How To Use Platoon Command Squads

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**Santange11**

Hello all,

I am struggling to use my PCS in an effective manner other than a meat shield. I often run one blob and the rest of my army is armor including Pask. For the blob I run a CCS behind it for the better orders and to get better use of the heavy weapons teams in the blob. Since I cannot stack orders I don't have much use for my PCS. Is there another role or specific loadout to take with them to make them more useful?

Thanks for your help.

**Madness!**

Quadruple Flamers in a Chimera or a Vendetta. Jump out and light someone's fire! If they are charged, do 4d3 Str 4 hits on overwatch.

**ansacs**

Quad flamer is good. HF and 3 regular flamers is better.

Another use is to man a quad gun with the BS 4 commander.

**vipoid**

I've seen some people use 2 meltas and 2 flamers.

I believe their reasoning was that this makes them a threat to all targets, and 4 flamers is overkill.

**Spinner**

I like them best with quadruple flamers - not necessarily as a unit designed to go mop up enemies hiding in terrain, but as a deterrent. If you've got something with that many templates waiting behind a relatively squishy unit, then you can make enemy assault troops think twice about where they want to go. Alternatively, they could make decent Overwatch cover for your blob, thanks to Wall of Death. Just keep them out of the way unless you need them to step forward and die for the Emperor.

The other loadout I tend to take is with sniper rifles. Much like special weapons squads with snipers, it's not because it's incredibly dangerous, but it's dirt cheap and if they don't have anything better to do, they can hide on an objective and occasionally pop an officer or special weapons guy or maybe irritate a monstrous creature. This is the one to use if you want the rest of your points going elsewhere.

**tankboy145**

I either will use them with just an autocannon to sit back on an objective or I will use the quad flamer technique and put them behind another unit so once my opponent assaults them the flamers will counter that. I haven't tried them with the chimera but I've started building lists that include them in chimeras to give it a try.

**TranSpyre**

I'd say take an autocannon/lascannon and two flamers/plasma. Plopping that on a backfield objective gives me a little poke with at least some kind of deterrent to assault.

**koooaei**

Either barebones with probably a vox caster behind platoon or a bunch of flamers in vendetta/chimera.

**Skinnereal**

Barebones in a Chimera, making the blob better by giving orders.
It's fairly cheap, and has Objective Secured. The Chimera's guns do the job, and the grunts inside can man the lasgun arrays if they have to.

**Zsolt**

Chimeras are pretty expensive. If you can't really use a PCS, which costs 30pts, why ad a 65 pts metal box to it? If you need orders, you'll need senior officer orders, so PCS is redundant. They only have BS3, so not really good for special weapons neither, you are stuck with those which mostly ignore bs (flamer, grenade launcher).

**Skinnereal**

If the rest of the army if mech, another metal box isn't a great problem. It's a Command Vehicle, so is a safe place for a scoring unit to hide.
If you're spending the points on a platoon, you have to spend to get the PCS. Why not make it at least partially effective, as a mobile unit.
A big problem for IG is speed, and the more transports in an army can only be a good thing.

**Zsolt**

Skinnereal wrote:
If the rest of the army if mech, another metal box isn't a great problem. It's a Command Vehicle, so is a safe place for a scoring unit to hide.
If you're spending the points on a platoon, you have to spend to get the PCS. Why not make it at least partially effective, as a mobile unit.
A big problem for IG is speed, and the more transports in an army can only be a good thing.

I agree that IG needs speed a lot, but I thin the points in PCS is wasted, and you should just let it go, not invest more in it. That way you have only 30 points loss, not 100 (PCS + chimera + dozer). You can take a meaningful unit and put it into a chimera. While you can make your PCS sit on an objective nobody cares about.

**vipoid**

Zsolt wrote:
Chimeras are pretty expensive. If you can't really use a PCS, which costs 30pts, why ad a 65 pts metal box to it? If you need orders, you'll need senior officer orders, so PCS is redundant. They only have BS3, so not really good for special weapons neither, you are stuck with those which mostly ignore bs (flamer, grenade launcher).

I have to agree. PCSs seem like a unit you just try to hide and hope they fly under the enemy radar. If they do, you get to make use of minor Orders. If not, your opponent has still dedicated resources to killing a ~30pt squad.

Skinnereal wrote:
If the rest of the army if mech, another metal box isn't a great problem. It's a Command Vehicle, so is a safe place for a scoring unit to hide.

But, if the rest of the army is mech, what are you using the orders for? Hell, why are you even using platoons? I thought they were only taken for their ability to merge squads - enabling you to concentrate both Orders and firepower? Taking them inside transports seems strange - since they can't concentrate special weapons like veterans, lack the BS to be useful with single heavy weapons (and can't be ordered while they're in their transports), and can't even put out a lot of firepower with FRFSRF.

Could you explain this mech-platoon army to me?

**Skinnereal**

vipoid wrote:
Could you explain this mech-platoon army to me?

See the OP's comment:

I often run one blob and the rest of my army is armor including Pask.

It is a platoon (blob), and the rest of the army is mech.
The blob is on foot, and the point if this thread is to work out what to do with the PCS.

**vipoid**

Skinnereal wrote:

See the OP's comment:

I often run one blob and the rest of my army is armor including Pask.

It is a platoon (blob), and the rest of the army is mech.
The blob is on foot, and the point if this thread is to work out what to do with the PCS.

Ah, I see. I thought you were referring to an army where *everything* was mechanised.

In any case, is it worth bothering with trying to give mobility/protection to the PCS? I mean, you already have a CCS to order the blob, and there aren't any other squads competing for the CCS's attention.

Seems like you may as well just give the PCS a mortar or some sniper rifles. I mean, their orders aren't going to be much use, so you might as well just let them plink away at the enemy a bit from cover.

**WonderAliceLand**

I like the 3 flamer/1 heavy flamer option. But don't forget the 1pt boltgun for the commander!

**Las**

Max flamers or max plasma depending on the situation. Think of them as a free SWS.

**Inquisitor Jex**

A vox and 3 cheap special weapons, either GL or flamers. Can hold objective, act as coutner charge, and more importantly, give out an order to a unit to let your CCS give out his better orders instead of FRFSRF or smite as will

**Anpu42**

I mostly take mine with a Medic, Vox-Caster and Auto-Cannon. Though I have been thing of replacing the LC with either a Heavy Bolter or Missile Launcher]
I use them mostly for giving orders. and the occasional long range shot.

**FunJohn**

I've been trying to make them semi-usefull with 4 x Sniper rifles, since they are so cheap now. Gotta try out the 4x flamer thing in a Vendetta!