special rule, which allows them to merge into a larger unit (commonly referred to as a blob). The Command Squad, as well as any Heavy Weapons Squads, Special Weapons Squads, and Conscripts do not possess the rule, so each one you purchase deploys as a separate unit. The only heavy and special weapons you can deploy in a blob are the one of each that you can purchase per Infantry Squad.

thank you all for the replys, this helps smooth things out

 Bludbaff wrote:
Infantry Squads have the Combined Squad special rule, which allows them to merge into a larger unit (commonly referred to as a blob). The Command Squad, as well as any Heavy Weapons Squads, Special Weapons Squads, and Conscripts do not possess the rule, so each one you purchase deploys as a separate unit. The only heavy and special weapons you can deploy in a blob are the one of each that you can purchase per Infantry Squad.

Apologies for reviving an old thread but I want to get this straight for my own good (a new AM player). So, let's say I purchase a heavy weapons team for each of my infantry squads and I decide to blob up the two infantry squads. Do the two heavy weapons teams get included in the blob or do I have to deploy them as two separate units aside from blob squad? The reason that's not so clear is the codex states only units with the "infantry squad" rule are allowed to be combined (RAW). The heavy weapons teams do not have that rule, per se, even though they were purchased under the infantry squad entry.

Yes, the two (or more) heavy weapons teams that are part of the two (or more) Infantry squads are included in the blob. The HW teams are part and parcel of the Infantry squad, replacing two of the regular lasgun models.

the key thing to note is that HW TEAMS are never a unit on their own (unless you're still playing 2nd ed). They are always part of an Infantry squad or part of a Heavy Weapons squad. If part of an Infantry squad, they have all the rules of being part of that Infantry squad.

Thanks much! That's what I thought and it does make sense.

Does the Infantry Squad Rule, which I don't remember off the top of my head, single out which Models gain it?

It's not a model-by-model type thing, it's granted to the SQUAD. So all or nothing, either the squad merges or the squad does not merge. If it does merge, then all models in the squad merge. If it does not merge, then none of the models merge. Maybe I've just been playing Guard too long, but I'm really having a hard time understanding the confusion on this. Here's the rule:

Combined Squad (Infantry Squads only): Infantry Squads have the option of forming Combined Squads. The decision to form Combined Squads must be made immediately before determining your Warlord Traits.

If the Astra Militarum player wishes to deploy his forces in this way, then any Infantry Squad may join another Infantry Squad from the same platoon. For example, an Infantry Platoon consisting of a Platoon Command Squad and three 10-man Infantry Squads can instead choose to deploy as a Platoon Command Squad and a single 30-man Infantry Squad, or a Platoon Command Squad, a 10-man Infantry Squad and a 20-man Infantry Squad. If you decide to form Combined Squads in this manner, they are treated as a single unit for whole of the game.